Okay so first off, want to say this an amazing game and everything that has been done on it so far is just terrific 


For the Pirate mini/minor factions (?) they're a bit frustrating, often times, the AI chooses not to take care of them, so Pirate bases end up spawning giant amounts of mini fleets, that are annoying to take care of, and since their fleets spawn all over the map, exploratory fleets that I send out sometimes run into stacks of 2, 3, 4 pirate fleets simply b/c they weren't handled by the AI. Now, I know there's a pirate disable feature in the campaign menu, but I do enjoy having them in the game, they're an interesting early game challenge and have lots of pros to them. 


However, I do believe that the leveling systems for both the fleets and the bases need an update. 


- First off; the higher level the bases become, instead of spawning fleets faster and faster, they should spawn larger fleets and a rate that would be similar to the Major factions spawning them (or at least at a slower rate) in order to prevent clumping but still provide a late-game challenge. 

Possibly at Base level 1; spawning every 12 turns with fleet sizes 2-4 (small destroyer/corvettes only) 

Base level 2; Spawning every 7 turns with fleet sizes 3-6 (1 medium size cruiser/battleship max and the rest, 3-4 smaller destroyers/corvettes)

Base level 3; Spawning every 10 turns with fleet sizes 4-9 (2 medium size cruiser/battleships max and 3-5 smaller corvettes/destroyers)

Base level 4; Spawning every 12 turns with fleet sizes 8-12 (3-4 medium size cruiser/battleships max and 4-6 corvettes/destroyers)

Base level 5; Spawns every 15 turns with fleet sizes 10-20 (1 Dreadnought/carrier class and 2-4 cruiser/battleships with 2-5 corvettes/destroyers). 


-Secondly; (this has to do with the idea above) I think it would be super cool to have Dreadnoughts/carrier model ships for each of the pirate ship style (there's 4). This would 1. provide diversity in Pirate fleets as well as make for some sick battles against them (they already have their own starfighters and bombers) and it would be really cool to buy them as mercenaries (or for those using mods) upgrade them and play as them with their own factions 


-Thirdly; whenever a pirate lair (lol) is on a system that has resources, they should somewhat be able to exploit those resources (similar to a Vodyani Ark ship). So when the lair levels up, pirate ships should gain access to higher levels of tech with each leveling up (eventually going to the max basic weaponry/defensive modules) and if they're on a resource patch, gaining let's say Hyperium weaponry/defensive modules and so on. 

Base level 1; Basic weaponry/defensive modules 

Base level 2; Basic weaponry/defensive modules II & Hyperium/Titanium modules if on system with aforementioned resources 

Base level 3; Basic weaponry/defensive modules III 

Base level 4; Basic weaponry/defensive modules IV & Adamantium/Antimatter modules if on system with aforementioned resources & Access to fighters and bombers

Base level 5; Basic weaponry/defensive modules max level (V I think) & Quadrinix/Orichalcix modules if on a system with aforementioned resources & Access to advanced fighters and bombers. 


Fourth on the list; leveling system, I feel as if the pirate lairs level way too quickly, it could be just me, but the gap between level 4 and 5 appears really small (it could also be that I'm so focused on other things I don't notice that it takes longer) 


Fifth; Possibly pirate related quests or boss ? 


Lastly; Possibly make it so you get a ping/notification that the lair has spawned near your empire, as well as the ping circle (the one that appears when there's an important quest on a planet; like building the Obelisk of Space and Time) and the red border only appears once one of your fleets/probes/heroes actually orbits the system with the lair present. 


Anyway ! Hope you guys at Amplitude are doing great and like this idea ! And sorry there was so much to read


(By the way, this is a link to my other ideas)


-Cheers