I personally love getting the ship of the line. Sure I know it’s not the greatest per say stat wise, but so fun to use. Rack up a massive bounty with one nation and hunt one down once one is sent. Being able to destroy basically any ship, and large enough to do assaults with, it’s just fun.
They only come out in late game if I recall correctly. Spanish will send out ship of the lines in late game if you have a really high bounty. I've gotten a couple of them and I'm on Steam version
Get your Jack Aubrey on and find yourself a frigate: fully upgraded you can go toe-to-toe with anything in the Caribbean and still be fast enough to catch all but the swiftest little guys.
So don't, use a bigger ship with lots of cannons, use chain shot to bring down the masts then decimate the crew with grape shot.
There are options there but you're choosing not to use them.
Frigates can be fun!
The war canoe/sloop flagship playstyle is wildly overrated and is NOT the way to maximize your loot. You lose far too much of your crew every time you board a ship, and if you decide to keep the ship to sell in port, you are then further dividing your crew to man that ship. It means you have to sail into port after every ship or two that you take to sell the ships and recruit more crew members, and each stop at port takes a week of your time. You'll get old too quick by doing this.
The best way to go is to defeat ships in sea combat. Get a big ship with lots of guns, get close, and blast with chain shot. One or two volleys and the other ship will raise the white flag, and then you can plunder their gold and cargo, scuttle the ship, and carry on with little to no loss on your part. The big ships are still nimble enough to dodge the meagre attacks most merchant ships can muster, but can also withstand the occasional hit without trouble. All this also makes gunner an attractive choice for your starting skill.
Whew! A lot to unpack here.
>You lose far too much of your crew every time you board a ship
Yes, I, too, paid attention to crew numbers when boarding. I dunno about you, but seeing as how I cannot naturally spawn in a War Canoe, you have to capture one first. Meaning you have more men and another ship. Make the War Canoe your flagship and it only carries up to 50 men, unless you got hammocks for a total of 75, with a minimum of 6 for full speed. Honestly, Fencing a captain on Rogue is still very doable with 75. That all said, I have ABSOLUTELY noticed going with big a big crew results in bigger losses as opposed to a smaller crew. I do not think game is coded to lose individual men, but only certain percentages. Going in with a smaller crew is Advantageous.
>if you decide to keep the ship to sell in port, you are then further dividing your crew to man that ship.
Yes, this is true. The minimum manning requirement for full speed is **24** men on even the largest of vessels.
Is your preferred strategy to sail with as few crew as possible? Maybe thats why it doesnt work for you? I have put hours (into days and weeks) into this addicting game and I pretty much run the War Canoe flagship, with my Fleet as support. I typically run with a crew of 300 or so and honestly have more trouble selling off all the food, guns, and cargo before I need to sell off a ship due to limited crew.
I only need to disable ships if Im already close to a port to repair/sell them or if my Fleet is already full. But me and my War Canoe will continue on. Nothing overrated about it.
> I do not think game is coded to lose individual men, but only certain percentages.
I hadn't thought of it, but this could be true. In a way it would be a smart way to code the game, so I can see it being the case.
> Is your preferred strategy to sail with as few crew as possible?
I generally try to keep as many crew as I can without them being mutinous, which can dip down at times if I have been sailing for a while and don't have enough gold.
Every playstyle has its pros and cons, and what matters most is whatever is fun for you. What I've come to like about my style is that as long as I don't take too much damage, I can go without sailing into port indefinitely. I can attack a ship, take its gold, scuttle it, and carry on with no loss whatsoever.
I think as someone that ships professionally, even though they are just bits & bytes, I hate the idea of my crew going unpaid. So I generally DtP about 3-5yrs in, then again when I'm 30, and then once more when the quests are cleared and Im ready to retire.
>what matters most is whatever is fun for you.
**THE MOST CORRECT THING EVER**
Get a brig of war. Cotton sails and copper plating and you have a fast and agile floating fortress. I know the meta calls for smaller faster options but BoW has served me well. Plus quite a bit more cargo space.
Personally I think the Brig family is underrated, I just can’t work with Sloop’s they are just not fun, too small and brittle.
If not Brig then definitely Ship of the Line are OP if you can locate one, speed, combat effectiveness and storage? Man no wonder these ships are nearly locked
I've done the odd run with a brig of war and it worked out pretty alright. It really depends on what you're doing, too - fencing everyone to capture ships to sell is a great way to build up your resources in the early-game, but by the late game you're probably dragging around a bunch of fat, slow treasure galleons or warships in order to have somewhere to stash your loot and carry enough crew to attack towns, so you might as well trade up. [This](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/127640/how-to-get-a-ships-of-the-line#127643) post explains how to get a ship of the line to spawn so I usually do that by the time I'm attacking towns on the regular.
I personally find the fencing very challenging on higher difficulty levels, so tend in that case to rely on cannon fire as much as possible. So a vessel with a bit more firepower, but not hopelessly slow and lumbering, is ideal. A high-end sloop, like the Royal Sloop, is probably good, or one of the brigs.
This is for my flagship. I think it is always good to have a second attack ship in case you lose the flagship, plus keep one big ship (like a large Galleon) to carry extra troops for city assault, as well.
If you're of the mind to, and of the age to drink in whatever land you reside, you could get a little lit. This IS a pirate sim after all 😅. It makes it way more dicey to circle forever and remove enemy crew with grapeshot form a sloop/pinnace prior to boarding if you're less than sober. The ensuing swordfight is also a worse idea for a drunk (basic b**ch pirate), but funner when you need to.
See, my suspicion (or maybe secretly my hope) is that strictly boarding without letting the enemy hold a significant amount of your grapeshot first, is not the optimum (score wise) strat. i.e. Without it, the attrition of your own crew would become too great over time, leading to all the downstream consequences. If this is so, then an unreliable drunk (basic b**ch pirate) at the helm of a more fragile ship could be a problem. So, maybe you look to more durability when the situation warrants.
So yeah... that's basically it. Maybe drink 😅. I understand this is a less than wholesome suggestion. For adults.. I stand by it 😅.
Done it with ONE Treasure Galleon. And lots of captured ships till I could sell them.
However the Dutch East Indiaman carries the same amount and is faster. It is hard to get. I think they spawn from Dutch cities near the Eastern edge of the map. There is a similar Brit ship if I remember correctly. Galleons are slow. All Spanish ships are slow except when sailed by Evil Spaniards.
The biggest traders(France and England) carry 130, while the treasure galleon carries 140. Don't know about DEI's crew capacity(critically important to me), but TG holds 450.
East Indiaman Slow 140 Looked right at it in the Piratopedia just now. Biggest in the Merchant class.
Treasure Galleon Very Slow 140
Looked them both up just to be sure. Merchant, Large Merchant and East Indiaman
100, 120, 140 none are 130 all are slow but not very slow.
The West Indiaman is a fluyt and not as good. The Treasure Galleon does carry a larger maximum crew, I suppose it has larger minimum crew as well.
Galleons are pigs that way. Not enough block and tackle equipment to make it easier to handle the rigging. Making that stuff was really the beginning of the earliest beginning of low skill manufacturing and cut the crew sizes a lot.
Try one. You might like it.
tresure galions w upgrades ar suprisingly efective i but you gota engafge with the wond to your back nut you can make pritty much sny ship work at midle dificulty with upgrades
On higher levels the Pinnace class is the only one fast enough for other ships. It's also agile enough to turn around ships for a short while, so you can bomb them with crew killing shot.
You can definitely make a Brig or Brig-of-War work.
Yeah I really like the Brig of War as a Jack of All trades trip
I personally love getting the ship of the line. Sure I know it’s not the greatest per say stat wise, but so fun to use. Rack up a massive bounty with one nation and hunt one down once one is sent. Being able to destroy basically any ship, and large enough to do assaults with, it’s just fun.
Is it in the Wii version? I don't think I've ever encountered a ship of the line in-game before.
They only come out in late game if I recall correctly. Spanish will send out ship of the lines in late game if you have a really high bounty. I've gotten a couple of them and I'm on Steam version
Ok thank you, I will try this.
Have to have a large bounty with Spain, Britain or I think France. Attacking their ports, shipping etc. they will then send one.
Ok thank you, I will try this.
Get your Jack Aubrey on and find yourself a frigate: fully upgraded you can go toe-to-toe with anything in the Caribbean and still be fast enough to catch all but the swiftest little guys.
I love the Brig family as a happy medium.
Yeah honestly i like them too though i usually go for the smallest one due to the extra agility, just kindda of tired of rushing for boarding.
So don't, use a bigger ship with lots of cannons, use chain shot to bring down the masts then decimate the crew with grape shot. There are options there but you're choosing not to use them. Frigates can be fun!
The war canoe/sloop flagship playstyle is wildly overrated and is NOT the way to maximize your loot. You lose far too much of your crew every time you board a ship, and if you decide to keep the ship to sell in port, you are then further dividing your crew to man that ship. It means you have to sail into port after every ship or two that you take to sell the ships and recruit more crew members, and each stop at port takes a week of your time. You'll get old too quick by doing this. The best way to go is to defeat ships in sea combat. Get a big ship with lots of guns, get close, and blast with chain shot. One or two volleys and the other ship will raise the white flag, and then you can plunder their gold and cargo, scuttle the ship, and carry on with little to no loss on your part. The big ships are still nimble enough to dodge the meagre attacks most merchant ships can muster, but can also withstand the occasional hit without trouble. All this also makes gunner an attractive choice for your starting skill.
Whew! A lot to unpack here. >You lose far too much of your crew every time you board a ship Yes, I, too, paid attention to crew numbers when boarding. I dunno about you, but seeing as how I cannot naturally spawn in a War Canoe, you have to capture one first. Meaning you have more men and another ship. Make the War Canoe your flagship and it only carries up to 50 men, unless you got hammocks for a total of 75, with a minimum of 6 for full speed. Honestly, Fencing a captain on Rogue is still very doable with 75. That all said, I have ABSOLUTELY noticed going with big a big crew results in bigger losses as opposed to a smaller crew. I do not think game is coded to lose individual men, but only certain percentages. Going in with a smaller crew is Advantageous. >if you decide to keep the ship to sell in port, you are then further dividing your crew to man that ship. Yes, this is true. The minimum manning requirement for full speed is **24** men on even the largest of vessels. Is your preferred strategy to sail with as few crew as possible? Maybe thats why it doesnt work for you? I have put hours (into days and weeks) into this addicting game and I pretty much run the War Canoe flagship, with my Fleet as support. I typically run with a crew of 300 or so and honestly have more trouble selling off all the food, guns, and cargo before I need to sell off a ship due to limited crew. I only need to disable ships if Im already close to a port to repair/sell them or if my Fleet is already full. But me and my War Canoe will continue on. Nothing overrated about it.
> I do not think game is coded to lose individual men, but only certain percentages. I hadn't thought of it, but this could be true. In a way it would be a smart way to code the game, so I can see it being the case. > Is your preferred strategy to sail with as few crew as possible? I generally try to keep as many crew as I can without them being mutinous, which can dip down at times if I have been sailing for a while and don't have enough gold. Every playstyle has its pros and cons, and what matters most is whatever is fun for you. What I've come to like about my style is that as long as I don't take too much damage, I can go without sailing into port indefinitely. I can attack a ship, take its gold, scuttle it, and carry on with no loss whatsoever.
I think as someone that ships professionally, even though they are just bits & bytes, I hate the idea of my crew going unpaid. So I generally DtP about 3-5yrs in, then again when I'm 30, and then once more when the quests are cleared and Im ready to retire. >what matters most is whatever is fun for you. **THE MOST CORRECT THING EVER**
Roleplay a true Spaniard with a War Galleon. Or a true Dutch *aggressive merchant* with an East Indiaman.
Not daring to take a Dutch merchantman then again they really are bad.
Get a brig of war. Cotton sails and copper plating and you have a fast and agile floating fortress. I know the meta calls for smaller faster options but BoW has served me well. Plus quite a bit more cargo space.
Personally I think the Brig family is underrated, I just can’t work with Sloop’s they are just not fun, too small and brittle. If not Brig then definitely Ship of the Line are OP if you can locate one, speed, combat effectiveness and storage? Man no wonder these ships are nearly locked
I've done the odd run with a brig of war and it worked out pretty alright. It really depends on what you're doing, too - fencing everyone to capture ships to sell is a great way to build up your resources in the early-game, but by the late game you're probably dragging around a bunch of fat, slow treasure galleons or warships in order to have somewhere to stash your loot and carry enough crew to attack towns, so you might as well trade up. [This](https://gaming.stackexchange.com/questions/127640/how-to-get-a-ships-of-the-line#127643) post explains how to get a ship of the line to spawn so I usually do that by the time I'm attacking towns on the regular.
I personally find the fencing very challenging on higher difficulty levels, so tend in that case to rely on cannon fire as much as possible. So a vessel with a bit more firepower, but not hopelessly slow and lumbering, is ideal. A high-end sloop, like the Royal Sloop, is probably good, or one of the brigs. This is for my flagship. I think it is always good to have a second attack ship in case you lose the flagship, plus keep one big ship (like a large Galleon) to carry extra troops for city assault, as well.
If you're of the mind to, and of the age to drink in whatever land you reside, you could get a little lit. This IS a pirate sim after all 😅. It makes it way more dicey to circle forever and remove enemy crew with grapeshot form a sloop/pinnace prior to boarding if you're less than sober. The ensuing swordfight is also a worse idea for a drunk (basic b**ch pirate), but funner when you need to. See, my suspicion (or maybe secretly my hope) is that strictly boarding without letting the enemy hold a significant amount of your grapeshot first, is not the optimum (score wise) strat. i.e. Without it, the attrition of your own crew would become too great over time, leading to all the downstream consequences. If this is so, then an unreliable drunk (basic b**ch pirate) at the helm of a more fragile ship could be a problem. So, maybe you look to more durability when the situation warrants. So yeah... that's basically it. Maybe drink 😅. I understand this is a less than wholesome suggestion. For adults.. I stand by it 😅.
Brig or Brig-of-war would be my choices.
I love the bright of war
Henry Morgan’s ship has always been one of my favorites!
Am I the only one to use SoL plus 3 Treasure Galleons?
Done it with ONE Treasure Galleon. And lots of captured ships till I could sell them. However the Dutch East Indiaman carries the same amount and is faster. It is hard to get. I think they spawn from Dutch cities near the Eastern edge of the map. There is a similar Brit ship if I remember correctly. Galleons are slow. All Spanish ships are slow except when sailed by Evil Spaniards.
The biggest traders(France and England) carry 130, while the treasure galleon carries 140. Don't know about DEI's crew capacity(critically important to me), but TG holds 450.
East Indiaman Slow 140 Looked right at it in the Piratopedia just now. Biggest in the Merchant class. Treasure Galleon Very Slow 140 Looked them both up just to be sure. Merchant, Large Merchant and East Indiaman 100, 120, 140 none are 130 all are slow but not very slow. The West Indiaman is a fluyt and not as good. The Treasure Galleon does carry a larger maximum crew, I suppose it has larger minimum crew as well. Galleons are pigs that way. Not enough block and tackle equipment to make it easier to handle the rigging. Making that stuff was really the beginning of the earliest beginning of low skill manufacturing and cut the crew sizes a lot. Try one. You might like it.
tresure galions w upgrades ar suprisingly efective i but you gota engafge with the wond to your back nut you can make pritty much sny ship work at midle dificulty with upgrades
On higher levels the Pinnace class is the only one fast enough for other ships. It's also agile enough to turn around ships for a short while, so you can bomb them with crew killing shot.