Are pirate attacks just for show?

[Fried Noodles]

I was exploring a random world in a 'Black Market' system when I came across a trading post.
Decided to land there to sit and watch the ships come and go and see if I could find one I wanted to buy. (Solar Ships are new to me since I last played).

While I was there, I received an alert that the trading post was under attack by two pirate ships and that I should return to my ship to 'join the defense'.

All the NPC ships that were there at the time seemed to take off at that moment and I figured that they'd start shooting at the pirates.
But they just flew away.

I've been watching the pirates fire down at the landing platforms and at my ship, accomplishing nothing.
I was wondering if I could get shot and damaged by the pirates, but it hadn't happened yet.

And while the attack was still going on, new ships have come and gone for a casual landing and hang out.

[japp_02]

From what I know, such attacks don't do any damages, except to you should you decide to engage the first pirate. The same is true with attacks on your settlements or in space where I have never seen a pirate shooting down another ship, they are in waiting position (so to speak) for your intervention and then they all go against YOU. I never have noticed any damages on settlements, however the nr. of settlers in the main display screen may change after an attack denoting the casualities, but I haven't checked that too close, so I'm not sure about.

Essentially, yes, it's all a show until you engage the pirates.

[remid0d0s0]

If you get caught out in the open by a pirate strafing attack, and you are in a game mode where damage is significant, you will probably not survive more than one strafing pass as of now.

In my PD save before 4.0, I got strafed reasonably often, was not a big thing, each time getting hit I lost maybe 25% shields. However, I had 6 exosuit shields all 30-33%. Basically I needed to dig or get indoors but not like RIGHT THIS SECOND ...

My PD character died (everything I wanted to do accomplished, in "retirement") after 4.0 dropped, caught out in the open with 3 good exosuit shields. First strafe blew up my shields entirely; second one wasn't even half finished before my health was gone.

I think damage was increased by default and then of course exosuit shield strength was cut in half (at least at the time; it's more now as this was a week ago).

If you are in a game mode where you take a lot of damage from strafing, you need to have an OSHA emergency response that gets you completely out of trouble within a few seconds. Reload right that instant. Have a MT that only digs (broken mining laser, if that's possible) hot keyed. See if ESC or photo mode or Alt+Tab will let you wait it out. Etc. (I haven't tried any of these to see which works best, as I'm back to my normal save and it's not a big deal, just dig or find cover as usual.) Otherwise YOU WILL DIE. Pirate strafing is definitely the deadliest thing in the game right now.

So they are not actually just for show, not for everyone anyway.

[ChanceGateau]

I was playing PD yesterday (with everything maxed), following the Artemis missions. I just reached the first of the portals (where you meet ATLAS); and a couple of pirates attacked the portal (why they would do that logically is beyond me). I have 3 S-class shields. It killed those completely and I took 60% (approximately) damage beside that. I managed to get underground before the next strafing run, and after a couple minutes, they left, so YEAH, they are dangerous.

[MadDawg2552]

This was always one of the more frustrating parts of the game for me and I'm so glad I can turn them off now.

[Rexxer]

You can get damage from pirates, but it is easy to avoid. Typically pirate attacks are on some structure on the landscape, like a trade post, archive, etc... They are attacks AROUND something else. If you stand in the middle of their attack on a structure, yes, you can get damage. The game always notifies what they are attacking. I typically take note of where they are attacking and go somewhere else. The pirates are focused on their location attack and not on you specifically. So just walk away.

[BigKill]

Pirate attacks are a Joke...an annoying one at that...I play Perma Death exclusively and even Iv'e clicked down the frequency of pirate attacks because theyre annoying

[remid0d0s0]

Originally posted by Rexxer:

You can get damage from pirates, but it is easy to avoid. Typically pirate attacks are on some structure on the landscape, like a trade post, archive, etc... They are attacks AROUND something else. If you stand in the middle of their attack on a structure, yes, you can get damage. The game always notifies what they are attacking. I typically take note of where they are attacking and go somewhere else. The pirates are focused on their location attack and not on you specifically. So just walk away.

Apparently you haven't been attacked out in the open. That can happen when you are next to a PoI that has no structures, and can also "just happen."

If you move away from one PoI (on foot or flying), the attack will follow you to a nearby one, if you are headed that way.

If there is no structure for them to attack, they WILL attack YOU, REPEATEDLY and ACCURATELY, and now that 4.x has happened, the attacks can be bad news if you are playing at a higher difficulty.

[Dirak2012]

If you are attacked directly, you better run or fight. If they are attacking a random building, you can safely ignore it, since they will never cause any damage.

[frazzled]

I've been personally targeted while on foot by pirate attacks, and early in the game that can be very dangerous. With a few shields they aren't so bad. But when they are attacking a structure I don't recall taking any damage.

[Hard Gridlock]

Personally I would like if pirates could destroy or damage buildings or points of interest. It would significantly up the stakes, making them less a nuisance and more a genuine threat.

[Rexxer]

Originally posted by remid0d0s0:

Originally posted by Rexxer:

You can get damage from pirates, but it is easy to avoid. Typically pirate attacks are on some structure on the landscape, like a trade post, archive, etc... They are attacks AROUND something else. If you stand in the middle of their attack on a structure, yes, you can get damage. The game always notifies what they are attacking. I typically take note of where they are attacking and go somewhere else. The pirates are focused on their location attack and not on you specifically. So just walk away.

Apparently you haven't been attacked out in the open. That can happen when you are next to a PoI that has no structures, and can also "just happen."

If you move away from one PoI (on foot or flying), the attack will follow you to a nearby one, if you are headed that way.

If there is no structure for them to attack, they WILL attack YOU, REPEATEDLY and ACCURATELY, and now that 4.x has happened, the attacks can be bad news if you are playing at a higher difficulty.

I have been attacked in the open, but there is always a message about it telling where they are attacking. Move elsewhere.

[Rexxer]

Originally posted by frazzled:

I've been personally targeted while on foot by pirate attacks, and early in the game that can be very dangerous. With a few shields they aren't so bad. But when they are attacking a structure I don't recall taking any damage.

Just dig a hole or reload your restore point.

[SaD-82]

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

And while the attack was still going on, new ships have come and gone for a casual landing and hang out.

Bad luck as NPC-ships will fight pirates. And they even manage to kill them.
And as it's safe for you when pirates attack a building (instead of catching you outside in the open and killing you), this usually means having a nice light show with some explosions to round it off.

[Χάρης]

Originally posted by SaD-82:

Originally posted by Fried Noodles:

And while the attack was still going on, new ships have come and gone for a casual landing and hang out.

Bad luck as NPC-ships will fight pirates. And they even manage to kill them.
And as it's safe for you when pirates attack a building (instead of catching you outside in the open and killing you), this usually means having a nice light show with some explosions to round it off.

The only NPC's I've seen who attack pirates are either my squadron or a foreign freighter that is being attacked. But never seen that happen near an outpost like OP mentioned.

[SaD-82]

Originally posted by Χάρης:

But never seen that happen near an outpost like OP mentioned.

As I said: That's just bad luck.
It will happen.
What will happen, too, on occasion: One of the attacking pirates will land and the NPC-ships will keep attacking it and doing no damage because it's landed. Resulting in an endless lightshow.