Hitting someone should knock them off your ladder. Entirely.

@mostexpendable disagree with this one. Players need a way to be able to get on board without being stopped 100%. It’s only fair natural fights happen 1 to 1 and if they do get on board, it’s up to you and your skill to kill them, knock them off somehow, or if you die, retake your ship.

It’s not just a skill issue, it’s about the fight being fair for both sides, cause remember that not all players want to fight to naval, some will be better at close range combat, and if they have no way to board you, they’re gonna find exploitive ways to abuse the game and you.

I get what you mean with this idea and trust me, I’ve been annoyed too by boarders getting up when they shouldn’t, but it’s truly just part of the fight and really spurs me on to win the fight. That’s what makes the game and the best memories, the hard fought battles.

I remember back in the day all the guns had at least a bit of knockback, so in a way this used to be a thing.
I miss the old Shrouded Spoils pvp, with the exception of quickswapping guns, it was the best period of hand-to-hand combat...

@tesiccl I understand that it’s also skill.
I’m putting forward that yes, players should be forced to naval - at a least a little to get a win.

That is a line in the sand that I think would be an interesting mega change.

If you have applied pressure, knocked their sail down. And they have a few holes… then you get to try Boarding as many times as you like until you get it.

But the bluff and drop at lightening speed feels broken and janky. Maybe there is a compromise that can be made.

But right now the re-catch sweat meta looks silly, and relies on too much janky luck.

@mostexpendable it’s also a sandbox game, they’re choosing the best way to defeat you and if that involves getting on your ship, then so be it. It’s a tools not rules game.

It does feel a little janky but if your ship is on the move, then lobbing a blunderbomb at the side of the ladder is enough to keep them off the ladder, it works every time for me.

@tesiccl I use the blunderbomb technique too.

We can throw around the “tools not rules” saying all the time.

This is much more of a minor adjustment than removing a tool or messing with rules.

This is a gameplay tweak.

And I think it should definitely be examined.

The fact you can blunderbuss someone while they’re climbing. And hit them with half to most pellets and they don’t come off, is silly.

Let’s say if you get over 50 damage then it’s an auto drop then. Something like that.

The constant re-catching itself after taking a snipe to the face doesn’t even make sense when you think about it.

There is room for tweaks at the least. So let’s not just dismiss out of hand.

@tesiccl you have helped me narrow down what I’m getting. So thank you.

Overall. I think the skill gap for stopping a sweaty boarder is too high and the requirements are too precise.

It should at least be easier to knock them off. That’s it.
If you shoot them with a blundy on the ladder. That should work too.

It shouldn’t just be this very narrow window of waiting for them to stand up. And hit them in that exact fraction of a second.

This would help the player base at large.
I’ve got to the point where I can survive and defend most boards. But I’ve put in a lot of hourglass hours and losses to get where I am.

But I have friends of medium skill who have played the game for hundreds of hours too. And even if they know a player is there. And are ready for them… more often than not. They let that Pc sweat player aboard even after getting a pretty decent hit on them.

And then it’s game over for them.

I think it’s too easy for recatches and far two difficult for people who aren’t total sweats to defend. Even when they SHOULD have the tactical advantage.

There’s room for a better balance.

Well Blunderbuss and Sword can do it, either one is probably inside 99% of players loadout. Can't recall anyone using Flintlock/Eye of the Reach during PVP, even though it would seem the most natural choice in most games.

I would not mind if Flintlock and Eye of the reach would have this ability, but I don't think it is necessary.

@scurvywoof increasing damage is another tweak at least.
I think my point is that it’s something Rare should look at.

It’s so high stakes. And right now, I believe, it’s TOO difficult to guard against.

If you’re aware there’s a boarder and strategically standing above them with a weapon, you should have a greater advantage than players currently do.

I think there needs to be a cool down from when you’re on the ladder to when you can re-climb the ladder. Seeing streamers literally spam climbing and dropping from the ladder seems overly excessive and a little ridiculous. But I also think there should be alternatives to boarding than just the ladder and deck shots(or grabbing the harpoon if you’re lucky enough with waves) attempting to board some ships(specially galleons) seems nearly impossible with ladder campers

Queues on xbox only servers are fine for hourglass, and no. You realise if you hit their ship once or twice they can't really afford to board or stay on your ship for long. So you absolutely can use that naval to counter tdmers.

@hiradc unless there’s more than one player. And Xbox queues in Australia at least are ghost towns.

@mostexpendable if they have more than one player then so do you, fair enough can't comment on your regional server queues.
I know there are some pure tdmers out there but I'd say if you're not comfortable guarding against boards then 9/10 they can likely beat you at naval too

@needsmokes blunderbombs are more effective.

@hiradc said in Hitting someone should knock them off your ladder. Entirely.:

@mostexpendable if they have more than one player then so do you, fair enough can't comment on your regional server queues.
I know there are some pure tdmers out there but I'd say if you're not comfortable guarding against boards then 9/10 they can likely beat you at naval too

Personally I’m fairly comfortable at this point. And frankly, I’ve had to get very good at it. I hold my own well.

But I’ve had to develop that skill through a crucible that feels entirely unnecessary. And weighted far too heavily in favour of boarders.

If someone shoots you with a blunder in the face. You should fall off.

Rare could afford to look into it.

@mostexpendable how is it weighted in favour of boarders? They have limited movement, limited view, they can't heal or reload on ladder, they can go up or down, let go and catch, higher tier players can shoot from ladder but that is pretty rare. Slash with the sword does knock them off and they have to regrab.

@hiradc oh man, the players that can shoot while on the ladder are annoying. That too feels broken. I’m an Xbox player and that just isn’t an option for me. So right there is a gross discrepancy.

To answer your question boarding is weighted too much in their favour because they can absorb a blunderbuss to the face and still climb up. You have to wait for them to make their move. They control the timing.

You can blunderbomb but that’s only if you have one.

You should be able to shoot them right off the ladder with one decent shot without having to wait for them to climb all the way up for it to be effective.

Right now players can tank a shot. And board before the defender has a chance to reload or even switch weapons. That’s a bad balance IMO.

@mostexpendable I'm not trying to be rude but that means you're doing it wrong, you have to wait for them to fully commit to climbing there's a specific animation, no one can tank a full blunder it's a one shot so you're missing some pellets. You can tank other guns that don't have one shot potential but guarder can still swap weapons and finish them off.
For the ladder shooters that's why technically you shouldn't lean over ladder so they can't pull that on you if you stand back and wait for them to commit should be hitting one shot

@hiradc yep. Fully aware of that. And appreciate it.
My original post is actually about that - in fact my entire argument is. I think that the requirement for defenders to wait for the boarder to climb to the top of the ladder and shoot at that precise moment and only that precise moment, is the problem.

It requires such precise timing (too precise), and sweaty Pc players play the bluffing game where they catch and regrab the ladder for extended periods of time. It’s exhausting and not a fun gameplay loop for defenders.

And still sometimes you shoot the boarder and they still manage to land on the ship and become your problem.

This entire interaction is what my feed back is about. It’s too finicky. Too unforgiving. And requires too much from the defender.

If a defender knows a boarder is on their ladder. I feel like they should be able to control the situation more easily than this.

I don’t know the exact solution. But I feel like tweaks can be made.

E.g if a boarder takes over 50% damage. They are knocked off. Without a regrab.

There are plenty of reliable ways to knock some one off of your ladders in a way thats difficult to catch again, i dont think having a stray blunder pellet knocking some one off would be needed seeing if you just play smart you can guarantee they get knocked off.

A single blunder bomb ends all chances of a re-grab on a ladder.

@vakrisone not since nerf can often take multiple now even getting hitmarkers everytime (not that I agree with op)

@d3adst1ck plus you have to wait for them too get to the top of the ladder.
I want to be able to more proactively remove them.
And cease the ladder drop, grab, drop, grab, until they get a timing that works for them.

Question for all those who ask for these changes to boarding.

Do you find boarding easy?
Do you attempt it, is this an overall balance change that you feel will improve the game?

Personally I don't find it that easy, shooting yourself accurately, timing the climb. I can do a bit of juking but certainly can't shoot from ladder etc (unless I do noscope)

I know some people board to the extreme but if they did change boarding, they would also need to change naval because currently bilging and repairing is too powerful. Good crews will not sink from naval pressure alone (esp on sloops which have ridiculous bilge you can bucket half the ocean out).
So this change in isolation would extend fights beyond reasonable time and be frustrating, I get this refers to the times when you get instaboarded which is also frustrating but honestly objectively guarding is easier than boarding. Saying change this would make fights boring for evenly matched crews

Rare admitted themselves on one of previous official podcasts that they are partly to blame for the spawncamp to sink meta because it is so difficult to sink someone without stopping them from repairing. And if you look at a lot of the recent changes this has been exacerbated, blunderbomb nerf, Cursed balls reduction, these were all methods of sinking with naval alone.

This change would be detrimental to a large portion of the community, for the sake of players that aren't very good at guarding (not trying to be insulting). It always feels like an 'I personally don't board so I reckon they should remove it' rather than 'it's so easy to board for everyone, this needs to be balanced' argument.

@vakrisone said in Hitting someone should knock them off your ladder. Entirely.:

A single blunder bomb ends all chances of a re-grab on a ladder.

That's not true, I've lost count of how many times I've spotted someone out of the corner of my eye (usually as they silent board.....) thrown my blunderbomb, seen the hit marker and looked away only to find they regrabbed. If you're knocked off then you should be knocked off fully, no regrab.

Agree with the post, big upvote from me, also silent boarding needs to go.