Ways I see of mitigating CR:- Don't use "hangar queens"
- Don't use green crew (but that's all player can afford when starting a game...)
- Get max Combat (flagship only, mid or late game only)
- Get max Leadership/Fleet Logistics, and many ships (mid or late game only)
- Deploy everything after defeating enemy then stand down (needs big fleet/high Leadership to work)
- Use all elite crew (late game only)
I used to favor high-tech ships (mostly due to unlimited ammo), but have abandoned most of them due to excessive CR costs. I will keep one or two for use as flagships (namely Odyssey and Hyperion), since Combat 10 plus elite crew greatly extends stamina in 0.6.2, but the rest of my combat ships would be Lashers or other strong low or mid-tech ships. I mention "would" because I devote much of my Logistics to Atlas ships to carry loot. The Logistics I have left is enough for one battleship or a modest frigate squad of Lashers led by a high-tech flagship.
Several high tech ships should not cost much as CR as they do.
Omen is a joke ship, but costs 20%. The only things it can do is spark stuff with EMP (not as good as simply killing things with high DPS) and shield bash things (Monitor is much better at that).
Wolf is not as good as a Tempest, or a well-equipped Lasher for that matter, and had its CR cost raised in 0.6.2. Was 35%, now 40%/2=20%. There is no reason to use this ship anymore, except maybe as the starter ship in Normal difficulty. Tempest outperforms the poor Wolf, and the Wolf has nothing over Tempest other than cheaper retail price. But if price is a factor, Lasher is the better buy. Wolf either needs lower CR cost (say 15%) or some of its stats buffed.
Tempest costs 20%, but it is very good for its class. Somewhat annoyed at its CR cost, but it is probably justified. Fast as a Hound, and (with extra OP) can support two blasters for high DPS. The only thing it cannot do is kite (blaster range is short), but its agility and small size can compensate for that.
Hyperion's superior performance is well known; enough said.
Medusa's only strength is its speed, particularly burn speed. It is good, but not noticeably stronger than other combat destroyers. 20% feels excessive.
Aurora has the best killing speed out of all cruisers (thanks to point blank Reaper and blaster spam) except perhaps the Dominator, but is otherwise inferior to the Apogee (which is no slouch), and the Apogee has more reasonable CR cost (15% vs. Aurora's 20%).
Odyssey is the only carrier that does everything well. It can devastate fleets, but not as efficiently as battleship Onslaught/Paragon. Its CR cost of 20% is obnoxious, but it is powerful, and no other ship can do everything like it can.
Paragon got its CR cost raised like the Wolf, but it is borderline overpowered in battle. It can devastate fleets and tank damage. if 20% is good for the Odyssey, it is good for the Paragon too.
Astral is very powerful now, but it's CR cost of 15% seems okay.
All the phase ships are low or mid-tech ships in high-tech clothing (universals are great for ballistic spam or torpedo/AM blaster strike), and they have acceptable CR costs.