The ultimate pirate ship?

[Shadow Reaper]

I was fiddling around again with the Corsair. I think peeps haven't yet really looked at what a great pirate or privateering package this bird is. Though I'm not all about Drake, the name Corsair is certainly intended to suggest the pirate and/or privateering role even more strongly than the Buccaneer, and Cutlass. I think it is intended to be the height of the pirate ship line, so what does it offer?

Well, so far as I am aware it hands the pilot more firepower than any other ship in the SC universe. If you know of something that hands more DPS to the pilot, please drop a note and correct me, but nothing comes to mind that can compete with 4 S4 weapons on gimbals plus a couple S2s on gimbals, and given the astonishing capabilities we've just seen handed to gimbals, I can think of no reason you'd want to go fixed mounts here. This bird is supposed to be quick compared to anything other than a single seater, fairly nimble, and is a massive threat.

Consider for instance what would happen if you mounted 4 Salvation Distortion Scatterguns on those pilot controlled gimbals. That is almost 40,000 DPS distortion damage. Seems to me, anything you could get close enough to use those guns, you could immobilize very quickly.

The main method for Corsairs in the past was always to take a small, fast ship and overman it--pack it to the gunwales with boarders--and chase down larger ships. I think you'd have a hard time stopping this ship if it is actually owned by pirates. Think about your favorite ship, and your intended activity in the SC universe and ask yourself, would you be safe from such a threat?

And what if this is what the NPC universe holds for us all? This is a pirate ship, and SC includes NPC pirates, so shouldn't we expect this kind of threat in the future? And worse still, if it is piloted and manned by PCs, and they fly the ship defensively, the way dogfighters fly light fighters, so that you can't actually hit it readily at mid to long range. . .how would you stop this ship?

I'm still a Vanguard and Polaris kinda guy, but just saying. . .I don't think the Corsair got enough air time on the general boards. This ship is a game changer, IMHO.

 

[Chip Hazzard]

I really like the Corsair, it was basically the ship I was waiting for.

But I was thinking it would make a really cool Bounty Hunting ship, you could stick a dragonfly in the hold along with some holding cells (hopefully), and be out hunting for a while without having to always go back to a station or base.

Pirate wise, I think it will be a bit unnerving seeing one coming towards you!

 

[Vavrik]

The Corsair is billed as an exploration ship, but honestly when I saw it, and it's potential armament, I realized what kind of "exploration" this is really designed for. I bought it on day 1 and registered a name 30 minutes later. It's name is what this ship is for. It's a version of an Anglo-Saxon word used for "hunt" and "hunter". Also, a lot of people criticized the design for its asymmetry, but that only matters in an atmosphere, and honestly there is a clear line of symmetry. It's just 90 degrees from what we normally think of as symmetry nowadays. but it's no less valid. Even for an airframe.

 

[Printimus]

Considering we dont have proper pirate mechanics in game yet, we cant really say what will and will not make a good pirate ship.

 

[DirectorGunner]

I think the Kraken fits the bill as the ultimate pirate ship. Fastest ship deployment, lots of guns, home base. A good pirate fleet could consist of a couple of pirate cats, a Kraken, couple cutlass pirate blacks, a few of either Sabre/SH/Buccaneers, 1 or 2 emp ships like a Raven or Warlock, and maybe a couple of arrows. Once the pirate cat doors are fixed, should be able to fit some dragonflys and rovers in them.

 

[Bambooza]

I was fiddling around again with the Corsair. I think peeps haven't yet really looked at what a great pirate or privateering package this bird is. Though I'm not all about Drake, the name Corsair is certainly intended to suggest the pirate and/or privateering role even more strongly than the Buccaneer, and Cutlass. I think it is intended to be the height of the pirate ship line, so what does it offer?

Well, so far as I am aware it hands the pilot more firepower than any other ship in the SC universe. If you know of something that hands more DPS to the pilot, please drop a note and correct me, but nothing comes to mind that can compete with 4 S4 weapons on gimbals plus a couple S2s on gimbals, and given the astonishing capabilities we've just seen handed to gimbals, I can think of no reason you'd want to go fixed mounts here. This bird is supposed to be quick compared to anything other than a single seater, fairly nimble, and is a massive threat.

Consider for instance what would happen if you mounted 4 Salvation Distortion Scatterguns on those pilot controlled gimbals. That is almost 40,000 DPS distortion damage. Seems to me, anything you could get close enough to use those guns, you could immobilize very quickly.

The main method for Corsairs in the past was always to take a small, fast ship and overman it--pack it to the gunwales with boarders--and chase down larger ships. I think you'd have a hard time stopping this ship if it is actually owned by pirates. Think about your favorite ship, and your intended activity in the SC universe and ask yourself, would you be safe from such a threat?

And what if this is what the NPC universe holds for us all? This is a pirate ship, and SC includes NPC pirates, so shouldn't we expect this kind of threat in the future? And worse still, if it is piloted and manned by PCs, and they fly the ship defensively, the way dogfighters fly light fighters, so that you can't actually hit it readily at mid to long range. . .how would you stop this ship?

I'm still a Vanguard and Polaris kinda guy, but just saying. . .I don't think the Corsair got enough air time on the general boards. This ship is a game changer, IMHO.

No, you are right that its often overlooked. On paper anyways it seems to be the perfect ship for finding Hull C's and helping offload their cargo. I am not sure how it will stack up against other mid-size ships like the Constellation but if the Freelancer MIS, Cutlass and Avenger comparison holds true it should be formidable, not that I would want to fly it up against a Hammerhead or Polaris even if it was in a pack.

I think the Kraken fits the bill as the ultimate pirate ship. Fastest ship deployment, lots of guns, home base. A good pirate fleet could consist of a couple of pirate cats, a Kraken, couple cutlass pirate blacks, a few of either Sabre/SH/Buccaneers, 1 or 2 emp ships like a Raven or Warlock, and maybe a couple of arrows. Once the pirate cat doors are fixed, should be able to fit some dragonflys and rovers in them.

You're right the Kraken is the ultimate pirate base even if it's not really the best ship to bring into the initial engagement, I'd hold it back with the Caterpillars and only use it defensively if caught by the Advocacy or the UEE until the Caterpillers jumped. After all its better to lose a couple of Corsairs and Cutlasses with the pilots shipped back to the medical chamber to try another target then to lose the whole mobile operation. Once the target and its escorts are subdued then the Kraken and Catipillars could jump in to secure the payday before making for port and beer.

 

[NameChangeToken]

This only works if you get the drop on someone. Those distortion scatter guns have an effective range of 1.5km max, with other S4 weapons that deal actual damage reaching out to 4km.
Corsairs shields are not going to hold up to the DPS that most sizable ships can lay down. It will come with about 29k shield HP with about 364/s shield regen. The dual S5's on the Star-G alone will deal out 1.4kdps out to 5-6KM, never mind the 4x Gimballed S4's dealing out another 2kdps out to 4km...and if you sneak up behind it you've got 4x S3's to deal with (2 each on 2 turrets), which I'm sure many Star-G captains will turn into auto turrets.

All that being said, yeah the Corsair is a formidable ship, but if a savvy Star-G captain threw 2x S5 Distortion scatter guns on his top turret, you'd have 30k distortion damage to deal with yourself, and his L shield has 50k more HP than your 2x M's, and he has a power plan that pushes out 10k more power per second.

I chose this ship to use as your prey primarily because it and my BMM will be my cargo vessels of choice, and I selected them specifically because they should be fairly well hardened and secure ships. And I'd already been theory crafting about distortion weapons to disable would be attackers.

 

[littlej0e]

I never would have thought it, but the freelancer MIS looks to be very good for pirating. Ultra fast QT, armed to the tits, good cargo space, etc. No tractor beam though. I also wonder what the op cost will be compared with the cutlass black/blue?!?

 

[littlej0e]

I was fiddling around again with the Corsair. I think peeps haven't yet really looked at what a great pirate or privateering package this bird is. Though I'm not all about Drake, the name Corsair is certainly intended to suggest the pirate and/or privateering role even more strongly than the Buccaneer, and Cutlass. I think it is intended to be the height of the pirate ship line, so what does it offer?

Well, so far as I am aware it hands the pilot more firepower than any other ship in the SC universe. If you know of something that hands more DPS to the pilot, please drop a note and correct me, but nothing comes to mind that can compete with 4 S4 weapons on gimbals plus a couple S2s on gimbals, and given the astonishing capabilities we've just seen handed to gimbals, I can think of no reason you'd want to go fixed mounts here. This bird is supposed to be quick compared to anything other than a single seater, fairly nimble, and is a massive threat.

Consider for instance what would happen if you mounted 4 Salvation Distortion Scatterguns on those pilot controlled gimbals. That is almost 40,000 DPS distortion damage. Seems to me, anything you could get close enough to use those guns, you could immobilize very quickly.

The main method for Corsairs in the past was always to take a small, fast ship and overman it--pack it to the gunwales with boarders--and chase down larger ships. I think you'd have a hard time stopping this ship if it is actually owned by pirates. Think about your favorite ship, and your intended activity in the SC universe and ask yourself, would you be safe from such a threat?

And what if this is what the NPC universe holds for us all? This is a pirate ship, and SC includes NPC pirates, so shouldn't we expect this kind of threat in the future? And worse still, if it is piloted and manned by PCs, and they fly the ship defensively, the way dogfighters fly light fighters, so that you can't actually hit it readily at mid to long range. . .how would you stop this ship?

I'm still a Vanguard and Polaris kinda guy, but just saying. . .I don't think the Corsair got enough air time on the general boards. This ship is a game changer, IMHO.

Just wanted to follow up and say you are absolutely right. The Corsair is going to be an amazing pirate ship. It's a crying shame this hasn't gotten more visibility. This ship is a really big deal...

On paper, the Corsair looks like a "Super Cutlass" with an eye-watering amount of burst firepower. However, it doesn't seem like it comes with a tractor beam (can't confirm this due to lack of info/Google skills). Perhaps that means it is intended to be more of a "tip of the spear" intimidator rather than a "one stop pirate shop". Can anyone confirm the tractor beam (or lack thereof)?

I think most of the perception/exposure problem with the Corsair stems from CIG confusing the hell out of everyone by billing it strictly as an explorer. CIG was either being ludicrously tongue-in-cheek or they built a ship with seemingly poor capabilities for its intended role...

Anyway, I just picked one up and wanted to say thanks for the insight and analytical clarity.

 

[Shadow Reaper]

CIG was either being ludicrously tongue-in-cheek or they built a ship with seemingly poor capabilities for its intended role...

It is tounge-in-cheek. They play that purposely. That can't very well have a promo and say "here is our pirate ship", though you may see some used like that at Grim Hex or some such.

 

[Mich Angel]

I just say it, Drake is not a pirate ship never have been never will be.
It is a Drake manufacture ship, just because it is mostly use by pirate cause it is cheep compared to other ships don't make it a pirate ship.
And for ultimate pirate/bounty/UEE/ what ever ship is the one ship you master to use to it's optimal potential.

A ship or gear never make one great, it's how you learn to use it to your optimum benefit that make it the best one for you.

So in short any ship could be the best one but IMO the best one for pirate ship is the one you suspect the lest to be run by pirates.
That one ship would give the biggest advantage to potential target that don't suspect or see it coming.
Then you have the right ship and are successful.

CHEERS!

As a side note: In the movies old pirate ship had the jolly roger flag announcing their coming... in real life that's not how it was..
Real life history if you look at it pirate conceal their identity by using a British flag when approaching British ships and French flag for French ship etc..
The jolly roger pirate flag was not raised until after the attack was started and most time not at all since hiding their identity made them more elusive and hard to catch.

It's only in Hollywood movies pirates are announcing and showing off their true color in reality this is not how it was.
And showing of your true color is the last thing you wan to do if you wan to be a successful pirate.
For a successful pirate people talk about but no one know who he is.
Just a thing to think about..

CHEERS!

 

[littlej0e]

It is tounge-in-cheek. They play that purposely. That can't very well have a promo and say "here is our pirate ship", though you may see some used like that at Grim Hex or some such.

You are 100% correct. I just re-watched RTV when they launched the Corsair. It was unmistakable:

"Is the Corsair a capable fighter"?

"It's a very Drake thing. Ostensibly, they are a nice public company, doing good things. Yeah, it can handle itself. Like the Cutlass, it was originally a militia patrol ship in the lore, but gets used for more nefarious purposes".

They also said the Corsair would undergo at least one more design pass before it goes to production. And...they already plan to add smuggling vents. Yep, sounds like an explorer to me:-)

All it needs is a tractor beam...