Why can pirates follow you through the warp?

[Doom-Slayer]

So I found out today (and died on my Hard-Bastard Foon iron Man run because of it...rrrr) that pirates can follow you...forever even when you use warp keys.

I understand that pirates are meant to be hard, but that doesn't really make sense in my mind. You need a specific semi-hard to find item to teleport your ship just once...but 5 pirates can follow me through the warp for free... over and over again?

It seems really unitntuitive and not what I would expect and nothing in the game suggests that pirates would act that way. Since torpedos kill them isntantely and you get resources in return, I would expect that warp keys let you run away provided you jump far enough away.

I would say that either something in the game should tell you this, or it should be changed. Otherwise, game is fantastic :)

[Fantoche]

torpedoes. Never travel without two in stock. There is an achievement for surviving a pirate encounter.. all I did was run like hell, undo the tether and take another path to get to my ship. It still cost me a defib in the end

[Doom-Slayer]

Originally posted by Fantoche Dreemurr:

torpedoes. Never travel without two in stock. There is an achievement for surviving a pirate encounter.. all I did was run like hell, undo the tether and take another path to get to my ship. It still cost me a defib in the end

I know what torpedos are haha (I have the Foon so I beat the game on hardbastard iron man),.The problem isn't not knowing how to beat them, its that them following you through the warp doesn't make sense and breaks the logic of the game, and nothing in the game tells you it.

My suggestion would be any of the following:

1. They cant follow through the warp.
2. They can, but its random whether they can or not (so only maybe 1/5 could, and not multiple times)
3. They can, but warn players that they can.

Currently the mechanic doesn't make sense.

[Fantoche]

If you got a warp key you got a way to find a torpedo.

[Shiro]

pirates are clearly incomplete. So many ways you should be able to deal with them:
- Use warp key normally - they WILL follow you usually, but 10% of them won't (same as with Elusive flyer). If you have Elusive chance is increased to 30%
- Use extar fuel per jet: same stuff, due to you accelerating faster.
- Use warp key to fake warp jump - half of pirates will go whenever you point
- Be Ace, jump towards nuc mine. One of pirates will be hit instead (others remain)
- Bribery: one of items you constructed, or hundred or two of merits, pay pirates and they won't chase you (1 frigate per bribe)

on the other hand, torpedoes could be weakened. Say, first torpedoe will just damage the frigate; damaged frigate sending only 2 pirate troops, both wounded to half health. Second torpedoe finishes the job. So you want to deal with pirates the other way (especially if you can choose to not use torpedoes until near ship you want to board). This all will make pirates more fun to deal with.

[Grug]

I agree that Warp Key should make pirates lose you, or at least warn you that pirates will follow if that's too powerful.

Originally posted by Shiro:

pirates are clearly incomplete. So many ways you should be able to deal with them:
- Use warp key normally - they WILL follow you usually, but 10% of them won't (same as with Elusive flyer). If you have Elusive chance is increased to 30%
- Use extar fuel per jet: same stuff, due to you accelerating faster.
- Use warp key to fake warp jump - half of pirates will go whenever you point
- Be Ace, jump towards nuc mine. One of pirates will be hit instead (others remain)
- Bribery: one of items you constructed, or hundred or two of merits, pay pirates and they won't chase you (1 frigate per bribe)

on the other hand, torpedoes could be weakened. Say, first torpedoe will just damage the frigate; damaged frigate sending only 2 pirate troops, both wounded to half health. Second torpedoe finishes the job. So you want to deal with pirates the other way (especially if you can choose to not use torpedoes until near ship you want to board). This all will make pirates more fun to deal with.

Spending extra fuel to ditch pirates seems too overpowered, as burning fuel and drifting will always do less damage than an actual pirate encounter. Bribery would also be overpowered and not make sense in the setting, as their motivation for killing you is not for plunder but to prevent Void Ark from being reactivated (which would notify their headquarters to send in ships to destroy the pirates)

[Shiro]

Originally posted by Grug:

Spending extra fuel to ditch pirates seems too overpowered, as burning fuel and drifting will always do less damage than an actual pirate encounter. Bribery would also be overpowered and not make sense in the setting, as their motivation for killing you is not for plunder but to prevent Void Ark from being reactivated (which would notify their headquarters to send in ships to destroy the pirates)

spending extra fuel to 100% get rid of pirates would be overpowered. In this case, however, you merely getting 10% chance. So most of the time it will be"standart" course of action (provided you have fuel) but it won't be "overpowered"
also, when I think abt drifting, I realise pirates would see drifter and possibly try to mess with him, since he can't dodge. Maybe crash into him to deal extra health damage. Maybe bump to make him drift to random other direction. Maybe something else. Either way, if you fail to fuel-burn from pirates and are left without fuel at all, you're in trouble

as for bribery: their high officers care about whole pirateship and know they must stop you at all costs - however, rank and file pirates could be more egoistic and short sighted (and maybe thinking "even if they send battleships we will just raid them too or flee"). Like in any system, this can be exploited with "unofficial" communications... so, it always makes sense to make some "friendly gifts". Maybe not every single frigate captain could be bought, and they never can be bribed to attack other pirates (they know they will be hunted down for that), but posssibility should present

[Dervish]

Originally posted by Grug:

their motivation for killing you is not for plunder but to prevent Void Ark from being reactivated (which would notify their headquarters to send in ships to destroy the pirates)

I like that BACs later points out a loophole that means they're not actually in breach of anything and aren't in any danger of WCG coming to sort them out.

They're a piece of cake to deal with once you have the scrambler but I do agree that a warp jump should lose them

[Hand's Hermit Permit]

Can pirates be poisoned? I'd rather not take spiker as my only weapon for my indirect achievement run just to find out no, no they can't, and just get rekt.

[Shiro]

Originally posted by Hand's Hermit Permit:

Can pirates be poisoned? I'd rather not take spiker as my only weapon for my indirect achievement run just to find out no, no they can't, and just get rekt.

poison only fails on mechanical foes (gunpoints, cameras, secbots) and Zec's shields. Pirates are vulnerable as usually. Just dont die while poison works, their DPS is no small, especially close on

[Hand's Hermit Permit]

Yeah I knew about poison on mechanicals being pointless, but the pirates looked like robots anyway the way they're on wheels, are all metal, have gun-hands, and screens on their faces. They looked like those strip robots from Fallout; NV.