Where are the best spots to pirate NPCs? Share your tips!

[saab]

The 1.4 update set to drop this Tuesday will make pirating NPCs substantially more lucrative, and will likely draw many more players to our profession, which will no longer be limited to the masochistic, bored, or innately violent!

(We will be able to immobilise NPC ships by taking out their power plants, allowing us to quickly and easily siphon tens or even hundreds of their cargo. Click here for an example.)

In this context, what factors make an ideal system to pirate NPCs in? What are some examples?

Factors:
-Black market presence. Within the system or within one jump; and preferably on an outpost (no security scans).
-Type of economy. From best to worst: refinery, extraction, high tech, agricultural, industrial (not sure about this).
-Security level. The lower the better.
-Government type: Look for Feudal or Corporate. (This impacts other factors - for example, Democracies tend to have higher security, while Corporate tend to have more cargo ships)
-Population size. The bigger the better (More traffic, more cargo. Be careful as higher population tends to bring higher security).
-Player activity. (Up to you - I like having other players around to spice things up).
-Sites within the system. (Nav beacons tend to have better cargo but more pirates and security; Hazardous RES miners can have very good cargo, but beware of NPC pirates)

Examples:
-Kebes (Corporate refinery, many T7s and T9s, usually with good cargo)
-Teorge (Feudal)
-Frigaha (Black markets one jump away; many players; ships flying for Gold Netcoms Ltd, the dominant faction, carry excellent cargo. Trade ships at the Nav Beacon carry spectacular cargo. Unfortunately, low traffic).
-Cemiess (NPCs carrying imperial slaves as well as precious metals; quite a few players around; unfortunately, no black markets nearby).
-Hyperborea (some ships carrying rares and imperial slaves; low security).
-Isinor (requires permit; T9s at convoy beacons carry multiple units of antiquities, each worth over 100.000; however, defended by 2 Federal Anacondas)

Comments? Corrections? What systems do you recommend?

 

[Battleship Kickass]

Isinor the permit system might be worthwhile still with the easy 100% retrieval of goods from the trade ship after 1.4. If you don't know, they have convoy beacons there that have 2 Federal Anancondas defending a type 9 that carries Antiquities that are worth about 90k cr each to the black market. It carries some other electronics worth a couple thousand each as well I think, but from what I remember it carries about 3-8 antiquities at a time.

Requires either a wing or a strong ship obviously, but generally I found the best strategy was to shoot out the drives on one anaconda, fly out of range, shoot out drives on the next one, fly out of range, then you had to shoot out all the PDT, then limpit and get what you can and go before the cops show up, etc... BUT after 1.4 you will just have to shoot out the power plant and limpit everything.

This may still hold the top NPC pirating place since you can repeat it over and over til you run out of SCB, go sell one jump away and repeat. Though this is kind of like the boring trading game we have - the same stuff over and over, it may be more fun to keep interdicting new trade ships to find the one with the big haul.

 

[Lucifer Hate]

Isinor the permit system might be worthwhile still with the easy 100% retrieval of goods from the trade ship after 1.4. If you don't know, they have convoy beacons there that have 2 Federal Anancondas defending a type 9 that carries Antiquities that are worth about 90k cr each to the black market. It carries some other electronics worth a couple thousand each as well I think, but from what I remember it carries about 3-8 antiquities at a time.

Requires either a wing or a strong ship obviously, but generally I found the best strategy was to shoot out the drives on one anaconda, fly out of range, shoot out drives on the next one, fly out of range, then you had to shoot out all the PDT, then limpit and get what you can and go before the cops show up, etc... BUT after 1.4 you will just have to shoot out the power plant and limpit everything.

This may still hold the top NPC pirating place since you can repeat it over and over til you run out of SCB, go sell one jump away and repeat. Though this is kind of like the boring trading game we have - the same stuff over and over, it may be more fun to keep interdicting new trade ships to find the one with the big haul.

100% agree as pirating players offers real variety. Not to mention that 1 decent hit on a player trader can be better profit than multiple NPC. They will be good in areas when players are scarce but NPC pirating is like generic food brands in a store, not near as enjoyable as the name brand in quality.

 

[saab]

Isinor the permit system might be worthwhile still with the easy 100% retrieval of goods from the trade ship after 1.4. If you don't know, they have convoy beacons there that have 2 Federal Anancondas defending a type 9 that carries Antiquities that are worth about 90k cr each to the black market. It carries some other electronics worth a couple thousand each as well I think, but from what I remember it carries about 3-8 antiquities at a time.

Requires either a wing or a strong ship obviously, but generally I found the best strategy was to shoot out the drives on one anaconda, fly out of range, shoot out drives on the next one, fly out of range, then you had to shoot out all the PDT, then limpit and get what you can and go before the cops show up, etc... BUT after 1.4 you will just have to shoot out the power plant and limpit everything.

This may still hold the top NPC pirating place since you can repeat it over and over til you run out of SCB, go sell one jump away and repeat. Though this is kind of like the boring trading game we have - the same stuff over and over, it may be more fun to keep interdicting new trade ships to find the one with the big haul.

Oho, nice find! On the list it goes.

Have you ever noticed a relationship between the type of government and the amount/type of cargo NPCs carry?

I added Hyperborea to this thread, looks solid. Do you remember if there was much player activity there before the beta?

 

[saab]

100% agree as pirating players offers real variety. Not to mention that 1 decent hit on a player trader can be better profit than multiple NPC. They will be good in areas when players are scarce but NPC pirating is like generic food brands in a store, not near as enjoyable as the name brand in quality.

I quite agree, the most credits and fun is from pirating players at CGs or hauling imperial slaves. But sometimes a lot of time goes by between player traders, and it's worth checking out what the NPCs have, especially if you're in a wing and leave someone in SC. It's also nice sometimes to not have to interact with other players... pirating NPCs can be relaxing!

 

[CMDR Hagglebeard]

The 1.4 update set to drop this Tuesday will make pirating NPCs substantially more lucrative, and will likely draw many more players to our profession, which will no longer be limited to the masochistic, bored, or innately violent!

(We will be able to immobilise NPC ships by taking out their power plants, allowing us to quickly and easily siphon tens or even hundreds of their cargo. Click here for an example.)

In this context, what factors make an ideal system to pirate NPCs in? What are some examples?

Factors:
-Black market presence. Within the system or within one jump; and preferably on an outpost (no security scans).
-Type of economy. From best to worst: refinery, extraction, high tech, agricultural, industrial (not sure about this).
-Security level. The lower the better.
-Government type: Anarchy is good, as long as there is a good economy (This impacts security, and seems to impact cargo as well. Not sure yet what is best).
-Population size. The bigger the better (more traffic, more cargo).
-Player activity. (Up to you - I like having other players around to spice things up).

Examples:
-Frigaha (Black markets one jump away; many players; ships flying for Gold Netcoms Ltd, the dominant faction, carry excellent cargo. Trade ships at the Nav Beacon carry spectacular cargo. Unfortunately, low traffic).
-Cemiess (NPCs carrying imperial slaves as well as precious metals; quite a few players around; unfortunately, no black markets nearby).
-Hyperborea (some ships carrying rares and imperial slaves; low security).
-Isinor (requires permit; T9s at convoy beacons carry multiple units of antiquities, each worth over 100.000; however, defended by 2 Federal Anacondas)

Comments? Corrections? What systems do you recommend?

-Black market presence. Within the system or within one jump; and preferably on an outpost (no security scans).

Check!

-Type of economy. From best to worst: refinery, extraction, high tech, agricultural, industrial (not sure about this).

Correctomundo!

-Security level. The lower the better.

Yep!

-Government type: Anarchy is good, as long as there is a good economy (This impacts security, and seems to impact cargo as well. Not sure yet what is best).

This is very important. Anarchy systems will often substitute NPC cargoes with Anarchic cargoes, from slaves and narcotics to the dirt cheap mission items, and usually the latter, so not good. Feudal governments are like anarchies, but with fewer pirates, so they're good! Check out Teorge! Democracies have the highest security, so steer clear, and corporations tend to have the most transport ships flying though as I've seen, and I even think controlling major faction matters as well.

For example, in Kebes, A Federal Corporate Refinery system, I find dozens of Type 7s with a few Type 9s and the odd Type 6, with very good cargo, usually.

-Population size. The bigger the better (more traffic, more cargo).

There's a sweet spot with this one. Although the more traffic means more cargo, a higher population almost certainly means more authority vessels, meaning you should only be going for the good stuff. The sweet spot is getting a low security system with the highest population possible.

-Player activity. (Up to you - I like having other players around to spice things up).

Pretty irrelevant considering it's NPC piracy and players are usually bounty hunters, but hey, I don't mind the odd guy to talk to.

Lastly I'd like to add in a suggestion: HazRES. The traders here frequently carry palladium, platinum, gold, etc, in good quantities (20-40 each), and although you have to defend against other pirates killing your marks and stealing your booty, HazRES aren't crazily populated like Compromised Navs are, or so I hear. The HazRES I hunt in is in Neganhot, and it is within scanner range of the warp-in point.

Happy hunting, commanders!

 

[saab]

Excellent post from Hagglebeard! Lots of good information in there. I've updated my first post.

100% agree as pirating players offers real variety. Not to mention that 1 decent hit on a player trader can be better profit than multiple NPC. They will be good in areas when players are scarce but NPC pirating is like generic food brands in a store, not near as enjoyable as the name brand in quality.

I pirated an NPC last night for the first time since the 1.4 update and now I think I disagree with this post - pirating NPCs is now more profitable than pirating players. I interdicted a T9 in Frigaha after being in-system for two minutes. A cargo scan showed that they had 130 platinum on board! I took out their powerplant and positioned my ship just below their cargo scoop so that the canisters wouldn't go far. It only took a few minutes to empty his whole cargo and load up.

In contrast, when pirating players, I've never gotten more than 60 cargo in one interdiction, and typically only get 20 or so. Many players log off after the interdiction, or try to run, or have to be shown how to get their drives online and drop cargo, or get so salty I have to blow up their life support, etc. It takes a lot of time.

As for which kind of piracy is more fun, that's neither here nor there. NPCs are fun for a relaxing challenge where you have to carefully research your system and perfect your heist technique; CMDRs are fun for the adrenaline.

Pirating NPCs will not suit the so-called 'pirate' who has traded or bounty hunted their way up to a Clipper and now interdicts other players out of boredom. But for those who see it as a real, if neglected, profession in Elite, NPC piracy will become the main breadwinner.

 

[hunvagy]

Can't really offer system advice as I don't pirate but hunt them, but in the new compromised nav beacons traders and pirates alike seem to be bleeding only high price commodities (palladium, gold, experimental chemicals, the good stuff.) You could probably base your operation on vicinity to these. Also, as long as you run empty, the other pirates leave you alone, and no police hotlines work on those instances.

 

[Kazacy]

Very interesting thread; i am always pretty poor on cash and any ways to earn cash in a fun way it's a good way in my book. I will check my neighborhood (around Terra Mater) to see if is good for this.
PS: i read on these forums Isinor permit cannot be obtained anymore. Anyone knows after 1.4 is possible again to get the permit?

 

[saab]

Following further testing... I recommend looking for Corporate systems first, as they seem to have a much high number of cargo ships.