Problems with Wayfarer is Front Shields and Flares for a system, and mediocre stats. It has unreliable rear defenses, almost as bad as Brawler. It is no good in a fight even during the early-game (always the first to die even in the first or second battle of a new game). Back in 0.72, with better skills and terrible Centurion, Warfarer was decent, but now it is bad.
Agreed on Medusa. I find it hard to max vents, and caps are usually at zero. It has enough OP to get just the basics. If I try to get fancy with it, it lacks OP and the flux stats. It is not the terror it used to be in the 0.6 releases.
As long as fighters are expensive as they are, I think Drover has decent OP, and if it will cost 15 DP, then the last thing it needs is a further nerf (of OP or DP). If Drover needs another nerf, then shorten the shield so that it cannot get 360 shields with Front Shields. Part of what makes Drover good is 360 shields so it can stay unarmed and have time to run away or stall until it gets help.
Fury feels like an extra-large Shrike. It can fit basic or spartan loadouts (two good weapons and a missile, leave unnecessary mounts empty). But yes, if it will cost more than Apogee, it should feel more like a normal cruiser and less of a Shrike with more flux and hp.
If Mora has low OP, Heron is even worse. While I have trouble fitting medium missiles and a bunch of cheap to mid-grade ballistics on Mora, at least it has enough OP to fit some logistics hullmods if I go all fighters and no guns route. (I often use Mora as improved exploration ships.) Heron has less OP than Mora, and has no room for logistics hullmods after I get fighters and few PD weapons. Also, Heron is practically a high-tech ship with midline coloring, and if I want it to use Heavy Blaster and some beam PD, it needs max vents and ITU. Back before 0.8, Heron was able to support a destroyer-tier warship weapons package, and brawl against small enemies that try to sack it, while supported whatever fighters it needed. (And it was not enough during 0.7 because new officers at the time made carriers obsolete.) Now, it is either guns or fighters for Heron, and since Heron is a carrier, I take fighters every time. Leave guns to warships. Even worse, cruisers with large missiles (namely Apogee) or Doom capture the feel of classic carriers from before 0.8a better than modern post 0.8a carriers.
Astral is a bomber platform. After I get six high-end bombers, Expanded Deck Crew, and Augmented Drive Field, it is basically out of OP. Naturally, my Astral (if I use it) is nearly unarmed. This is unlike pre-0.8 when I can put three heavy blasters, get ITU and warship stuff, and brawl against Dominators and the like, while still able to support fighters. Today, it is all fighters and no guns.
Agreed on Atlas2. At first, I tried to fill those mounts to have that age-of-sail pirate ship fantasy, but that does not work - not enough OP to get the basics. I have to concur that is it primarily a Gauss-and-missiles platform. It does not feel good.
Dedicated carriers in general: They should be able to use whatever fighters they want, Expanded Deck Crew (because it is a carrier's job to use fighters, and Deck Crew is a second ITU), and full weapons package of a smaller warship, much like in the pre-0.8 releases. I do not think adding OP here and there will be enough. It is a systemic problem. The problem with most carriers is they have two ITUs if they want both fighters and guns: ITU and Expanded Deck Crew. After it gets good fighters and Deck Crew, there is (usually) not enough OP left for a viable weapons package, and its job is to hide while fighters do all of the work because they have no guns. Even with Legion that (barely) has enough OP, it leaves many mounts empty, but then it needs to anyway because of its terrible flux stats. After I get something like Mark IX and HAG, Legion does not have enough flux to support anything else. What to do with all of that OP? Get fighters and Deck Crew!
As for Legion XIV, since the point of it is to spam Hammer Barrage (or other large missile), I consider it a missileship (extra-large Champion) despite having enough bays to be a dedicated carrier. No other ship can do what it can do, except maybe upcoming Neural-Linked Radiant, which is double large missiles plus an array of guns pointing forward. (Conquest does not count because its guns are broadsides while missiles shoot forwards.) Basically, get all the missiles, enough guns to create an opening for those missiles, and spam away. Ignore deck crew and shove mining pod meat shields since they are free. I kind of wish Legion XIV gets Expanded Missile Racks built-in for free like Gryphon.