Alright so... I know there has been a lot of grumpiness going around lately with the new AI+NPC Ship updates. That being said I'm still new to this game, so I'll describe what just happened and maybe some of you more experienced CMDRs could offer some insight as to what I could do differently in the future.
I'm hanging around one of the systems near the starting area, pretty much all I've been doing since I began playing about two weeks ago is Bounty Hunt and Explore. This morning I read about the Community event going on in Ngolibardu so I thought I would make my way out there and give Open another shot since my previous experience with it was uh... not fun.
So I equip an Eagle to boost its jump range and plot a route, something like 35 jumps to get there in this clearly not long jump oriented ship but hey I've got a good podcast to listen to so off I go.
I'm 22 jumps in, 13 jumps remaining. I hadn't yet found a system with a dock which I thought odd, but I figured what the hell things have been quiet so far I'll hopefully make it without incident.
At Jump 23, into a system that had nothing in it but the star, before I can reorient to my next jump location and charge FSD I get Interdicted by either an Imperial Clipper or an Imperial Courier, I can't quite tell the difference yet at long range. I throttle to 0 to submit as I have no cargo, didn't even have cargo racks.
As I drop from supercruise my heat shoots up to 120% like I didn't submit, within the next 5-7 seconds (faster than I could reorient and target my attacker) I was blown up. Back to the beginning of my planned route with a relatively small rebuy.
What happened? I left that encounter feeling like I just got aimbotted in a first person shooter. I had zero chance to do anything other than die. I've been Bounty Hunting and Exploring at a ratio of probably 85%/15% favoring Bounty Hunting. Granted I have only gone into normal and High RES, and Nav Beacons. I've never seen anything that could blow up a ship with its shields up and full hull that fast. Is that just normal and to be expected? Some random NPC is going to ruin my day instantly?
I'm not trying to come here and whine for sympathy, I'm just trying to understand if this is to be expected. Is there some huge enemy skill jump that I haven't hit yet in the bit of Bounty Hunting I've done? How can I counter this type of attack?