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Author Topic: pirating aint easy  (Read 3584 times)

allegretto2500

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pirating aint easy
« on: August 04, 2019, 07:39:43 PM »

for a game loaded with battle mechanics the only way to stay afloat with supplies and money is to trade and find a planet that's worthy of a class 5 survey. there should be a new mode with new rules for people that want their pew-pew-pews.
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intrinsic_parity

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #1 on: August 04, 2019, 09:30:56 PM »

I make most of my money hunting bounties, so you can definitely make money that way.
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allegretto2500

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #2 on: August 04, 2019, 10:39:37 PM »

I just killed 2 bounty fleets but didn't get credited my money. how do I collect?
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Goumindong

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #3 on: August 04, 2019, 10:44:27 PM »

You get the money as soon as you finish the battle that kills the ship of the leader of the fleet. You might not have even noticed
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allegretto2500

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #4 on: August 04, 2019, 11:36:47 PM »

plus you have to be in coms distance of civilization. I got paid once I entered civilized space.
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Goumindong

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #5 on: August 05, 2019, 02:03:11 AM »

Ahh yes its probe missions you get paid immediately for. Forgot that bounties didnt get the same treatment.
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isyourmojofly

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #6 on: August 05, 2019, 03:46:01 AM »

Try hitting high-value convoys in hyperspace. Drug and weapon smugglers are relatively easy prey, and faction convoys can often have juicy cargo too. You still have to sell it, of course, but it's very lucrative and a lot of fun!
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Terenin

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #7 on: August 05, 2019, 10:08:10 AM »

I've done a LOT of pirating on and off other plays trying to make it work. I've found out a few things...

* No-one is your friend, not even the one's who are ambivalent about your existence. Do not rely on them, but do *NOT* initiate hostilities with them either, you have more than enough enemies.

* Raiding around on system is rarely worth it, you are burning supplies trying to poach the small patrols or fleets while dodging the big ones. Move around, and get good at being PATIENT while looking for good opportunity targets.

* Talking big opportunity targets, low-defense colonies run by people who don't like you (most people) are usually soft enough for you to raid, often repeatedly, until you have filled your folds with goods. Get those to your nearest pirate base or otherwise 'friendly' non-pirate base as soon as you can, though you will have to smuggle your loot to their black markets to get any decent pay-out.

* Be picky with your ships. I've tried the 'horde of weak pirate ships' myself and it's the absolutely opposite of cost-efficient. These ships bloat your fleet, costs you more crew, fuel and supplies, and often are D-mod barely-floating wrecks you picked up somewhere. It's tempting, but unless it's a very cost effective hull (and you will find out what those are as you get more experience, or whatever conforms to your doctrine) break it for salvage and thanks pappa Khorne for the free supplies and materials.

* Hoard your weapons in whatever pirate base you name your home. Do NOT sell them unless you know for absolutely sure you don't want them, they generally are not worth much and will serve better being fitted to the replacements for the losses you will inevitably suffer.

* Be paranoid. There are a *LOT* of people out to get you - especially if you actually manage to be effective - and the WILL find you unless you are good at getting gone at the first sign of trouble.

* Be a prick. You are not looking for fair fights, you are looking to survive as the most hated individual in the sector - raid that planet when the chance presents itself, wipe out that small patrol and do salvage their best military hardware for yourself, DO extort money from that fleet out mining, or salvaging, or anything. Remember, money does not take cargo-space, and free money you don't have to fight for if effectively worth twice as much as it won't be used to pay for replacement assets.

* Finally, remember that sometimes hard work does pay off, and might even get a few choice people off your butt so you won't have to feel them breathing down your neck all day long. If a particular faction is giving you to much grief and you think you can take it, do go off and kill that bounty they want dead - so long as it's not another pirate, that would be a poor choice indeed. If you do enough dirty-work for them not only will they pay your your hard earned blood-money, not only will you be able to salvage the very ships that bothered them so much, but they will even improve standing with you, if only a little every time. Also, choosing to NOT raid their stuff - anymore - and making life hard for those OTHER folks who hate you and who happen to be hated by this faction, will help you too. ESPECIALLY if you manage to invade and TAKE one of their worlds, then gift it to that faction...

Finally, always remember - you are looking out for number 1 - by whatever means you can. The sector don't care about you and you don't care about them.

Now if only I was better at following my own advice :D
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Yes, I did change avatar and sig before I did anything else. I have not had the pleasure of being on a forum in years.

Flying Birdy

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #8 on: August 05, 2019, 01:22:27 PM »

FYI OP, combat on just about any target is not designed to be super profitable. Without any salvage skills, combat on random targets that don't give bounties or potential trade convoy loot is supposed to be only barely profitable. This means that if you pick a terrible, no bounty, no trade good target, you'll probably lose money. If you pick a bad target that's too strong and lose ships, you'll lose money overall. If you deploy too many ships than the battle warrants, your recovery costs will be high and you'll lose more money. There's a lot of ways to lose money via battle.

So basically, as a beginner pirate who just wants to blow things up, make sure to only attack
1. trade convoy or smugglers with high-value goods (you can see what they carry in the dialogue screen).
2. ships in systems with bounties
3. Posted bounty targets that aren't 500000 light years away

If you want to be indiscriminate galactic scum and blow up everything you see, make sure to get "Field Repairs" and "Safety Procedures" and put "Reinforced bulkheads" on all your ships. This makes just about any battle profitable.
1. Field repairs lowers maintenance costs on damaged ships, which you'll get plenty of since you blow things up.
2. Safety procedure increases the combat readiness of ships you recover/capture. This is incredibly important because the scuttle and sell value of a captured ship is dependent on its combat readiness. A captured cruiser with 0 combat readiness might only scuttle for like 15 supplies, but with safety procedures it might scuttle for over 50+ supplies.
3. Reinforced Bulkheads makes all ships with it recoverable if they are lost. You can imagine why this might be useful if you fight a lot.
« Last Edit: August 05, 2019, 01:26:16 PM by Flying Birdy »
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isyourmojofly

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #9 on: August 14, 2019, 02:17:29 AM »

Is recovering a ship then scuttling it any better than just salvaging the wreck in the first place?
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Paul_Kauphart

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #10 on: August 14, 2019, 02:24:32 AM »

No, if you're going to scuttle a ship, don't bother recovering it. Recovering ship is only interesting if you actually intend to use it. I don't even thing recovering ships to sell them is all that interesting, but I could be wrong, never did the math, it's just that ship (and weapons) sells for such a low price that I'd rather keep them in storage for when I might want to use them.
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SCC

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Re: pirating aint easy
« Reply #11 on: August 14, 2019, 02:37:25 AM »

You don't get more resources for recovering then scuttling a ship, than just immediately salvaging. Recovering ships to sell them is not profitable, either.