No Man’s Sky: How to Find Pirate Frigates

The No Man’s Sky Echoes update added a host of new content to the game, including the robotic Autophage race and a new type of colossal ship, the Pirate Frigate. However, these ships can be hard to come by for players who don’t know what they’re doing.

Following the release of the Echoes updates, systems with conflict have become even more dangerous thanks to deadly Pirate Dreadnoughts that hassle civilians and obliterate them for loot when they get the chance. This guide explains how to find and get a Pirate Frigate, so the next time players get into a fight, there’s a nice reward at the end.

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Where to Find Pirate Frigates in No Man’s Sky

Players need to locate a Pirate Dreadnought and defeat it to find Pirate Frigates in No Man’s Sky. The Dreadnoughts are the vast ships that will tackle traders or civilians in open combat that players can choose to get themselves involved in.

Once players have found a Pirate Dreadnought, they must destroy it. This can be done by flying over the Dreadnought and shooting all the turrets and fuel rods. There are even trenches in the ship that players can go on epic runs through, as shown in the No Man’s Sky Echoes patch notes. We’ve done a few of these, and they never stop feeling amazing. The health bar of the Dreadnought at the top of the screen will slowly tick down as the ship is weakened before exploding after the last sliver of that health disappears.

We recommend flying around to the back of the Pirate Dreadnought and taking out its engines as soon as possible. This will prevent it from fleeing when its health gets low. We had a Dreadnought flee after we had whittled its health down quite low, and it felt awful. By taking out the engines, a Dreadnought stands no chance of escape.

After a player has defeated a Pirate Dreadnought, its followers will be terrified. They’ll radio the player and ask to join them for fear of being taken out. This is how players get a Pirate Frigate because the smaller supporting ships of the Dreadnought are those Pirate Frigates.

These Frigates are helpful for players to have in their fleet because they’re armed to the teeth. They’re perfect for dangerous missions that other Frigates might not survive, giving players a new advantage when it comes to earning Nanites or progress with certain factions in No Man’s Sky.

Where to Find a Pirate Dreadnought in No Man’s Sky

Pirate Dreadnoughts are random encounters in No Man’s Sky. Players will encounter them as soon as they warp to a system because they’ll usually warp right into the battle that Dreadnought is having. We’ve tested the encounters extensively and found no particular system that triggers them more than others.

If players want to find a Pirate Dreadnought, their best bet is to load up on Warp Cores and travel between systems until they find one. We saw and engaged with at least one every ten systems, so they don’t seem to be so rare that they’re impossible to locate.