Pirates... ways to handle them

[Want0n]

I like the idea of piracy in Stellaris, but as many comments in the main forums reflect, there don't seem to be satisfactory ways of dealing with them.

The main issue as I see it is that using corvettes etc. to protect trade eats into fleet capacity or ties up starbase modules. For me, piracy is fundamentally an issue of law enforcement.

Whilst we have enforcers to keep criminality in check on planets, there isn't the equivalent of a space police. My suggestion would be to have a separate fleet capacity dedicated to piracy suppression. Law enforcement fleets would need alloys to build and would have upkeep costs, but would not be able to engage in military operations.

Fleets could be represented on the galaxy map, or not. Not sure it would matter either way. The point is that building law enforcement fleets would be a choice and rely on player agency and decision making. They would be an additional cost sink and some empire builds might decide to ignore them.

 

[snarst]

The problem with your idea is that the main reason navy's have existed throughout history and continued to exist when external threats are non existent is piracy suppression. It has been the main role or at least a significant role of just about every single navy throughout history.

We can already build a law enforcement fleets, it just requires building some ships and put them together in a fleet and set a patrol rout. While I find it slightly annoying to devote fleet power or make a few hanger bastions around my empire both are a simple set and forget systems. The system you are proposing also doesn't really add anything and real life piracy is the responsibility of navy's not separate law enforcement agency's. Also you could argue we technically already have these specialized law enforcement fleets in the form of bastion trade protection range and the diplomacy tradition adding more trade protection.

 

[MordridBlack]

I mean given the amount of tech that can give you more starbase you could easily afford to commit enough in your space (maybe not right away) to ensuring trade route protection

either that or you need to be more judicial with your starbase placement

 

[HFY]

Whilst we have enforcers to keep criminality in check on planets, there isn't the equivalent of a space police. My suggestion would be to have a separate fleet capacity dedicated to piracy suppression. Law enforcement fleets would need alloys to build and would have upkeep costs, but would not be able to engage in military operations.

If you build Hanger modules in a starbase, they will be pretty effective as "enforcers" around that starbase.

The other major thing to do is make your empire capital starbase full of Trade Hub modules, plus maybe a Hyperlane Registrar building, so you don't need trade routes within some huge radius of your capital. Obviously you'll only do this after you have a nice shipyard replacement set up somewhere else.