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Guide / Tutorial Patriarch's Guide to Piracy
- Thread starter Patriarch
- Start date
Granted, and that is a valid tactic to pirating. The guide itself is meant to be a guideline and not an "end all be all". I know many who use that tactic and live by it.
The reason I my choice is limpets is the ease of use in a varied amount of circumstances. They can be used whether I am on their six, fast head-on fly by, or even when they are behind me and I have no visual. Useful for smaller faster ships. I have even used them while under fire and actively evading a targets fighter escort or law enforcement. Also when pirating I am also looking for bounties on larger ships such at drop ships, type 9s, pythons, and condas. Using limpets on these ships allows me to focus on their power plants and not their hatches so it is really easy to whittle them down while I bleed them as I am no longer trying to shoot out their hatch but instead getting them near death. I will then hold fire and just use limpets if I have not expelled enough cargo for my fill. When enough cargo is spilled, if they continue to actively fight me, if I hear "Frame shift drive detected", or just tire of the situation then it takes one or two shots and "Boom". Time to collect at my leisure.
Also if feel that limpets used in pvp is far more recognizable as an act of piracy then shooting out someones hatch.
In the end though it is all personal preferences as well as situational. The reason it is not in the guide is because I don't do it, I am no where near an expert at that tactic, and it is somewhat hypocritical if I were to write a guide on how to do it as it would not be from personal experience.
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Your Welcome. Its good to hear that I could assist in your pursuit of your fortunes.
I own a stock Sidewinder and a Hauler for trading, but I just started pirating in a Viper (yes I know, not recommended) for a change of pace and it's been a lot of fun. It hasn't been all too profitable for me but I care more about having fun than making money. However I have a few questions you might be able to help me out with. For some background, my Viper has a Cargo Scanner, Frame Shift Wake Scanner (I thought I would use it but I haven't really yet), Limpet Controller, and FSD Interdictor (SO much fun to use), and I try to only interdict CMDR's unless I'm feeling bored. Also I have 2 fixed lasers and 2 gimballed multicannons.
1. Is there anything I can say to other CMDR's that will get the point across and get them to stay still and submit, and is 100 characters or less so I can paste it? I started out with "Stay still while I scan you" which didn't work almost ever, and then recently yesterday I switched to a message like "Cut throttle and no supercruising. Submit and you live. I will scan and we'll go from there..." and it's worked a little bit better. Usually after I scan I'll tell them to jettison their cargo or I'll jettison it for them. Do you find that they will almost always run, or is there something you can say or mention that will really reach them and get them to submit to your will? Or are they just ignoring me because I'm 'Harmless' in combat?
2. I try not to kill people when I don't need to, but usually if I do it's because they run or because after their cargo is actually ejected (by any means) they stick around. Is there anything I can tell them that will get them to flee as quickly as possible? I'm thinking maybe a curt "Get out of here now or you're space dust".
3. Have you personally ever practically used a Frame Shift Wake Scanner? Also if you were to remove it from my Viper what would you replace it with, or would you not replace it with anything?
4. If my combat skill is less than desirable, but still ok with my loadout, what ships do you think I stand a chance against (assuming average/meta loadouts and stats and whatnots for target ships)? I currently take on Haulers or Sidewinders because i'm not confident enough for bigger targets and also lack the cargo space to make full use of all the cargo anything bigger could drop.
Thanks in advance for the help.
1. Is there anything I can say to other CMDR's that will get the point across and get them to stay still and submit, and is 100 characters or less so I can paste it? I started out with "Stay still while I scan you" which didn't work almost ever, and then recently yesterday I switched to a message like "Cut throttle and no supercruising. Submit and you live. I will scan and we'll go from there..." and it's worked a little bit better. Usually after I scan I'll tell them to jettison their cargo or I'll jettison it for them. Do you find that they will almost always run, or is there something you can say or mention that will really reach them and get them to submit to your will? Or are they just ignoring me because I'm 'Harmless' in combat?
2. I try not to kill people when I don't need to, but usually if I do it's because they run or because after their cargo is actually ejected (by any means) they stick around. Is there anything I can tell them that will get them to flee as quickly as possible? I'm thinking maybe a curt "Get out of here now or you're space dust".
3. Have you personally ever practically used a Frame Shift Wake Scanner? Also if you were to remove it from my Viper what would you replace it with, or would you not replace it with anything?
4. If my combat skill is less than desirable, but still ok with my loadout, what ships do you think I stand a chance against (assuming average/meta loadouts and stats and whatnots for target ships)? I currently take on Haulers or Sidewinders because i'm not confident enough for bigger targets and also lack the cargo space to make full use of all the cargo anything bigger could drop.
Thanks in advance for the help.
Strange Orange, you should join a pirate group. Most of us won't tell you all our secrets on the open forums for all the traders to see
I would, however, recommend upgrading to a Cobra asap. It has good cargo space, it packs a punch and it isn't too expensive. Piracy is not as lucrative as some other professions.
Also, heat seeker missiles are a good idea. The psychological effect when you eat through their non-compliant hull like a shark bites through a row boat cannot be underestimated. Especially if the non-compliant CMDR has flown halfway across the galaxy with a hold full of rares.
I would, however, recommend upgrading to a Cobra asap. It has good cargo space, it packs a punch and it isn't too expensive. Piracy is not as lucrative as some other professions.
Also, heat seeker missiles are a good idea. The psychological effect when you eat through their non-compliant hull like a shark bites through a row boat cannot be underestimated. Especially if the non-compliant CMDR has flown halfway across the galaxy with a hold full of rares.
I've tried a bit of pirating now and then, up to now exclusively on NPCs. Even then I find it to be the 'profession' requiring the most skill and planning, but being the most exciting as well.
But I still don't feel very confident. Things I could need some heads up with:
1. Which systems promise the best yields? Apart from those that produce rares... Which kind of economies do you prefer? Richer systems are better than poorer I presume..
2. Is there anything I can do to influence the time until the police shows up? Apart from anarchy systems? Do lower security systems have slower police?
3. If I don't use limpets what are the best ways to blast the cargo bay open? To my experience it's lasers, not gimballed.
4. And.. this might sound silly... cargo scooping. No matter how big your ship is, you still have to pick up the cargo ton by ton. And you are on a time limit, because the police will arrive of the canisters might disintegrate. Is there any art one can learn to line them up cleverly.
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!
But I still don't feel very confident. Things I could need some heads up with:
1. Which systems promise the best yields? Apart from those that produce rares... Which kind of economies do you prefer? Richer systems are better than poorer I presume..
2. Is there anything I can do to influence the time until the police shows up? Apart from anarchy systems? Do lower security systems have slower police?
3. If I don't use limpets what are the best ways to blast the cargo bay open? To my experience it's lasers, not gimballed.
4. And.. this might sound silly... cargo scooping. No matter how big your ship is, you still have to pick up the cargo ton by ton. And you are on a time limit, because the police will arrive of the canisters might disintegrate. Is there any art one can learn to line them up cleverly.
Thanks in advance for sharing your experience!
Vakex
Banned
This right here sir, you summed that up perfectly, simply, and intelligently. I wish more "kids" in Elite understood this. The few times when I do pirate, I ONLY pirate players, and this is how I behave unless provoked to a point where I have to kill the player in order to not die myself. I consider it an honorable, if nefarious, profession, and strangely enough, the other 95% of the time, I am a "murderer hunter". Why not pirate hunter? Good pirates aren't worth anything, for the exact reasons you specified. However, fake pirates, rather through straight up murdering, demanding cargo then murdering the person anyways (so disgustingly dishonorable, and shows they don't have a pair) or... the unfortunately extremely prevalent now, (player that murders/pirates/attacks/etc people and combat logs/alt F4s when they are about to lose...) type of people all have extremely high bounties. Rather that is from skill/no skill/exploiting the game doesn't matter... I hunt them.
Again, very well said. cheers to you fine sir, you are a gentleman and a scholar.
''Lastly I believe that if a trader should die during an attempted piracy, then fault does not lie with the trader no matter what actions they took, but with the pirate and the pirate alone. I know there are many will may disagree with me here, but a dead trader is a clear sign that a pirate really does not know what he is doing or why he is doing it. ''
I agree with everything you said, except this. There has to be a cosequence for trying to run without dropping some of that nice cargo. When your victim has dropped some cargo, you can and should let him go. thats good for buisness. If he didnt and tries to run, He/she should realise that is not without danger. The next time, this person will think twice to run, and drop some of that cargo a little quicker perhaps.
Yes piracy should not be griefing , I never liked that either. But pirates are still bad people and far from from cuddely.
Nevertheless , good post..
yarrr
I agree with everything you said, except this. There has to be a cosequence for trying to run without dropping some of that nice cargo. When your victim has dropped some cargo, you can and should let him go. thats good for buisness. If he didnt and tries to run, He/she should realise that is not without danger. The next time, this person will think twice to run, and drop some of that cargo a little quicker perhaps.
Yes piracy should not be griefing , I never liked that either. But pirates are still bad people and far from from cuddely.
Nevertheless , good post..
yarrr
Ok, i tried piracy.
I managed to destroy my targets hatch, but no cargo is dropped...what did i do wrong??
He had several containers Palladium on board, my scanner told me..
I managed to destroy my targets hatch, but no cargo is dropped...what did i do wrong??
He had several containers Palladium on board, my scanner told me..
If you destroy the hatch it ceases to function and won't drop cargo. You need to take the hatch down 10-20% at a time and see if it starts dropping. Once it starts dropping stop shooting until it finishes dropping you can then continue shooting until it drops again or breaks.
It's a bit random so if you're shooting a smaller ship make sure you're targeting accurately or you could destroy the ship by mistake.
Cool, thanks i'll try that!
Great, I was having the same problem, I'll ease off the trigger next time. Thanks.
I can't wait until piracy is buffed! The removal of the 20t limit, the buff of the Hatch Breaker and the declaration of piracy will make this game so much better. Also:
-Removal of weird flailing during cargo scan
-NPCs carry appropriate amount of cargo for their size. No more T7s and T9s carrying 40t, that's ridiculous.
-Removal of weird flailing during cargo scan
-NPCs carry appropriate amount of cargo for their size. No more T7s and T9s carrying 40t, that's ridiculous.
I have read several guides on piracy and they all start saying you should go to an Anarchy system because there you won't get a bounty when attacking people, but I tried this today (1st day of piracy in my recently acquired Clipper) and got a bounty anyway, and very soon my map was full of red triangles (security forces!). Are all those guides that I read too old? Has this changed? Is there any place where you can practice "safe piracy"?
I'm mainly looking to pirate NPCs, since in my time zone there are not many players online anyway...
I'm mainly looking to pirate NPCs, since in my time zone there are not many players online anyway...
The galaxy map is rarely updated, do not trust it. If you want to find an anarchy system, find one on the galaxy map and then use the system map. If the controlling faction is not anarchic, don't go.
