NPCs: You must get a feeling which NPCs are dangerous, some you can kill with 2-5 T1 drones which don’t need high slots. Others you can just ignore, and some are a real threat which can’t be dealt with some additional turrets either.
PvP:
You want to fight? Fit your ship for fight according to your chosen tactics.
You want to survive? Speed tank and vigilance, your chances winning in an exploring fitted ship are very low if the opponent picks the fight.
A very valuable rule in EVE is that versatility in most cases is inferior to specialization, and if someone attacks you, you can be pretty sure that attacker is specialized.