// CLASSES
Keth Privateer
Trade
The Privateer doesn't belong to a trade company. They work contracts when it suits them, run salvage when salvage pays better, and carry enough armament to make the second option safe. Keth culture accepts this without judgment — wealth is won, not managed, and a Privateer who returns with a hold full of rare components from a destroyed warship is a Privateer who provided for their clan.
Momentum on a Privateer runs defensively most of the time. A Broker uses Overcharge to escape; a Privateer uses Momentum charges to harden their shields and extend their response window. The Privateer expects the ambush. Sometimes they are the ambush.
Deep Salvage is the capstone and it's what makes other traders take a Privateer seriously. Any class can loot a wreck. The Privateer is the only class that can fully strip a destroyed ship for structural components — hull plating sections, reactor housings, weapon mounts. These feed into late-tier crafting in ways the open market can't provide. High-level wreck fields exist specifically because a Privateer can empty them.
Build archetypes:
- The Shipbreaker - max Deep Salvage + Structural Analysis + Wreck Handling → maximum yield-per-wreck, the endgame salvager
- The Runner - max Evasive Frame + Black Market Access + Reinforced Hold → fast smuggler, moves goods through routes other traders avoid
- The Trader-at-Arms - max Defensive Momentum + Predator's Edge + Contract Authority → the Privateer who fights their own escorts, Keth style
Privateer Class Perk Card
(Shown at character selection)
KETH PRIVATEER
- Only class that can fully strip destroyed ships for rare structural components
- Black-market vendor access at most stations, including items normally restricted
- Cargo capacity second only to Broker; faster cargo load/unload at stations
- Can carry contraband without triggering faction standing penalties at Unfriendly+
- Exclusive: Deep Salvage - full structural breakdown of destroyed ships for endgame crafting components
Privateer Skill Tree
| Skill | Type | Unlock OL | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Black Market Access | Passive | 0 | Unlocks hidden vendor inventory tiers and contraband listings. R5: price tiers improve; reveals "off-book" stock at most stations. R7: unlocks fixer contacts who source items that never appear in standard vendor lists. |
| Structural Analysis | Passive | 10 | Salvage yields include component-level drops, not just materials. R5: identifies high-value components before salvaging. R7: occasionally recovers intact equipment from wrecks, not just fragments. |
| Momentum Efficiency | Passive | 10 | Keth Momentum charges decay slower when not in active combat; spending charges generates less heat. R5: charges persist through brief disengagements. R7: salvaging or mining no longer breaks Momentum decay rate. |
| Defensive Momentum | Passive | 0 | Momentum charges can be spent on shield hardening instead of weapon damage. R5: charges spent on shields grant +30% shield regen for 10s. R7: at max Momentum, incoming damage is reduced 25% passively until charges are spent or decay. |
| Evasive Frame | Passive | 0 | Reduces enemy targeting accuracy against the Privateer. R5: -20% incoming accuracy; movement-impairing effects have reduced duration. R7: -30% accuracy; the first hit of each fight has a 25% chance to miss entirely. |
| Field Patch | Active | 20 | Emergency hull repair. R5: 25% hull restored. R7: 35% restored, repairs a disabled ship system. |
| Reinforced Hold | Passive | 0 | Increased cargo capacity and resistance to cargo damage on hull hits. R5: +20% capacity, -50% cargo damage on hull breach. R7: +30% capacity; contraband stays hidden through standard inspection. |
| Wreck Handling | Passive | 15 | Salvaging a wreck is faster and draws less aggro from nearby patrols. R5: salvage time halved. R7: Privateer can salvage actively while in combat without interruption. |
| Hardened Frame | Passive | 10 | Increased maximum hull HP - the Keth defensive baseline. R5: +25% hull. R7: +40%, hull repair rate doubled while docked. |
| Predator's Edge | Passive | 20 | Bonus damage against targets below 50% HP. R5: +15%. R7: +25%; the Privateer's last hit on a killed ship grants a small Momentum charge regardless of current state. |
| Fast Loader | Passive | 0 | Cargo load/unload speed at stations, and time-to-extract from salvage, is substantially reduced. R5: station cargo ops -40% time. R7: -60%; the Privateer can initiate undock while cargo is still being processed. |
| Contact Network | Passive | 25 | Reveals black-market fixers at non-hostile stations; provides faction-standing repair options not available to other classes. R5: standing repair cost reduced. R7: can clear Hostile standing with criminal factions through fixers (normally requires high-risk faction quest). |
| Contract Authority | Passive | 30 | Access to exclusive Privateer-tier contracts: salvage claims, escort runs, risky cargo. R5: access to Tier IV risky contracts with higher pay and penalties. R7: access to black-book contracts - Conclave, Deepveil, Ashvein Syndicate work. |
| Deep Salvage (Exclusive) | Active | 15 [Q] | Strip a destroyed ship of full structural components: hull plating, reactor housing, weapon mounts, device cores. R3: 1 structural component per wreck, 50% yield. R5: 2–3 components, 75% yield, works on boss wrecks. R7: up to 4 components, 100% yield, reveals pre-death item identity (so the Privateer knows what a wreck will drop before salvaging). |