Is there any way to get good at this game?

It's no fun to get beat up over and over again and have our loot stolen over and over again.

In every video game out there. These words to an extent have been said so many times. It not just SoT.
Some games you learn quick, some you dont. Not everything is easy or simple.

And as some might also point out, HitReg is also at fault.

Maybe the game should have some sort of way to practice built in? Arena isn't cutting it. We die so fast in arena that we don't get any practice.

Then you be wrong. Somewhat. Practice means to fail. How many times is up to you.

We are at a loss on how we are supposed to enjoy this game.

I thought the same way when I used to play Minecraft, and having players or simply Mobs (Creepers) destroy my farm, house or stuff. But..I always came back to play it again simple for the fact: I liked the game and enjoyed it none the less.

You should just make sure you are all full with cooked meat the extra health bar is really a big help. You can also see if you can get on the same server with two different ships that way you can practice your PvP skills on each other without stress. You can do this by either setting sail in two separate sloop at the exact same time or asking another crew for their boat if there about to sign off. PC players still have a response advantage so stick with Xbox players only in the settings. Hopefully this helps you two.

@dadguy005

There is no way to 'git gud' in a month. Take your lumps and watch what others do in combat or commit to being pve focused and get really good at sailing and the murder hobos won't be able to catch you.

And it makes them sooooo mad lol.

It takes time and some people have been playing for years at this point.

Have you tried going Discord and looking for an alliance server. They are servers with almost no PvP and every one makes ridiculous money. I'm sure they would welcome a father and son team.

Good idea person above me (I'd link your name but apparently it's a profanity), but there is a simpler way (less searching). They just need to find a semi competent player to teach them and to play in a Brigantine.

The Brigantine is much more fun than a sloop, as it's quick and packs a punch, plus most players avoid it as it's the preffered ship for hard-core PvPers.

It’s only been a month, takes a lot longer than that to get good at a multiplayer game. You’ll get better w time, you’re facing ppl who’ve been playing the game since day one

Have a dedicated "PvP Day" with your son; take no treasure (so nothing to lose or stress about losing) and actively chase/engage others. It is the only way to get better at it.
I am closing in on my first year (400+ hours of play later) of the game and I still consider myself average when it comes to PvP.

It is not my main thing but, it is something I have gotten better at as I went along. You will die, you will lose stuff, you can ALWAYS get more stuff :)

The only way to get good in Sot is by getting sunk a lot of times to see your own mistakes.

Sometimes a crew or even a skilled single sailor will destroy you just because they are really good playing PvP (I faced today a brig with 1 guy with 5900 hours and he literally destroyed me even with his crew on the ferry)

It takes a ton of hours to improve, the skill wall you face when you are beginner is horrible but there is not another way, if you want to survive you have to fight and learn, even If that makes you loose all your effort and loot comming from hours of grinding, escaping may be a option, but is not the way to learn.

Try to engage combat with other players and correct mistakes, you will improve with the time.

Or, you can join alliance servers and just have a funny time with your son doing pve without getting disturbed by other people, you can choose.

Now first something about the game in general. SoT is one of the few games that can really make you feel things... hard. The constant threat of loosing everything, loot, supplies and ship will make the loot (and the ship) so much more valuable. If you loose a lot of loot it can really sting, likewise winning/escaping and turning in a huge hoard of loot can feel extremely good. There is a saying in SoT, that goes something like "Half of the value of your loot is the risk of loosing it". Not many games can affect your feelings like SoT nowadays... and i think this is one of the reasons many of us play it.

I am an older player (40+) and my reactions are not as good as they used to be, and my crew is about the same age, so we are naturally not super good at PvP. However we are very very organized, and have specialized in ship to ship combat. We can usually sink the other ship, and then pick off the players in the sea after the battle. We also have some general rules when we play. One example is, we never curse or use verbal assaults on other players (if we need to went, we do that on discord among our friends, but never in game to others), another one is that one player ALWAYS stay on the ship if we have missions that require off ship activity. This lookout also makes sure the sails and anchor are up, and the cannons aimed at possible incoming threats. We also have dedicated roles on the ship, i for example usually stay by the wheel, and try to keep an eye on the ships surroundings (on a galleon you have excellent view high up on the deck (at the wheel). Others handle cannons, and some are dedicated bucketeers/repairmen. I believe this is common practice among many other crews.
It takes a lot of practice for a crew to get good at communicating, and for the crew to learn what commands are important, when everyone abandons everything they are doing and all start bucketing and similar things. In time many of the tasks during extreme battle are automatic, and everyone knows what to do and in what order.

Im writing a book here, but what im trying to say is, get together a proper crew, and train with that crew and suddenly you realize that you are not worried anymore, you start trusting in yourselves and everything becomes more fun. Also you dont need to be good at PvP, you can specialize in other things to protect yourselves.

Also dont be afraid of expanding your crew with some new friends. We are a bunch of old Finns, and one day we needed a new guy to fill out our crew, and we found a young guy from England on DISCORD. We now have to use a different language, and had to adjust our playing time a little, but he is now a big part of our crew. So maybe this could be something you could do, perhaps get someone good at PvP to teach you, or to be your new boarder? Dont be afraid to try out new players in your crew. Not everyone will fit your style and personality, but when you find him/her, you will know it. So give it a try, you might find a new long time online friend to play other games with as well.

I know i didnt give many actual tips here. This post is more like some general ideas based on my own experience on the seas. I hope you can get at least something out of this post. Also there are some really good advice by other long time players in this post.

Ghostfire