Space pirates.

The three kinds of pirate

Kind	Where they come	What they fly	How they fight
Sea pirates	A ship at the helm out on open water.	A brigantine, a sailing ship under the black flag.	Cannons along her broadside, fired as her guns bear.
Sky pirates	An airship flying at height, above 60 metres over the sea level.	An airship.	A bow cannon that lobs shots at her mark.
Space raiders	A starship in orbit, above the sky of a world.	Dark Kestrel fighters, in pairs.	Pulse cannon, railgun bolts and lock-on darts, in dogfights.

A metre is the game's unit of distance. The distances below are how far off a pirate appears, and how far it will hunt you.

When they come

• Sea pirates appear about 650 metres away, upwind of you, and hunt you within 2,500 metres. At most 2 are about at once. The game looks every 60 seconds, and each look brings one with a chance of 16 in 100.
• Sky pirates appear about 900 metres away and hunt within 3,000 metres. At most 2 are about at once. The game looks every 60 seconds, with a chance of 20 in 100.
• Space raiders appear about 1,800 metres away and hunt within 9,000 metres. They come in pairs, and at most 4 are about at once. The game looks every 60 seconds, with a chance of 25 in 100. They only come to a starship that is above nine-tenths of the height of the orbit.

Pirates never come in Builder mode. Raiders do not come to a starship going faster than 300 metres per second, or to one that is in the Slipstream, or to one that is letting go of it. They find you once you have slowed down.

Fighting a sea pirate, step by step

1. Watch for the message "Sail ho!" with the pirate's name and its distance. It means a black-flagged ship is closing on you.
2. Turn your broadside toward her, so that your cannons bear on her as she comes in.
3. Fire your cannons. She keeps off the land and tries to bring her broadside abeam of your ship.
4. Beat her by shooting away her helm, or by destroying most of her hull. A pirate strikes her colours when her helm is gone, when more than 45 in 100 of her blocks are shot away, or when she is sinking.

Her cannons fire about every 9 to 12 seconds, and they only reach as far as 420 metres. Keep your distance from her broadside if your hull is weak.

Fighting a sky pirate, step by step

1. Watch for the message "Airship off the bow!", which gives the distance of the sky pirate.
2. Shoot at her gas bags. Her gas bags are her weak point, and she strikes her colours when they are all gone.
3. She also strikes when less than 60 in 100 of her blocks are left.

Fighting a space raider, step by step

1. Watch for "Hostile contact", which gives the raider's name and distance.
2. Raiders fly in pairs. They attack in runs, break off, dodge, jink and try to flank you. Keep turning and keep your guns on them.
3. If a raider loses you for 20 to 40 seconds, and you stay beyond the combat range, it gives up the chase for two minutes, unless you come back within 3,000 metres.
4. A badly hurt raider limps home, and once it is more than 6,000 metres away it is gone.
5. Beat a raider by taking away its rocket parts, by destroying more than 40 in 100 of its blocks, or by bringing its hull integrity below 0.4. The raider strikes its colours when one of these happens.

The fight with raiders is a dogfight. For how these fights work, see dogfighting, and for the starships you fly, see ships and fighters.

Plunder

When a pirate strikes her colours, her crew are gone and she drifts. The plunder is handed to the players who are close enough when she is beaten:

• Sea and sky pirates carry gold (3 to 8), silver (4 to 11), and half the time bronze (4 to 9).
• Space raiders carry titanium (4 to 9) and gold (2 to 5), and one time in five a Nova alloy.

Players within 1,500 metres of a beaten sea pirate, 3,000 metres of a sky pirate, or 12,000 metres of a raider share the plunder. If your inventory is full, the plunder falls to the ground by you, so pick it up.

A beaten pirate is renamed Captured, and she is left drifting as a prize that can be boarded.

Bounties at stations

A station's bounty board lists the jobs against pirates and raiders. Dock at a station and open the Port screen to see them. See stations and trade for how stations work.

• Clear raider craft: beat 2 to 4 raider craft, anywhere. Each raider you beat counts towards the bounty.
• Wanted captain: a named captain and ship are on the board. Find that ship in space and bring her down. The notice says alive is not required, but it is traditional. Once you have taken the bounty and undock, the captain's ship is put out after you, and it is named Pirate with the ship's name. Beating her completes the bounty.
• Bring down a legend: a legend bounty asks you to beat a legendary monster. See all the legends.

Rivals

In harder universes, of tier 3 or more, rival captains may also come after a starship in orbit. A rival hails you before attacking. The rivals are a separate matter, and they are covered on pirates and rivals.

Where to go next

For the crew you can hire for your ship, see crews and the starport. For the Vael, whose ships fly in space and are not pirates, see the Vael and their ships.

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