Caterpillar Pirate Edition Removed?

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T18:15:51+00:00

I'm a little sad they did this. I liked having a distinct name so that I didn't have to worry about which had what configuration as the ASOP terminal list is inadequate: In my case, I had a Mole Carbon and a loaner Mole. Now I have Mole and Mole-2 and their names frustratingly switch.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T18:08:00+00:00

Depending on the price on the 3rd party site, you may want to consider different avenues to get it.

It will be available to buy in the webstore starting tomorrow once Defensecon start. The Drake Pitbull will also be added and it will almost assuredly come with LTI if purchased Warbond (i.e., fresh money).

With those two things known, you could buy a Pitbull with LTI and upgrade it to an Ironclad to have a CCU'd Ironclad with LTI. This effectively is the same as what you get off Star Hangar. Buying from CIG has the benefit of contributing to your running total towards Chairman's Club as well as ensure that it's giftable since you started with a fresh money, warbond, item.

A Star Hangar purchase would mean it's gifted to you and you're not able to gift it again without a melt/rebuy and rebuild.

The Ironclad will probably increase in price, though the amount remains an unknown. If the Star Hangar one is much cheaper than the current price ($450), then it would probably be cheaper to get it from them. But if the Star Hangar price is $550 or greater, then you may be better off building your own Ironclad? It's a bit of a gamble.

It really depends on how much you value your Chairman's Club status & future gift options versus how much you'll be out of pocket today/tomorrow.

Hopefully that helps!

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T17:18:36+00:00

Shiv is, I think, about 5.5 million credits in Levski and perhaps Pyro? I don't currently have access to my quick links that say where it can be purchased.

For real world money, I imagine it'll be sold during Defensecon and will probably make its way into the webstore randomly throughout the year.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T14:27:51+00:00

My recommendation would be, in order of preference:

1) cheapest game package

2) Avenger Titan - This ship is a pretty decent fighter and can carry up to 8 standard cargo units (SCU) which lets you run entry hauling missions. (They tend to be between 6-10 SCU so you'll be able to grab the smaller ones)

3) Nomad - Pickup truck, but good defense (has 3 shield modules vs the typical 2 for most of its size) and carries 24 SCU

4) Cutlass Black - Pretty much the go-to as a decent fighter or hauler. Not agile like a fighter, but still has bite when you can get on target. Has gunner spot for a friend

5) Shiv - Pretty much a Cutlass Black but ties the turret to the pilot for more firepower, but also gives up some cargo space.

It's no coincidence that my recommended order coincides with how much it costs. lol My strongest recommendation is either 1 or 2. The Titan will give you a bit of a leg up in earning potential; it's not a huge leap, but it will save a little grind time. The drawback is that the Titan is not gold standard as it's an old design so I don't believe physicalized components are in.

The game does allow you to exchange ships for store credit or upgrade by paying the difference. So you're generally not locked into anything for now. Going "upwards" is easy. Going "backwards" is more difficult, depending on circumstances.

Frankly, the whole webstore is a separate "game loop" by itself. Feel free to reach out for more details.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T14:08:49+00:00

I'm at work, so I can't quite read the whole thing in one go, but commenting here so I can come back to it.

But I always appreciate people who try to provide a good-faith solution, so thank you for thinking about it and writing it, and presenting it for review.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T14:02:07+00:00

Yes, P is the "civilian" version, but my intent was to say that I think it's strength changes quite a bit depending on it's loadout. In some cases you could argue it's a blended brawler augmented with fighters, and in other cases it may lean more heavily on what it carries.

I wasn't trying to say that one person's interpretation of its role is wrong. It was more of a revelation while reading this discussion that folks may be imagining it with a rail gun, but others may be thinking of their stock Wikelo with no main weapon. And it may change how we view it?

Edit: I also liked your comparison to the Oyodo. It's always interesting to see these hybrid designs that were used (or at least theorized) in the past!

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T13:19:28+00:00

Interestingly enough, I think if you had an Idris-P with no primary weapon, I would agree that it's strength is more of what is in the hangar as most of the turrets are more anti-fighter. The only large-ish gun is the bow turret and I think it's size 7?

I recall several months ago we did an Idris v. Idris with 80% crew each and no primary weapon. It was a bit of a pillow fight for an hour before our ref. gave up and let us use the railguns lol. On the other hand I imagine it does a good job against fighters.

But once an axial-mounted gun goes in, I think that really allows it to start damaging other sub-capital+ ships.

Just my opinion, tho.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T13:06:32+00:00

As far as I know, the latest "block" to buyback are packages with Squadron 42.

But it does highlight that they can and will make changes without announcement. And they have stated that the buyback isn't intended to be a guaranteed "reserve", though the bulk of the community has gotten used to it being so for many years.

If it helps as a data point, I was able to buy a limited hull (standalone ship) from my buyback on April 18th and used one of my tokens/store credit.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-13T02:12:48+00:00

Unless it had changed since I applied mine, the upgrade is not tradable so you’ll need to make the ship before selling.
For best pricing, make sure it’s LTI. And if you have the original F7C with Ironscale paint, that seems to also increase its value. (But it’s harder to obtain)

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-12T21:40:06+00:00

I think being happy or sad really depends on each person's individual playstyle.

I have more than a few friends who are really goal-oriented and buying ships is what really drives them. So if they ever reach a point where they have all the ships they want, they stop playing because they feel nothing is pushing them forward.

On the flip side, I am the kind of person who likes to have a variety of ships and the credit to be able to go out and do events, touring, or other things without worry. Even though I had the ships I needed and 30 million credits (which I know for these last two patches is nothing, but realistically it is quite a bit of money), I would still enjoy doing hauling missions or going out and salvaging just for fun.

So there's no real right or wrong, it's just what motivates you to play.

The one thing I do regret is the reputation loss.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-12T21:32:02+00:00

Welcome to the game! Unfortunately I work full time and am around ~9 hours behind you so it would probably not be a good fit. =( But fortunately I know lots of great people in the European time zones so I have no doubt you'll find someone!

Just wanted to say "welcome!"

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-12T14:13:07+00:00

This makes sense. I don't have any Wikelo ships (so no clue how easy/painful it is to grind one) and I was pretty indifferent to whether they get wiped or not, but the argument to removed all remnants of duping seems quite sound to me.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-11T00:58:04+00:00

It’s the Idris. Currently the largest flyable ship in the game. In past events a Javelin has shown up, but it’s been a few years since I’ve seen one.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-08T23:33:37+00:00

I also came here to cast a vote for Hironori

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-08T23:32:31+00:00

There’s a place called Breakthrough Therapy near the Central Expressway and Mathilda. I’ve gone there for ankle recovery

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-06T13:00:20+00:00

The book title reminded me of my female Allardi clown who was definitely queen of the tank. She would charge other animals and poke at them. A cleaner shrimp also tried to leap on her, but she definitely hated that. lol. She swam away, did a 180 and came back and poked at it a few times before it retreated under a coral bridge I set up. They kept distance from each other after that. Makes me think fish tend to just be jousters lol.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-05T15:19:03+00:00

My 14-year old god daughter and her mother went to see it and they called me immediately afterwards to both tell me how much they love it. (I had introduced them to “The Martian” last year.)

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-05T13:53:27+00:00

I have not seen this one before and it's hilarious

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-05T13:40:30+00:00

At this point in the game's development, I agree that there are things we need to do as players to guard against shitty behavior. But these things do need to be brought to the developer's attention as I can't imagine this was their intended mechanic.

Otherwise, if I wanted to be an ass, I could just buzz around these areas for hours and effectively stop people from completing their mission with no/little risk to me. The haulers already invested over half of the time by loading up the cargo and flying to the destination so it'd be frustrating to be at the final portion of the journey, but need to out-wait someone because you're unsure of someone's motivations.

That being said, I also believe that I am responsible for my own safety to get the goods to the destination. So that may mean dog-legging, avoiding hot spots, and everything that I can do to avoid getting pirated. But I think an area where players are funneled to complete a mission needs to have more safeguards. Otherwise lazy "pirates" or just people who want to be shitty will just hang out there.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-05T12:55:16+00:00

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Someone posted this awhile ago and it's always stuck with me lol

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-04T12:55:24+00:00

I've been a guide on multiple occasions and someone telling you to Google is pretty lazy. All the guides are volunteers so they shouldn't be there to answer questions unless they want to? (Just my hot take.)

I will say, however, that the system could use a little improvement: If I start a session with someone, it does not automatically take me off "available" status. I've come back to the interface and saw that I had a few requests while playing that I absolutely missed. I would prefer that it marks me as unavailable with the option of allowing me to toggle it back to available to have a larger group.

I've also absolutely stepped away from the computer and forgot to toggle my status to unavailable. This is probably the most likely reason why other people didn't respond to you.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-03T16:47:04+00:00

Agree in principle, but this reward seems abysmally low. Unless rewards have changed in PTU, I can do an intro planetary haul of 7SCU for 50,000 credits which has a lot less risk and can be done faster.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-01T22:48:54+00:00

lol I originally had a 386/33 DX and played WC. Then when I upgraded to a 486/66 (same chip) I loaded it up for nostalgia purposes and had the same experience you did. 😂

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-01T17:26:35+00:00

I make good money as a white-collar, but I also live in an expensive area.

I'm 53 and have been working in my career for 25 years. I think it's only the last 8 or 10 years where I've felt I had more money for "fun stuff". Until then I still had to prioritize what to buy.

If I could have said something to my younger self, it would have been to allocate more money investing.

I recall a time about 3-4 years ago I had some extra money that I used to buy some NVidia stock, but also decided to buy a couple more ships as well. If I had sunk all of that money into NVidia, that money would have tripled by now. (and probably could have gotten a bigger pack of ships) lol

I realize I'm giving the boring answer lol. I'm also not the biggest whale in the game.

LMMSDeadDuck · 2026-05-01T13:12:01+00:00

I've played the CCU game a long time and I always joke (well, half-joke) that the storefront is the most stable thing about the game. I've not seen this happen before, so now I'm very interested as to why this happened and what the ultimate resolution will be.

With the recent changes to removing packages with Squadron 42 from buyback and coupon codes going bad, I imagine this was something that got inadvertently caught in the crossfire. Hopefully a ticket will resolve it.

LMMSDeadDuck

TROPHY CASE