Hey all, I just started playing about a week or so ago and just wanted to give my initial feedback as a new player. I am in for the long run, as this game is really interesting, but there are some serious issues new players face right out of the gate.

Raiders
First, I want to say that each raider that I have played has felt very unique and has a place in the game world; that being said, I want to say something about the Fifth Council raiders. I don't mind them not sprinting, it makes sense, but why the heck do they also move 12% slower? Trying to get away from anything or get to objectives or even making jumps is already hard enough, the 12% movement decrease doesn't need to be there.

Missions
Most of these feel good, though spawns can be horribly inconsistent from run to run leading to some missions getting messy because of how the rng spawns decide to roll.

Match Making and Difficulty
Ok, so here is a big one. If I get into a mission with people around my rank everything usually goes pretty smoothly. However, if I get any prestige ranks with me then the difficulty spikes. I know this is due to the wonky matchmaking but it creates an issue where I can barely damage anything or help. This really isn't fair to me as it is aggravating unloading a full clip into a grunt and it not being dead, but getting two tapped and being in wounded from said grunt. This is also not fair to my teammates as they essentially have to carry me because the mission is outside of what I am able to do.

Antagonists
Again, if I get into a match with people around my level it is fun both ways. That usually isn't the case here. I have had many missions where I end up against a prestige 1, 3, 5 antag who can two tap me into wounded while I can unload a clip into their face and they aren't even at half health. This is due to the level difference, which higher levels you take less damage from player shots, and the forge level difference, since they have the opportunity to do more damage to me.  I shouldn't be put up against people who are make level with max forge weapons when I am only level 34 with as forge rank of 4.

Enemies and Bosses
Most enemies and bosses are designed pretty well and the different factions feel different enough. There is one problem though, and that is the Elite Assault units. The Officer and Sniper are fine and are fun to play against but the Assault are just hellish, especially if they decided to toss 3 of them, all with aleph at you. The reason why these are poorly designed is that they do one thing, rush you down and grapple. Which isn't bad, as grapples can be countered. However, since they can become immune you cannot counter their grapple and if it connects you are toast. Now, most say, "Just shoot them" which, yes, that works if you are playing mission on your level. But when I get paired with higher level players I can fill them full of bullets and they are still going. If they get close, due to grapple range, it is an exercise in frustration to get away, and if you are playing a Fifth Council character then you are pretty S.O.L. . Again, this is because they are immune to the only thing that counters grapple, which is a strike, and you cannot dodge a grapple, and if you have no other way to get away and cannot get them in wounded before that grapple starts you are just dead. This is terrible design as it give the player very little agency in these situations and is horribly frustrating. My suggestion is to not make them immune to melee when they aleph charge, but maybe move faster and hit harder instead. I am sure there are other options that can make them fun to play against like the other Elite units and less cheap.

Resources and Crafting
Just gunna say it: everything is pretty stupid expensive, and after your first few games of the day you really don't get anything for your time. So it feels pretty unrewarding to play past the 5 games a day (4 daily and 1 pot game). Since weapon parts are rng there are parts I never have received (I have yet to see a special mag, yet have gotten everything else). Since weapon parts seem pretty scarce and I cannot test weapons beforehand, it makes weapon crafting pretty intimidating because I feel I have to get it right on the first try since resources are so low.
Gold is used for everything, and things can get quite expensive. I never really feel like I am getting enough, especially if I want to get a raider like Ayana and then build a weapon for her. Later on, once I have all or most of the raiders this may not be an issue, but starting out it is pretty bad.

Conclusion
Over all, Spacelords is a fun game with great bones and interesting systems but it feels like it needs a ton of polish. I can see why new players would be pushed away from the game as it can feel stupid punishing for new players to jump into and that really shouldn't be the case. From expensive systems that you are supposed to experiment with, to matches that can be too difficult with players that are not on your level, to certain enemies that feel cheap and punishing, there is a lot to work on. Though, I am hopeful that things will get fixed because there is something very unique about the game.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and thank you MS for this truly unique game.

N.B. I am in no way trying to sound negative about the game! I just wanted to point out problems that I was faced with starting out in the hopes that it would be of help. I do really enjoy Spacelords and am interested to see where it goes. Here is to hoping my climb to max level isn't a slog! (I am also thinking of doing a half-way-there addition to this  and then another look once I hit max level to see the difference from each perspective.)