New standard campaign difficulty

[Teefy]

Hey there pirates,

Yesterday i decided to check in with the modding community and was happy to see its still active and exited it's still being updated in 2017. i applaud your persistance and endurance to keep improving on the game(potc).

fast forward, downloaded the 4.1 beta and started a new game.

im doing the standard mission, with nathanial whathisface and the story line has now reached the point where im to spy on the british city that was overrun by the french. the entrance to the city is guarded by 2 french soldiers and man, they are tough. they 2! shot my party of 4 officers and myself in about 10 seconds.

granted, im level 2, 3 at best. but still, harsh.

they slice through my blocks so i figured i need to improve on sword skills. that requires me to level up a few and here's the problem, i dont see how.

i'm too weak to do anything but trading. boarding any ship gets me cut up in matter of seconds.
trading in itself is hard since you need to scout the entire map to find a profitable trading route. so far i've found the profit margins lacking.

anyway, this question isnt about trading routes. how do i approach this new game reality of not being able to brute force my way through the story line and gain experience?

 

[Grey Roger]

When you start the game, the tutorial with Malcolm Hatcher gives you some fencing practice. You can also go to the ship's deck at any time, talk to a random crewmember, and get some more fencing practice with him.

Dungeons are another good place to get fighting practice. There's one in Speightstown just across the path from the shipyard (you can also get at this one from the other side by jumping off the pier, swimming round the corner and finding a cave entrance). If you walk between Bridgetown and Speightstown, there's a junction off the main road which leads to a cave. There's one in Port Royale - start near the townhall, go through the gate to the section which contains the church, and just the other side of the gate is an arched doorway leading down. And finally there's one in Kralendijk, across the road from the store. As well as sword practice, you can find a good sword in each of these, especially the Barbados cave and the Port Royale dungeon.

When you level up, concentrate on your combat abilities - don't spend your ability points on anything else until you have "Professional Fencer" and all the other skills which are required before you can get it. Officers can contribute gunnery, sailing and trading abilities, but your fighting is down to your own personal skill and ability. For that matter, also concentrate on combat abilities whenever any officer who is walking around with you gains a new level and a new ability point.

Keep away from warships and pirates. If you're going to board, only go for merchants, and then only small ones. Ideally, bombard them with grapeshot first to reduce the crew's morale. If you're lucky, the ship will surrender. You'll probably still need to duel the ship's captain, but that's easier than fighting your way through the crew and then duelling the captain anyway.

I've never found trading to be all that profitable even when I have a skilled quartermaster. What you can do early on is talk to storekeepers and ask if they want cargo delivered. You get money for doing that, probably a lot more than you'll get by trading, and you also earn reputation. Once you're up to at least "Bloke", go to Kralendijk, go into the tavern and find a man named Toff Oremans - he should be wearing a green shirt and sitting just to the right of the door as you go in. He has a problem, and if he thinks he can trust you - and if you're careful to say the right things - you can help him with it. The reward for doing so is an awesome sword. All the money you've been earning for delivering cargo should mean you can afford to take that sword to the blacksmith and get it polished up.

Another good place to go is St. Pierre, Martinique. You'll either need to hoist a false French flag before sailing into port, or sail to the beach and go into town through the back door. There are a whole load of short side quests to do there, one of which results in getting you a very useful officer. With him by your side and one of the nice swords from a dungeon (or the awesome one from Kralendijk) in your hand, you should have a much better chance against the guards at Speightstown.

 

[Teefy]

cheers. ill give that a go when im home from work.