Has anyone else just been jumped by a load of pirates?

Up till now I've been trading until I could put together money for a Falcon and some decent weapons so I could go cruising for some bounties and earn some serious cash.

Since then it's happened several times where I'd go and investigate one of the system signal sources and wound up being splashed by overwhelming numbers of enemies.

Now I don't mind a game that challenges me as a player. But in these cases it just felt like the game decided to push a big YOU LOSE button and blew me out of the sky.

In all of these cases I literally (and I do mean literally) watched my ship blow up in 5-10 seconds with no chance to fight or jump away from the threat.

Has anyone else had the same experiences?
 
Don't jump into strong signal sources (SSS) on your own, go in a wing, or an 350million combat anaconda if you do want to go on your own. Stick to USS or WSS and you'll be fine.
 
Last edited:
Don't jump into strong signal sources (SSS) on your own, go in a wing, or an 350million combat anaconda if you do want to go on your own. Stick to USS or WSS and you'll be fine.
i bet even a 350m conda cant haddle 4 angry elite volture npcs on SSS :D
 
yeah, i just priced up a combat conda since that post for fun, 500 million, and i still havent finished lol.
 
Last edited:
I'll jump into a strong source with my clipper. Sometimes it is the obvious gold bait...I just turn and leave. Other times it is a couple anacondas from the local defense force. My favorite is when there are pirates and bounty hunters going at it. It is usually all Vultures with a couple FDLs...I just find the pirate wings under attack and rake in the 40 - 50 k bounties on the vultures with some BH assist.

Finally, there is the strong source that just jumps you with like 8 vultures and a couple FDLs...it is pretty easy to spot as they start messaging you with some pre-attack snark. With the clipper, it is pretty trivial to just high tail it out of there before they can even land a shot.
 
Up till now I've been trading until I could put together money for a Falcon and some decent weapons so I could go cruising for some bounties and earn some serious cash.

Since then it's happened several times where I'd go and investigate one of the system signal sources and wound up being splashed by overwhelming numbers of enemies.

Now I don't mind a game that challenges me as a player. But in these cases it just felt like the game decided to push a big YOU LOSE button and blew me out of the sky.

In all of these cases I literally (and I do mean literally) watched my ship blow up in 5-10 seconds with no chance to fight or jump away from the threat.

Has anyone else had the same experiences?

There are 3 types of signals, WSS (weak signal source), USS (Unidentified signal source) and SSS (Strong signal source).

You had that experience in a SSS. Thats for wings really.

Stay with the other signals and all will be ok.
 
To give an SSS a go solo you need to either be an exceptional pilot, or have a properly "A" kitted FDL, Python, or Anaconda. I've managed to win several times in both the FDL and Python, but still just use my Anaconda for trading, but I'm sure a nicely battle fitted Conda would be more than equal to the task.

The AI in the SSS scenarios isn't all that special. Take out a few ships and the rest just kinda roll over and wait for you to kill them. Easy money.
 
Up till now I've been trading until I could put together money for a Falcon and some decent weapons so I could go cruising for some bounties and earn some serious cash.

Since then it's happened several times where I'd go and investigate one of the system signal sources and wound up being splashed by overwhelming numbers of enemies.

Now I don't mind a game that challenges me as a player. But in these cases it just felt like the game decided to push a big YOU LOSE button and blew me out of the sky.

In all of these cases I literally (and I do mean literally) watched my ship blow up in 5-10 seconds with no chance to fight or jump away from the threat.

Has anyone else had the same experiences?

Ok. I give up. What is a Falcon?
 
Up till now I've been trading until I could put together money for a Falcon and some decent weapons so I could go cruising for some bounties and earn some serious cash.

Since then it's happened several times where I'd go and investigate one of the system signal sources and wound up being splashed by overwhelming numbers of enemies.

Now I don't mind a game that challenges me as a player. But in these cases it just felt like the game decided to push a big YOU LOSE button and blew me out of the sky.

In all of these cases I literally (and I do mean literally) watched my ship blow up in 5-10 seconds with no chance to fight or jump away from the threat.

Has anyone else had the same experiences?


I recently jumped in a strong USS with dozens of pirate ships. Never seen that before. When I attacked one all hell broke lose, but I expected that to happen and got away without too much trouble.
Sometimes Strong Signal Sources are doable for single Cmdrs. These SSS's can even be peaceful, like for example a fleet of Imperial or Federal ships, but very often there are some nasty surprises, like a group of pirates in FDL, or a bunch of Anaconda pirates.
 
Up till now I've been trading until I could put together money for a Falcon and some decent weapons so I could go cruising for some bounties and earn some serious cash.

Since then it's happened several times where I'd go and investigate one of the system signal sources and wound up being splashed by overwhelming numbers of enemies.

Now I don't mind a game that challenges me as a player. But in these cases it just felt like the game decided to push a big YOU LOSE button and blew me out of the sky.

In all of these cases I literally (and I do mean literally) watched my ship blow up in 5-10 seconds with no chance to fight or jump away from the threat.

Has anyone else had the same experiences?


happened to me as well in a poorly outfitted eagle. i found some gold cannisters at a "strong signal source" and went after them , they had me fooled and i was smiling ear to ear like i just got lucky. maybe 4 to 5 eagles and sidewinders popped up after an unsuccesful attempt to scoop up the gold. i paniced and didnt do so well- BUT it was fun and i learned several valuable rookie "Elite lessons" - like , "No such thing as free gold".
well played elite NPCs, next time will be different.
 
I have noticed in the last few days, NPC interdictors seem to have become more aggressive and smarter. Today one pulled me out of warp, that was followed immediately by an attack by two of them, one firing pulse weapons, the other firing missiles rapidly. Seemed to me a new tactic that i have only seen in PVP combat, get shields down, then throw a bunch of missiles in an attempt to smash the hull. This tactic by NPC took me by surprise, i wonder if FD have covertly made them more aggressive and intelligent?
 
Last edited:
Yep... looks something like this, though only 8 Vultures in this wing. If (big IF) you can separate them, you have a chance to win the fight. As mentioned, better have some serious upgrades, multiple SCB's, boosters, etc. I'm currently running 3 paired sets of class 6 & 5 SCB's (Conda) and I think 5 A0 boosters, class 8A power and distributor.


SSS Vulture1.jpg
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom