#1 NPC spawns are determined at random. Assassins, Archivists, Runners, Chargers, etc. are classed "Common" for a reason.
#2 Not completely sure what you mean here, but I had similar problems with finding Banes until just a couple days ago. Again, random spawning.
#3 Cloak vs Scan. Generally speaking, people of a higher rank than you will have enough scan to see past your ships cloak. Same with you finding lower ranks, your scan sees past their cloak. People tend to have enough cloak to defeat the scan of players of a similar rank. Want different ships on your tab? Tweak your scan up or down a little, it makes a big difference.
Hope this helps.
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[20:40] Wredz: just hacked a massive extremely rich minting planet from someone.. thats the best planet i ever hacked
[20:43] DarthFlagitious: is it spearmint or peppermint?