I was thinking about things that could maybe make the game more fluid and fun by shaking up the gameplay, these could be introduced in a "Tactician/Utilities" update. Some of the things that came to mind were a Zipline Harpoon gun, a Parachute, an Air Barrel, Carrying Pouch, High Quality Boots, and a Wheelbarrow. To accompany these things, there could be a seperate "utility" inventory slot feature where you can hold one type of utility item, so you have to choose based on what you think you would need for your current plans or a backup plan. These utility items would either be on cooldowns, constant effect, multiple use, or one time use; it depends on what Rare and players think works best.
*The Zipline Harpoon gun would allow you to get down from higher locations or travel across areas horizontally or slightly upward, depending on the angle of the zipline. If it was horizontal or slightly upward then you would have to "shimmy" across/up the rope slower, as opposed to sliding down a more descending angle at a faster rate.
*Parachutes would be a more vertical version of the Zipline and you can use them much faster since you can essentially just jump or fall off of anywhere and activate it mid-air. This is the opposite of having to be more tactical and precise by pulling out the Zipline Harpoon while standing on solid ground, lining up a angle, then attaching to it to get to the target area. Parachutes could also be used by launching yourself from a cannon and using the parachute to either get more distance or drop down on top of unsuspecting players. It would require more situational awareness than before while adventuring.
*Air Barrels would allow you double the amount of oxygen, giving you more time to find what you are looking for underwater, sneak up on someone, or even escape. Maybe a feature of it could be that you can release air from it to go faster, but it would drain from the total capacity fairly quickly. Air barrels would be somewhat small and essentially a backpack.
*A Carrying Pouch would increase the total amount of items you can hold by ~50%(was thinking double at first). This means you could carry 15 cannon balls, 7 food, 7 planks, etc.
*High Quality Boots would give you ~25% faster walking when carrying items and ~15% faster sprint when not carrying anything. This would indirectly buff swords because you can close the gap a little faster.
*The Wheelbarrow is essentially a mix of the rowboat and the empty chests you can put 3 small items in. You can load all the chests and items into the wheelbarrow at once(just like a rowboat) while on land. This would make traveling across islands much better, especially the bigger islands. I think it would have the biggest impact on smaller crews because they have less people to help move loot. You can even load it onto your ship and use it on other islands as long as it's empty before trying to pick the wheelbarrow up from the side and carrying it like a chest.
In the end, I'm not entirely sure how much these ideas would impact various areas of the game and some of them may be hit or miss for veteran players. I just think the gameplay would be more varied and fun with more possibilities for different situations.
