Posted - 2005.06.11 01:03:00 - [1]

 

Edited by: ParMizaN on 13/06/2005 19:02:41
As it seems that every other day we have a thread about "how to become a pirate" I thought i would just make a little guide for anybody wishing to start in piracy.

Lets start at the beginning.

REQUIREMENTS

For a low SP character

Many new characters may think themselves useless as pvpers; but this is most definately not the case. In a frigate you can take down, or immobilise, an opponent much larger than yourself. They key to not dieing while yo do it is speed.

Therefore it is alost essential for all new characters to train for a microwarp drive

This will help you to evade missiles (and take less damage from them in the upcoming patch) and evade turret fire.

Thus a new pilot should invest in the following skills:

• High speed maneuvering I

• Navigation IV

• Afterburner IV

This is probably the most time consuming of the skills that you will need.

Next, you will need to be able to use a warp disruptor or warp scrambler, to stop your prey from warping away.

Both of these have their benefeits, however i recommend using a warp scrambler as a lot of your targets may carry a warp core stabiliser, and the -2 scramble on this item is more likely to stop them from warping. Secondly, a warp disruptor uses too much capacitor to be run easily on a frigate.

To use this module you will need to train:

• Propulsion jamming I

• Navigation II (you should lready have this at IV)

• Electronics III

Since you now have the two main essentials: you may also want to fit a stasis webbifier (which has the same requirements for skills as the warp scrambler) to slow down your prey. However this may not be necessary if you are in an asteroid belt or at a planet etc as your target has nowhere to run.

Of course you need a ship to fit these to, and i recommend either the KESTREL or the RIFTER as both have the ability to lock down a target, while staying reasonably fast and dealing some good damage. For the kestrel, the choice between rockets or standard missiles is one best left to you. Rockets are better for close range combat as they have a better damage/time. For the rifter, experiment with the guns/missiles, and find out which suits your style best.

At this point i would not recommend training gunnery skills too much.

(If you are not caldari or minmatar, don't worry, learning the skills to fly either a kestrel or a rifter take very little time at all, and are worth it: as in my opinion they are the best pirating ships. The amarr and gallente equivilents require more gunnery skills and have "inferior" ship loadouts)

Now, running a microwarpdrive and a warp disruptor, along with whatever else you wish to fit, is a drain on your capacitor. Capacitor power relays in the lowslots can help you to sustain the modules.

These require:

• Energy grid upgrades II

• Science I

• Engineering II

(dont worry about all this training: it doesnt take very long, and many of the skills are essential later on anyway)

The rest of the slots on your ship if you have any free) is really up to you.


WHERE DO I HUNT?

By now you are thinking; "Great I'm ready, where do i go to kill!"

Unfortunately it isnt that easy. To find targets, you need to go in 0.4 and below systems. These are often sparsely populated, but now and again you cn find something to kill.

Try to look in the less busy low security systems, as this is where miners are more likely to be hiding. Fly around these until you see a possible target in local.

Then you use your scanner to see what ships are in space. (see "using the scanner" near the end of the tutorial)
If the scanner shows a prime target, such as a hauler or a mining cruiser; off you go. To find him you can either

• Browse the belts

• Use the scanner and narrow him down

using the scanner like this is difficult at firs, but often quicker than going through the belts, and well worth getting used to.

Once you have your prey in your sights: its tme for

THE ATTACK

Orbit your prey at your optimal range and engage your warp scrambler and weapons. If all goes well and you get him to structure, convo him (if you wish to ransom and not just destroy the ship) and ask for a toll. Choose this yourself, judging the value of his ship and modules and thinking how much he would lose if he went boom.

I advise you not to pod kill your target, as the security status hit for this is very heavy, meaning you wont be able to go into high security space.