Post by johndramey on May 30, 2013 8:36:48 GMT -5
So because of our recent Dread Pirate Community Challenge I’ve recently had to learn how to play as a scorched earth style of pirate. And while it was a lot of fun, it took me a bunch of false starts before I figured out a basic strategy that worked out for me. Since I recently wrote a guide for Explore-based captains, I thought it might help out other players if I shared my experiences with building a rough-and-tumble pirate. So without further ado, welcome to my guide!
So you want to jet around the quadrant without a care in the world, wantonly pillaging ships and taking whatever you want by force? Well this is the guide for you!
Well we’re a nasty pirate, we make our bones by looting anyone out there that dares cross our path. We want to focus on shooting up every ship that crosses our path, using torpedoes to blast any smart ass’s engines up just in case they try to run. Why board an enemy ship, exposing yourself and your crew to needless risk, when you can sit off the enemy and slag their engines. Once their engines are gone, well then their ship is yours to take.
It is probably in our best interests to ally ourselves with one or more clan or syndicate, and in fact I personally recommend DeValtos or Rychart. Those two syndicates have a lot of well placed planets that you can repair, refit, or sell your acquired goods at.
Difficulty = I tested this build out on Crazy, mainly because of the challenge, but you can go anywhere you want!
Class = Pirate, of course! The 6 points in pilot/tactics give you a great start.
Ship = I tend to start with Tempus Fugit because it’s a quick little ship that comes with a smuggler’s hold. This allows you to deal with contracts with very little fuss.
Faction = I went with Javat for the challenge, but I think DeValtos or Rychart are better choices. They have a good amount of planets scattered around next to red zones and indy planets which you can station raids out of.
Starting out you gotta play it a bit safe. Engaging in combat at lower levels (my range is lvl 1-5) is risky and will most likely result in some kind of damage. I tend to stick with running contracts for the various factions, trying to build up a little capital and get a little XP built up for sharpening our combat skills. Obviously the contracts you run should be relegated to delivery/escort missions, these will give you the safest possible bang for your buck. At this point you can run contracts for any faction, but I like to be a loyalist and stick with whatever faction I choose to start with.
I’m going to recommend something here that most other players will probably disagree with, and if you want to play as safely as possible you can skip this. What I like to do at this point is, while running missions and building up my XP/cash, keep an eye out for a Vegas Class ship. They are relatively common ships, and you can usually find them piloted by military patrols or bounty hunters. If you can find one, engage it! If it’s a level 1-3 then you are in business, close up and board that sucker! You can probably kill the crew without taking any wounds whatsoever. At this point, transfer all of your cargo over the the Vegas Class and take that sucker. You’ll lose your starting ship, but for my buck you can’t get a better starting pirate ship than the Vegas Class.
Do enough missions to build yourself up a good solid bank of XP. I tend to toss my points into pilot to start with, boosting it up to 12 ASAP. Pilot will let you reduce your fuel costs as well as serve you well when gunning. After I build up pilot I tend to try to keep my tactics level equal to about 110% of my current level (e.g. I am level 10, my tactics should be level 11) as well as boosting my stealth skill up to 10. I usually don’t put more than 10 points into stealth because, as a pirate, I want to run into enemy ships! Once you get your tactics up to 110% of your level just start dumping points into pilot. This will serve you well but keep one thing in mind, if you start missing more often than you hit with your guns you’ll want to toss some extra points into your tactics score.
While you are building up your stats you’ll want to get your wallet fattened. I usually aim for about $30-50k before I start my pirating career. Once you get a decent payroll you can start trolling for indy merchants/smugglers. First step is to get yourself a trade permit with any clans or syndicates you want. Next, try to keep yourself in green space and scoot around between planets, hitting any targets of opportunity. If you start getting low on funds, well you can go and do a couple contracts to build the funds again. You’ll eventually hit a point where you feel pretty confident taking out merchants and smugglers, at this point expand your target list to include anything you want while maintaining positive relations with your chosen team. Is this safe? No! But we’re a pirate and we want to maximize our looting potential.
And that’s really it! You probably won’t last too long doing this, but you’ll be rolling in cash and getting more combat than you can shake a stick at. I would recommend upgrading the Vegas class with engines, guns, armor, or sails. I usually like to get Extended Gun Decks, a Weapons Cabinet (try to keep that sucker full of 25 weapons), and an Advanced Bridge as my necessary upgrades. Get whatever else seems nice, and have a blast!
I would like to start this by saying one thing; I am by no means a pro. I basically screw around in ST, none of my pilots last very long (I think the longest a pirate of mine has lasted is level 25?), but I have a huge amount of fun.
With that said, I usually start combat by checking out the enemy ship. If it’s got more engines than I do, well that’s when I hit that nice Torpedo button. One or two torps will equalize (or, better yet, give me an advantage) in the engines department. After that, CLOSE. Move in until you can target engines, and blast away. You’ll take some damage, but you can easily offset any damage you get with your loot. Be sure to sell off all of your wares whenever you get a chance, and be doubly sure to keep your ship repaired up to max!
Every once in awhile you’ll run into an enemy that is, to put it bluntly, either better or crazier than you. More engines, higher level, better ship for the better captains, or those crazy nutters that love to ram you to death. At this point I change up my tactics, try to torpedo the bastard as much as you can but keep in mind you’ll probably miss. I will usually try to keep these guys at medium range and just gun them to death. Screw the looting, you just want to survive. If they close on you you’ll want to try to retreat back to medium range. These situations are where my “burn all bridges” strategy shows its flaws. If you have been playing like I do and pissing off all factions then you cannot surrender. If you do you will be executed! It’s do or die, folks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And that’s really it for my guide. I hope that you guys find it helpful and like playing the way I do. Of course, you are free to disregard, criticize, or modify this guide as much as you want. I’m just putting it up here in order to give any new folks out there a quick little (ok, not so little) guide to help them get a combat oriented captain up off the ground.
As always fellow forums members, if you guys want to pitch in I would be glad to add your info up here and credit you with it. I know that there are other much more skilled players than I out there, so don’t be shy!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Extra info!
So, some people were nice enough to add in some extra info.
slayernz was nice enough to post a little more detail on building your captain and combat. Click here to go to his post and read up on it but some basic info is that your XP should be put into Pilot primarily, with a secondary focus on tactics followed by stealth. You want Pilot to be about 200% of your level, tactics to be about 100% of your level, and stealth to be a minimum of 10. E.g. your captain is level 20, Pilot = 40 / Tactics = 20 / Stealth = 10. Also, he talked about Engine to Hull ratio which will be abbreviated as EHr. This is very important for combat based captains, and you'll want it to be as high as possible. an EHr of 2 and a high pilot will make you a god in combat situations, but a lower EHr can be offset by very high pilot skills.
athios posted a little clarification on Trade Permits, military rank, and some other general tips for early game. Click here to go read his post in detail but basically you should try to keep factions relatively happy with you in the early game. Trade Permits will help to protect you from faction pirates, and military rank will help protect you from military patrols. Also, athios advocates focusing mainly on delivery contracts early in the game and keeping your reputation stable by buying pardons when necessary. He also gives us an awesome calculation for figuring if a contract is paying you well or not, basically you want something that is paying you about $1,000 per AU traveled.
xdesperado posted an awesome guide on having a captain based on boarding, which is something I've always wanted to do but had no idea how to go about. Go check out his post here and see how to do it! The guide is pretty in depth, and he lays out the framework for combat and creation quite well. I'll have to give it a whirl and see how it goes!
Lootin’ and Scootin’
OR
How I Learned to Pirate
OR
How I Learned to Pirate
So you want to jet around the quadrant without a care in the world, wantonly pillaging ships and taking whatever you want by force? Well this is the guide for you!
What is our goal in life?
Well we’re a nasty pirate, we make our bones by looting anyone out there that dares cross our path. We want to focus on shooting up every ship that crosses our path, using torpedoes to blast any smart ass’s engines up just in case they try to run. Why board an enemy ship, exposing yourself and your crew to needless risk, when you can sit off the enemy and slag their engines. Once their engines are gone, well then their ship is yours to take.
It is probably in our best interests to ally ourselves with one or more clan or syndicate, and in fact I personally recommend DeValtos or Rychart. Those two syndicates have a lot of well placed planets that you can repair, refit, or sell your acquired goods at.
The build
Difficulty = I tested this build out on Crazy, mainly because of the challenge, but you can go anywhere you want!
Class = Pirate, of course! The 6 points in pilot/tactics give you a great start.
Ship = I tend to start with Tempus Fugit because it’s a quick little ship that comes with a smuggler’s hold. This allows you to deal with contracts with very little fuss.
Faction = I went with Javat for the challenge, but I think DeValtos or Rychart are better choices. They have a good amount of planets scattered around next to red zones and indy planets which you can station raids out of.
What you gotta do
Starting out you gotta play it a bit safe. Engaging in combat at lower levels (my range is lvl 1-5) is risky and will most likely result in some kind of damage. I tend to stick with running contracts for the various factions, trying to build up a little capital and get a little XP built up for sharpening our combat skills. Obviously the contracts you run should be relegated to delivery/escort missions, these will give you the safest possible bang for your buck. At this point you can run contracts for any faction, but I like to be a loyalist and stick with whatever faction I choose to start with.
I’m going to recommend something here that most other players will probably disagree with, and if you want to play as safely as possible you can skip this. What I like to do at this point is, while running missions and building up my XP/cash, keep an eye out for a Vegas Class ship. They are relatively common ships, and you can usually find them piloted by military patrols or bounty hunters. If you can find one, engage it! If it’s a level 1-3 then you are in business, close up and board that sucker! You can probably kill the crew without taking any wounds whatsoever. At this point, transfer all of your cargo over the the Vegas Class and take that sucker. You’ll lose your starting ship, but for my buck you can’t get a better starting pirate ship than the Vegas Class.
Do enough missions to build yourself up a good solid bank of XP. I tend to toss my points into pilot to start with, boosting it up to 12 ASAP. Pilot will let you reduce your fuel costs as well as serve you well when gunning. After I build up pilot I tend to try to keep my tactics level equal to about 110% of my current level (e.g. I am level 10, my tactics should be level 11) as well as boosting my stealth skill up to 10. I usually don’t put more than 10 points into stealth because, as a pirate, I want to run into enemy ships! Once you get your tactics up to 110% of your level just start dumping points into pilot. This will serve you well but keep one thing in mind, if you start missing more often than you hit with your guns you’ll want to toss some extra points into your tactics score.
While you are building up your stats you’ll want to get your wallet fattened. I usually aim for about $30-50k before I start my pirating career. Once you get a decent payroll you can start trolling for indy merchants/smugglers. First step is to get yourself a trade permit with any clans or syndicates you want. Next, try to keep yourself in green space and scoot around between planets, hitting any targets of opportunity. If you start getting low on funds, well you can go and do a couple contracts to build the funds again. You’ll eventually hit a point where you feel pretty confident taking out merchants and smugglers, at this point expand your target list to include anything you want while maintaining positive relations with your chosen team. Is this safe? No! But we’re a pirate and we want to maximize our looting potential.
And that’s really it! You probably won’t last too long doing this, but you’ll be rolling in cash and getting more combat than you can shake a stick at. I would recommend upgrading the Vegas class with engines, guns, armor, or sails. I usually like to get Extended Gun Decks, a Weapons Cabinet (try to keep that sucker full of 25 weapons), and an Advanced Bridge as my necessary upgrades. Get whatever else seems nice, and have a blast!
How to shoot ships
[/size][/center][/color]I would like to start this by saying one thing; I am by no means a pro. I basically screw around in ST, none of my pilots last very long (I think the longest a pirate of mine has lasted is level 25?), but I have a huge amount of fun.
With that said, I usually start combat by checking out the enemy ship. If it’s got more engines than I do, well that’s when I hit that nice Torpedo button. One or two torps will equalize (or, better yet, give me an advantage) in the engines department. After that, CLOSE. Move in until you can target engines, and blast away. You’ll take some damage, but you can easily offset any damage you get with your loot. Be sure to sell off all of your wares whenever you get a chance, and be doubly sure to keep your ship repaired up to max!
Every once in awhile you’ll run into an enemy that is, to put it bluntly, either better or crazier than you. More engines, higher level, better ship for the better captains, or those crazy nutters that love to ram you to death. At this point I change up my tactics, try to torpedo the bastard as much as you can but keep in mind you’ll probably miss. I will usually try to keep these guys at medium range and just gun them to death. Screw the looting, you just want to survive. If they close on you you’ll want to try to retreat back to medium range. These situations are where my “burn all bridges” strategy shows its flaws. If you have been playing like I do and pissing off all factions then you cannot surrender. If you do you will be executed! It’s do or die, folks!
----------------------------------------------------------------------
And that’s really it for my guide. I hope that you guys find it helpful and like playing the way I do. Of course, you are free to disregard, criticize, or modify this guide as much as you want. I’m just putting it up here in order to give any new folks out there a quick little (ok, not so little) guide to help them get a combat oriented captain up off the ground.
As always fellow forums members, if you guys want to pitch in I would be glad to add your info up here and credit you with it. I know that there are other much more skilled players than I out there, so don’t be shy!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Extra info!
So, some people were nice enough to add in some extra info.
slayernz was nice enough to post a little more detail on building your captain and combat. Click here to go to his post and read up on it but some basic info is that your XP should be put into Pilot primarily, with a secondary focus on tactics followed by stealth. You want Pilot to be about 200% of your level, tactics to be about 100% of your level, and stealth to be a minimum of 10. E.g. your captain is level 20, Pilot = 40 / Tactics = 20 / Stealth = 10. Also, he talked about Engine to Hull ratio which will be abbreviated as EHr. This is very important for combat based captains, and you'll want it to be as high as possible. an EHr of 2 and a high pilot will make you a god in combat situations, but a lower EHr can be offset by very high pilot skills.
athios posted a little clarification on Trade Permits, military rank, and some other general tips for early game. Click here to go read his post in detail but basically you should try to keep factions relatively happy with you in the early game. Trade Permits will help to protect you from faction pirates, and military rank will help protect you from military patrols. Also, athios advocates focusing mainly on delivery contracts early in the game and keeping your reputation stable by buying pardons when necessary. He also gives us an awesome calculation for figuring if a contract is paying you well or not, basically you want something that is paying you about $1,000 per AU traveled.
xdesperado posted an awesome guide on having a captain based on boarding, which is something I've always wanted to do but had no idea how to go about. Go check out his post here and see how to do it! The guide is pretty in depth, and he lays out the framework for combat and creation quite well. I'll have to give it a whirl and see how it goes!
going by that list I should still be playing on challenging rather than insane, I generally ignore rumours, and know virtually nothing with regards to planet economies. 
