Advantage of a large fleet?

[Warmskin]

I'm just getting started here, so bear with me please (finally got the game to run w/o crashing constantly). Anyway, I've read thru the manual and did a search here, but what is not clear to me is why you need a fleet at all. You only go into battle with your flagship, right? Does the total amount of men in your fleet come into play in the sea battle or for that matter in land battles, too? I'm sure I must be missing something simple here and there must be a good reason for getting many ships (trading, possibly?). If this is layed out in the manual someplace, please point me to the proper page. And again, I apologize for asking a question which is probably very apparent to most of you. Thanks.

 

[Barnabus]

I'm no expert player, just started this recently. But it seems to me that the two advantages of a fleet are 1) hauling loot until you can get into port, and 2) having enough men for sacking cities, if they won't all fit on your flagship. AFAIK, the total crew among all your fleet doesn't count in a `ship-boarding` battle, but it does count when you land and sack a city. Which makes sense, I guess.

I tend to use the larger ships as flagships, so I never keep a fleet unless I've had a very profitable run of piracy, the ships aren't too beat up to sell for decent coin, and there is a friendly port nearby. I'm much more likely to just loot the gold and sink 'em, when I'm far from a friendly port, arrrrrhhhh.

Barnabus

 

[skull]

Extra ships come in handy fer attack'n towns,with extra crew does help
downside is ye gotta feed de buggers, and keep their moral up,ye can also get triple hammock upgrade which allows yer flagship te carry more crew,I prefer the latter fer attack'n towns <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />

 

[thesdale]

A fleet is good for stocking up on booty!

I usually set sail from the St Kitts/Montserat area, travel south then head east along the Sth America coast taking Spanish ships. After I get a full fleet I turn around and head back, claiming promotions in St Estatius, St Kitts and Montserat. That's why I like having a large fleet. After selling goods/ships, you can net at least 15,000 (I've gained as much as 50,000) for each trip along the coast. Not too bad for a few months work. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/onya.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="onya.gif" />

Dale

 

[jasper]

Selling ships itself is always very profitable. I always make sure I don't damage ships I attack. That way I can keep them without slowing the fleet down. Once you're a duke you can upgrade ships for free and sell them at a higher price <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/william.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":will" border="0" alt="william.gif" />

Does anybody out there now wether prices of ships vary from town to town? I get the feeling they do.

 

[CatalinaThePirate]

I think it would be difficult to judge ship prices because it's a variable beset by a variable - you have the economy (a wealthy port may pay more than a poor port), and then you also have the condition of the ship itself. Both are probably a factor in ship values.

 

[Hengist]

Just upgrade your flagship with tripple hammocks for the extra bods needed for a land battle.

I would get rid of any extra ships as soon as possible as the disadvantages outweigh the advantages.

Main Pros:
If you loose a ship sword fight in Pirates! (which let's face it doesn't happen, unless you're uber crap), the other ship can rescue you.

Main Cons:
Having more than one ship means that if the crew gets mutinous, they'll end up nicking the spare ship and buggering off with it. If you have just one ship then you don't have to divide the plunder as often as your mutinous crew have nowhere to go whilst at sea. Just attack a few treasure ships, to cheer them up, every now and then.

 

[Mack the Knife]

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->triple hammock upgrade<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
everyone mentions this upgrade as though it's available thru the Sears catalog! although i've not visited EVERY port on the map but for the many i have, none of them as offered this upgrade...

 

[CatalinaThePirate]

It's possible that triple hammocks are only offered by your enemy - and you have to take the port in order to get the shipwright to upgrade your ship - or TAKE a ship that has them! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

I recall that being the case with me and bronze cannons - only the Spanish ports had them, and I was playing for the French, and we were at war with the Spanish...

I took Havana for the French. Took me a couple of tries (sack port, sail out, sail back in right away, repeat), but now Havana is French! You don't need to conquer the port to get the upgrade, but I was on a roll and REALLY wanted a handy French port in that spot to support my Yucatan peninsula raiding...

<img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/icon_mrgreen1.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />

 

[Bully Hayes]

I grab Henry's frigate as soon as I can, and carry one or two sloops with me. They're the only ships I can find that don't slow me down (wait for me). With a large crew I need more food, especially if I don't have a cooper (Food lasts half as long as the readout says it will without one). I also try to never keep more than four ships total because a large fleet will slow you down even more.
There's also the situation where you get the snot knocked out of your flagship and you're being chased by a pirate hunter. If I have a good sloop with me, I can either kill him or outrun him, but if I only have the flagship, I'm short on options.
I don't know about having a mutinous crew swiping my other ships. When my crew start feeling a little blue, I raid the nearest town. I make sure I kill a few of my own guys while I'm at it (CHARGE! <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whippa.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="whippa.gif" /> ), so the money I get goes a long way to cheering up my men who survive. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />

 

[pizzapirate]

This is purely aesthetics, but with the oversize scale that the graphics engine uses for drawing the ships......
A large fleet of large ships looks pretty cool <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />

Otherwise, as far as a large fleet being useful:
Sometimes I like to sit in a shipping lane and attack all of the ships that come though that I'm currently unfriendly with and I loot everything. Then I go to the nearest friendly port and sell it all off. You end up with a large fleet over and over when you do that and you do need all of them to take the final haul into port.

 

[thesdale]

<!--`QuoteBegin-Mack` the Knife+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mack the Knife)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->

triple hammock upgrade

everyone mentions this upgrade as though it's available thru the Sears catalog! although i've not visited EVERY port on the map but for the many i have, none of them as offered this upgrade...[/quote]

While sailing around, look for pirate hunters with the upgrade you can't find in any friendly city. That's the city that has it. That's the city to take over. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />

 

[skull]

Quite often de Barkeep will tell ye what ports offer Triple Hammock upgrade as well as other upgrades at de apprentice level,the higher level ye play,the harder it be te get yer upgrades <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />

 

[Lyfisin]

I started a game a couple of nights ago in the easiest mode and the triple hammock was available to me at my starting point, which was Port Royale.

I'm sure it changes from game to game however. I also try to remember to speak with the Bartender who usually has some good tips on where to find stoof.

Lyf

 

[Bully Hayes]

It not only changes from game to game, ports have changed their upgrade options in the middle of a game on me. Port Royal offered Copper Plating for a few years, then switched to Cotton Sails. I know this makes it even more frustrating when you're trying to find one particular upgrade, but you have to keep rechecking periodically.
Best suggestion I have is to continually check your map. Click on a city and if you have info on it, it will tell you the upgrade offered. It's a pain, but it beats sailing from port to port.

 

[Bully Hayes]

<!--`QuoteBegin-thesdale`+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(thesdale)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin--><!--`QuoteBegin-Mack` the Knife+--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Mack the Knife)</div><div class='quotemain'><!--QuoteEBegin-->

triple hammock upgrade

everyone mentions this upgrade as though it's available thru the Sears catalog! although i've not visited EVERY port on the map but for the many i have, none of them as offered this upgrade...[/quote]

While sailing around, look for pirate hunters with the upgrade you can't find in any friendly city. That's the city that has it. That's the city to take over. <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />[/quote]

Good tip, Thesdale

 

[Mack the Knife]

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->look for pirate hunters with the upgrade<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->
good tip, maybe...don't you have to get into a sea battle with these rascals before you see what their ship is equipped with?

 

[Bully Hayes]

Yeah, but I chase Pirate Hunters.

 

[skull]

better than them chase'n ye mate <img src="http://www.piratesahoy.com/forum/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/laugh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" />