An oft-requested suggestion is to further differentiate a few of the factions that share the same hulls that make up the bulk of their fleet. The Sindrian Diktat, Luddic Path, Persean League, and Independents all, essentially, have the the same core fleet makeup. Only the Hegemony and Tri-Tach really have distinct fleet compositions.
Having unique hulls to each faction is likely not going to happen (at least not soon) but there are already skins and hullmods that have begun the process of distinguishing one fleet from another. Hegemony fleets frequently have low-tech ships that many other fleets don't use in addition to the XIV battlegroup hull mod. Tri-Tach also uses, almost exclusively, high-tech ships with a few mid-line thrown in. The Brawler (TT) is the first of the variants. Luddic Path have green Lashers but are otherwise lacking any distinction while the Sindrian Diktat have the "Lion's Guard" as a kind of elite force. The Persean League, new to the game now, are also not visually distinct or otherwise compared to the others.
Assuming that adding a few skins and coding a few hull mods or hull variants would be drastically easier than adding hulls for the factions, I have a few ideas that hopefully would create a bit more variety in the fleet types and compositions, in addition to staying true to the fleet "flavor." As far I'm concerned, Hegemony fleets are quite distinct as-is, as are most of the Tri-Tach fleets. Likewise, the pirate faction using junk fleets and Mk. II-type ships are not in need of any extras. Independent would be distinct in being non-distinct and just being a hodgepodge.
Hegemony
No real changes. Perhaps a XIV variant for the Hammerhead.
Tri-Tach
Sunder (TT) - Replace small ballistics with small energy. Increase flux dissipation and capacity by 5%. Increase speed by 5%. Skin to match.
Sindrian Diktat
Add a "Lion's Guard" [LG] variant to Tempests, Brawlers, Hammerheads, Sunders, Medusas, Falcons, Eagles and Odyssey. Skin to match.
[LG] adds the built-in Lion's Guard Hullmod:
+10% Armor
-5% Hull
+10/20/40/60 weapon range (equivalent to ITU)
All [LG] Ships would be locked behind "Cooperative" relations. Up-armored at the expense of a little hull, these ships would naturally out-range their competition and the extra OP saved could go to something else. Plays into their "elite" status.
Persean League
Adds "League" [PL] variant to Wolves, Hammerheads, Sunders, Drovers, Herons, Falcons, Eagles, Dominators, and Conquests. Skin to match.
[PL] variants are distinguished by having built-in Integrated Point-Defense AI. This gives [PL] fleets more tactical flexibility when it comes to anti-fighter doctrine.
Luddic Church
Pathers notwithstanding, the Luddic Church would have a special brand of ship. Most of their preferred ships are outdated or "-D" ships and the flavor here is for the [LC] ships to be easier to field/maintain. Hounds, Cerebrii, Lashers, Enforcers, Dominators, and Onslaughts would have this designation, in addition to civilian ships like Hermes, Tarsus, and Buffalo.
[LC] ships would have a built-in hull mod that:
-10% supplies per month (and supplies to recover CR)
-5% time to repair hull damage
Anyways, nothing too drastic but adds a bit of flavor to the current line-up. Comments/suggestions welcome.