Pirates and rivals.

Sea pirates

A pirate brigantine under the black flag may come out at you when you are at the helm of a ship well out to sea. She runs in on her mark, brings her broadside abeam and fires every gun that bears. She keeps off the land. Up to two sea pirates are about at a time, and they turn up now and then.

Sky pirates

An airship flying at height may draw sky pirates. Their gas bags are their weak point. Up to two are about at once.

Space raiders

Raiders are dark fighter craft from the Kestrel line. They come in pairs at a starship in orbit, and fight with pulse cannon, railguns and lock-on darts. They break off, dodge and try to flank you. When badly hurt, a raider limps home. Up to four may be about at once.

Starships moving very fast, or in the Slipstream, are not found by raiders. They find you once you have slowed down.

Beating a pirate

A pirate strikes her colours when her helm is shot away, when half of her is gone, or when she is going down. Her crew then leave her, and she drifts as a prize that you may board and take.

The plunder

Pirate	Usually carries	Shared with
Sea pirate	3 to 8 gold, 4 to 11 silver, and sometimes bronze	Players within about 1,500 metres
Sky pirate	As a sea pirate	Players within about 3,000 metres
Space raider	4 to 9 titanium, 2 to 5 gold, and sometimes Nova alloy	Players within about 12,000 metres

Anything the bag cannot take is dropped on the spot. A beaten raider also counts toward raider bounties at the station (see Crews and the starport).

Rivals in the other worlds

In the harder universes, a starship in orbit may be marked by a rival captain. A rival hails you by name, and keeps after you across the sky until one of you is down. Rivals begin at the third universe tier, with one at a time up to tier 6 and two from tier 7 up. The more far-universe metals, weapons and plating you carry, the sooner and more often a rival finds you. After one is beaten there is a quiet spell of about eight minutes.

A beaten rival leaves far-universe loot: plating, metals and weapons.

Tips

• Keep a gunner on the post. Sea pirates are much easier to beat when every gun bears.
• Shoot the helm or the gas bags first to make the pirate strike early.
• Fly fast and slip into the Slipstream to lose a raider. A raider that gives up leaves you alone for a while.
• Carry less far-universe metal if you want to be left alone.

See also Ships and fighters for building a ship that can fight back.

← Back to the wiki · Last updated 25 October 2026. Mantlenaut is in alpha, so things change.