I don't think it would help to add a glowing circle around the ship would help. Also, when I really need to avoid enemy bullets, I kinda disregard aiming whatsoever. I guess that's why bullet hells are usually SHMUPs with fixed aiming direction.
I could make them oblong and different colours, but I also can't see how it would help. Also, I'd rather keep them the same red/orange colour, cause this differentiates them from player's bullets.
It could be useful, yes, as long as the player knows which keys to hold to move modifiers around, but I actually had to add keyboard controls to UI elements of a web app at work, and, surprisingly enough, it turned out to be a pain in the ass, so I'd rather keep it as it is.
Actually, I agree. If you have a weapon that will make the absorber create tons of mini chasers, you can also use it to dispatch them.
Bombers already do change their sprites to a cracked one when their health falls below a certain threshold, cause I thought that it was important for the player to know that they' about to explode, but I didn't think about adding a similar thing to other enemies. Yeah, I could see use in that.
You're right, I fixed it.
I'm going to add a settings menu with key bindings, so this won't be an issue.