Holy smokes! I absolutely blitz most npcs with even level 2 engineered multicannons. I used to struggle against even expert craft, but last night, I took out 2 FAS with my Python mk2, one deadly and the other expert, in like less than a minute. And i had upgraded my thrusters to dirty drives and i just flew circles around them.
I knew engineering was strong, but this is wild. Honestly, the only thing that gave me trouble were high ranked snub craft, like the Vulture.
I started playing ED on playstation. Then I switched to PC and still use a PS controller. It just flies best with 2 stick imo. You can also additionally use a keyboard. (I use the default controller key binding layout + added only 2 or 3 keyboard buttons myself)