Odd combat change

[Wounder]

I hit level 10 and began to notice something... I could strip shields down just as quickly as ever, but hulls suddenly took dramatically longer than either the shields or any previous hull. Order of magnitude longer. The ships look roughly the same as previous ships (it would be nice to get entries in a log about ship details in fights... maybe tied to a skill?), so I'm curious if I'm missing something basic.

I tried buying a new weapon, but none of what I can afford or have the ability to equip seems to make any noteworthy difference. I only have a red and yellow weapon slot (energy and ballistic, if I recall correctly), if that makes any difference.

Thanks for the help!