🛸 Step‑by‑Step: Free Freighter via Pirate Rescue
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Prepare your ship:
Unlock warp drive and equip the Economy Scanner (and ideally the Conflict Scanner) so you can locate wealthy or pirate/outlaw systems where better freighters are more likely to appear (james.gamerguides.com, GINX TV, gameskeys.net). -
Play for at least 3 hours in a single session and make about five warp jumps. Once both conditions are satisfied, you’ll trigger a freighter rescue event: pirates attack a freighter in the system you just warped into (Dot Esports, Reddit, Reddit).
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Fight the pirates—either kill them or simply fly into the freighter docking area, which the game registers as a rescue (Reddit, gameskeys.net).
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Navigate aboard and speak to the captain. If it’s your first freighter, you can claim it for free. If not, you may be able to buy it at a discount or decline it (Dot Esports, Reddit).
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Don’t like the class or style? Decline the offer or take the cash, reload your pre-warp save, and try again. You can repeat this until you’re offered a capital freighter in a higher class (A or S) (Reddit, Reddit, Game Rant).
🎯 Optimization Tips for Maximum Laziness
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Use the Economy Scanner to warp into 3‑star (wealthy) or outlaw systems, where capital freighters with higher class (A/S) spawn more frequently (pirate systems offer ~5% S‑class chance) (Reddit, Reddit, james.gamerguides.com).
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Save just before each warp so you can reload and retry if the freighter offered isn’t what you want (Dot Esports, gameskeys.net, Reddit).
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Many players report that declining the first offer increases chances of the next being capital‑class with significantly more slots (~24‑34) compared to the standard ~15‑19 slots of the first one (Game Rant, Gamer Tweak, Reddit).
⚙️ TL;DR: Lazy & Effective
| Step | Lazy Action |
|---|---|
| Requirements | Warp drive + Economy Scanner |
| Playtime | ~3 hours + ~5 warps in single session |
| Trigger | Freighter rescue battle |
| Claim | First freighter = free |
| Improve | Reload save and retry until you get a capital/A or S‑class |
| Best systems | Wealthy (3‑star) or outlaw systems |
💬 Community Insight
“Every 3 hours of game time and the fifth warp will trigger a freighter battle … If you want an S‑class, outlaw systems provide the best chance (~5%).” (Reddit, Reddit)
“Rather than fight the enemies, just fly directly into the freighter … the captain offers the freighter to you.” (Reddit)
Once claimed, your freighter becomes a home base for storage, crafting, frigate expeditions, exocraft summoning, and more. It’s a huge boost to efficiency and automation with minimal commitment (Game Rant, GamesRadar+).