Regarding NPC agility and SCB use, a quick demonstration fighting a wing of Dangerous/Deadly eagles followed by a Dangerous FAS in a Haz RES:
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dip5HLYAeLE
My GU-97 was easily able to outmaneuver the Eagles, often staying completely out of their arcs of fire. Even when they had a firing solution, I was evading most of their weapon fire, including multiple shots from railguns, at a variety of ranges. Yes, the GU-97 is extremely maneuverable, but against peer-level CMDRs with the same ships, that GU-97 would have lasted about as long as it takes to cycle a small railgun twice. I wouldn't have been able to fight a wing of three Eagles and come away without a scratch unless they were all NPCs or some of the least competent CMDRs I could find.
The FAS was my SCB guinea pig and I deliberately stretched out the fight to prompt it to use all of it's SCBs, which it did. It clearly ran out after 4-5 charges (exactly what you'd expect from the class 4 or 5, A or B rated, SCB you'd expect on a FAS that was for whatever reason, equipped with SCBs).
That demonstration backs up what I've seen from tens of thousands of NPCs over nearly five years. I have never once, outside of obvious bugs, seen NPCs cheat with regard to maneuverability, SCB use, vulnerability to heat, damage, etc. SJA has also confirmed such observations multiple times on these forums.
NPC have had unlimited MC (and only MC) ammo, very sketchy persistence from on instance to the next, and have often been unhindered by certain FSD limitations at various times. There are a few pieces of equipment that are also NPC only (phasing beam lasers, and, in the case of ATR, reverberating cascade burst lasers). There have also been bugs with some NPC attributes, some which lasted longer than they should have. However, by and large, NPCs are governed by the same fundamental rules that apply to CMDR vessels, and most of the cases where they aren't, NPCs get the short end of the stick, not an advantage.
My GU-97 was easily able to outmaneuver the Eagles, often staying completely out of their arcs of fire. Even when they had a firing solution, I was evading most of their weapon fire, including multiple shots from railguns, at a variety of ranges. Yes, the GU-97 is extremely maneuverable, but against peer-level CMDRs with the same ships, that GU-97 would have lasted about as long as it takes to cycle a small railgun twice. I wouldn't have been able to fight a wing of three Eagles and come away without a scratch unless they were all NPCs or some of the least competent CMDRs I could find.
The FAS was my SCB guinea pig and I deliberately stretched out the fight to prompt it to use all of it's SCBs, which it did. It clearly ran out after 4-5 charges (exactly what you'd expect from the class 4 or 5, A or B rated, SCB you'd expect on a FAS that was for whatever reason, equipped with SCBs).
That demonstration backs up what I've seen from tens of thousands of NPCs over nearly five years. I have never once, outside of obvious bugs, seen NPCs cheat with regard to maneuverability, SCB use, vulnerability to heat, damage, etc. SJA has also confirmed such observations multiple times on these forums.
NPC have had unlimited MC (and only MC) ammo, very sketchy persistence from on instance to the next, and have often been unhindered by certain FSD limitations at various times. There are a few pieces of equipment that are also NPC only (phasing beam lasers, and, in the case of ATR, reverberating cascade burst lasers). There have also been bugs with some NPC attributes, some which lasted longer than they should have. However, by and large, NPCs are governed by the same fundamental rules that apply to CMDR vessels, and most of the cases where they aren't, NPCs get the short end of the stick, not an advantage.
)
