Piratez starting guide for new players

[Dioxine]

You plan to get hit? I certainly plan to avoid getting hit.

That must be why you use all these heaviest armors!

[Meridian]

That must be why you use all these heaviest armors!

No, there's a completely different reason why I use them.

I use them in case I get hit accidentally... not planned. Can't be more different reason than that.

[niculinux]

Hi Eddie! Maybe would you write a a massive guida/walthrough and then put it online at the mod portal? In .doc and/ord pdf? If so pleas emind to have a look here.  

[ivandogovich]

Hi Eddie! Maybe would you write a a massive guida/walthrough and then put it online at the mod portal? In .doc and/ord pdf? If so pleas emind to have a look here.  

Rather than the mod portal, etc, may I suggest the online Bootypedia wiki as a great place for this? https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php?title=Piratez

There are two pages badly in need of help (still blank at this time) under guides and tips.

https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Tactics_(Piratez)
https://www.ufopaedia.org/index.php/Strategy_(Piratez)

It has been my intent to sort of coallate the information here in the forums to build out these pages, and it has also sparked me to start my own campaign to gain more first hand experience.

[Eddie]

For an indepth guide I lack the knowledge, as so far I'm still on my first playthrough and not that far in. But I can put what I know on the wiki, sure (might take a few days before I find the time to do it).

Also, strategy is based on playstyle. I find the warrior armor so op that I nerved it for my game. Also, I never produced a single black powder bomb, because anything that is armored tends to have a high hostage value so I don't kill them but capture them. So I would be an expert for capture strategies, not for leathal approaches.
I did mention the power of the black power bomb, but not in the research section. I will add that.

That reminds me, I should write something about flag use. The flag features heavily in my playstyle.

[DracoGriffin]

It has been my intent to sort of coallate the information here in the forums to build out these pages, and it has also sparked me to start my own campaign to gain more first hand experience.

I had the same idea for awhile but since I haven't had time to really play and SO MUCH has changed so quickly, I can't help but feel adding anything from past versions would just frustrate/disappoint new players of new versions as strategies/"bugs" are patched out or adjusted.

[Cristao]

I had the same idea for awhile but since I haven't had time to really play and SO MUCH has changed so quickly, I can't help but feel adding anything from past versions would just frustrate/disappoint new players of new versions as strategies/"bugs" are patched out or adjusted.

Very good point.

[Dioxine]

If something gets patched out, I always try to add the capability back at a higher tech level. But yeah, massive changes to early game will be added in a couple of months (probably).

[Petethegoat]

I'm assuming this is the best place to ask questions.

I'm having a lot of trouble actually catching ships. I'm a few months in and almost all of them are 2000 or 3000 speed and I just have the default bonavara thing and it can't come close to catching them. Am I supposed to have built a hunter killer or something by now? I haven't been able to find all the components to make one.

I've been trying to respond to as many mutant pogroms as possible, but I've started running into the deep ones and the blue guys seem invulnerable to all my weapons and explosives, so I've had to give up and run away from those. I've equipped some acid grenades and stuff and I'm gonna try that soon, but now a competing base has come up and I'm just completely outclassed- some of their weapons seem to one shot almost all of my people, and I have no way to deal with the psy attacks.

Have I severely mismanaged everything so far?

[ivandogovich]

Welcome, Pete!  I know the feeling!  The first run at Piratez can be very challenging, and you can feel lost at every turn.

Shippings:  Many of them will fly faster than you.  The trick is learning how to catch them when they land.  Many enemy missions involve some time on the ground.  If you can tail them with the Bonaventura, until they land you are in good shape. If not, try to anticipate where they are going and patrol with the Bonny in those areas.  If there was a recent mission in South Africa, chances are this next one might go there too. 

As soon as you can afford it, hire some Pigeons to help you cover where there is enemy activity.  You can use the Charts to see enemy activity in both regions and countries.  With 2 or 3 pigeons, you can cover alot of this, then send the Bonny out to scout, when a contact does appear.

The next tier of surveillance, is Spy Zeppelins.  Once you are able to construct them, its not difficult to put almost every land mass under surveillance.

As far as the Hunter-Killer for a fast interceptor, you can hire out the Shark Jetbike.  It has been my scout for the entirety of my current campaign as soon as I could afford one.  I have pretty much stuck to only going after landed vessels in the first year, and it has served me well.

[Petethegoat]

That's a really useful post, thank you! I haven't noticed ships landing at all, maybe I've just not been paying enough attention.

When you say to hire some pigeons, do you just mean buying them at the black market?

I currently don't have anything to research and I don't think I've got spy zeppelins yet. I was playing on the 0.98 release if that changes anything, but I'm updated now.

[ivandogovich]

Yeah, hire the Pigeons on the black market.  They help a bunch!

[sambojin]

Continuing on avian thingos.....

Now that you start with one, a mention on parrots and scouting might be worthwhile too. It's a basic tactic, but now you have it straight away. And it can carry a pre-primed smoke grenade/explody grenade/bandages/some x-smokes as well. Truly, 'tis the king of birds.

It might die to a swift breeze, or go unconscious to a puff of smoke, but 120TUs and flight is amazing for a starting unit. Cue the nerf bat!

[Eddie]

Things required to build a hunter killer:
The only things you need to find is the ship engine and the slave AI. The other things you need to buy on the black market. You need to research contacts: smugglers to get access to fusion torch clips. The other materials you can buy right from the start.

You should be able to build a hunter killer in the second month. You find plenty of ship engines and slave AIs. If you think you don't have the material for a hunter killer, carefully check what you need and then check the black market again.

[Eddie]

I want to ask you guys for some input.
I would like to add some info about interception strategies and what missions to take, but I don't really know what is a good strategie here. What I did so far is try everything and if it didn't work out reload. So let's discuss:

- Interceptions
Which targets do you go after in the beginning? What craft do you use and how many? What weapons do you use? Do you buy the expansive missiles or not? Is it a better strategy to not shoot down shippings and just go after landed ones?

My experiance so far for shooting down fighters: One hunterkiller with seagull missiles does more than two with just cannons, because dps is so high your hunterkiller can get destroyed before he gets close enough to use the cannons. But the seagulls are so damn expansive that is is not worth it to shoot down a fighter with them. So I send the the bonny first to tank damage and the hunterkiller like two seconds later. Unlike in vanilla, damage is not split over all attacking craft.
I find it a bit odd that it is more economic to let your craft be shot to pieces than to use the expensive missiles. Repairs should cost resources too.


- Research
I find it hard to think of a good strategy for what to research after the initial topics. So far I've had no "this item changes EVERYTHING" moment. I've looted stuff that really made a difference. Notable things I got through research so far are aye phone, stun grenades, tranquilizer manufacturing (Stun ammo for the harpoon. You find some, but not enough) and grav harness. The other things were more like nice improvements, but not game changing. So far my research strategy has been mostly about trying to minimize total reseach times by getting as much as possible from interrogations, but I'm unsure if that is the right strategy. For most research topics that can be gained through interrogation but also by researching the item (weapons mostly), the interrogation takes less time than researching the item directly. You save research time, but you cannot control what topics you will get.
The gun almanachs and data disks research pretty fast. But how many do you get? I haven't found any old books so far. Maybe it's a better strategy to only research what you really need, and for the rest wait until you get it through a data disk / gun almanach?