• New Horizons on Maelstrom
    Maelstrom New Horizons


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edallen99

Landlubber
I have just received and install POTC. Seems to be a great game.

I am just getting the feel of the game. I came here looking for some general hints and discussions on general game play. (Merits of different ships, etc). Is there a beginners section?

I have not installed MOD 12. (I have downloaded it) The discussions seem to be almost about a different game, is MOD 12 that much different.

Ed (Bloody 1)
 
The unmodded PotC game is a fun, but fairly average game with great graphics. The Build 12 modpack GREATLY enhances the game. It is still the same game, only better in every aspect. There are some more quests and lots of new things to do. There are more interesting people in towns, there are random ships sailing around the islands. I won't start on writing up a full list of everything that was improved, because it would take a long time to write. Just believe me that playing Build 12 instead of the unmodded version of the game is truly worth it. Once you played Build 12, you won't even WANT to play the unmodded version anymore. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/no.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":no" border="0" alt="no.gif" />
 
I have a lot of tips that I'll post if there's enough interest.

Here's a starter:

During the tutorial, swordfight with Malcolm in your cabin until you've leveled up twice. This is a lot of free points to help you start the game. With Build 12.1 you can level up 3 times. This is not wasted time as you'll be doing a lot of sword fighting before the game is done, and getting some free practice helps a lot.

Trading: After the tutorial, Malcolm tells you to buy silk or sandal to take to Redmond. Get sandal. If you buy silk you will lose money. Actually, trading is probably the worst moneymaker in the game, even with prices set at 5x in Build 12.

Go around and look for unlocked doors in the towns. All houses contain a chest that may contain items you can use or sell. A quick tour of the town will make you more than you'll make on a pre-Build 12 trade mission. You do not lose reputation points for this (goodness knows why not).

If you tour the unlocked houses in town, you won't need to go see the loan shark for the money to buy the sandal trade good.

If you do decide to try your hand at trading, always buy trade goods where they're exported. Try to sell them where they're imported. Buying export and selling import is pretty much guaranteed to make money, although it's not a lot. Buying export and selling at normal price is generally a break-even proposition. Everything else will lose you money, at least before you get a lot of commerce skill points and abilities. Note that the price of goods is random every time you visit an island, within certain limits, so if you see a chart with specific prices and profits for each good for each island, take it with a grain of salt.

With Build 12, the schooner is a very good pirate or privateer ship. It's faster than the specs suggest, and can sail closer to the wind than anything but a sloop, which is smaller. Attack from upwind, fire grape a couple of times, then board. If you have hired an officer, you can capture the ship, sail it back to port and sell it, along with the goods it carries. If the battle isn't going your way, you may retreat back upwind and the enemy cannot follow you. Selling captured ships makes a *lot* of money.

Good luck, and let me know if this is helpful.

Hook
 
Hi, I'm a noobie and trying to figure this out. I see a lot about Build 12.1, and am in the process of d/ling it. Do I need to d/l something else first and put 12.1 on top of it, or is the 12.1 all that I need?
Thanks in advance for your help and any tips you give are greatly appreciated!
 
I would disagree with Hook on one point ,trading can be lucrative early in the game if you get the trust worthy lad ability.Then buy items that are imbargoed at your next stop ,say rum for Dowsen then silk for Islemuelle then ebony for Redmond. This stops working after awhile as they get too much of one item ,but by then you can more easily capture ships.
 
Trading might be lucrative in the stock POTC but with the builds trading takes a back seat. There are heaps of ways of making lots of money without even leaving Oxbay for ages. I have made close to 5 million just by following my nose for trouble on the island. Having Loot On & having a blast in both the Oxbay & Greenford Military Zones.
Doing Treasure Quests, battling Bandits & Soldiers alike & selling all the additional swords I loot.

I dont bother with doing trading runs, no fun it in & you don't make as much money.
 
<!--quoteo(post=153061:date=Jun 29 2006, 09:31 PM:name=will0170)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(will0170 @ Jun 29 2006, 09:31 PM) [snapback]153061[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
I would disagree with Hook on one point ,trading can be lucrative early in the game if you get the trust worthy lad ability.Then buy items that are imbargoed at your next stop ,say rum for Dowsen then silk for Islemuelle then ebony for Redmond. This stops working after awhile as they get too much of one item ,but by then you can more easily capture ships.
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My understanding of Trustworthy Lad is that you can sell contrband in stores, but at normal prices. If you sell contraband to smugglers, you get 2.5 times the normal amount (if I remember right) and that's quite lucrative. Except sometimes you get raided by the local authorities. This ability does not allow you to buy contraband in stores, however.

The best money in trading comes from trade missions you get from the merchants. And you get an incredible amount of experience points as well.

I've made some pretty good fortunes just capturing and selling ships. Trade up to sloop or schooner as soon as you can. I got a letter of marque early, and got paid additional by the governor. And got land, which added to my wealth.

Eventually I had a privateer, captured on a pirate hunting mission, and shortly after had a 74 gun SOL. I berthed the privateer and sailed to Oxbay and captured all three French ships guarding the port. Then sacked Oxbay. Those ships plus Oxbay are worth somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 million gold total. Maybe a million or two under that, but who's counting? <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":D" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

That character got retired at Admiral and Infamous Pirate when the last update came out. I just used him tonight (with the previous update of the game) to test something with the Virgile Boon quest at Falaise.

Hook
 
Do you think its too easy to make money now? Part of struggle, is struggling with cash... not having enough to buy anything you want.
 
No. A beginning player won't be able to haul in all this loot, and the experienced player will generally have more money than he needs anyway. I suggest leaving it like it is. Then the new player gets some good rewards as he gets better and bolder.

Hook
 
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