A proposal for a fourth faction, one that we all, frankly, hoped would turn up when the lacklustre and utterly disappointing Pirate DLC was announced… the Pirate faction!
Let’s begin with their ship tree, which is a little unusual…
No, this isn’t a partial - it’s the entire tree. The Pirates run through T2 and T3, but not above or below that. Not for now, at least.
So, the big things to note about this tree:
All the Pirate DLC has been moved here. The ships haven’t changed, they’re just now put among the Pirates now.
To access the Pirate faction, you must perform one of the following:
- For Interceptors, you must achieve Rank 6 with the Empire, or purchase the “Jolly Roger” Pack.
- For Fighters, you must achieve Rank 6 with the Federation, or purchase the “Corsair” Pack.
- For Frigates, you must achieve Rank 6 with Jericho, or purchase the “Dead Man’s Chest” Pack.
Now for the ships themselves. All of these ships emphasize speed and critical bonuses over survivability. However, these vessels have also undergone considerable modification from their original versions, and as such they posses unique special modules not available to regular ships.
These special modules are as follows:
Pirate Recon - Nanite Reclamator:
When activated, the Nanite Reclamator reduces the player’s shields by 360pts per second for ten seconds, but also restores their hull by 180pts per second for ten seconds. If the player’s ship runs out of shields, the module shuts down immediately.
Pirate Covert Ops - Grapnels:
This module has a range of 1,000m. When activated, it creates a link between the Pirate ship and the target for 15 seconds. During this time the Pirate ship cannot move more than 1,000m from the target - they are effectively dragged along with their prey! Cloaking does not deactivate the Grapnel, but Microwarp Engines, Warp Gates, Combat Reboot or breaking Line of Sight will deactivate the Grapnel.
The Grapnel does not change the speed or orientation of either ship - the Pirate ship still has to turn to face its target to hit it!
Pirate Tackler - Target Painter:
Allied ships firing on a ship subjected to a Target Painter have a +50% Critical Hit chance. In addition, target ship cannot use cloaking devices or similar modules while the lock is maintained.
Pirate Command - Engine Overlock:
When active, any damage suffered by the Pirate ship gives it speed boost for four seconds. The greater the damage, the greater the speed boost!
In addition, whilst active the ship is immune to speed reducing abilities, such as Engine Inhibitor.
Pirate Guard - Ramming Speed:
For five seconds the Guard accelerates forward at 200% of Afterburner speed. The ship cannot slow down during this time, but may turn as normal.
If the ship collides with an enemy, it causes considerable kinetic damage to the target, as well as minor kinetic damage to itself. A Guard can potentially ram multiple ships in a single activation.
Pirate Engineer - Gun Pods:
Pirate Engineer drones do not repair their parent ship.
Activating the Gun Pods increases their rate of fire by +50% for 15 seconds. After 15 seconds the pods self destruct.
Thoughts?
Module/Implants 
