@standardboot548 said in Tips for avoiding/escaping PvP?:
Relatively new player here (3 weeks).
Welcome to the Sea of Thieves! You'll find many of us willing to help newer players who ask. You've already received some good advice from others, but let me add my own thoughts.
Long story short, we're a 2-player sloop crew who completely suck at PvP. Not just in SoT, any FPS style PvP game. Learning curve aside, we're simply no match for the speed and dexterity of the folks we've come up against over the last few weeks of playing.
This sounds a lot like myself and my three-woman brigantine crew. We all suck at PvP. There's no way we could compete with younger PvP aces. But we've learned to mitigate our weaknesses and play to our strengths. We rarely lose a battle. I'll try to explain how in my answers to your questions.
- Are there any common ways to signal that you're not looking for a fight (certain flags, sails, emotes, etc?)
This is a bit of a tricky one. There's no universal signal that works all the time. If a pirate crew is out to get you, nothing you do will deter them. But sometimes crews are willing to be friendly as long you're not perceived as a threat. In those cases, there are a few things you can try.
If there's one universal signal of friendliness, it would be playing music. Standing on the canopy of your sloop playing a jaunty tune on your instrument is about as clear a sign of friendliness as you can send. It doesn't mean they won't blast you anyway, of course. But at least you tried. Sometimes it works. Usually if I'm approaching a ship and I see someone playing music, I'll leave them be. But beware. I've also seen someone playing music while his buddy is swimming towards us with a keg. Never trust a pirate.
- I get that quickly turning in voyage rewards at outposts minimizes your risk of losing too much loot. Are there any other things that a player can do to avoid/escape from PvP encounters - either ships or boarding players?
Yes! The number one most important thing in the whole game is to be aware of your surroundings. You should get used to keeping your head on a swivel. In my crew, we always have an assigned lookout in the crow's nest when we're at sea. We know the location of every ship in visible range. If there's a ship close enough to be a threat, we watch it like a hawk. After a while, you get a knack for predicting the behavior of crews. We've seen all the tricks and we're always a step ahead. I'll give you a recent example.
We were on a Grade V Order of Souls emissary quest on Wanderer's Refuge. We'd seen a couple ships about, but nothing close enough to consider an immediate threat. Nevertheless, we kept a sharp lookout as we always do. We finished up our quest and were scrounging about for supplies, when suddenly I noticed a mermaid not far off shore. Mermaid! Drop sail! I jumped into the water with a pistol and an eye of reach...but forgot to reload so I only had a few shots. Sure enough, there was a pirate swimming for our ship. We got in a brief gunfight while my crew sailed safely away. I died but the ship was safe.
As we sailed away, a skellie ship popped up on us (naturally). We sank it as quickly as possible and started collecting the loot, when I spotted a rowboat making its way for us. Again I jumped into the water (this time with a loaded gun). By then the guy had jumped off the rowboat with a keg and was making for the ship. I blew him to smithereens. I had to give him points for sheer tenacity.
Stuff like that happens all the time. You just have to be super alert and always have a plan. Position your vessel for a quick getaway. Raise the anchor and have the sails trimmed. Don't keep gunpowder kegs on your ship unless you have a plan for using them. 99% of the time they're a liability. I have a crewmate who loves blowing things up. We call her Boom Boom Rita. But I can't tell you all the times having kegs has backfired (badly). Most of the time you don't want kegs anywhere near your ship.
If you're stopped at an island, avoiding boarders is all about observation. During a naval battle, it's a little different. You must expect people to try to board. Sometimes you'll see a mermaid, but not always. If you're alert you'll usually see them coming and have time to react. If you can, simply steer away from them so they can't reach a ladder. It takes some practice, but you can learn to maneuver in a way that makes it more difficult for boarders to reach you. If they do grab your latter, the blunderbuss is your best bet for repelling them. Don't let them bait you into firing too soon. Wait until the last moment and hit them point blank. It's tricky but you can do it.
The only way to improve your combat skills is to practice them. But in the meantime, you might prefer pure evasion. This is possible in most circumstances, as long as you've been paying attention and don't get caught flat-footed. If they get you in a bad position and board your ship, it's pretty much over. Hopefully you'll have taken my advice to heart and will see them coming long before they arrive. In that case, you have lots of options.
If you see a ship approaching an island you're stopped at, you might be able to use the island to your advantage, especially if it's a larger island. If they start to go clockwise, you can also go clockwise to get around the island before they reach you. Then sail away in an unexpected direction. Which way you sail depends upon the type of ship chasing you. This all assumes you're sailing a sloop.
If the attacking ship is another sloop, as soon as you have a healthy lead you'll want to sail with the wind behind you, full in your sails. This will give you the greatest lead possible before they're able to match your course. If you are running out of world (heading for the red sea of the Devil's Shroud) obviously you'll have to adjust your course.
If the attacking ship is a galleon, you'll want exactly the opposite. You'll want to sail directly into the wind with your sails squared. It may sound counter-intuitive, but the sloop is by far the fastest vessel in this situation. If you have a healthy lead to begin with, the galleon will not catch you and will likely give up. There's nothing more soul-draining than sailing a galleon straight into the wind. It's like watching paint dry.
If the attacking ship is a brigantine...things are a bit harder. The brigantine is fast and almost as maneuverable as a sloop. Chances are you'll want to sail into the wind (as with a galleon) but if the brigantine crew knows what they're doing, they'll be able to come close to matching your speed. If the brig can catch any wind at all, chances are they'll catch you eventually. This is where a few tricky maneuvers might make all the difference.
Most crews are fairly predictable. If you sail behind a large island or rock formation and see the other ship sailing around the other side, you can try a quick course reversal. This can take the form of an anchor turn or a harpoon turn (I'll explain below). While they go around the other side expecting to intercept you, you'll be sailing off on a perpendicular course on the other side of the island. If you plan it right, hopefully you'll have the wind to your best advantage.
To execute an anchor turn, it's best to be going flat-out as fast as you can. Crank the wheel all the way to starboard or to port and drop anchor. The moment you stop, immediately raise anchor (best to get all members of your crew to help). In moments you'll be sailing off in exactly the opposite direction.
A harpoon turn is self-explanatory but requires something to harpoon, either an object (like a rock) or shallow water. It also takes a fair bit of practice to get it right. I suggest practicing this technique a lot so you can use it when you need it. A well-executed harpoon turn is faster than an anchor turn since you never completely stop moving.
Let's say you've been successful and gained a bit of distance from your pursuer. Now what? If you're hauling loot, you'll be wanting to get rid of that as fast (and stealthily) as possible.
If you have a rowboat, you could try a little diversionary ploy. Load all your loot into the rowboat. As you execute a maneuver where you're temporarily out of sight, drop the rowboat (with you in it) and quickly row it out of sight. It takes a little planning because you don't want to be spotted or it's all over. If you're successful, however, all you have to do is row your loot to the nearest outpost while your partner leads your pursuers on a merry goose chase. This has its dangers, but if you pull it off it's very satisfying. The key is to make sure they don't figure out what you're up to, so you can't be obvious about it.
Another tactic that's been mentioned earlier in this thread is to do a few 'drive-bys' of outposts, jumping off to sell your best stuff one at a time. This requires a healthy distance, as they'll know exactly what you're doing and try to stop you. Don't try to circle an outpost and do this repeatedly because they're sure to catch you this way.
If you have a decent lead and just want to sell as much as possible, just crash into the outpost and sell like crazy. They'll catch you, of course, but you might get some of your stuff sold. I find this the least satisfying result, though, and they always show up sooner than you think. Last resort.
While you're running, there are more things you can try to get your pursuer off your back. If you have any kegs (shame on you for not heeding my warning), you can try ye ole keg play. It's not as easy as people think, though. To really accomplish anything, you need to board their ship with the keg. You can place it in their path and it might slow them down a bit, but probably not much. No, you need to get on the ship. Line yourself up to catch the ladder. This takes practice. Just before you catch the ladder, light the fuse. This way even if they somehow stop you...that keg will go off. You can stop the fuse once you're on the deck and make a run below decks. The best kegging kills one or more of the crew. The idea is to blow the keg below decks while staying alive so you can harass the crew as they try to repair the holes.
If you don't have any kegs (there's a good pirate), you can still try to board and drop the anchor. If you're successful this can improve your lead by quite a bit. If you're able to harass the crew for a while, all the better.
Both the keg and anchor plays are a bit tricky to pull off. But here's the thing. There's absolutely zero reason not to try them. You've got nothing to lose. If you get killed (and you will) you'll get a brief tour of the Ferry of the Damned before returning safely to your ship. Zero risk, all reward. Give it a try.
- Is running away without engaging more likely to get you chased down than shooting first then running?
It depends on the nature of the crew. I've found some crews are hoping for an easy fight, and when they realize you're actually a threat...they run. You'd be surprised how often this happens. Sometimes they just aren't as good as they think and sink like a rock with little effort. I find that a lot of players who may be good at PvP from playing other games actually suck at naval combat. Sea of Thieves isn't like other PvP games. There's a learning curve. If you can master naval combat, you might find it more than compensates for your less impressive PvP skills. The key is to prevent your ship from being boarded while you land waterline shots on their ship. Sinking the other ship is critical and should be your main focus. Once their ship is down, they've lost their spawn point. You can pick off the stragglers at your leisure, or ignore them and sail away. Either way...victory!
Don't get me wrong, we're having an absolute blast with the game, and the constant threat of PvP adds a very real feeling of fear and excitement.
Absolutely! I can't tell you how refreshing it is to hear a newer player fully appreciate this. I hope you find some useful tidbits here that help you enjoy Sea of Thieves to its fullest. Best of luck!
