X4: Foundations – Claiming Smaller Ships
During combat S and M, size ships have a chance to bail, leaving the ship abandoned and able to be claimed by other factions or the player. To personally claim an abandoned ship, must spacewalk to it and then locate and scan a signal leak. After the ship becomes player property, the player can dock with the ship and fly it away.
Alternatively, select the abandoned ship and then right-click it to order a Marine onboard the player ship to go and claim the craft using a boarding pod (crew must have at least 1 marine assigned to use this option); the Marine will become the Pilot of the new ship once ownership has been transferred. If you intend to keep the ship, finding at least a one-star pilot is recommended to replace that random marine.. or you could set them to ‘explore’ for several hours to level up their piloting skill.
Marines will cause damage to onboard systems while boarding, so expect losses of (e.g.) weps, shields, etc. on once claimed via marine. Personal boarding via ‘hacking’ the signal leak may not cause (as much) damage.
Thanks a ton. This is super frustrating to figure out being as i dont usually stay in scanning mode after im 100%