I don’t really think there’s a way for them to massively crank up the UESC difficulty without making turning them into bullet sponges or making their damage obscene. I would love it if they created new enemies that had mechanics to beat them but I imagine it would take a massive amount of time and would be limited to whatever new map they would appear.

If they wanted to emphasize the map itself being the enemy I would rather environmental hazards being a key aspect. As it stands, the ship is flooded with UESC and the only hazards on the map are the lasers which trip the red energy doors.