Ok, so one of the components of this game is pvp (for the uninitiated this means Player Versus Player). This is where you fight, disable, raid, or hack other people's ships. You can certainly go through the game as a peaceful merchant or traveler, but sometimes when you don't look for the boogeyman - the boogeyman comes looking for you. SO, expect to be shot at every now and then. But here are some tips to either reduce getting attacked and some tips on attacking better ;P

How to not be attacked as much.

1 - keep in mind always that attackers look at 3 things. Opponents ATTACK POWER, DEFENSE, AND LEGION SIZE
2 - as they always say, a good defense is a good offense. So put on a few weapons, and get that attack power up a bit. And the only way to really see a persons attack power is to use the spy probe-weapons artifact, and I don't see people using these much. And unless they have all the guns and their power ratings written down beside them, they tend to not know how powerful each weapon on a ship is. Sometimes you can bluff by a bunch of weapons that are lower grade, so when a person scans you they see (7 weapons installed) and its enough for them to move to the next possible victim.
2 - Put on Shield improvements before hull improvements. That way it takes them longer to go through the shield before they get to the hull. Remember shields regen on own, hulls cost you money to rebuild. Don't forget about the artifact that doubles your shield for a full day. That is a great item if you happen to be in a spot where you are getting attacked alot. Sometimes they can just run their energy dry attacking through shields.
3 - artifacts. Don't let those nice Ship traps go to waste. Put them on, they last for a whole week. And there is an artifact that will make someone not be able to attack for 4 hours (omicron net).
4 - have a good sized legion. someone attacks you? alert the dogs of war. If someone gets pounded after attacking you, they'll get the hint.
5 - NEW COMMS on ships. You can ask them to leave you alone (who knows, it might work ;P)
6 - Someone hits you alot? Invite them to your legion. This helps in a number of ways: They will leave you alone, makes your legion bigger, and also this person has proved they like fighting so when you put an alert out on someone else they'll go attack em for you. Use the bully against the bully.
7 - Cloaking devices - Equip them. If you have good enough cloaking, you won't show up on the battle list for most people. Unless their scanning is high and afaik most people don't run around with scanners on (they are too big and expensive to keep)
8 - Don't hack, fight, raid anyone else. Do unto others as you wish them to do unto you.

Guide to Better Battle

1) GUNS and ARMOR my friends. GUNS AND ARMOR.
2) artifacts - you can use as many artifacts as you want before or during a battle as long as its not the same one. Throw on a Shield booster (1 day), use defense booster (short duration), throw on an attack booster (short duration), keep those traps on in case of retaliation.
3) Spread the love (or hate as the case may be). Don't hit the same people over and over. They will get tired of it and get others to beat the snot out of you over and over (this will lower your combat reputation).
4) If you are already hitting someone might as well hack em after they are down ;P
5) Want to be deceptively strong, spend rank points (god forbid not in decks) on tactical officers and helmsmen. Would only only only do this if you truly want to be a battle a lot or most of the time (otherwise see all my other posts about only putting rank points in decks and cargo). This way when others see your guns, they don't take into account your extra attack power and defense hiding in the crew.
6) You will be a better fighter if you decide to level slower. This is because deck space is at a premium, so instead of wasting space with trivial things like reactors and relays (which increase your energy size and recharge rate), you can put on more guns, more armor, more death. Also since you are leveling slower, you will be getting better geared for your level. Because even though you are leveling slower your research is still chugging away at the same speed.
7) Research the right trees - Advanced weapons, advanced shield systems, defensive systems.

Hacking (most here will be rehash of dev's post)

1) read the developers post about it viewtopic.php?f=4&t=32
2) don't forget success has to do with combined cloak and scanning. so keep some scanners on as well as cloaks if you want to succeed AND if you want to foil others from succeeding.
3) Use artifacts if needed - ones that lower cloaking and scanning of enemy.
4) If you see a person disabled ALL THE TIME DAY IN AND DAY OUT? He probably quit. But his research is still climbing and is usually full because he's not spending it. This way you have a good source to get research (and hopefully a good planet) from while not having to worry about retaliation.
5) Make sure you ARE prepared for retaliation. Getting hacked pisses people off, especially if you do it over and over (so spread the love to others). Keep your guns on full, your shields charged, and keep those cloaks and scanners so they can't hack you back.
6) Remember a person doesn't have to be disabled to be hacked, so they may not notice the little bit of research missing.

Raiding (again most will be rehash of the dev's post)

1) read the developers post about it viewtopic.php?f=4&t=33
2) Most important thing about raiding is this - crew size - if you spent rank points on crew members raid. if you didn't, don't. its that simple.
3) Failure can mean the death of a crew member.
4) Most of the time you will find nothing unless you get a critical success. Most people don't keep minerals in their cargo space. they receive the minerals then sell it right after. So hope for a crit and get an artifact.
5) ship must be disabled first. So either expect them to be doubly pissed because you disabled then raided, or just raid the people others have disabled.
6) atm I advise not raiding because the risks FAR outway the rewards. But the final choice is up to you.

On #4 under hacking, how would you see the same guy everday? Everytime I leave the battle tab and come back there's a completeley different set of guys I can attack.

you use the link from your news log, or from sharing with legion members who then share back to you.

every time you leave your log and come back it will rescan for people that you can see. if you don't see the same person. recycle again and you may ;P Each time you enter the battle tab (either by leaving it to another tab and coming back or by attacking/raiding/hacking a person) and come back to it, the game will rescan people your level and pick people to be on the list of 10 people to attack. It will change per time because you may have scanned someone with a some cloaking you missed last time. Everything is chance and roll of the dice. But just move from the battle tab and back a few times. Chances are, you'll see that guy again ;P

bump for awesomeness