author: Ewa Ichniowska
NMS - How to Find Pirate Dreadnought (Freighter) and Destroy It
The Echoes 4.4 update to NMS added Pirate Dreadnought ships you can fight and destroy. Here is what you need to know to win against these Freighters.
The Pirate Dreadnought capital ships added in the Echoes 4.4 update to No Man’s Sky threaten civilian fleets across the cosmos. You can earn large bounties for beating them, but only if you know how to approach this formidable foe while keeping the merchants safe. Below we describe how to find the Pirate Freighter and destroy it.
- How to find a Pirate Dreadnought in NMS
- How to destroy a Pirate Freighter in NMS and get a high bounty
How to find a Pirate Dreadnought in NMS
To encounter with a Pirate Dreadnought, you need to find a Pirate Controlled or another high-conflict system. Once inside, if the event triggers, you will enter a fight with a Dreadnought right away. The pirates are already attacking the civilian freighters, so don’t waste any time engaging them.
However, meeting a Pirate Dreadnought is not a common situation. These “boss fights” are a rare random encounter in dangerous systems with an ongoing conflict or controlled by outlaws.
How to destroy a Pirate Freighter in NMS and get a high bounty
First of all, you musn’t forget that if you allow the civillain fleet to be destroyed, your rewards will be greatly reduced. The game will inform you about the status of the merchants shields and hull in the bottom right of the screen. To protect them, you should target the unique frigates supporting the Dreadnought and shooting the civilians with anti-frigate torpedoes, as well as destroy the Anti-freighter cannons on the main pirate ship.
Once you’ve made sure the merchant fleet won’t fall prey to the pirates before you can defeat the Dreadnought, you need to destroy its shield generators and fuel rods. To do so, you have to fly under its shields into this superstructure. The fragile systems you need to target are located in two trenches at each side of the ship.
Keep in mind that if you deal too much damage to the Pirate Dreadnought without disabling its warp engines, it will fly away. Simply shoot at the engines until they break. Then, you can finish the fight.
Check out our other guides for NMS:
