I've only played maybe half an hour of .53a, but two things:
1. Enemy AI is challenging again (at least for the initial skirmishes, we'll see about fleet actions)
2. The Lasher in the hands of friendly AI is a beast. As I was chasing down a few Piranhas with my Vigilance starter, my buddy Lasher destroyed an enemy Lasher and Hound without assistance!*
*I replaced the typical autocannons with light mortars to save OP and creditsThat's all for now, will post again in a bit after I have more time to play