I said the same thing in my original post, but much much meaner. Before I decided to edit it into something that wasn't a condescending assault.

Ive never tryed it before the end of the game when everyone was defeated and before I exited I sent in my entire fleet like 7 cap ships 50+ HC 80+ LF 100+ LRMS ect and totaly wiped out the priates including all the buildings and the astriod base...now my question is if I did this earlyer in the game would this totally stop the pirate raids?!

Yes, with only one exception I can think of. A map that has more than one pirate base. You don't even have to destroy all the guns before bombing and taking the asteroid.

Two things first it stops the pirate raids from that base. So if its the only pirate base then yes like serpent said it. Secondly if you colonize the pirate base you get "black market income" which I forgot how much it is though. I only bother killing them rarely since they can be a useful tool sometimes, and free cap ship exp the rest of the time.

I love huge pirate bases in late game...

Then again, I also love having a single armada fleet of the largest size possible. (16 cap ships + 110-130 cruisers)

I was wondering about this. I had taken most everyone out in one of my games, but there was a neutral plant past a pirate choke point. I ignored it till almost the end of the game, then decided to send my 1st Fleet to it - 4 caps, 15 cruisers and a gaggle of frigs.

Yeah, there were about 300 pirate ships there and I lost 2 caps, and about 75% of my frigs and cruisers in the time it took me to turn around and run. :LOL: And now it makes sense. My enemy was really bad at defending against the pirates!

Usuaully they have an average of 9 of each ship types at the Pirate Base. . .

Playing against a Medium opponent, I always find that the pirates will saunter about one of their systems before getting bored and travelling back to the base where they stay, rather than despawn. It usually results in pretty much every game of mine having a pirate base with hundreds upon hundreds of pirates at the base in the end.

 

Here's a screenshot example where I had to build an entire fleet just to take them down.

Wow. Pirates almost never survive raids in my battles, so I've never seen anything like that.

If you're on 1.09, send in some level 6+ Marzas. One missile barrage will more or less wipe out the entire area.

 

 

I wouldnt deal with them until I was ready to.

By that, I mean I had taken and fully developed all planets on my side of the pirates, then done all the research. Use the pirates as a buffer so that you have time to do things without worry of being hit.

I'd then produce a fleet maxing out all resources, and when all was ready, I'd hit the pirates with everything. 16 capital ships, and 300+ cruisers and frigates, is going to make a mess of any sized pirate fleet.

Then you split the fleet into an attack fleet, and a blocking force, reinforce the ex-pirate base and use it so that nothing can come through to threaten "your space" while you go take the rest.

So, if i get this right, it is better (if possible) to NOT mess with the bounty (to keep the pirate strike force small), and let them mostly come after me, so those i kill during the game will not need to worry later in the mid/end game? Plus i can cheaply level up my new capital ships?

Yes. Instead of having to go through combat, you can purchase levels.

If you werne't talking about that, then yeah, you could get a crapload of pirates on your door and whipe them out. . . ALL OF THEM.

Is the pirate fleet size influenced by the volume of trade in the system?

Yes. Probably evaluates all trade, though.

WTFedithatesme:

Edit does not appear to be working at all.

Just found a reply from a seemigly competent player that claims that the pirate fleet is influenced by the rising number of buildings and installations in the game. There sinks my fool-proof 'keep-the-pirate-fleet-small' tactic!

It's called "Plundered Booty" and it gives +3.5 to tax income (so pirate bases are virtually always positive, since they support no population). The actual income rate still fluctuates according to the base's alleigance.

Really, as long as any raiding ships are destroyed, the fleet at the pirate base will not grow, since the base only gains ships from those that survive raids and manage to get back to the nearest pirate base.

It may also be a good idea to take out a pirate base in a system you already control so you have one less thing to worry about in that system.

I'll tell you how I deal with pirate bases.

I play as the Advent, max out my capital ships at 16, all Rapture Battle Cruisers. When they reach level 6 and have Domination I jump into the pirate base and dominate/convert 16 pirate vessels then jump out with them. I have been able to build some fairly massive pirate fleets in this way. While it is true that the ships are relativley weak if you have enough of them the can be great at defending your planets while you are off conquering. Also the Cutthroats have a cool ability, they can steal credits from an opponents ships.

 I still wish the pirate ships would say something when you click on them but I guess you can't have it all.

Ghost