Elite Dangerous Piracy Guide – Nav Beacon, No Fire Zone

Being a Pirate in Elite Dangerous is one of the riskiest yet rewarding jobs in the galaxy. However, if you don’t make smart moves you’re sure to regret it in the long run. Today we’re going to dive into the top things you need to know to become a successful Pirate.

Moral Issues

First let’s get this off the table. Becoming a pirate doesn’t automatically make you a bad person. Yes, it makes you unlawful, but as long as you play the system right, reduce the number of corpses left in your wake and increase the amount of cargo you’re hauling, you’ll likely become great at this profession.

Setting Up

To start, you’ll want to pillage and plunder in a safe area. In order to do this, travel to a lawless system. It will say Allegiance: None on the map, and then head over to a Nav Beacon. Nav Beacons are layover points for NPC ships, and are great for stalking prey.

The reason you want to start off in a lawless system is because 1.) attacking other ships won’t put a price on your head, and 2.) you have an easily accessible Black Market in which to fence your wrongfully obtained goods. Just remember not to fire on anyone in a station’s No Fire Zone and you shouldn’t run into big issues.

Tip: Piracy doesn’t require massive amounts of ship planning. While upgrades will certainly help, you can just as easily pirate with a default Sidewinder or other type of ship.

The First Job

Once you arrive at a Nav Beacon, you’ll want to keep a lookout for a few different types of ships. Haulers or Lakon Type 6’s are always merchants, and you’ll want to choose a target and go in guns blazing. Don’t worry about being polite to the NPCs. Cut down their hull and shields until they jettison their cargo. 

Tip: Pirating against NPCs is a lot different than pirating players. When dealing with players, you should always give them a chance to drop their goods, and if they fail to comply, then you’ll want to target their Cargo Hatch and bust it open to get the items. NPCs will always jettison their cargo when they reach a certain level of hull damage.

Once the ship has jettisoned its cargo, take a look at your spoils.

Scoop, Scoop, Run

This is one of the most dangerous things about being a pirate, especially if there are other pirates around. Cargo floating through space is like bloody meat in the ocean. It’s bound to attract some sharks. You’ll want to extend your Cargo Scoop and grab as much of the loot as you can before other pirates descend. Don’t get greedy, and when the loot gets too hot, make your escape and sell it off at a station.

Knowing Your Competition

Another important aspect to piracy is knowing what ships to hit. There are generally around three types of NPCs in lawless systems: merchants (or truckers), pirates and psychopaths. Anybody flying a Hauler or Lakon Type 6 is a trucker. Also, anyone flying like they have somewhere really important to be is a trucker. Anybody that you see floating around, especially if their Hardpoints are deployed, is either a pirate or a psychopath. If you get scanned you’re looking at a pirate, but if you simply get shot upon without any provocation, he or she is a psychopath, and your only smart option is to run as fast as you can.

Tip: Another easy way to tell merchants from pirates is to look at the ship’s flight pattern. If they weave and rock they are pirates or psychopaths, however if they’re making a beeline straight out of the Nav Beacon you found a trucker with a heavy Cargo Hold.

Unidentified Signal Sources

Unidentified Signal Sources are another great stop to make. These reoccurring drop-ins sometimes house Bounty Hunters — so be careful — or free cargo. If you happen to run across any cargo, collect and get out of these as fast as you can. Sometimes you might get ambushed by two or three Cobras or even Vipers. If that happens, don’t try to fight or finish scooping. Tuck your tail and flee.

Upgrading Your Ship

As we mentioned above, ship upgrades aren’t a huge deal from the start, making piracy an easy way to begin Elite Dangerous. However, once you’ve made enough money, it’s definitely worthwhile to look into purchasing a Cobra Mk. III or a Viper. The Cobra is the larger of the two ships, has a heftier Cargo Hold and doesn’t overheat nearly as easily as the Viper.  Conversely, if you desire more speed and maneuverability you’ll want to pick up a Viper. Strictly speaking, the Cobra is probably a better pirate ship due to the larger Cargo Hold, but if you’d rather have better Hardpoint placement, higher speed and more maneuverability then you’re better off going with the Viper.

Once you have a larger ship, like the Cobra or Viper, you can add more targets to your hit list. Ships like Cobras and Anacondas, which were impossible to take down before, are now legitimate targets, but you should still approach them with caution. Any ships carrying railguns or missile launchers should be given a wide berth.

Tip: Picking up a Cargo Scanner will allow you to scan your target’s cargo and see if they are worth the trouble and ammunition.

Moral of the Story

Remember that you’re a pirate, not a psychopath. You shoot people because it profits you, not because it’s fun. If there isn’t a need to fight, don’t risk the expensive repairs or possible death. Remember, it’s just as easy for two enemies to fight over scraps as it is for them to team up against a large ship like an Anaconda for a bigger payday.