Give it a rest and pay attention...
...to this.
Harder? No, NPCs are now simply more tedious than they were in 1.3, and that took some effort. All SCBs do is increase the health pool of the NPC, which has the be just about the laziest way to make content 'harder'.
Real time and effort needs to spent on (re)building this game's incredibly shoddy and feeble A.I. I'm not challenged by the A.I. in combat, I'm tired and bored with it, to the extent that I suspect will hit 'Elite' in CQC before I can be @rsed to get to the next rank in Combat.
*My emphasis
Pay attention. The following applies to everything below the FDL/python class of ships. Anything this class and above is exempt, because ships of this caliber are very expensive and deserve to be very hard to kill, if the pilot chooses to make them so.
A prepared combat pilot is not going to be stopped by SCBs.
A prepared combat pilot does not run pulse lasers, poking the enemy for 6mj/s a sec. The prepared pilot isn't in a vulture, with four pips to WEP swimming around, complaining the enemy is potting off their large gimbaled lasers in their hazRES encounters.
A prepared pilot brings five frag cannons to the assassination mission. Their prey falls in about 15 seconds, as pips to SYS and chaff screens them from the escort.
This prepared pilot then must leave the fight, as they have no ammunition to continue fighting. This is part of the balance of frag cannons. Thus, this load out is suited to assassination missions.
A prepared pilot brings three large fixed beams to the hazRES. Their prey falls in about 20 seconds, as a heat sink keeps their weapons firing long enough to finish the target's shields.
This prepared pilot then must fit four heat sinks instead of four shield boosters, as this is necessary for them to power and cool beams. This is part of the balance of beam lasers. Thus, this load out is suited to RES with nearby stations.
A prepared pilot is going to fight game appropriate to them. Their prey falls in about 30 seconds, as their target is just not very powerful compared to them.
This prepared pilot picks and chooses their fights, as they need to work within their capacity. This is part of the balance of not being very capable
. Thus, this strategy is suited towards lower skilled or weaker craft.
The game is indeed harder. Those who say that the game is simply elongated lack the capacity to adjust their strategy to accommodate the changes. You take a brick to a Styrofoam wall and it punches though easy. When that wall is changed to be made of wood, that brick is going to be less effective. A prepared player will burn down the wall. A one dimensional player is going to keep trying to smash it with their brick.
