Hmmm…so first, last. The frequency of attack is a bug they are working out. I found the pirates only slightly more difficult but I am using a controller and holding down LB now locks me onto the target which can make it easier or more difficult…I ended up blasting a freighter once due to target lock locking onto a pirate on the other side of the Freighter…
- You can grab a freighter which serves as a base, in fact, I kept getting the base icon on my Freighter which I do not recall ever seeing before. I assume they did not want us to build a base until after the end, however, there are some bases throughout the route. People must have save edited themselves a BC.
As for the rest of it, it is being discussed here Datamining (Maximum Spoilers) with the last dozen or so posts being relevant, I think everyone is still working it out…