I had a test 1v1 game against an unfair AI where I didn't bid in the auctions.

Raid one 'Guarded'... (why not 'low', will it ever be 'low' then'?)  the enemy put in a late bid of 229..

2 Corsairs, 3 Pillagers, 7 Reapers, 9 Rogues, 4 Cutthroats

Raid two 'Elevated' no further bid from my enemy

5 Corsairs, 9 Pillagers, 6 Reapers, 2 Rogues, 4 Cutthroats

Raid three 'High' again no further bid

12 Corsairs, 13 Pillagers, 7 Reapers, no Rogues or Cutthroats

Raid four 'High' no further bid

13 Corsairs, 12 Pillagers, 8 Reapers, no Rogues, no Cutthroats

Raid five 'High' the enemy add another 250

13 Corsairs, 13 Pillagers, 7 Reapers, no Rogues, 2 Cutthroats

Raid six 'Severe' no further bid

19 Corsairs, 8 Pillagers, 3 Reapers, no Rogues, 11 Cutthroats 

Thats quite a number of ships for 479 credits all told!!!  This wasn't a six hour game either.  I'm not sure whether the silly stats would start to show up again, the ships themselves seemed okay for the first six raids, though they did vary.

The Pirates were certainly much more dangerous than an unfair AI.  With so little money put into the pirates why do the raid levels increase so much?  Why so few Rogues and Cutthroats?  It shouldn't be about wrecking the game just so that experienced players won't get a few free experience points- if there isn't much of a raid, there won't be many experience points...?  At 1v1 I could cope with the pirate raids and still win the game... but I'm not sure at all how this would work for a game against several AI, especially if I had to fight for territory right from the start, and if the raids were bidded up more earlier.

I just wonder about the direction of the expansion.  I would have had the ordinary pirate raids as a threat to extended trade routes, using mainly Cutthroats.  With some sneaky AI and the ability to pass Phase Inhibitors they would be a nuisance throughout the game.  Slow trade ships down so that they can be destroyed- trade is still a defence against pirates, even though most of their ships are heavier and don't attack trade- it's a nonsense really, that the anti-trade ships have been reduced in favour of siege...!!  Then the pirates wouldn't pose a threat to the existence of factions, just their economies.  If you had no trade or refineries there would be little to worry about.  If players wanted to send destructive terror raids on enemy planets they could tech up and buy them.

Demo Bots. Demo Bots. Demo Bots.

Note: Just mod them down...

I modded my pirates into crappy shingles so they still send in sizeable fleet that gets destroyed like fleas by a starbase. But an unguarded planet is a huge mistake.

This was the kind of ally 5-5 battle, after 7 hours we had THIS

Pirates (attacking)

Cutthroat 109

Corsair 292!!!

Pillager 109

Reaper 244

Rogue 401

Just a small bunh yeah?

Our defense

Total:

20 Battleships

20 Carriers

3 Colonizers

17 Support

4 Dreadnoghts

109 HC

290 SC  Both

209 CC

409 LRM

233 LF

200 SC

We lost of course...

Well, sometimes the bounty on a player is high enough or the player is far enough away that they will continue to fight until after the next wave of them is sent out.  I was playing a game the other day that was like that.  The pirates were on one end of the gravity well and I was on the other.  By the time they finally got to me, I had already built up defenses against them.

Holy crap, that would make an epic battle. I don't know what faction you were playing...but 7 hours into the game with 5 allies...unless they were all AI...means up to 5 Starbases in that Grav Well .

Even with one Starbase, each faction has its own way of dealing with large fleets. TEC has self-destruct, Advent has Meteors/Mass Disorient, and Vasari have Frontal Shields/Debris Vortex. Where are your repair bays? If you had Shield Projection and Shield Restore, you should be fine. Hohos and Missile Barrage on TEC does well. Vasari have lockdown capabilities and a handy minelayer.Well, I've never faced those numbers before...but sounds to me you should have been fine.

As to the original topic, building a 2 repair bays and a few turrets with a cap and a small fleet can still handle the pirates just fine early on. Jump any frigates that are being targeted by pirate ships or kite them. Or, you could just let the pirates raid the planet, leave, and recolonize it with a colony frig. If there is nothing valuable on your frontier/choke point worlds...then you really don't have too much to worry about there.

Or something like they start out weak and as your fleet and defenses grow so does the pirate's fleet and raids. And have it where they would pay no attention to you at all if you have no defenses or fleets...

well its true pirates got tougher but their BEHAVIOR DOES NOT CHANGE

every single pirate ship type always have their fav meals

Corsairs :  aim for towers

Cutthroat : aims for trade ports

Rogues : aims for trade/ref ships

Pillager : aims for planets

Reapers : aims fighters first before bombers

so stacking trade ports / refineries behind a HUGE STATIC LINE OF DEFENSE solves much problem