Piracy 101

[timmychen]

You are NOT allowed to attack until after you have initiated role play. That means you cannot fire until after you have announced intentions, demands, etc.

Someone else mentioned this earlier in the thread, but you CAN attack before saying a word. I used to do it all the time. Pew pew, take out the shields, then talk. Maybe half the hull if they're still moving. Drain their nanobots/batteries. You're a pirate; be intimidating.

Just shoot out a gate in the middle of a lane, and wait for something juicy to drop out of it. Why is this a good tactic? Many reasons. For a start, there's no gates or docks nearby to escape to. It also dumps the trader close to you, meaning you will be able to get close before he can enter cruise speed. With the speed of the lane, the trader will not see your ship in time to change direction either. It all makes for a very good ambush.

Another idea: Wait for a trader to pop into your scanners (that's a good 14k warning), and then kill the lane. Sometimes the lane will be dead, but ships still pass through. You also get a chance to see who it is that's coming through you. Maybe the lawful won't notice who you are by the time that they pass, or maybe they won't see you at all.

(and psst, pirates aren't supposed to be nice and friendly.)