I've gotten back to playing Piratez, started a new game to see all the new stuff, and while I think the early narrative stuff is very well done now, especially the fugitive capture squad and the early researches that set the stage, early game balance still seems really RNG dependant.
Once again I had a horrible first month with a -1,500 score for no reason I could determine, and without the Infamy bonus I was forced to sell a ton of stuff, basically all my loot and starting equipment other than the hull, drill, Airbus, and the gear I used, to avoid going into negative balance at the end of the month. This was despite powering through research and throwing a party which was supposed to be worth +250. That's two out of four campaigns I've played so far where month one has torpedoed my score, and it was really punishing with the new upkeep balance.
Early missions are also very binary. Either you're robbing civilians, knocking over Watchtowers, or hitting a crackhouse where no one has armor and it's easy as pie, or you run into raiders and can barely scratch them. Perhaps I haven't adjusted to the new weapon balance, but so many otherwise decent weapons have negative armor penetration now which makes them seem useless since the only things you need high power for in the early game - and wouldn't try to kidnap - are armored foes. Melee on starting gals with no armor very quickly turns into an extended infirmary stay or worse against anything more than a rusty niner it seems. I'm not sure if it's RNG trolling me again or not, but fatal wounds seem to pile up with remarkable speed, I've had gals end up with 4-6 from a single attacker, and it really makes that missing third charge on the bandages hurt. In earlier versions the Ubers felt kinda bulletproof, you'd take a little damage here and there, but they just seem to get hurt by everything now.
It may again be RNG, but over two months I have had very little civilian traffic, and whenever I would explore a new mission type the enemies would far outclass six lunatics. The only working strategy I've found is go at night and slow creep the map, which I thought was supposed to be discouraged in this version. I've found that the only good answer to extreme weather early is to ignore the mission. Even with Heat 50% on the starting outfits stun builds up at a startling rate, and the canteen is yet more inventory space and TU usage that the gals can't afford when they're that weak.
I still very much enjoy the game, but it still seems like you need the RNG's permission to even get started.
Edit: I should add I play blind, so if there's a super important tech you're supposed to rush, I wouldn't know.
