First, know this: Now that I’ve built my dream pirate toon in Starfield, I can’t stop playing. It took almost a complete playthrough of the main Starfield quest and the other faction quest lines, but I did find the big red X that marks the spot. Raise your sails…here we go!
Making Contact with the Crimson Fleet
Don’t go joining the Crimson Fleet as some goody two shoes, landlubbin’ VC Vanguard wannabe. That’s right, don’t bother going to MAST in New Atlantis and signing up for privateer service with the UC. Just get yourself arrested. Aye, commit some wee little crime, maybe two, and you’ll find yourself in shackles and taken into an interrogation room aboard the UC battleship, the Vigilance. There, you will be grilled by Commander Ikande, who is a real piece of work. He wants you to infiltrate the Crimson Fleet and find the evidence to convince the United Colonies to wage war on the pirates. You take the risk, probably get yourself killed, but if you succeed, you’ll be forgiven for your crimes and not have to spend anymore time in the local UC gaol. What a bargain, eh? Ikande’s entire demeanor pissed me off. The only inspiration that I got from him was the kind involving pillaging and looting. Namely, I wanted to toss his arse behind locked doors and pillage his battleship of every stinkin’ thing of value.
But, I needed an “in” with the Crimson Fleet, so I took what Ikande offered me so that I could do just that, ( me knowing all I wanted was a foot in the door). And, I got it. Once you’re in, sit back and begin a fantastic hidden treasure story that will keep you entertained, delighted, and reveling in pirate shenanigans. Oh, and also result in a ton of creds, a captain rank with the pirates, and even captain’s quarters on The Key!
WARNING: Going full on pirate in Starfield will make you wanted by EVERY faction and disliked by just about every Constellation NPC. Meh to that, aye? Becoming a Crimson Fleet member, and really playing as a pirate, will limit where you can go, who you can talk to, and what you can do. However, it IS challenging and fun to maneuver your way around the star systems as a pirate. Just watch your bounties and be smart!
Get Yourself a Pirate Ship
Save your credits and buy yourself a Crimson Fleet ship with shielded cargo space as soon as you can. The ship from Constellation will NOT help much in the battles you will face. Just get a smaller ship, (you’ll probably only be able to get a A class at this point), and as you run missions and earn creds, use the Ship Builder to improve her. The Watchdog or Ghost I Crimson Fleet ship will serve nicely for your first outings with the pirates. Build up the hull and shields first, even before weapons.
Start Building Your Pirate Ship Crew
Once you get on The Key, go to the Last Nova and look for a female pirate named Jessamine. You can recruit her for your crew, and she’s a pretty fun NPC companion as well. Not long after your arrival on The Key, you will go to the surface to continue the treasure hunt with others from the Crimson Fleet. There’s an NPC named Mathis Castillo who is probably going to get on your last nerve. Ignore his attempts to coerce you into mutiny, and in fact, give him a little praise to Delgado, the Crimson Fleet leader. Later on, you will be able to recruit Mathis to your crew. If you giv’em hell and get him kicked out of the fleet, well, he will hunt you down and full on try to take you out in a space battle. Besides, once you get past his curmudgeonly persona, he is a useful crew member and stubbornly funny companion.
Oh, and dress your pirate crew appropriately in pirate apparel and equip them with proper weapons! Don’t know how to do that? Sigh. Okay, Bootstrap, c’mere. Go to trade with a crew member. Give them the items that you have for them, (suit, helmet, packs, weapon, and so on). Click Y (on Xbox) on the item(s) to have them wear/use what you’ve given them. I have my crew wear Pirate Swashbuckler apparel with the best pirate suits, helmets, and packs that I can afford or acquire. Hell, they’re happy to get my hand-me-downs!
Set the UC Sysdef Up for Failure
Do not, repeat, DO NOT give ANY evidence to Sysdef during the CF/Sysdef questline. Lack of evidence will prevent the UC Vanguard from sending ANY assistance to Sysdef for the BIG battle with Crimson Fleet. Not supplying any evidence will make it much easier and faster for you and your fellow pirates to defend The Key and board the Vigilance once she is disabled.
Crimson Fleet Captain
After you’ve gotten the treasure back to Delgado, defeated UC Sysdef, and delivered the UC Vigilance to the Crimson Fleet, you’re going to be a very happy pirate. You’ll get a nice stash of creds for defeating Ikande and his bozos, you’ll be granted the rank of captain in the Crimson Fleet, and you’ll be given Captain’s Quarters on The Key. After the questline is completed, go and talk to all of your fellow named pirates at The Key. Make SURE to find Naeva. She will give you some new, stylin’ captain’s apparel and a key to your very own quarters on The Key, (which you can decorate, if you want). Just outside your quarters should be another set of Captain’s apparel, be sure to grab them, (one set is called “red” and the other is “gray”. Both outfits are pretty badass.)
Go Forth, Pillage and Smuggle!
With your stash of creds and pirate crew ready to leave the docks, use the Ship Builder to improve your ship for what you plan to do or buy yourself a new one. I chose smuggling as my primary pirating activity, so I built up my shielded cargo and ranked up Starship Design so I could take advantage of the pirate specific smugglin’ goodies available from Jasmine, the pirate ship master at The Key.
I run the smuggling missions from The Key; I found that going out and shooting up starships resulted in some ridiculous bounties that were preventing that one thing a pirate really wants: Profit. When I do want to go and just yank some poor unsuspecting ship’s cargo, I go to the smaller systems where UC and Freestar are less frequently encountered.
As I jump from system to system, I’m always searching for derelict or stranded ships to pillage, and I have found MANY of those with cool little quests and more than decent loot in plenty.
Pirate Forever!
Does my toon go into New Atlantis or Akila City very often? Nope. Like a real pirate, my gal, Captain Striker, (not her real name), is not welcomed by most of the “civilized” folks in Starfield. She can go to Neon and have some fun on occasion. However, most of her days are spent planning the next smuggling run or ship pillage. Running the main quest, or really, any questline that involves UC and/or Freestar Collective allegiance, is going to be very challenging for a Crimson Fleet pirate toon. I did those with another character, though, and I did enjoy the game time. However, for longevity and what I call “fat” play content, I’m incredibly happy with my Crimson Fleet pirate captain and her crew.
Virginia Chandler 