What are some current piracy strategies?

CMDR Vic H Weaving

C
Good morning, all,

I'm curious about your current strategies for piracy, and I'd like to get a conversation going around it. Recently, I've been active in Archon Delaine's space, operating out of his strongholds and looking to target systems with these characteristics:
  • State: Boom
  • Economy: Refinery, or High Tech
  • Security: Low
I've been flying this Anaconda:
Yesterday I snagged one of the Private Couriers that spawn in boom systems, as well as a ship with 45 Silver / 9 Beryllium. I think today I'll probably hit one of the megaships in the same system, or maybe I'll pay another visit to Gridge 1. Fun fact - the Anaconda can hide inside the installation tunnels! You just have to sacrifice a lot of limpets to the merciless hitbox of the interior.

If anyone knows where I can find another Type-9 loaded with 400t+ of gold... call me. :)

Thank you
 
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CMDR Vic H Weaving

C
20250330224028_1.jpg


By the way... here's that guy with the silver. I had him in what looked like a flat spin.
 

CMDR Vic H Weaving

C
GroG79 said:
You can also find NPCs with low Temp Diamonds as cargo
Click to expand...
I'll definitely look for these, thank you. Do you have any recommendations on how to find these? I read some old guides saying that systems like Frog, and Gliese something-or-other could spawn these, but I'd love to know what the BGS does to spawn this cargo so I can find a closer system to my base of operations.
 

geoffrey.hdt

geoffrey.hdt
A bit off topic, but during the next CG from around 8-9pm US Central Time, try to find cmdr Geoff'59, and ask him politely to share some of his haul to feed your wives and kids.
At first he will run away, since he is not stupid (gankers), then will happily drop his entire load (his friends Stratum will understand that money is of no concern when it's about feeding wives and kids).

How how how, I wish there would be more PvP pirates out there...
 

Bigmaec

Bigmaec
geoffrey.hdt said:
A bit off topic, but during the next CG from around 8-9pm US Central Time, try to find cmdr Geoff'59, and ask him politely to share some of his haul to feed your wives and kids.
At first he will run away, since he is not stupid (gankers), then will happily drop his entire load (his friends Stratum will understand that money is of no concern when it's about feeding wives and kids).

How how how, I wish there would be more PvP pirates out there...
Click to expand...
This. Only real piracy worth it is PvP piracy...
the one time out of ten where the victim doesn't clog.
 

geoffrey.hdt

geoffrey.hdt
BTW, how to you efficiently collect the tax from NPC's?
Back 8 years ago, when NPCs did not know modules power management, one could bring them to a stop after their power plant hit 0%, then use hatch breaker + collector minions to empty their haul...but now?
I do know that hatch breakers (finally!) go though the shield, but this ends up like a zig zagging loooooong train of containers, pretty painful to collect (especially flying an Anaconda)..?
 

CMDR Vic H Weaving

C
geoffrey.hdt said:
BTW, how to you efficiently collect the tax from NPC's?
Back 8 years ago, when NPCs did not know modules power management, one could bring them to a stop after their power plant hit 0%, then use hatch breaker + collector minions to empty their haul...but now?
I do know that hatch breakers (finally!) go though the shield, but this ends up like a zig zagging loooooong train of containers, pretty painful to collect (especially flying an Anaconda)..?
Click to expand...
I stop them by destroying their drives (usually with seeker missiles), and then I line up parallel with their velocity vector, boost past them, FA off, spin around and maneuver slowly until I'm right ahead of them. Then I thrust forward gently until I make contact, then full burn forward when firm contact is made. When they start to deflect, I let off and repeat the process until they're flying at less than 10m/s. This is fine with 7 collectors going off a 7A Universal controller. The only problem is it takes a while, and feels unrealistic.
 

geoffrey.hdt

geoffrey.hdt
CMDR Vic H Weaving said:
I stop them by destroying their drives (usually with seeker missiles), and then I line up parallel with their velocity vector, boost past them, FA off, spin around and maneuver slowly until I'm right ahead of them. Then I thrust forward gently until I make contact, then full burn forward when firm contact is made. When they start to deflect, I let off and repeat the process until they're flying at less than 10m/s. This is fine with 7 collectors going off a 7A Universal controller. The only problem is it takes a while, and feels unrealistic.
Click to expand...
Oh my... back to what it was 9 years ago... :-/
You must have nerves of steel...a man of focus, devotion, and sheer commitment to piracy. Respect ;)

Lots has changed in the game after my long break from it, but sad that the pirate hook has not been made available as a hardpoint... :-(
 

ꝁestrel

ꝁestrel
Here's an outdated list of systems for you to try:
docs.google.com

PvE Piracy Systems (9/12/2024)

docs.google.com docs.google.com

In order to create this list I wrote a script that downloads the latest Spansh dataset for all populated systems. It then filters the systems using the following criteria:
  • Anarchy government
  • Primary economy is Refinery or Industrial
  • Has space station(s) with demand for Low Temperature Diamonds
  • Has zero belts
  • Has zero bodies with rings
Using that list I preferred the following:
  • Primary faction is in Boom state
  • Has 1 star (less traveling)
  • Has high population (more traffic)
The system states in the spreadsheet are obviously out of date.

I did a quick check and Himanes is a pretty good system right now. It's currently in Boom, has only 1 star, and a decent population.

Keep in mind that nothing you do will ever make PvE piracy highly profitable compared to other things. The best you can hope for is 5-20 million for a few hours of searching.
 

ꝁestrel

ꝁestrel
Regarding your build in my opinion you need more missile racks. This was my Python build:

EDSY

EDSY is a ship outfitting tool for Elite Dangerous
edsy.org edsy.org

The process goes something like:
  • Interdict
  • Manifest scan
  • Strip shields with beams
  • Destroy engines with missiles
  • "Bump stop" to slow the target ship down to 0-5 m/s
  • Deploy hatch breakers and collectors
 

ꝁestrel

ꝁestrel
Tifu said:
Aside from the Python, what ships would you recommend for PvE piracy?
Click to expand...
Almost any ship will work as long as it can fit cargo space, an interdictor, and the limpet controllers.

I'd recommend a medium ship with good maneuverability. That way flight is more enjoyable and you can sell at medium landing pads if the price is better.
 

ꝁestrel

ꝁestrel
The Krait would be another good Medium ship.

Mandalay would work too. Plus you'd get a nice SCO for zipping around the systems with more than one star.
 

Tifu

Tifu
Kestrel1 said:
I'd recommend a medium ship with good maneuverability. That way flight is more enjoyable and you can sell at medium landing pads if the price is better.
Click to expand...

Excellent advice 👍

Kestrel1 said:
The Krait would be another good Medium ship.

Mandalay would work too. Plus you'd get a nice SCO for zipping around the systems with more than one star.
Click to expand...

I have the Phantom but it's more of a PP mission runner right now. Ok, the Mandalay it is - thank you 😁
 

CaptainPugwash

CaptainPugwash
CMDR Vic H Weaving said:
I'll definitely look for these, thank you. Do you have any recommendations on how to find these? I read some old guides saying that systems like Frog, and Gliese something-or-other could spawn these, but I'd love to know what the BGS does to spawn this cargo so I can find a closer system to my base of operations.
Click to expand...
Others here have already given some good info: I’ve got pretty frustrated with pve piracy tbh. NPCs don’t seem interested in core mining and a lot of miners (ships with refineries) carry worthless junk unrelated to mining. The most reliable source of LTDs is probably icy ring RES or anarchy stations where you can intercept NOCs before they enter the station. Fdev have shown zero interest in piracy for a number of years now.
 
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