Strategy question

i know you can research something that slows them down as they go to jump out of your space. Other then that im' not sure.

Attack them before they attack you.

Make sure the bounty on the AI is higher than the bounty on you, then you can deal with the pirates while they are attacking the AI or hit the AI when the pirates do so they have to deal with both forces at once.

Skip research, pump out either siege units or carriers..

The problem was I would have to pull out of any system i was attacking to defend. The pirates were irritating, it was the AI that kept causing me to system jump. They had enough ships that they could hit me in 2 places. I couldn't penetrate at all. The pirates did cause me to jump out twice, was out of money couldn't outbid em.

Sounds like they've got you pretty pinned down - may be time for some higher risk ideas - Try sending some smaller strike forces deep into their empire (siege frigates) to disrupt their economy and force them to move their fleets away from the front? Give some ground on one side of your empire in order to push on the other front to shake things up? As it stands, it sounds like rushing back and forth with one capable fleet is just going to result in them wearing you down and eventually breaking through. I'm not an experienced player - just suggestions.

Split your forces while still developing more ships. One force on multiple fronts is never gonna work. They're gonna keep doing what they're doing.

Is it possible for you to give something up (say, an asteroid) to have a better defensive advantage. And then build your stuff up more and strike hard.

Try setting up your empire with only one or two bottlenecks. HEAVILY build system defenses in both. Those will slow down, or perhaps even eliminate the attackers for you. Be sure to add several bomber hangers. Pirates, as far as I can tell, never use strikecraft and are susceptible to bombers. If they evade your turret defenses at least the bombers can work on em.

An handfull of frigates, combined with a pile of gauss cannons, repair stations, and bomber support can really get you far. Frigates are cheap too, and their crew's families know they probably won't live long assigned to a crappy little ship like that.

A sector that connects to the star is good because you can plop a scout in the jump lane at the star and keep an eye on things. Ships crawl sooooooo slowly in the star's gravity well you will have lots of time to get ready. It can become a liability in late game as bad things that come from other star systems enter the sector with the star.

Pirates really aren't so tough, and the best way to deal with them is to up the bounty on the other guys so they go attack them instead. That has a double bonus: you don't have to deal with them and the enemy does.

Someone said use planets, not asteroids, as your border sectors. I tried that and it works. Planets last longer under fire, and give you time to respond.

Even in the hugest game I've played I only had one fleet per star system. Sometimes I'd split a fleet into task forces, but only temporarily. It sounds like you and i have similar play styles, so get used to having to divert your attention from offense to defense now and then.

My guess is:
- send out small counterattacks (primarily seige frigates) to multiple low-hp enemy outposts (preferably asteroids) in an attempt to knock them out or at least force the enemy to divert forces
- if you can split your defense fleet and still repel the enemy, do so, if not try to shore up the tactical building defense there (repair towers to keep your fleet alive longer, hangars to hit any attacker in the grav well, well placed gauss cannons - lots of them!). If you're worried about planet bombing, upgrade the crisis infrastructure on the planet to raise hp.
- if you're getting surprised, make sure to research PSIDAR if you can to get more intel of enemy phase jumps; also plant scouts in neighboring systems so you can see what side of the jump point they're jumping from so your fleet can be all over them (or at least on the right side of the planet) when they jump in.
- if you can't inflict enough losses on a retreating enemy, make sure you've got Phase Jump Inhibitors to extend the time they need to jump out. If you have an Akkan with Ion Bolt (or something else with a similar ability) you can keep reseting a specific ship's jump timer so you could at least take out one cap ship each time.

Hold your ground, cost them more resources than they cost you, force them to choose between continuing their offensive and losing asteroids.

Never surrender, maul the AI

Good to know... I didn't think of that...
Thanks

If the AI is running from your main fleet, you are an imposing force. Try splitting that fleet and moving them in stages. Get them to engage fleet 1, then bring fleet 2 in to assist. You want to lock them into combat. Lure them into defensive range while your fleet engages. You can also try to delay your response to their probes to allow a little more time to fire on their ships.

The Pirates don't use strikecraft but I do believe they use flak frigates.

So you never need to use flak frigates against them, but I think they still have the ability to shoot down fighters.

But that impression of mine is based on the gameplay.constants file, not actual game experience.

I also think some of the pirate ships are so light that fighters hurt them more than bombers do.