Difficulty?

@Lurkily: haha, you're turning it into art I like it!

@GavinRuneblade: well, all depends.. also depends on what ship you have at the beginning. With carriers it's easy - just buy the bolter drones and upgrade their count and only then - their attack. For warships I'd say one of the best options is to first buy a laser, it has decent damage on both shields and hull, and good accuracy. A good warship with a laser can take down several fighters just okay. Then buy projectile cannons for quickly taking apart big ships when their shields are off...

These are some of my recent approaches.. but actually, just experiment! There's lots of fun. And always remember one thing: retreat IS an option! Keep your eye on the jump drive recharge meter, plan well the subsector of emergence - depending on your weapons and tactics you should either jump far from the enemy ships or right on top of them..

Maybe the other folks could share some more of their ways!