Ship combat starting distance...

[BlackHat]

I'm finding that the starting distance between two boats is becoming really irritating.  The fact that it's fixed at around 300 yards or so really invalidates the purpose of having long range weapons.  I didn't notice/care so much when I was rollin around in a sloop, as I had no options but to rush toward the enemy to close distance before they could fire.  But now that I've paid for this vastly more expensive boat, it seems like I threw away all my money.  You'd think with a spyglass your captain could spot boats at farther than 600 yards, and start turning for a broadside with long guns way before some little voyager or (for example) a Dyrwoodian sloop could close the entire distance and board.  Either the time to turn larger boats needs to come down or there should be some mechanic to control how far you want a combat to start  - perhaps a "captain skill" roll or something, immediately preceding the combat when you elect for a a ship battle.  Anyone else feel this should be a thing, or am I just getting fixated on something insignificant?

[daven]

The entire ship battle mini game is a pointless waste of time that even the developers didnt want to include.

[Boeroer]

It's new. I don't know when it was changed (I guess 5.0) but before that naval battles started at max range.

 

[xzar_monty]

Just out of interest: why did you buy the new ship? At level 16, I haven't yet seen anything that would suggest there'd be any need to buy ship upgrades, much less a new ship. They're just not necessary. Of course, things might change in late-game, and if it's about that, please don't tell.

[Gromnir]

On 6/16/2019 at 6:38 PM, daven said:

The entire ship battle mini game is a pointless waste of time that even the developers didnt want to include.

maybe not pointless. exploitive? yeah. 

immediate after completing port maje, is possible to start the lucrative ship combat mini-game. scaling or non-scaling don't matter. got scaling active and don't want the xp bloat? then do not turn in ship bounties. sink ships in the deafire for negligible xp while acquiring 1007 including superb gear and unique items. start nekataka at level 6, but with elite gear and a deep well o' money. use ship bounties as strategic insta-level-up opportunities as desired. converse, if you want quick xp, then there is no faster and easier route than the ship bounties. start nekataka at level +11? start nekataka at +11 and with superb gear and every purchase-worthy item in the game.

is not pointless, but is cheesy and exploitive. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

[Manveru123]

19 hours ago, Gromnir said:

maybe not pointless. exploitive? yeah. 

immediate after completing port maje, is possible to start the lucrative ship combat mini-game. scaling or non-scaling don't matter. got scaling active and don't want the xp bloat? then do not turn in ship bounties. sink ships in the deafire for negligible xp while acquiring 1007 including superb gear and unique items. start nekataka at level 6, but with elite gear and a deep well o' money. use ship bounties as strategic insta-level-up opportunities as desired. converse, if you want quick xp, then there is no faster and easier route than the ship bounties. start nekataka at level +11? start nekataka at +11 and with superb gear and every purchase-worthy item in the game.

is not pointless, but is cheesy and exploitive. 

HA! Good Fun!

 

How far can you get with that, though? I mean at the start you have a poor ship with weak cannons, even sinking similarly weak ships is a bit of a struggle, and you can't really board at that level

[Boeroer]

?

Sinking weak ships is no problem even with the starting equipment. You only need two decent cannoneers. If you rescue Chiputec you already have one, then hire that Vaillian dude in Port Maje and off you go. Beggar Winfruth only seems to have one Hog Cannon and nothing else - ships like that are supereasy to sink right away. Then, after a few easy ships, the Vaillian dude will already be a master cannoneer which means hits from him will most likely trigger special events (man over board, flooding, burning sails and so on) so that the enemy needs to spent a round on swithcing crew. As soon as that happens reliably you can destroy every ship (theoretically). In practice you'll need a hull upgrade for the toughest ones.

And once you got to Neketaka you can get a full set of Iron Thunderers from Zamar (Shipwright in Neketaka) for 1000 bucks (finish that supereasy quest).

That, another master substitute for Chiputec and the Red Dream Hull upgrade is all I need to sink every ship - even The Deck of Many Things and so on.

This playthrough I left Neketaka at lvl 6 and sailed to Fyrgist, sank the Black Isle Bastards, took the loot, then sailed back to Neketaka. Ididn't even have the hull uograde then - just four iron thunderers and one master cannoneer. There was a risk of failing, sure - but I mean if you must reload one or twice but at the end get strong exceptional, superb and unique gear... not too bad. 

Edited June 19, 2019 by Boeroer

[IamNOOB]

I believe that sinking ships is a waste of time, it is muchmore fun to board and to fight team v team with guns and spells + Eder charging with a sabre I like it more. Ship battles are so boring- they created a  "paper game "  to save some designer work and that is not to my liking. They could have a done a RTS + RPG style ship v ship battles but it would be complicated to create

[Boeroer]

It can't be a waste of time if it

- takes less time than boarding

- yields the same (or even better) outcome

 

[LotharVI]

A great topic:  I agree that the ship to ship cannons blazing away is great for the first to or three times.  However, I find taking the time for boarding and dealing with intelligent, diverse and skilled crews is far more challenging, especially if your deck crew are up to speed...  My strategy is to have the "core" team and mix and match from the, "in the wings specialist team" of specific individuals each optimized for specific tasks... and strengths.  Monks, Chanters, Ciphers, Druids, etc., are absolutely as important as the Barbarians, Fighters, Paladins, etc., and each enrich and expand the experience.  I had rotated all of my teams in quests/combat so that they (for the most part) generally eventually hit Lvl 20 together...  The boarding scenario, especially the ship to ship bounties are the best way to get what you want and need, i.e., money items and experience.  Rekke (can) arrive very early (if you know where to look) and he is a natural born killer fighter, just like Eder.  Mirke and Konstantin arrive later, as does Ydwin and Vatnir, but eventually they catch up (if they are allowed to participate).  Boarding and quickly overturning any ship is a snap having a deck crew at the high(est) levels and equipped with the best... 

I tried the all-tank/wizard approach... to me, very limited, just pound everything down, kinda works, sometime...     I have discovered that there are a few of the non-main (5 person boarding team) side kicks are hyper-aggressive (Mirke, and Ydwin) in the boarding battles, surprisingly so.  I expect everyone to do their job in supporting shipboard combat, and to do it well.  Only a few just do the minimum...

Also, an important opportunity is; one gets to test and evaluate the other, "non-main" character setups, check out all of their abilities, accuracy, spells, interaction, special skills, etc...  Blasting a ship with cannon balls, it's great but you are missing out on a lot of "training" on how other complex character "builds" function and interact with each other and (especially) see any limitations they might have.

just my two cents...

[xzar_monty]

On 6/23/2019 at 5:24 PM, Boeroer said:

It can't be a waste of time if it

- takes less time than boarding

- yields the same (or even better) outcome

 

 

By definition, you are correct. However, I fall into the camp that feels it is a useless waste of time simply because of the way the battles are designed. I have now tried it three or four times (which means that I have no longer played the game without ever once firing my cannons), and it just doesn't feel worth it. Boarding is much more fun, in my view.