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Hi, I don't post often but I have had some time on my hands and was crunching a little bit of data on cannons and am sharing that here. Please let me know if you have any issues getting to the image. [Attached] (tried to put the link in here but I am not allowed .png or .jpg extensions. I'll read on what I can do some more and see if I can get the image in here). https://drive.google.com/open?id=1eHih8eyfU7Q11i80PUeAk8o2VeihJaFE This is a heatmap for each cannon's damage out to 24 turns. This does assume 100% hits which while that is not how combat usually goes, it does allow you to see the potential of each cannon and have a level field for comparison between them. I do not take range into account here, only optimal damage over time. Also in the folder is the Excel file which has additional data and you can see how I did the calculations (I am sure there is a cleaner way, but I need to put some more thought into it). IMO, when choosing a cannon for your ship you need to take into account how you intend to wage your battles. If you want to get to shooting right away you need to pick a long range cannon like the Iron Thunderer or the Imperial Long Gun. Or, you can brave a rush to close quarters and unleash massive damage with the Magranite Flamethrower. However, be advised that if your ship is slow, or has no hull upgrades you may find yourself in Ondra's cold embrace. I think there are only a few "bad" choices here, again use tactics that optimize your cannon's potential. The Aedyr Channel Gun to me is one of the worse choices, if you want long range cannons get the Imperial Long Gun rather. Observations I and others have made: If you are going to board keep an eye on the number of crew the opposing ship has. Use grapeshot to reduce it and time the boarding action when this number is small. I find that having shorter ranged cannon is advantageous to this, and that it doesn't seem to matter how powerful the cannon is with grapeshot (unless you hit the sails with it instead of crew). If you find that your chance to hit is low there are two things I know can improve it. Hold for one turn prior to firing. And, make sure the range is between the minimum and maximum range listed for your cannon(s). Oh, also the skill level of your cannoneer is key. Choose a cannon that matches the jibe speed of your ship, remember the reload you are measuring is between your first shot and the hold prior to shooting "that" broadside again. If you are up against a much higher level captain or a crew too big to overcome in a boarding action use chain shot to immobilize the ship, then you can either escape or use cannon balls to sink them. Fast ships, like the Defiant and Voyager, are harder to hit and can both close for a boarding action faster and, if needed, have a better chance to flee the engagement. The Voyager's unique front/rear cannon allows you to keep a slim profile while taking out the enemies sails and/or crew. more to come... Thanks for your contributions! 1TTFFSSE Kaylon thundercheese Oriz I hope you find this useful. And, I am happy to respond to any questions or receive any comments or constructive criticism. -Toadbat Edit Log: 8/2/2018 - Updated title; cleaned up some grammar; attached heatmap; added additional observations and credits

I've noticed that enemy ships in naval combat never seems to decrease or increase their distance from my Watcher's ship during the combat, as they did before the beta patch. Even when using the "full sail" option they remain still. https://www.dropbox.com/s/14vunvmw7w9q8do/Naval%20combat.zip?dl=0

So...yeah. After 20 hours in Deadfire, from my experience the naval battles are not only extremely tedious, but also unnecessarily way too long. Why should I bother with cannons, four on each side, when they take such a long time to fire and they miss 60% of the time anyway? Or why bother with any option other than full sail spam till I can board and it's quick fight above deck? I found myself struggling against lesser ships with my fully packed 100% upgraded galleon...so why bother at all? By far the most efficient tactic is just to spam 1. full sail and then board. Using cannons and stuff takes very long and not even effective. Plus, it's not even real time like in AC: Black Flag, so why bother either way? What are your experiences?

My ship crew has been stuck at 4 stars for ages now while the captain keeps gaining. Had me wondering. Is there a cap to how good the crew can get? Crew members are about to hit 110 xp and they've been at 4 stars (either 4 for one job or a mix 3+1 etc) for a very long time. The only exception I found was at brass citadel. There's a 5 star (3+1+1) recruitable member there but she's not getting any better since I got her either. Edit: Just to answer my own question after completing the game, yes 4 stars is the most they get (with one exception at brass citadel) at 25 crew xp iirc. If you want a 4 star deckhand for example, you need to grab one that ONLY has deckhand star and nothing else.