ButterCutter
Landlubber
Lets make a thread for <b>SHORT</b> gameplay tips.
No cheats or exploits please. I mean strategies and tactics, what is profitable etc. We can later concentrate all of this into a categorized list.
Categories:
-------------
* Naval combat & World map
* Swordplay
* Economy
* Port attack
* Training & leveling
* Officers
* Other
-------------------------------------------
Here is the summary of tips from the thread (updated 30.06.09)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
==================
Naval combat & world map:
==================
* When attacking a heavy ship with a light maneuverable one, the best place to be while waiting for the guns to reload is directly behind, in a tow-line. You can only be hit by the few aft guns and if close enough, the big ship cannot shake you off. When your guns are ready, bank to the side to fire away and immediately return to the tow-line, bank to the other side to fire the other broadside. You get to fire two broadsides and the chasers for one of his chasers volleys. You are close enough to fire buckshots and prepare for boarding, without the risk of him boarding you.
* When starting a new game that if a big ship or ship's are going to attack you near a friendly fort wait behind the fort or near the town until they have gone by and collect all the good cargo that they have dumped overboard to make money.
* If you have ships on your tail and you want to get rid of them, try to engage them while they are still a good distance away (the moment the grappling hook appears on the work map). On the combat map, they will be out of distance (world map icon is visible). Now go immediatly back to the world map to find they have vanished. But don't do it if you have several ships in your squadron. Yours will be in a safe range, but very probably one or two of the stragglers will be engaged with the enemy and you'll either have to go rescue them or abandon them. Point your ship towards the enemy on the map - the sailing mode does take into account your position and heading when generating the encounter, so your other ships will be safe.
* During world map sailing: I noticed that pirate ships avoid other nations ship and only chase your ship.somehow this can be used to lured them further away from your ship just position your ship behind another ship of other nationalities to gain some space between you and your pirate pursuers
========
Swordplay:
========
* One vs. 2-3 on land, where you have some room to maneuver : Use the sidestep a lot to circle your opponents. The ones that are not directly in front of you will waste time to walk around their comrade and position to attack again. Especially good if you are waiting for your endurance to build and cannot attack anyway. Much better than back paddling.
* One vs. many, power attack: To release the slow power swing without being interrupted, make one retreat step. Start the swing while your opponents are still out of range but advancing toward you. Precede with a circling side-step if you have an obstacle behind you.
* One vs. many: Try to kill the opponent that carries the heavier weapon first. You can survive a few hits from a dagger, but the axe will chop you to bits in one hit. Front-loaded damage ruins your day.
* Early in the game I took personal feat for quicker energy (stamina) regeneration. For me this worked quite alright. And when I face many enemies I use swing attack (SHIFT+left MB) which damages everyone around me. And with this nobody can hit me because every time I interrupt their attack and i kill several opponents at once with several attacks. When out of stamina I use block with dodging from power attacks (SHIFT+right MB) and strafing and with regenerating stamina feat, I gain stamina quite fast.
* If you're fighting in a tight area and are stuck behind your fighters and want to get some swings in. Sheath your weapon, then you can run through, re-draw and join the fight.
=======
Economy:
=======
* Smuggling is all about routes and amounts... the higher the amount the more profitable is the risk... A good route is Curaçao (buy mahogany) and Martinique (buy silk, although personally i don't even bother with this one...).
On Curaçao, get officers and buy as many bulky ships as you can, empty them of cannons, put minimum crew and some food and medicines, then load them all till the top of the mast with your goods. Get the deal done, then before going back to the sea, get back your sailors, food and medicines, get rid of the skippers in them and leave them to sink... Repeat.
=============
Training & leveling
=============
* Starting up in the game, navigation skill, in my opinion, is probably the most crucial, yet the easiest ship skill to raise as it determines the kind of ship you are able to maneuver. Do a lot of quests for the port control, particularly pertaining to the logbook delivery. It raises your navigation significantly, speeding up time for you to take on more elite ships.
* Pro Cannoneer perk is the NAME of the game. Once you or your cannoneer are endowed with that ability, you can pretty much bring down 6 elite ships with a single level 2-3 ship at once. It significantly raises your critical hit chances and the damage you inflict upon any part of the ship (sail, hull, personnel).
* Another way of increasing your reputation is to go brawl in the tavern.join an npc for a drink and when the option that says "i'll cut your throat appears,choose it then you will be in a one on one fight with that npc after which you can loot him and earn some reputation.
========
Officers
========
* There is a way to hire more officers than your allowed limit. When you reached your limit and found one or two officers that you want to add to your team, just buy cheap vessels and leave them to the Port Control. Then go and hire the new officers that you want. After hiring them, take back your vessels from the Port Control and sell them back.
* When you recruiting officer you can lower his price for couple of thousand. All you have to do is tell him that you think his price is little too much. When he lowers the price, DON'T accept but leave the dialog and then talk again. Now his base price is the lowered one and you can repeat the procedure again until he won't lower price any more.
==========
Other
==========
* Save, save, save, save, then backup save a few times. The quests are way to easy to break in this game, its much easier to have a backup save that you can go back to and not lose alot of time.
* If you are about to enter the City of Abandoned Ships, be sure your char is ready because you can not leave again until you complete the quest line.
And you can not train your char more inside if your are too weak.
No cheats or exploits please. I mean strategies and tactics, what is profitable etc. We can later concentrate all of this into a categorized list.
Categories:
-------------
* Naval combat & World map
* Swordplay
* Economy
* Port attack
* Training & leveling
* Officers
* Other
-------------------------------------------
Here is the summary of tips from the thread (updated 30.06.09)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
==================
Naval combat & world map:
==================
* When attacking a heavy ship with a light maneuverable one, the best place to be while waiting for the guns to reload is directly behind, in a tow-line. You can only be hit by the few aft guns and if close enough, the big ship cannot shake you off. When your guns are ready, bank to the side to fire away and immediately return to the tow-line, bank to the other side to fire the other broadside. You get to fire two broadsides and the chasers for one of his chasers volleys. You are close enough to fire buckshots and prepare for boarding, without the risk of him boarding you.
* When starting a new game that if a big ship or ship's are going to attack you near a friendly fort wait behind the fort or near the town until they have gone by and collect all the good cargo that they have dumped overboard to make money.
* If you have ships on your tail and you want to get rid of them, try to engage them while they are still a good distance away (the moment the grappling hook appears on the work map). On the combat map, they will be out of distance (world map icon is visible). Now go immediatly back to the world map to find they have vanished. But don't do it if you have several ships in your squadron. Yours will be in a safe range, but very probably one or two of the stragglers will be engaged with the enemy and you'll either have to go rescue them or abandon them. Point your ship towards the enemy on the map - the sailing mode does take into account your position and heading when generating the encounter, so your other ships will be safe.
* During world map sailing: I noticed that pirate ships avoid other nations ship and only chase your ship.somehow this can be used to lured them further away from your ship just position your ship behind another ship of other nationalities to gain some space between you and your pirate pursuers
========
Swordplay:
========
* One vs. 2-3 on land, where you have some room to maneuver : Use the sidestep a lot to circle your opponents. The ones that are not directly in front of you will waste time to walk around their comrade and position to attack again. Especially good if you are waiting for your endurance to build and cannot attack anyway. Much better than back paddling.
* One vs. many, power attack: To release the slow power swing without being interrupted, make one retreat step. Start the swing while your opponents are still out of range but advancing toward you. Precede with a circling side-step if you have an obstacle behind you.
* One vs. many: Try to kill the opponent that carries the heavier weapon first. You can survive a few hits from a dagger, but the axe will chop you to bits in one hit. Front-loaded damage ruins your day.
* Early in the game I took personal feat for quicker energy (stamina) regeneration. For me this worked quite alright. And when I face many enemies I use swing attack (SHIFT+left MB) which damages everyone around me. And with this nobody can hit me because every time I interrupt their attack and i kill several opponents at once with several attacks. When out of stamina I use block with dodging from power attacks (SHIFT+right MB) and strafing and with regenerating stamina feat, I gain stamina quite fast.
* If you're fighting in a tight area and are stuck behind your fighters and want to get some swings in. Sheath your weapon, then you can run through, re-draw and join the fight.
=======
Economy:
=======
* Smuggling is all about routes and amounts... the higher the amount the more profitable is the risk... A good route is Curaçao (buy mahogany) and Martinique (buy silk, although personally i don't even bother with this one...).
On Curaçao, get officers and buy as many bulky ships as you can, empty them of cannons, put minimum crew and some food and medicines, then load them all till the top of the mast with your goods. Get the deal done, then before going back to the sea, get back your sailors, food and medicines, get rid of the skippers in them and leave them to sink... Repeat.
=============
Training & leveling
=============
* Starting up in the game, navigation skill, in my opinion, is probably the most crucial, yet the easiest ship skill to raise as it determines the kind of ship you are able to maneuver. Do a lot of quests for the port control, particularly pertaining to the logbook delivery. It raises your navigation significantly, speeding up time for you to take on more elite ships.
* Pro Cannoneer perk is the NAME of the game. Once you or your cannoneer are endowed with that ability, you can pretty much bring down 6 elite ships with a single level 2-3 ship at once. It significantly raises your critical hit chances and the damage you inflict upon any part of the ship (sail, hull, personnel).
* Another way of increasing your reputation is to go brawl in the tavern.join an npc for a drink and when the option that says "i'll cut your throat appears,choose it then you will be in a one on one fight with that npc after which you can loot him and earn some reputation.
========
Officers
========
* There is a way to hire more officers than your allowed limit. When you reached your limit and found one or two officers that you want to add to your team, just buy cheap vessels and leave them to the Port Control. Then go and hire the new officers that you want. After hiring them, take back your vessels from the Port Control and sell them back.
* When you recruiting officer you can lower his price for couple of thousand. All you have to do is tell him that you think his price is little too much. When he lowers the price, DON'T accept but leave the dialog and then talk again. Now his base price is the lowered one and you can repeat the procedure again until he won't lower price any more.
==========
Other
==========
* Save, save, save, save, then backup save a few times. The quests are way to easy to break in this game, its much easier to have a backup save that you can go back to and not lose alot of time.
* If you are about to enter the City of Abandoned Ships, be sure your char is ready because you can not leave again until you complete the quest line.
And you can not train your char more inside if your are too weak.
" border="0" alt="wink.gif" />) The price of sinking ships is totally justified (each of these carriers costs around 50k, nothing compared to what you are going to make...). It's basic to have a fast ship to run away, because the government won't allow such huge operations plus, your reputation goes to hell quite fast... but, you wouldn't be smuggling if you were going to be a good boy right? 
ahoy!" border="0" alt="thpirateshipff.gif" />
:" border="0" alt="laugh.gif" /> 
" border="0" alt="sad.gif" />
" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" />
" border="0" alt="icon_mrgreen1.gif" />
" border="0" alt="whippa.gif" /> 
" border="0" alt="no.gif" />