Aaron Solon Aaron Solon

Pirates: too big of a factor?

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Pirates: too big of a factor?

from Sins Forums
I'm surprised there aren't more posts about pirates...do people just play with them turned off online?

On a small map, it seems like whoever wins the bid for the first raid gets a big advantage. Since when the raid is launched is random after the counter ticks all the way down (I think), and either player can bid at any time, it's basically a 50-50 who wins. Also, the loser doesn't get their money back, so in effect the winner pays about 250 credits to get a window of opportunity to expand/attack while the loser is dealing with the pirates. On a small map I think this is a pretty big deal, and again there's no way to control whether or not you win.

Am I missing something?
strategy
16,070 views 29 replies
Reply #26 from Sins Forums Top

But, if you are tied up fighting elsewhere, you have to tie up resources building defenses on whatever planet they are going to attack...
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I've seen the AI put bounty on my head, and then when the pirates attack me, the AI fleet jumps in and attacks the same planet. So, on the whole, I think building planetary defenses where pirates are known to attack makes perfect sense. It will either handle pirates for you "blindly" or if there is a lot going on, delay the pirate attack long enough for you to move a mobile defense fleet into position. If you play against human players, building planetary defenses where the pirates attack is also a good way to "dissuade" the human player from using pirates as a distraction - if they've scouted your defenses, they'll know that this pirate-distraction tactic won't work with you, and if they didn't scout you, then you'll have a surpise for them.. :) They'll be thinking you are busy dealing with pirates and boom, all of a sudden, you've got a full sized fleet ready for battle..

If you move your capital to where the pirates are attacking, that means you can't have it in another location where you may want it to be.
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Err, but wouldn't you build more than one capital at different times, hence, different levels? So while the higher leveled cap is out doing something, the weak(er) one notches up some exp handling the pirates. I still think this is a better deal (return on investment) than spending money on pirate bounty.. :)

I've played a few 1v1s where the pirates did play against me. They would be enough of a distraction to keep me from doing exactly what I wanted to.
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If in 1v1 against the AI and the pirates are becoming a bigger distraction than you would like, it probably means that you didn't have enough planetary defenses. Like I said, putting 3-5 repair bays + 3-5 hangers +  2-3 Frigs/LRMs and you can almost completely "ignore" a pirate attack at the planet.

However, I am totally in agreement that the fee on your head should go down when you destroy the pirate ships. Maybe not much, but a little. I think it is kinda ridiculous how it only goes down when they kill you.
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Reply #27 from Sins Forums Top

the only time pirates are ever a factor is when you play a random small map and the game plops the pirate base as the ONLY choke point inbetween you and your AI opponent....and thats only if your new to the game.

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Reply #28 from Sins Forums Top

OP looks worried about the first raid mainly, and i understand what he means.

If you need to defend from pirates, at the start, you have to stop your colonizing trips (terran/desert have some relatively tough fleets for starting game).

So what i suggest you, is: when you find the pirate base, park a scout on the road from their base to your closest planet (park it on a gravity well with no native fleets ofc). You can leave the other scouting (you should have 2 scouts at the beginning).

This way you can tell when the pirates are coming with a few jumps advantage, enough time to recall your colonizing fleet. No harm will be done to your scout ship as long as you keep it out of their weapons range. They dont bother chasing anything until they get to the designated gravity well (they get a "move order" from the ai).

Reply #29 from Sins Forums Top

Well if its really just the fear of the first raid from the pirates I might suggest that its enough defence if you build 3-5 turrets (my experiences are as Vasari) to defend them and its lot better invested ressources than spending credits on the bid to turn the pirates against the enemy.

The advantages of this strategy are that you dont spend credits on the bid but strengthen your defence, that you can go on colonizing planets not worring the first and even the second raid of the pirates and that you are prepared for rush attacks of AI and players in early game.

I might say that my experiences are not THAT much in Sins but for me this tactic worked ;)