Privateer Ship Specifications

[Crowley]

Steltek Drone
Guns-
Steltek/D (5)
Max. Speed: 900
Afb. Speed: 1700
Accel: 2000
YP/R: 200/200/200
Front Armor: 300
Side Armor: 300 ea
Rear Armor: 300
Shields: Type 11

Yikes! No wonder trying to outrun the drone is a lost cause. Has anyone ever managed to survive from the Steltek capital ship back to civilization without turning on invulnerability?

 

[Ijuin]

Just afterburn to your destination, and don't ever look back, but do remember to dodge a bit if the drone starts hitting you with its fire. If you are flying anything but the Tarsus, you can probably stay far enough from it to survive--it only goes after the player after all other NPC ships nearby have been killed.

 

[GreyViper]

Dralthi (RF)
Guns-
Particle Cannon (2, Sides)
Fusion Cannon (1, Center)
Missiles-
Launcher #1: Image Recognition (1)
Launcher #2: Image Recognition (1)
Launcher #3: Image Recognition (1)
Max. Speed: 400
Afb. Speed: 1000
Accel: 600
YP/R:145/150/147
Front Armor: 100
Side Armor: 70 ea
Rear Armor: 85
Shields: Type 7

Hmm I dont remember them packing that much punch. But I got to admit running against Dralthi like this in WC3 would have been interesting. Btw I think the weak armor was one reason they didnt pose much of a threath against fully decked out Centurion in RF.

 

[Death]

Yikes! No wonder trying to outrun the drone is a lost cause. Has anyone ever managed to survive from the Steltek capital ship back to civilization without turning on invulnerability?

Easily.

The drone isn't the only ship that's faster than the player's ship, but the AI doesn't give an all-out chase, which is how your 1000kps (AB) Centurion can outrun 1400kps (AB) Stilettos, in the cousin-smuggling mission for Lynch, even if by pure stat numbers they could catch you well short of your ultimate destination.

Also, even though the drone is invulnerable to anything but a charged steltek gun, if you fire an ImRec at it, the drone will go into evasive maneuvers, even if the missle won't do anything. While it's dodging, you can get the hell out of Dodge.

(And don't forget the "weaving while afterburning through asteroid fields" trick, the AI doesn't take into account the drone's invulnerability there, either, to the best of my knowledge.)

 

[Quarto]

Hmm, I don't recall the drone ever being more than a nuisance. It was annoying how it was always there behind you and how you couldn't kill it... but I don't recall it ever actually posing any threat to me. I guess this would depend on how much you'd invested in your ship by that point in time, though. Obviously someone flying a Tarsus would've found the drone more of a problem than I did .