Contract problems

There are certain contracts that I have a lot of difficulty completing.

 

Since the recent patches, I have found it impossible to get any progress on “The Emperor’s Blessing” (Assist the destruction of 5 ships by boosting allies’ hull resistance).

 

I used to get it fairly easily using my Katana, but now don’t make any progress, even when getting loads of buff assists.  Does it now require use of an EMpire command, or has there been some change to how the assists are recognised?

 

 

Secondly, I’ve always had difficulty with the “Destroy ships attacking our beacons” contracts, often getting little or no progress even when I make lots of kills or assists while defending a beacon.  What counts as “attacking our beacon” for the purpose of the contract?

The enemy you kill must be allowed to cap your beacon before killing him to get the contract, you know you have done it right if u got 2x points for the kill/assist

Thanks.  What about The Emperor’s Blessing, though?  Has that changed, or am I doing something wrong without realising?

They don’t have to actually finish the Cap. They just need to start the Cap, and then kill them in a short time frame.