Big victory last night for Spain out of Port-of-Spain. 10 ships defending beat 20 attacking British ships. Conquistador Central headed the force with the most ships deployed but one of our own Vanguardia was there too!
This morning the British are already building up unrest. Probably trying to force another battle before people can get home from work and actually put up a fight this time.
Aigh! I still haven’t entered my Launch Key, but I’m nearly finished reading the Prima guide. But now my g/f wants me to go with her to Orlando today (returning Sunday) for her medical conference. Looks like I won’t be hitting the Burning Sea until Sunday night, at the earliest.
How does the Pirate population look for Bonny on the server screen in US primetime? For that matter, how do the other three nations pops look?
What level are the Qt3 pirates, now?
JM, I got a kick out of your movie. Were you (lvl 11?) blasting and boarding lvl 1 ships? haha! Meanie! BTW, which swashbuckling and sailing skill lines have you been concentrating on?
Was the 25 vs. 25 PvP action as cool to watch/play in as it sounds?
I’m too low level and too broke to leap into a Contention battle myself but one of our guildies did. However, he the sort of laconic character where the pits of hell could be opening under his feet and he’d note, off-handedly, it was getting a bit warm. I suspect it was pretty exciting but he sounded mildly worried and coolly interested at best. Sadly, Capitan Ramirez logged off shortly after his ship was sunk and he left thinking the battle was lost - though happy that our side seemed to put up such a good fight.
Remember, 10 Spanish ships against 20 attacking Brits.
Then someone named Don Juan, not certain who he’s affiliated with, but he was our self-appointed “sportscaster” over the Conquest channel, reported victory! Unbelieveable. When accounts crop up I’ll stick them over here for perusal.
Edit: TCon also seems to have had 3 players there and the Brits had 24, by their own count, not 20. Here’s a description of the action from assorted viewpoints:
http://www.burningsea.com/forums/showthread.php?t=4486&page=3
Skipper
245
It was certainly cool to see that they announce the contention battle as a broadcast. Glad you guys won Brian. I agree this may end up being a pretty fun process to watch, especially over the life of a server. I could see though late in the game (when one country dominates) it may not be such a cool deal if you’re the loser. But there are a few ports that can’t be taken, so at least you can port. Ammo would become an issue though. You could eventually starve a nation of ship building, ammo production, consumables, etc.
I just hit level 16 and having a rough time in my brand new Xebec. I have minimal upgrades to it, but the missions usually involve multiple enemies lately and I’m getting pounded pretty easily. The Xebec has little to no leeward mobility (downwind / against the wind.) It has nice firepower though, so if I can position well I can tack to hit an enemy from one side, then the rear, then another side. I just have to be careful about the rear armor, it’s a little weak.
Any tips on what upgrades you guys are using in missions? And has anyone seen a good guide on swordplay? I’m still just winging it, and dirty fighting for me ends up with either a quick victory or quick defeat.
JM1
246
I just picked up my Xebec too, and frankly I prefer my Heavy Cutter. Maybe the Xebec needs decent upgrades, but I’ve nearly lost it twice in combat with ships that the cutter just runs down.
What’s the penalty for losing a swordfight during boarding?
Skipper
248
As leader I think you can lose twice before you lose the battle. Repop is a few seconds (10 I think?) during which time your crew continues to fight. You also get waves of reinforcements depending on how many crew both sides had as the battle begins. Six fighters and a captain per side can be on the boarding crew.
The issue is that it’s a bit of a mashup where you either overload the opposing captain, or they overload you. You can pick off his fighters but really that’s wasting time until he actually gets killed off. There is also a point where if he has lost enough men and then dies, it only takes one kill of the opposing captain to finish the battle. I feel like either I’m riding a wave that kills the captain with ease, or I’m running like a little girl trying to get away from being surrounded.
If you can break off, you can bandage a small amount of health. It’s a channeled action though, so if you are getting hit, it would be worthless to attempt it.
The advanced freetrader production recipes use 80% of the labor the normal one does. Basically they just are a bit more efficient at making goods and can make mastercraft ships.
I’m level 18 and I’m still in a (player crafted) Bermuda Sloop. I’ve handled upwards of nine ships if they’re broken up into groups and I’ve got some NPC cannonfodder around.
As a Freetrader I tend to do alot of patching up. I’ve got “Hold Her Together” which allows me to repair all aspects of my ship with Oak (Planks) and Hemp Canvas and has a timer like those of consumable Repair kits and, of course, I use alot of cheapie Consumable repair kits.
My tactic is pretty obvious. I sail at the closest enemy ship and ram. I’ve got a reinforced bow so I can take a few hits on it. If unable to grapple immediately I come alongside, with fresh starboard or larboard armor, and fire chain, bar or starshot at the sails. Generally I just stay right on top of the enemy vessel and steer into it. Sooner or later I get my grapple off. I fire off a repair before boarding of there are other enemy ships shooting at me.
Once onboard I tend to let my crew do what it wants. I always hit “Hold The Line” so I don’t have to worry about my boarding party’s numbers getting too low. And I cut through enemy crewmen first or the captain if I get to him. I never bother with toggling for a particular enemy or using “Attack My Target” except under certain circumstances.
Slow, methodical, under control is how I play it with my Florentine fighter. Sending everyone at the opposing captain can get you killed once NPCs start ganging up on you and have Bleed attacks. Need to keep that balance up.
I will pick on the captain though if I really outclass the defender and he doesn’t have many waves left or if my ship’s really beat up and under attack. I need to get back to keep it from being sunk while I fight!
So far it works like a charm with only a few close calls.
Haven’t done any PvP yet so not sure if these tactics will hold up there.
Erik_J
251
Depending on your crew levels when you board, each captain will have waves of reinforcements. Say you board, and you have 3/4 waves, because your crew meter was full when you boarded. His was low, AND he has a lower maximum crew than you, so he only has 1/2 waves. Since you have 3 waves remaining, you may die 2 times, OR if your crew is dying, you may call another wave in, which also subtracts one from the total.
The fight could go something like this:
You both charge in, and he absolutely decimates your crew, but you’re still standing. You call in a wave. Now you have 2/4. You can call 1 more wave, or you can resurrect once. Now, he kills you. Your crew continues to fight. In 10 seconds you will repop, and subtract another from your waves. So now you’re 1/4 left and he is still at 1/2. That means if either of you die at this point, the fight is over, even if there are crew remaining on deck.
It is always imperative to go straight for the captain. There is a button that is “Attack my target”, so you want to charge in, target the captain, and hit that. Essentially, you can win without ever hurting his crew.
If you lose completely, you are returned to your ship with very low crew levels until they slowly heal over time, or you pass out some rum. The sea battle continues as normal.
Erik J.
Erik_J
252
Interesting. I’m just the opposite as florentine. My balance recovery and instant balance recovery skills allow me to send everyone at the captain, knock him down quickly, and generally finish off his crew in time for his repop.
However, I have to say after doing dirty fighting for awhile, I really like florentine. I haven’t tried rapier much yet.
Erik J.
JM1
253
Mysterio: It was a mission that had kicked my ass a few levels earlier and seemed like a good one to choose to show what missions are like.
After a long chat last night regarding skills after our bout of PVP, I’m starting to focus on the Pirate skills that allow me to cripple opposing ships. Right now I have a mix of skills that allow me to board easier, devestate the opposing crew and so on. My style of play gets me in close so I’ve got nearly everything in Gunnery for some serious close-range damage output. However, after the PVP I’ve seen that speed is everything - as well as the ability to smash sails.
My next choices will be almost all in Destruction, for the likes of Cut Shroud (-25% speed), Foul Rudder and the big daddy of the tree, Cripple Enemy. I’ll also look to take the Survival skills because they’re so useful, and I’ll pick up the 2nd Sacrifice skill which is “Sacrifice For Speed”, a huge boost to speed and turnrate at the expense of morale and crew. Given that I’ll only use it to run down a fleeing ship it makes sense.
Pop-wise - mostly British, then Spanish, then French. Not sure about the Pirate pop at the moment, but there’s some around. We’re doing the 2nd best of the Nations at the moment.
Skipper
254
That information would have been so good to know. The drawback of electronic download version is I don’t have a manual. :( I didn’t know that’s how the captain repop / crew waves work. Thanks for that Erik.
Also I’m with Erik, I charge the captain usually. I may give my men a second or two to engage, but then I’ll charge/shoot the captain, and send them in (attack target.) Knowing I usually get raped if I stand there and do this, I will occasionally “sprint” to disengage myself as I send in my crew on their captain. He will usually die, then I help my crew pick apart his until he repops (with little help left) and it’s pretty easy after that. My problem area is that I have little to no sword defense with dirty fighting (parry/block), but decent offense (attack). My most used skills in boarding are attack target, aimed shot, vicious strike, sprint, and bandage.
Keep in mind through, that at higher levels NPC crew will have specials that lower your balance (and then inflict nasties like bleeds - the Swashbuckling forum is full of people complaining about bleed attacks precisely because they use the Target Enemy Captain tactic and then wonder what hit them) and if all your crew is chasing after a captain their crew may well end up on you.
Lorini
256
Skipper
257
I love you sir. In an appreciative gamer sort of way. Not that there is anything wrong with that. Or madam. I can’t tell if that’s you or your son posting.
Lorini
258
Except that I’m a ma’am :) Actually I had meant to post that earlier and forgot. Your post reminded me.
Disheartening that we weren’t able to take PoS, the Brits were predicting victory with great confidence when I logged last night. As a mere Freetrader and low level at that, I wasn’t going to be able to participate. Oh well, I’m sure they’ll be going at it again with a lot less confidence but more knowledge next time :)
Skipper
259
Yep you caught me before my ninja edit. I still get you and your son confused on xbox live. :)
Skipper
260
JM I finally got to watch your video. I really liked it. If I can find a place to host one I might post one as well. I liked how you redid your interface WoW style, I’ll be copying that, hope you don’t mind.
I did notice that you’re doing some of the same things I do in the game which makes me thing there are a few usability issues. The sensitivity on movement (or lag?) causes me to initially move or face the wrong directioni a lot. This is especially bad in the boarding or swashbuckling fights. They made it WoW-like, but there is something wrgon there I can’t put my finger on.
