Newbie FAQ (Piratez)

This page may be outdated. It is up-to-date for version 0.99H. The latest version is v.N1.

This is a FAQ for new players of the X-Piratez mod, written for the version 0.99. Note that according to most players, X-Piratez is supposed to be played blind, and this FAQ contains spoilers. So read this only if you wish to receive spoilers or have a brain-fart and are stuck.

• Q. How do I get my first interceptor?
• A. The Airspeeder and Aircar are available after you have contacts with car thieves. Airspeeder uses missile weapons, and Aircar is for cannon weapons. Early on you'll have to stick to the Aircar, because cannons are easier to research; to receive the ability to buy Seagull missiles for your Airspeeder, you'll have to interrogate a lot of Bandits and Highwaymen until you get Contacts: Smugglers from them. Note that both are pretty sucky interceptors; to get proper interceptors, you should follow most of the steps described for Tiny Drill below.

• Q. How do I get a bigger troop transport? The air bus sucks!
• A. You can get a vanilla X-COM Skyranger from the Mutant Alliance. Research the tech Bounty Hunting and do the missions the Alliance offers you. Buy any of the prizes from them, and you'll receive the ability to unlock Favor from the Alliance, which gives you Skyranger.

• Q. How do I use the accessory items, such as the gas mask or shawl?
• A. Put them in any place in your gal's inventory, and it will be considered on. However, the accessories have type (e.g. "Mask", "Hat"), and two of the same type will give you nothing.

• Q. I've captured some high ranking dude but cannot interrogate him. How do I do that?
• A. You need the technology of Persuasion to interrogate the higher-ups. It is unlocked through researching Mutant Porn.

• Q. The fluff says the Ubers have superior night vision, but I can't see a thing at night! I'm tired of tossing molotovs everywhere!
• A. You should turn night vision mode on. By default, the key is Scroll Lock, but you can redefine it (e.g. if you do not have such a key).

• Q. Why should I use bows? What is this, Skyrim?
• A. Bows have the ability of arcing. They fire over obstacles, like the spit of Celatid in the vanilla X-COM. You can fire at your enemies while hiding behind cover. The Assault Cannon and the grenade launchers also have this ability.

• Q. What's the deal with the Hammer and the Chainsaw? Their combat interface is unlike other melee weapons, it's like they are ranged.
• A. Technically, they are ranged weapons with the range of 1. This is done because only ranged weapons can destroy terrain, and destroying terrain is half of the functionality of the hammer and the saw.

• Q. Why am I penalized for taking down enemy craft and killing hostile dudes?
• A. You are being a jerk, attacking civilian craft and killing civilians. In this game, only the mutants are non-hostile civilians, human civilians are hostile and sometimes armed. This doesn't mean you have to kill them: the Hands are Robin Hood types who rob the rich (the global factions), help the poor (the mutants) and leave the middle class (human civilians) alone. Still, you might want to attack civilians: in the early game, the loot from civilians outweighs the penalties for attacking them.

• Q. How to unlock the Confederate Eagle to be bought?
• A. Do the bounty hunting missions for the goblin cartels. One of the rewards is "Confederate Gear", which includes unlocking the deagle at the black market.

• Q. Where do I get a katana?
• A. In "Help the Lokk-Narrs" missions, you often fight against Ninja Ubers. Yeah, the old ninja vs pirate meme. The katana (referred to as "Fuso Sword") often drops from them.

• Q. What exactly is the deal with Tiny Drill?
• A. It's the beginning of the long research chain that culminates with the construction of your awesome flagship craft, which marks the beginning of the mid-game. Read Tiny Drill (Piratez) to learn more about how to complete it. The choice you make also matters in whether you receive classic X-COM Psionics or newfangled magick instead, and which auxiliary cool crafts and unique items you receive.

• Q. What's the deal with the Officer's uniform? It does stun damage on the gal wearing it!
• A. You should read the Bootypedia description carefully. It says you need a high-Bravery gal to wear it. Otherwise you receive this penalty.

• Q. Why should I bother with the rescue gal missions, if I can unlock recruiting?
• A. The gals you rescue are of the same type as your starting gals, the Castaways. They do not require salary until they rank up, and their stat caps are somewhat higher. So you might prefer using them rather than the hired gals.

• Q. How do I get mutant meat and rare earths to recruit rescued gals?
• A. Learn the Cavern Hunting tech, it will provide you with a steady supply of mutant meat. Rare earths usually drop from Ninja Ubers when you defend the goblin villages from them.

• Q. How do I determine which ships to attack before I get hyperwave decoder?
• A. Chase all crafts and look at their appearance. If they look like your aircar/bus, they are civilians (only attack if you are poor and desperate). If they have red and blue lights, they are local government (same as civilians), and if they have yellow lights, they are rebels (your allies). Everything else is fair game.

• Q. It's early game and I have difficulties with fending off pogroms.
• A. You don't have to fend off pogroms until you are accepted into the Mutant Alliance. Until that, you can ignore pogroms with impunity.