Maneuvers in ship combat

[Potemkin]

I need to take out a enemy ship that is a lot stronger than mine. Their crew is also stronger so I can't board it.

 

My plan is to take out it's sails real quick to render it dead in the water. After that I want to put my ship in safety with the broad side facing the enemy's aft. From there I intend to bombard it till it sinks. 

 

So I can kill it's sails before it destroys me but then I don't know how to place my ship behind the enemy. Anyone good with sailing?

 

Let's say the starting position is the two ships with broadsides facing each other and from there you want to put your ship behind the enemy's aft.

 

 

[Lampros]

I board every fight with the starting ship, so no idea. Wait till you level up a bit more? Why do you have to fight now?

[Kaylon]

You can't turn around enemy's ship. You have 2 choices:

1. you destroy its sails while it's advancing/running -> it will continue to advance/run slowly, but can't turn anymore to shoot <- ideal situation

2. you destroy its sails while it's turned for shooting at you -> it will just fire the canons every x turns because it can't turn anymore

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

There are a number of points on the map that will give your sailors xp. You can lvl up your cannoneers to rank 4 by taking down the merchant ships and then checking out these points on the map--you will know them when you see them. Cannoneers at rank 4 will almost always inflict some sort of status on the enemy ship which will allow you to keep gunning with not retaliation.  

 

You can use long range gun like Channel Guns at 600 meters and then flip the side and just spam your Hog Noses. I've taken down every ship that way. 

[Walter.Richards]

Have they patched it, so that taking out the sails eliminates the ship's ability to maneuver?

I know prior to patch 3, that wasn't the case.

 

You can also use grapeshot to eliminate the non-fighting (reserve) crew.

That will reduce the number of opponents you face when boarding.

[Haplok]

There are a number of points on the map that will give your sailors xp. You can lvl up your cannoneers to rank 4 by taking down the merchant ships and then checking out these points on the map--you will know them when you see them. Cannoneers at rank 4 will almost always inflict some sort of status on the enemy ship which will allow you to keep gunning with not retaliation.  

 

As, so its the cannoneer level that causes those annoying status incidents? Been facing a lot more of those of late and though that maybe there was some kind of patch to make ship combat more varied (and difficult).

 

You can also use grapeshot to eliminate the non-fighting (reserve) crew.

That will reduce the number of opponents you face when boarding.

 

Yeah, I often do this. But unless you close in to board really fast, the reserve crew tends to regenerate annoyingly swiftly.

[Archaven]

When ship combat start, I think there's no way to board and combat. How is it being done? I haven't seen any options for me to do that. I was thinking to reduce the crew member before boarding

Edited October 18, 2018 by Archaven

[Boeroer]

If you want to take on a heavy ship with a much lighter ship then the Voyager is your best friend. You can't get around enemy ships (unfortunately) - but with a Voyager you can fire while advancing/retreating. You can use that, Palm Sails, Long Range guns in the bow (front) and a Magranite Flamethrower in the stern. Start firing from 600 meters (target sails) and once the enemy ship turns its gun ports towards you advance quickly (the to-hit chance of the enemy is much lower once you are going full speed and the Voyager itself has a much lower to-hit chance because it's small). Advance until you are <100m away. Usually enemy ships don't have cannons that can hit at that distance. Turn around and start firing with the Flamethrower. As soon as the enemy ship turns to ram you, advance a bit to keep a safe distance and fire again, rinse and repeat. Target sails. If the sails are destroyed the ship can't turn to fire and you can safely sink it.

 

I sunk every ship (including Deck of Many Things) with this setup. Rathun are harder because their ships are very fast and also have guns in the bow. But I managed to sink them as well.

 

I also sunk every ship in my current playthrough with the Sloop, 4 Double Bronzers and the Red Dream hull improvement (Dunnage). It gives your Sloop nearly as much hull points as a Junk while turning and doing jibes stays at 1 turn.

 

lvl 4 cannoneers make a huge difference. If you manage to hit crew or rip sails or flood the ship the AI wil always stop firing and assign crewmembers which gives you a lot of time to jibe and fire.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Boeroer

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

No Haeferic's Nose?  

 

That's the best cannon in the game. Four injured Crew at once.

[Boeroer]

Yes, Haefric's Nose is a long range cannon.

 

It is indeed very good. Also the quick reload and the huge range span it covers.

 

But you don't need it. For example I didn't get it yet but still was able to sink all ships just with double bronzers which you can buy in Nekataka.

 

I'm only lvl 8 by the way but quicky got Kapana Taga and stuff. Boarding is not a good alternative.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Boeroer

[Hulk'O'Saurus]

Yeah... the ship gun combat is so allowing you can pretty much use most any gun you want. I don't think I'd want to see it changed. 

 

Thing about that is I, personally, like to spend the least cash while I'm on it. So I roll with two Hog Noses on one side and Haeferic's and an Aedyr Channel Gun on the other. Usually combat starts with me shooting first from long range and retreating if I don't get statuses from the get go. After that it's just spamming jibe, halt, shoot. 

 

Also got the Kapana Taga after leaving Port Maje, as well. Not a biggie these days. 

[Boeroer]

Yes. If you know how the ship combat works it's pretty easy. That's why I said that boarding is not a good alternative. You can't win against the BIBs or Thaenic if you go straight to boarding at lvl 8 or so. I mean you can maybe - but what a chore that would be. Much easier to blast them out of the water.

 

I still don't think the ship combat is implemented nicely (for my taste) - but at least it's rewarding.

Edited October 18, 2018 by Boeroer

[Potemkin]

Thank you for all the tips!