Pirate Cutthroat


Hull:	1170
Armor:	6
Antimatter:	200
Experience value:	35

Unlike all the other ships in the Pirate's arsenal, the Pirate Cutthroat serves primarily as an offensive support ship for the Pirate Armada.

Overview

The Pirate Cutthroat actually is a one of a kind and does not resemble any of the military TEC ships, instead being modeled after a TEC Trade ship without a cargo hold. It is the actual raider in a pirate fleet and uses its Embargo and Plunder abilities to steal money directly from a player.

Tactics

Using the Pirate Cutthroat

Utility is key here, as Cutthroats are your most valuable asset on the battlefield. While functioning as a front line fighter they are also your utility cruiser. They may Embargo multiple planets so sending them on a multi-pronged mission to Embargo many planets is NOT a bad idea. They also steal money directly through attacking your ships with an ability called Plunder.

Fighting the Pirate Cutthroat

Travels in raid groups with Pirate Corsairs, often favors civilian targets, while the Corsairs attack enemy threats. Individually weak, but its five laser cannons quickly add up in the large groups it often forms, especially when defending its base from a disgruntled empire tired of pirate attacks or one eager for capital ship levels. The Pirate Cutthroat makes up a large portion of pirate raids, and there are usually six defending each Pirate base. The Cutthroat is the only pirate ship with an ability (Plunder) which steals income from ships, but strangely not structures. The Cutthroat has damage bonus versus medium and light armor, so it will often seek such targets in the gravity well, including all civilian ships.

Against the Cutthroat, you could send your fastest ships and fighters/bombers to deal with them. Tasking your slower, more powerful ships with attacking this target is more risky because Cutthroats often do not tend to stop and fight the ship you're attacking it with. They will instead relentlessly seek out and attack your civilian ships and structures, leading your ships on a wild goose chase throughout the gravity well, where your ships would be more effective dealing with stationary Corsairs. Given however that most of your frigates (except heavy cruisers) and fighters/bombers only deal half damage versus pirate armor, a more cost-effective solution is to plant turrets or a starbase in the area that the Cutthroats are likely to roam; you can predict this by noticing the path that your trade ships take in and out of the gravity well. Because of the multipliers, a single turret does approximately four times the damage that a light frigate can dish versus pirates.