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Thank you I really appreciate this sort of feedback, and I believe it is the second of that kind lately, so that will definitely require some followup investigation.
Unfortunately, since Archean Order doesn't currently do much to add weapons or fighters to markets, and relies on the base game code to do that, changes in updates like this can have unintended consequences.
I think the changes to fighters take some getting used to even without an unintended problem like that. They are more numerous across ship hulls and are present in most, if not all battles, so having adequate defense against them is priority, especially early on, like you said. They are the most punishing of all the weapons at the AI's disposal in the beginning since they have the farthest effective range and can be massed on single targets.
This will actually get worse in the next update too, because I will have added ~10 additional wing types to better differentiate faction fighters... so yeah, that is definitely a problem.
Would you mind clarifying a few points so I know I am on the same page as you in what you are experiencing?
What faction start or starts have you tried, and what would you define as early game? -Anything before a cruiser, for instance, or anything before high faction rep/commission, etc. That will tell me how widespread this is and whether the above solutions would be sufficient.
If it is just a matter of getting the player off the ground, so to speak, then that is one thing. If it is a deeper problem before colonies, that will require more effort and a different solution implementation.
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I am hesitant to go the built in PD route because it forces certain play-styles or bullet effects too much and I want to try and keep that as customize-able as possible.
Maybe I am picky, but I absolutely hate it when I'm partially forced down a style path. If I want all my bullets green, or blue, or white, or any combination of above, I should be able to do so in the majority of circumstances. So in respect of that I want to at least try alternatives first.
I definitely like the missile idea, and that would be a great change for a couple of the existing ones too.
I can also think of a few things that may help as well:
1) Finally getting the tutorial finished so the player starts fighting pirates with a decent fleet and with a stockpile of weapons. This also includes adding more to the basic start's cargo if a player chooses to skip the tutorial.
2) Include a small stockpile of weapons and lowtech fighters in each campaign start. Here you run into the problem of having to tell the player about them, so it would require some tutorial-like scripting for each start, but that wouldn't be terrible.
3) Including a couple light carriers of some kind in each start to ensure a small and weak, yet present, fighter screen is available right away.
4) In addition to the above, more effective examples and strategies in the Tactics Manual to better prepare new players for fighter assaults and harassment. Specifically, knowing what you can and cannot take on early, and how to prepare for what you realistically can fight.
Part of the problem, though certainly not all of it, may be that in comparison to vanilla, some players may be inadvertently tricked into thinking they can handle more pirates than would typically be safe in the fleet they are commanding (not saying that is the case here, but that it may the case for others who never got to the point where they would post about it).
Pirates actually aren't the lowest tier enemy and aren't even necessarily what I designed to be a Player's easiest first target. Small frigate/single destroyer fleets maybe, but those are mostly only found in the starting zones.
Derelicts are actually the intended lowest-tier easy pickings, and they never have fighters. Pirates are just above that, but they are designed to be dangerous and scary to a new player when outnumbering them, which is one of the reasons why I introduced a feature to help avoid combat sometimes (bribery/cease-fire).
In my bias as creator and balancer, I instinctively know what I can deal with, but it can be hard to effectively translate what is safe and not safe in general descriptions and the manual's tips.
Another tip while I am thinking about it:
One of the things I notice, myself, is that when you try to fly a fleet without any fighters of your own to counter/defend enemy fighter strikes, it can be really rough going in the beginning. Once you get higher tier PD it becomes more feasible, but even a single wing or two to distract long enough for flux to vent can be the difference between winning and losing. The Hound and Cerberus are a good early choices specifically for their built-in Light PD Drones to provide a bit of cover. But they are extremely fragile, so having a Talon wing or two to support is ideal.