Genuinely curious about this, because to me, it seems like a pretty pointless act. As far as I can tell, the only benefit is having one additional shot, but... What are you going to accomplish with 11 shots that you can't do with 10?
With how often I launch myself over to enemy ships & resource-laden islands, a pre-loaded cannon is much more of a hassle to me than it's worth.
But maybe I'm missing something, so let's hear it: Why do you pre-load the cannons?
@lady-aijou Exactly this.
I'd rather have the extra cannonball and not need it, than need it and not have it.
@deliciouspack I agree with @Lady-Aijou and @Tundra-793
In fact I quietly go off at my crew when we're in need of cannon power but someone has failed to reload after use.
On galleons I'll tell them that I have left one cannon on each side of the vessel empty for firing themselves onto islands. It's usually either the foremost cannons (near the bow) or the rearmost cannons closest to the stern, but I do specify which.
Within the next two islands at least three of the four cannons are empty again, not to mention they've wasted the cannon balls because they are too lazy to empty their inventory first. This also means that they cannot gather supplies therefore they're not being team oriented players.
@deliciouspack said in Pre-loading the cannons...... Why?:
Genuinely curious about this, because to me, it seems like a pretty pointless act. As far as I can tell, the only benefit is having one additional shot, but... What are you going to accomplish with 11 shots that you can't do with 10?
With how often I launch myself over to enemy ships & resource-laden islands, a pre-loaded cannon is much more of a hassle to me than it's worth.
But maybe I'm missing something, so let's hear it: Why do you pre-load the cannons?
soo many times when i didnt have a preloaded shot by time i get the cannon loaded the ship i had a shot on is no longer in the right range or angle to hit them
also if 4 cannons are loaded and fast enough you could jump from 1 cannon to the next and get a bunch of shots off quick
@txpaladin said in Pre-loading the cannons...... Why?:
I always pre-load the Cannons, I find it better to have all ready to fire than have to try and load them. As long as you have the space, you should be able to unload a Cannon if you need to shoot over to something.
If you're doing that your pockets should be empty (except for maaaaaaybe a banana, two if you're terrible at the game) so you can liberate some supplies for your crew.
One of my pet hates....totally pointless.
To those that believe one extra cannonball makes a difference, sorry to say you're deluded.
Nothing more annoying than going to shoot yourself over to a ship to find the cannon pre loaded....those few seconds firing or unloading can mean the difference of being able to board successfully or not.
@tundra-793 i guess our play styles are different dude.
We always fire over to a ship first to see if they're worth looting or not. Fire over, wipe crew check to see if they got anything. If they're not carrying anything we leave their ship floating.
Having players capable of being one man wrecking crews kinda negates the need for cannon battles. Hell we've even wiped the crew before and sailed their ship to ourselves because we did want to turn our own vessel around.
Having to unload a cannon whilst at full billow can mean the difference of successfully boarding or not.....on my crew its a big no no.
Alright, I hear what you all are saying, but I'm not convinced that the extra shot or the extra second are entirely worth it. It seems more like insurance, or mistake mitigation, rather than an actual benefit. Situational, but certainly not a game-winning tactic.
The extra second is only useful if you get caught off-guard (which would be your fault to begin with). If you DO get caught off-guard, one single cannonball isn't going to be the difference between victory or defeat.
That being said, I suppose it couldn't hurt to keep 1 or 2 loaded... Just in case.
@cptbartroberts said in Pre-loading the cannons...... Why?:
Why? because it is better to be a soldier walking in a garden, then a gardener walking in a war.
Why that is an elegant way to put it
For me pre-loading cannons is a method of communication to random new crew members who join. It's a system of saying we're organised and prepared for anything.
If I join a random crew and the cannons are unloaded and pointing all over the place then I know they're a slack crew.
All things on a ship should be ship shape!
@deliciouspack
I do think it's a waste of cannon balls too.
Because most of the time we only use one cannon to shoot..
So the other cannonballs are just wasted there on unused cannons...
On my ship we are always awere of our surrounding so if we're going to fight we load our connon, if we won't we don't.
@cptbartroberts said in Pre-loading the cannons...... Why?:
Why? because it is better to be a soldier walking in a garden, then a gardener walking in a war.
You saved me a lot of words with this one. Precisely so. ^^
Personally I'll preload both sloop cannons and all but 2 galleon cannons (leaving one free either side for launching crew). Being able to get the first shot off quickly is definitely an advantage.
Take for example a scenario were my cannons are preload and an aggressor's aren't. While the aggressor takes that first 1 or 2 seconds to load his/her first shot I could land a shot that kills him/her outright. Now I can reload and begin sinking them without taking fire or taking less fire.
Also as stated if I have 11 shots to your 10 before needing to restock it's another advantage in my favour (more if counting on a single preloaded Galleon broadside).
The more advantages I can stack in my favour the greater the chance of a positive outcome for me & mine.
@danqrl said in Pre-loading the cannons...... Why?:
@deliciouspack storage, means I can have 308 cannon balls on my galleon and as previously mentioned it helps you get those first shots off quickly when needed.
You mean 348...
If you have 4 players...
Seems like people here are slightly missing the point of the discussion. When we talk about preload or not, it is about which is more important bitween firing cannons and boarding oppent ship. One extra shot and one sec earlier boarding can BOTH make a difference. The thing is, which one would make more difference?
I'm a pirate legend, I do pvp main and I think boarding is more important. So no, I don't like preloading cannons. When we prepare to engage, people tend to grab 10 cannonballs from the keg in a hustle, just tapping F quick without counting numbers, usually do not have a moment to think about leaving a space to unload a cannon in case they need to shoot themselves. When you find out that all the cannons are already loaded and you are holding 10 cannonballs, it's just too late to catch the brief window to board enemy ship. Of course you can just quickly empty the cannon by firing the loaded cannon, but in this case there is no point of preploading the gun.
Meh. I don't think it makes a big enough difference either way. It is very much a crew to crew issue.
I play solo mainly and my playstyle doesn't involve much boarding so it makes more sense to me to have them preloaded for a constant ready to defend stance. Even then I admit to it very rarely being necessary. The extra shot is nice but I for the most part have always had time after spotting an incoming hostile to load my cannons if they weren't already. People ain't exactly ninjas out there.
If you are an active pvp crew with a need for boarding(as well as the cannons to spare) then not preloading makes perfect sense.
@deliciouspack Because it’s good to be ready for a fight. If I need to launch myself, I can simply unload the cannon. But, loading them takes time and, in a fight, every second counts. I guess it comes down to what you find most important in a fight, firing a cannonball or launching yourself.
On a Galleon, it makes sense to leave one per side unloaded for launching. As a solo sloop, I’m not launching myself at ships often, so, keeping them loaded with cannonballs makes more sense for me.
@sarc76 They sure are, but I gotta say; It's a bit rude to call people who pre-load deluded. Different playstyles dictate different tactics.
As good as your crew is with your swords, my crew is with our guns. We rarely actively do PvP, so when we have to fight other ships it's usually a matter of self defense rather than loot hunting, and our guns is the key tool we use, and every little bit helps up to and including those extra rapid shots we can dish out at a seconds notice.
If a crew we're fighting hasn't pre-loaded, that means we can kill, or incapacitate almost half the crew in our first volley before they've even loaded their first cannon.
@tundra-793 didnt mean to offend mate, my point being 9 outta 10 times whilst firing cannons they never get adjusted, meaning all your doing is hitting the same spot/preventing someone from repairing one particular hole. Theres easier ways to sink ships.....one cannonball isn't gonna make no difference imo.....and thats exactly that my opinion.
Dont mean to come off rude dude 😉
@sarc76 Fair enough dude.
My crew doesn't aim for the ship, we aim for the players. The goal is using that first volley to kill, injure or just plain blow other players right off their boat. That's where the difference is made.
Once the initial volley is over, we can always send a guy or two over to finish the job if we want, but like I said earlier, we don't aim for PvP. But pre-loading gives us an edge, and more options in battle, should we need them.
In my experience, 1 one of everything can make a difference in Sea of Thieves. 1 cannonball, 1 banana, 1 bullet, 1 plank etc. Everything really can be what stands between winning, or sinking.
