I appreciate the tips and discussion here. I certainly don’t expect NPCs to be easy, even in highsec. Maybe in 1.0 space, they should be little more than “free loot drops,” but the less secure the space, the more difficult they should probably be.
I’m also not against the concept of diamond rats, but before I knew you could essentially discover them before warping to a belt, I was frustrated with how quickly they seemed to overwhelm me. Now that I have some ideas about how to take them on, I’m inclined to think they’re not too overpowered.