Fleet
SMALL DEEP SPACE FREIGHTER
The small deep space freighter is not the best pic for anyone except for the Lizards with their 30x ground combat force. Likely candidate for colonization.
OUTRIDER CLASS SCOUT
Small, has no cloaking device, only one engine and no combat potential. In a low money and low mineral game this ship’s fuel tank does make for a cheap substitute for a Lady Royale early on.
BR4 CLASS GUNSHIP
Has a cloaking device, gravitonic accelerators and costs very little. Early on this ship can be useful for hunting down freighters and for scouting out the enemy. It is also a useful ship to trade to a prospective ally because it lacks torpedoes and is therefore less threatening to the privateer.
D7a PAINMAKER CLASS CRUISER
Has a smaller fuel tank than an Outrider, doesn’t cloak and has a small cargo hold. For the expenditure, look elsewhere in the privateer fleet. The Lady Royale is a much better buy later and the Outrider is better early on.
LITTLE PEST CLASS ESCORT
Has 6 beams for sweeping and that’s the only realistic function of this ship. But for a small increase in cost, you can build the Dwarfstar and gain 11x the cargo and a cloaking device. If you want 6 beams for sweeping purposes, buy the Dwarfstar.
NEUTRONIC FUEL CARRIER
Build a few to refuel your ships at the edges of your empire. The usefulness of this ship depends on how rich the game is.
MEDIUM DEEP SPACE FREIGHTER
If you are playing in a game where many of the planets you find will not be worthwhile, you may want to build an MDSF (Medium Deep Space Freighter) so that you can scout out the good planets. Once the MDSF’s job of scouting has been finished, it can be colonized or put to use in small cargo transport. If you plan to colonize it you may choose to build a Smallie (Small Deep Space Freighter) instead.
DWARFSTAR CLASS TRANPORT
An interesting ship for the Privateer. The 220 Cargo is really nice for robbing materials from an enemy, especially clans! Six beams make for a solid sweeper and the cloak allows the Dwarf to hide from enemies in some instances.
BR5 KAYE CLASS TORPEDO BOAT
A useful vessel early on and it’s a good vessel to trade to allies and potential trading partners. The small tank and small cargo minimize the threat potential and opens the door to some deals that a race without cloakers will take a 2nd look at. As a raider, it’s marginally useful. As a tower, it’s small tank limits the upper limit of towing capacity.
SMALL TRANSPORT
Is of little or no use to the Privateers.
LADY ROYALE CLASS CRUISER
A terror weapon for the privateers. Many a victim of a good privateer has learned to fear this “wolf in sheep’s clothing.” The 670 fuel tank is what serves the Privateer wolfpack so well. Three Lady Royales can drain a Golem dry!
METEOR CLASS BLOCKADE RUNNER
This ship is the pride and joy of the privateers. Gravitonic accelerators get things where the privateer wants in half the time and for half the fuel. This is the key to the success of the Privateer and it is also the reason the privateer doesn’t win all games. It’s light and fatally vulnerable in minefields. When MBRs and L.Royales hit the field in large numbers, look out.
SKYFIRE CLASS CRUISER
The Privateers heavy mine layer. Beyond that, all other functions can be better covered by other warships in the Privateer fleet.
D3 THORN CLASS DESTROYER
So, you’ve got Loki’s breath down your throat and you want to get rid of them? But!!! You don’t want to risk having your precious Meteors being captured and then being used against you? This is where you look. Almost as much firepower as the MBR and should it get captured, the liability of such a loss isn’t as great. Depending upon the weapon array of the Loki, a heavily armed Thorn can often prevail. For ensuring success, think about sending two.
LARGE DEEP SPACE FREIGHTER
The Medium and Small are too small, the Super Transport is too big, but the LDSF feels just right. This is actually the ship to build.
REDWIND CLASS CARRIER
Generally only useful as a trade item to races that the Privateers would rather ally with than fight. This ship doesn’t hurt the privateer when it’s used against them. Short legs and small mass and cargo.
NEUTRONIC REFINERY SHIP
The neutronic refinery ship is a tech 9 ship with 10 engines and 1050 KT of cargo room. Fuel tank will hold 800 KT of fuel. The hull is very massive, 712 KT. The ship is armed with 6 beam weapons. This ship can produce up to 525 KT of fuel per turn.
SUPER TRANSPORT FREIGHTER
To big for most purposes. With tech 10 engines and the cost involved it is much easier to build a few Large Deep Space Freighters. But I like to call it “Starbase in a Box”. You decide.
BLOODFANG CLASS CARRIER
A depressing excuse for a tech 10 warship. Surprisingly, there is a role for this vessel. When faced with a foe that refuses to give up heavy ships, the Bloodfang is the Privateer planetary assault ship. Capable of killing ANY colony world as long as there isn’t a base present. The privateer is stuck with this being the only ship capable of killing big borg colonies.
MERLIN CLASS ALCHEMY SHIP
The Merlin Class Alchemy Ship is a tech 10 ship with 10 engines and 2700 KT of cargo room. The fuel tank can hold 450 KT of fuel. The ship’s hull has a mass of 920 KT, which makes it one of the largest ships in any fleet. The ship is armed with 8 beam weapons and costs 840 megacredits to build. The ship can produce a maximum of 900 KT of minerals per turn ( 300 KT duranium, 300 KT tritanium and 300 KT molybdenum ).