Need Beginning Tactics Help

So the first things I usually do are get an econ and get my first cap ship so I can clear planets. I'm wondering... Am I missing something? Is it really supposed to take a single cap ship nearly 3 minutes to kill 2 pirate raiders in a system? I mean its fine, but if I try to clear planets with frigates and not build a cap ship, a fleet of 4 or 5 typically becomes 1 lowly ship against 2 simple pirate frigates. It would be nice to not have to build the cap shipyard right off the bat. Or maybe I'm just missing something.

And on the note of pirates, how does one take out a pirate base? 5 full fleets getting wiped just sucks.

Thanks
11,607 views 3 replies
Reply #1 Top
i always build a cap ship first because your first cap ship is free. however i do support it with around 5-10 frigs

i always build the cap ship that can clolonise worlds mainly because the colonise frigs get aggro as soon as they turn up even if the pirates are shooting other ships.

i have taken out a few pirate bases. try waiting till they begin a raid then ther will be less ships for you to fight. But it will still take quite a large fleet to do this once destryed you can clonise the base  :) 
Reply #2 Top
yeah, I've noticed that the migrators gain aggro right away which really sucks.

I found that the pirate base was constantly supplied. I had wave after wave of fleets attacking the pirate base over the course of 2 full pirate raid cycles. And this was on medium. It was like their numbers didnt diminish until after I was able to destroy their homeworld... which took 7 capital ships and a slew of sieges. Maybe my game is just wierd lol. I just cant figure out why the pirates are so insanely difficult to uproot compared to the general AI players. I can kill faction after faction without much problem, but the pirates... forgetaboutit.
Reply #3 Top
You can use the colony ships getting aggro to your advantage. I'll jump one in if its a tough planet and my light frigates are getting dropped. You can normally afford 5-6, a cap ship, couple scouts before you have to upgrade your logistics. If I'm taking aseroids, I'll split the cap and frigs. 6 can normally deal with any asteroid defenses. I'll hook em back up to go after planets. Can expand reasonably quick this way.