the NPCs need every offensive buff they can get ( including higher grade weapons and shields ) - only the stationary battleships with their 3k+ and high refire guns are at least a little threat to a player. - if NPCs were equipped the very same that players are - they d be a joke.
however their bat / bot use is really chating - if a player could always only take 1 bat to replenish his shields by 20% - a fight would indeed last an eternity. - but that issue is being addressed in igiss' feedback at the moment - so we can expect to see a change there.
the problem with NPCs is that they need not only to be balanced against fighters like the original game, but also against warships. - so it cames that they might be impossibly hard to kill for a fighter ( or inefficient when it comes to the time it takes ) .... but they might be easy enough and a matter of a second for a gunboat.
yet, missions pay out the very same - so a gunboat can blast through a mission rewarding 700k in less than 10 minutes, while a fighter cannot even think of going after a 700k mission. - the balance there is off, but its hard to balance it at all.
low level NPCs are plainly frustrating for new players - high leverl NPCs when faught by high level players are mostly OK - but not really worth the time, unless the player is fixing his reputations. - but after all, they are needed. ... NPCs create a universe that feels alive.
![[Image: just_a_signature_by_sjrarj-d63yjsx.png]](https://img00.deviantart.net/ca73/i/2013/123/e/a/just_a_signature_by_sjrarj-d63yjsx.png)