Encourage ship-to-ship combat

Make ship resources easier to get from the start of the game and after a sink (Cannonballs, planks at the very least)

You can buy them and sunk ships drop any resources they had.

I don't think it's a supply issue I think it's an issue of boarding being too easy. It's been suggested a ton of times but a raisable ladder instead of a fixed one may be the better way to encourage naval combat over boarding.

The ladder could work in such a way that you can shoot or hit a rope to lower it so there is the extra step required to just slightly give the advantage to naval engagements.

@lleorb said in Encourage ship-to-ship combat:

• Remove double gun
• Remove flying dash

With these two things the board would be less frequent, the dash makes it much easier to move quickly in the water in a jump from any direction of the ship, without needing the cannons to launch.

And double gun players are generally the ones who most desire direct combat instead of naval combat, and some only try this the entire match.

As much as I love to sword dash around large islands and stuff I have to agree, it does hinder PvP when people can just lunge from one ship to another without any repercussion, and I will always agree with removing double gunning but think dual wielding pistols (by removing the 2nd slot) is a good idea too.

@kakaroto9766 there are several tall tales that give near infinite supplies.

Anyone who's fought a ship down to the wire and kept pounding cannonballs knows that as long as you're shooting them in the right places, you're going to easily win the fight. A sloop is not invulnerable, just hardy. That's why people used boarding and then found "Oh, well, now I saved my cannonballs for later!"

I don't like it either, especially because of the wonky nature of pirate v pirate combat, as well as the time to kill being WAAAAY too quick for a game of this caliber. You know those moments where you feel like you're dead for more of the fight than alive and kicking? Yeaaah...

@lleorb Remove double gun
""Remove flying dash
With these two things the board would be less frequent, the dash makes it much easier to move quickly in the water in a jump from any direction of the ship, without needing the cannons to launch.

And double gun players are generally the ones who most desire direct combat instead of naval combat, and some only try this the entire match."

Agreed but double gunning will never change as long as rare caters to the streamers and yeah seen streamers do the flying dash also, it's a pirate game and sword should be mandatory the pvp has never been fixed in this game since day one and I don't ever see it getting fixed in the future

@lleorb said in Encourage ship-to-ship combat:

• Remove double gun
• Remove flying dash

With these two things the board would be less frequent, the dash makes it much easier to move quickly in the water in a jump from any direction of the ship, without needing the cannons to launch.

And double gun players are generally the ones who most desire direct combat instead of naval combat, and some only try this the entire match.

*Double gun is by far the most effective way to repel boarders against competent players.

*you should never be close enough during naval for sword surfing to be an issue. (Unless you're already demasted in which case you're already losing the naval)

I think the best way to encourage ship-to-ship is to simply increase the number of crewmembers who need to be aboard to keep the ship safe.

There is a fine balance here, and some would argue it has already been achieved. I think that there is still room to balance this using new mechanics that expand the teamwork element of the game.

Examples:

1. Mast raising on brig and galleon: make it require two people to raise a fallen mast if there are at least 2 or more players in that crew, but still allow 1 player to "catch" a falling mast but is unable to raise themselves. This would allow sloops trading blows with larger ships to actually inflict some lasting damage that takes enemies off of their cannons if they want to maintain their speed, and would punish them for sending boarders too soon. I would not have the 2 player mast requirement effect sloops simply because they only have one mast (even if it already takes two shots). The effect this would have is obvious, reward well placed cannonball shots by forcing players off their cannons, thereby allowing you to capitalize with even more cannonballs which you can now target to either side of the fallen mast because you know there has to be two players raising. It also would keep ships immobilized for longer, which would reduce the necessity to board and anchor. Forcing two players to raise will make it easier for boarders to board, but I would argue that isn't a huge deal given that the goal is to get players to stay on their own ships for more of the fight which means more total crew members on board who can defend ladders as well.

2. Holes & burn damage: I've suggested before having a kind of "brittleness" mechanic after sustained damage that permanently weakens the hull of the ship and makes any patched holes in that area continue to leak water even when patched. This brittleness will persist until that area of the ship stops receiving fire and cannonball damage for some time period. This forces ships to keep more people aboard as well to bail water when the action starts getting intense, and rewards players for sustained cannonball fire, not just boarding. One challenge here would be how to allow sloops to inflict brittleness on larger ships when they only have one cannon, and all I can think of is to have the source of the cannonball be taken into account in which shots from sloops can inflict a bit more toward this status effect versus shots from a brig or gally.

3. Change the Anchor: Maybe lowering the anchor is no longer just a matter of holding one button. Maybe there needs to be some kind of rope you cut / shoot through to release the anchor, unless you hit it with well placed cannon shots before hand. Captains of the ship can designate who has access to the anchor on their own crew, in which the functionality operates the same as current. But boarders don't get instant access to the anchor and can't silently drop it.

4. Add slowing cannonballs / make fire burn the sails and reduce their ability to catch wind: This would have the effect of reducing running / resetting the fight which tends to lead to people sending boarders.

When some TDM boarding specialist asks for a boarding axe Swiss cheese the idea is a good start.

Boarding should be the kill, not the entire strat.

@kakaroto9766
Rare's quote-on-quote "Reason" for removing curseballs from being so common (which wasn't true they weren't 'common') was that it could significantly diverge a fight's fairness when one team stocked up on curseballs.

That's the most stupid reason I've ever heard too, because whomever advised that is a serious wimp. IF someone is getting lots of supplies, they'll be supplied. If you don't supply, you won't be supplied. Curse cannonballs, as well as firebombs and blunderbombs were THE REASON to stay on cannons after getting some holes in your enemy. It's your naval end-game!

When's the last time you found a Ballastball and were able to remember to use it? -__-
Me: scratches head - "Honestly, since that change. I never did. Curseballs were so rare, I just kept shooting normal cannonballs, maybe the odd firebomb/blunderbomb depending. Just holding 5 curseballs, and their rarity made them so useless because missing was 'serious' mistakes now. So, just use the common and ubiquitous cannonball. Great. But, my end-game for naval is gone. Well, guess I need to board."

Boarding is easier for people who came from Tarkov, Fortnite, and Call of Duty... handing ship to ship combat requires a different skill set.

Best thing to do is understand how to repel boarders.

@kakaroto9766
Yes the "drop rate" for curseballs is many-times fewer. You're lucky to get 1 on your Outpost supplying.

You can still get curseballs from skeleton ships; but that's random too and rather annoying.