I have come up with a list, basically it's a protocol list for what to do in every eventuality in Sea Of Thieves. I'm not infallible and have made many mistakes in the game but I know how to learn from my mistakes and I want to help you play well.
Most of the time, losing loot, being killed and sunk can be averted with thinking a few steps ahead but it takes a good crew to be coordinated and good chemistry for everyone to be in agreement with each other as to how best to play if succeeding and winning is what you would like from your play session.
For now I'll talk about running a galleon with a 4 man crew.
These techniques and strategies for a galley can be applied to sloops but they do differ in aspects which I will go into at a later stage.
Crew of a galleon.
Firstly, make sure you have everyone in set roles on the ship and make sure everyone is happy and satisfied with sticking with their jobs for the duration of the session as switching roles mid session often results in confusion in the heat of the moment and consequently confusion leads to disarray and this is when a well coordinated crew can get the jump on you.
The crows nest look out should keep a constant look out and be the ships sniper as well as the guy who jumps off the crows nest with gunpowder barrels to let them float and explode on the keel of stationary rival ships-the position of crows nest falls redundant when engaging with rivals at close range.
The person in crows nest should never leave their position unless the ship is engaging with another ship. Their first priority should be to inform the rest of the crew whats out there on the horizon or drawing close especially at outposts, skelly forts, islands and shipwrecks.
The helmsman is responsible for steering and strategically positioning the ship, he or she should always be issuing requests to the crew in relation to the sails, the anchor and when time calls for it, the cannons. The person on the helm should also be alerting the crew in advance of a high probability of being boarded.
The person in this position should also be taking care of the rear sail unless coming in to land and precise docking. Helmsman should call for damage control and to the first deckhand to provide information on what's off the bow of the ship when the sails obstruct his view to avoid running aground and / or wrecking. Information about nearing objects and islands should be relayed to the helmsman well in advance to give time to reposition the ship from approaching danger. The galleon is not nimble.
Deckhands are responsible for raising, dropping and angling the sails and dropping and raising the anchor- they also double up as gunners and if need be, damage control.
When the ship is stationary, deckhands should be the ones that
go onto islands to complete voyages and into shipwrecks etc. They are also responsible for taking care of stocking resources, loading and off loading cargo and livestock.
The first deckhand is also the helmsman's second set of eyes at the bow of the ship. The deckhands also dispatch enemies attempting to board by climbing the ladders.
Navigator and primary damage control. (Second deckhand)
Without a navigator you can't chart a course and one of the deckhands has to read the map or block up holes and bail out water, he has to be quick and effective at doing so, so he can join the first deckhand with operating the sails / cannons and/or defending against boarders. The navigator is primary damage control when taking fire from a rival, without him doing his job fast and well, all is lost. A good damage controller is the difference between success and failure in naval conflict, If you sink then it's because damage control is either spending too much time on cannons, too slow and / or overwhelmed-meaning the first deckhand should be called down to assist when the water rises too far in the bilge (half way on bottom level)
If the bilge fills completely, all hands should be on damage control other than the helmsman who should be positioning the ship for a retreat or if possible, a safe counter attack.
This is how my most successful crews have functioned in a session.
Next, I'll go into skelly forts and the art of sabotage as a galleon crew.
