[AP] Where are all of the pirates?

[phasor]

I remember back in X3:R there was a "pirate alley" of sectors that was always loaded with pirate ships. This area seems to be relatively deserted in TC and AP though. Have all the pirates moved to a new location, or are they simply less numerous now?

[werewolves?]

There are still heaps in Maelstrom/Gaian Star etc; In my game there are 5 Carracks, 2 Galleons and 3 Brigs in one sector. Think the other ones are getting wasted by RRF and military these days.

Lots of pirate sectors have been wiped out in my game, Void of Opportunity, Vestible of Creation and Veil of Delusion must have been wasted by race military.

[SirDarius]

I remember when I started my current TC game, the pirate alley was quite full of Brigantines, Carracks, and other nice ships that were quite scary for my small Sabre

I decided to wait for the time when I get more firepower to return there and do some cleanup, but by then, pirate activity had all but disappeared, except for the lone pirate nova raiders or busters...

So I guess NPC ships take care of them in the early days of the game, and there must not be much respawning.

[brucewarren]

If you consider Yaki to be pirates you could always go down Weavers Tempest and go Akuma hunting.

[uk.crow]

If you go mercenaries rift and maelstrom it will be crawling with pirates. Mercenaries rift in my game has a pirate stock exchange, a medium orbital weapons platform, IBL forge, PBG forge and a rehab facility. Take a fast ship or one with lots of firepower if you're feeling curious!

[Sinxar]

If you go mercenaries rift and maelstrom it will be crawling with pirates.

^This. After a while they seem to move back home or something. Now that entire area is loaded with pirates in my TC game and my AP game.

In AP it got so full that for the first time ever... pirates killed my gang (2x Shrike, 15 Fighters + me in a fighter).

[uk.crow]

If you go mercenaries rift and maelstrom it will be crawling with pirates.

^This. After a while they seem to move back home or something. Now that entire area is loaded with pirates in my TC game and my AP game.

In AP it got so full that for the first time ever... pirates killed my gang (2x Shrike, 15 Fighters + me in a fighter).

Yeah they must get homesick, i counted around 4 carracks, 1 brigantine, 2 galleons, 8 corvettes and 30+ fighters!

Luckily the majority are friendly now, so my pirate clan moves through unhindered now. The first time when i did a recce was in a kestrel and was being chased the whole time, with numerous missiles chasing me

[Vim Razz]

I remember back in X3:R there was a "pirate alley" of sectors that was always loaded with pirate ships. This area seems to be relatively deserted in TC and AP though. Have all the pirates moved to a new location, or are they simply less numerous now?

TC/AP added regular military patrols sweeping though pirate sectors that X3:R doesn't have. They kill off most of the pirates in areas near race-spaces, so the pirates end up accumulating in more remote sectors.

[paulhamm]

Spawning of pirate capital ships is random. They will appear in any pirate sector. Commonwealth Fleets routinely patrol most Pirate space. They do not seem to patrol the Maelstrom area. As the Commonwealth destroys pirates the tendency would be for pirate capital ships to concentrate in areas that are not patrolled. Hence over time Maelstrom and its environs become the dominant/only location to find pirate capital ships. The easiest way to disperse these ships would be to destroy or capture the pirate capital ships in the Maelstrom area. The concentration effect is not only normal but expected behavior.

[phasor]

So as the game goes on and pirates are killed, they will accumulate in remote pirate sectors that are not patrolled? That makes sense I guess, I'd kind of like to have them more spread out though. I guess I'll just have to kill them all then huh! Is Maelstrom the sector that they usually end up in?

[Coreblimey]

They can be found in large numbers in Maelstrom at times, however their main sectors are Mercenaries Rift & Gaian Star in the southern sectors and Loomanckstrat's Legacy in the central sectors.