First time posting so forgive my formatting and style of breakdown.
Before we can talk about enemy scaling we have to talk about enemy type, these are the following.
Human: The standard enemy in any game, in truth if you have played the game you already know all there is. However the sum of this enemy type is Numbers>Quality, unlike some games typically the answer in starfield is to make certain encounters more 'difficult' by sheer numbers. In certain outposts (Abandoned Mech Factory, Abandoned Robotics Lab, Research Lab) the number of active enemy combatants ranges from 5-14 enemies engaging me simultaneously, in some extremes I have had up to 20+(Including Robots) enemies crowding a hallway to attack me. The design is basic and has little to no difference from faction to faction, from UC Security to Pirates they will use similar if not the exact same weapons.
Robot: Industrial Robot A, Combat Robot A, Combat Robot S these are the most common (if not all) you will find in the Galaxy, there are a few exceptions with faction markings but identical bodies and armaments. The Combat boils down to out heal and face tank because the only goal for these robots is 'close the gap' and push even if alone. Now that wouldn't be a problem if they weren't unbelievable resilient on very hard and absolutely will not move back. This is actually something I am a big fan of, it makes sense to have these unfeeling machines charge and break the line. My only issue is their sheer rarity, they almost are never seen with factions unless it happens to be a robotics factory or special quest and even then they serve a minor roll and are almost never common enough for me to keep a Technician legendary on me.
Alien: I'll be honest there are very few reasons I enjoy the aliens in starfield, they lack any real means of attack, don't rush typically and are just fodder in all means of the word. Their design is lacking albeit vastly strange, their methods of attack are basic and merely an inconvenience and their names are just- odd. The only enemy I found was even fun was a swarming enemy in a level 75+ system that would constantly attack from every direction it felt like starship troopers and of course that is were I made my outpost. These types of enemies are either extremely powerful on attacks or do no damage, there is very little in-between that actually show any threat.
Starborn: Ah yes the Endgame enemies, the transcended that are above all and have the superior powers, weapons and absoletely dominate every fight. Bullet Sponges with the ability to heal, copy and use powers, their damage is a joke most of the time unless you happen to get a Melee one. Idk the melee starborn hit like trucks I don't understand myself. They are so rare i have had maybe 8? encounters with them and they were all from scripted events. I've never had a starborn attack naturally and when the events happen it is a very easy is albeit bullet costly fight. I wish these enemies were more common, aggressive and more consistent on damage.
Enemy Scaling: To my knowledge and from what I have seen around this is a mixed and somewhat hot topic, first and foremost the scaling in starfield is- quite literally atrocious and hinders the 'system leveling' heavily. In a level 75+ system you will encounter Level 1-110 enemies, as far as I have seen enemies do not scale past 110. It seems to be a cap on enemies, on very hard you will find 'legendary' enemies at level 1 and level 110. The level 1 obviously can be 1 tapped and the level 110 are absolute bullet sponges they do massive damage nearly killing me with 1 hit. (These enemies are aliens and not humans.) Aliens scale scale to 110, Humans scale to 98 (Pirate legend). When it comes to scaling the lack of enemies is 'made up' with sheer damage and tank.
Enemy 'Strategy': Enemies are less intelligent the higher level they are, Bold, Confident they walk into open fire and run into their own allies grenades, they never (almost never) heal and instead choose to push when nearly dead. A level 98 Pirate legend will charge with a sniper rifle and go into melee bashing when the gap was only a rooms length, while a level 20 pirate with a Beowulf will stay in cover and use grenades to flush you out, grenades, cover fire and the occasional pull back (if possible). they keep the gap which makes sense, use grenades from cover into mine and yet these Combat Veteran Legends would rather go into bashing and friendly grenades rather then using their Magsniper. If the enemy has elevation on you they will jump down from it, they below you? They will stay there, if they have even ground they will actively search lower ground when they had the advantage. On occasion when you rush a line the and you rapidly drop their numbers a handful will run back deeper into the POI and back into other allies regrouping and alerting them, it makes sense and I love this, it gives you a reason to be more specific on who to take out to keep from alerting everyone completely.
Ground Encounters: What encounters? Seriously I have had little to none, my Wanted Trait kicked in only once on the ground and it was in a preset location at an abandoned pipeline, The bounty hunters landed on the landing pad, asked me if I was their bounty(?) proceeded to attack and were wiped in about 30 seconds from being bunched up in a tower hallway. Immediately after I finished them I heard a ship I thought "Finally here are the reinforcements to come get me! I finally get to see the Wanted Trait to it's fullest!" The ship landed next to the bounty hunter ship and out came 10+ hunters. (More then the first Bounty Hunters), turns out these were Bounty Defenders, Dressed like an absolute mess, mixed faction armor all over and really- ugly to look at the sheer faction mix- spacer top, pirate helmet, ecliptic Boostpack. Beyond this I really wouldn't count ship landings and the occasional hunter or colonist a ground encounter.
Space Encounters & Scaling (Combat): I'm combining these because the space combat is a mess, I play on Very Hard and it boils down to this, Do you have asteroids? Do you have an Ally? Did the enemy spawn close or far from you? Can you spam F faster then you take damage? On Very Hard Space Combat is by far the most challenging feat I have faced in this game. If you are outnumbered by 1-2 enemies and they spawned far away you will lose most of the time, with maxed shields on the market, maxed weapons, maxed crew skills you will only survive if you charge head first and get lucky to take down a ship on every pass. If you can't destroy a ship in a single pass you will lose, you cannot win. A level 76 Ecliptic ship will destroy your shields on a single pass and likely heavily damage your hull. Space Combat is a challenge I welcome if only it wasn't so one sided. Even a level 10 Pirate ship can take down your shields in about 10-15 hits (1-2 Passes), if you have 4-7 enemies and no allies you are forced to run if no cover is available, it's extremely difficult but obviously not impossible. Scaling is weird, in a level 75+ system you will find level 20-76 ships. (loot will be discussed later), ship size varies slightly and there isn't too much to mention. (In my opinion the Wanted Trait is mandatory to keep any space jumping interesting because without it, there's nothing to do.)
Space Encounters (Friendly): Basic Breakdown
GalBank Ships = Not worth the bounty, Very Low Value (It's a transport for a bank, give them better value, the weapons and armor are worth more then the actual credits being transported)
Colonists = Extremely low Value, Terrible Traders, Nothing to Add Unless Pirate
Trade Authority Ships = Extremely Low Value, Low Credit Trades, Nothing to Buy (traders without enough credits to buy anything)
Grandma = Always Amazing
The Trader = S+ Gear, Superior Gear, Legendary Weapons, Armor, etc, Rare Ammo, High Credits (We need more traders like this)
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Overall Space Encounters are very lackluster, the occasional event will be new the problem is most of the time the same events occur as if the pilot is following me across the galaxy, some are good (The Valentine, Grandma, Bickering Couple, The Trader) others are very- boring. (Settlers asking for an obscure resources, Ship Repair parts, warning you about a useless threat you wish would attack, Charlie-3)
"Way Oh!, Out in the blackness, Way Oh!, Out in the void, Way Oh!, Give me back to my true love"
Weapon Scaling: Weapon Scaling is tricky, on one hand everyone wants more damage, on the other hand some enemies are very tanky. The weapon imbalance comes from the Enemy scaling issue A solvable solution may be a level 75+ planet ONLY spawned level 75+ enemies, it would be even better if enemies were either a max of 20 levels higher and 10 lower then the player. letting the perks still have a use. As a level 134 perks that raise the level cap on abilities are useless as no enemy will ever out level me (Unless it's The Hunter, Emissary or other special occasions.) The weapons in starfield are great in quality, some are very lacking (Rattler, Lawbringer, Coachman, Novablast, Negotiator, Microgun, Drum Beat, Big Bang, Shotty). Most of the issues come from sheer DPS and health of enemies, a Microgun will use 340+ rounds on a level 110 Legendary enemy to take it down while a burst on a lvl 98 Pirate Legend will melt them. Nova is useless unless you're rping pacifist(?), damage is skewed across the board, advanced simultaneously does too much and not enough. I don't have a solution to this so i cannot really give more feedback on this other then a full rebalance and rework. (Modders Pls)
Armor Scaling: I have played for 178 hours and have very little understanding of this system, I'm aware of the damage reduction but I would need to see some proper testing because an enemy can go from melting me to barely tapping my hp from a foot further away, Armor values are all over as well, Ecliptic a high end merc group has the worst armor in the game (or some of the worst) yet the pirates strap metal all over and paint their face visors yet have equal or better amor stats. Faction armor is a joke, Merc and Bounty Hunter is some of the best. (Starborn armor is great except you are stuck without a helmet, or boostpack and miss 6 legendary effects because of it.)
Loot Economy: We play to loot, we steal, rob and destroy for it. Starfield makes it feel pointless, kill a single high level Ecliptic Merc and you will get a Superior Spacesuit Ecliptic: 17,158, Superior Ecliptic Helmet: 4383, Calibrated Ecliptic Pack: 3,906, Advanced Beowulf: 12,124 = 37,571 This is inv value but still if its a fraction of this you will make more money in a single outpost then an entire questline. You can easily buy your way through the game, I have too much loot so I buy all ammo, resources and throwables from every vendor in hopes of getting rid of weapons. Ammo is extremely plentiful, creds are super inflated so everything is simultaneously extremely cheap and extensive, never buy armor, never buy weapons (Unless Named or Legendary), you never need to loot ammo caches, never need to make an outpost unless your XP crafting, high level pirate ships have about 6k creds for its destruction or just board it and get 30k in gear. Ships are the only credit sink and some of my ships have been 1 million in value. Contraband is an inconvenience rather then bonus, always have scan blockers or deception and get pennies for your risk.
Legendary loot: Typically boring, blue is everywhere, purple is extremely rare, legendries are absolutely impossible to get in high quality. A legendary 98 enemy will drop a calibrated hunters pack. Superior legendries are basically impossible from what I have gotten so far. It's really unfortunate too as getting loot anywhere but the predetermined high level areas is essentially impossible, why be on a level 1 or 20 system if the best is basic or calibrated? it makes quests boring because you know the loot and rewards are going to be very underwhelming. I'm not saying legendries should be more common, but if i am in a lvl 75+ system and attacking legendary enemies I should at least get advanced armor and not refined or calibrated.
Bounty Board: Reward is worthless, use it to find enemies. 9/10 times the enemy 'bounty' will be a low level pirate in an ecliptic base. The bounty will get killed long before you get to them, just clean the base and get the gear. That is all I have to say.
Endgame: Too easy, not enough challenge for ground combat, need legendary difficulty, compounding issues hurt it a lot. Level 75+ systems are your only home essentially and space encounters are extremely difficult due to the lack of shield and hull strength on your ship. Starborn are a myth (Too rare), the gear is typically poor, and superior armor is unbelievable rare even at level 134.
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Final Conclusion: I think the game has a lot of issues, yet I still enjoy it. There are moments I really like it but the compounding issues of the system and leveling really hurt the game, after level 40-50 you've unfortunately reached a soft cap. At level 110 you have reached the complete cap of enemies, they hurt, they are tanky and they will run you over if the game decides to calculate the damage correctly. If it doesn't however you can walk through some enemies and if you see anything under 50 just walk up to them double Solar Flare and walk away. Deal over 4k to an enemy you win, they get a lucky weapon (Microgun, Negotiator, Magpulse, Magshear) you better run and hide because they will shred your armor with bleed until you have nothing left. All in all I enjoy the game, not the best but I still enjoy it. I look forward to the modding community to fixing this, and a perk overhaul is needed heavily (Ordinator Please lol). If I am wrong about something or if there is something I don't know let me know, I'm trying to learn more about the game and the stats but info is very unreliable at best from everyone being a bit confused.