Piracy in SoaSE[]
Piracy is a constant problem in the galaxy with raids taking place on a regular basis by the unscrupulous. Those who take part in piracy don‘t care who they attack as they have no political views on the subject. They go where the money is, which is determined in part by Bounty.
There will always be at least one Pirate Base planet, if your game has Pirates. (Some maps have none, and version 1.3 will lt Pirates be optional.) Once all Pirate Bases have been destroyed, they will no longer spawn. Their bases have a medium level of defense which keeps you from attacking them early in the game, but they can be taken down by mid-game.
Pirate Ships[]
Pirate Frigates[]
- Light Frigate - Pirate Rogue
- Siege Frigates - Pirate Pillager
- Anti-Strikecraft Frigate - Pirate Reaper
Pirate Cruisers[]
- Offensive Support Cruiser - Pirate Cutthroat
- Heavy Combat Cruiser - Pirate Corsair
Pirate Behavior[]
Pirate Bases have fixed ship and structural defenses. Conversely, Pirate fleets will first appear at the edges of one of their base's systems, then move to attack. If you neutralize the Base, their fleets will no longer appear in that system (even if they still have defenders in the system). If pressed, you can kill their defending fleet, then take out enough beam weapons to open a "window" where you can safely bomb the planet - then leave, without taking out the remaining beam defenses. No more pirates will show up there.
Generally, pirates will target one planetary system, attack it, and if any pirates survive, they will return to a nearby Pirate Base. More specifically, if all ships and orbital structures are destroyed, they will leave. In other words, they will only attack the planet itself while ships or structures are present.
Thus, it is a viable strategy early in the game to capture a planet but leave it devoid of any structures or ships (assuming, of course, the planet is also fairly safe from actual opponents). Once they kill your constructor, even their Pillagers will turn around and head back with the whole fleet to their base. If you upgrade your emergency facilities, you can probably survive the attack, even if you have manned Extractors in the system. Be careful, though - Trade Ships passing through the system will also keep pirates there.
Pirate fleets that have returned to their base stay there. If some have done this, it is possible to have quite a few of these fleets waiting for you (on top of the fixed ships and defenses at a Pirate Base) when you finally attack their base. The Advent Mothership's Malice ability works wonders on such fleets.