Powder Kegs

  • Making this post because I am curious as to what other pirates feelings are regarding Gunpowder Barrels. Do you guys collect them and keep them on your ship or not? Why? If yes, where on your ship do you keep them?

    Personally, my crew feels powder kegs are bad luck and will only pick up a stronghold keg if we are going directly to an outpost. But if like to hear other people’s thoughts.

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  • If I have a powder keg the understanding is it's being used asap. Before the masts breaking and fire I use to have 30 plus In the crowsnest every night

  • Unless there is immediate need, they are destroyed on sight. That includes Mega Kegs from forts.

  • For me and my crew powder kegs are the bread and butter... We usually stop on a few islands or Fort to collect them. Always have few of them on the ship. During normal navigation we store them on top of the nest. In case storm we do move them under to be protected. They are useful for many reason, pvp defense/attack, quick Meg, quick skelly ships, golden skeleton horde...
    You need to take care about kegs, move them when they can be used against you. Of course me and me crew got destroyed because our own kegs but I do see more good use then bad use of kegs.

  • By keeping gunpowder kegs on board, you give other pirates an easy way to sink your ship if they board you.....why would you do that????

    Also, in ship-to-ship battles, one of the first things my crew is going to do is spyglass your crow's nest to see if there are kegs to snipe....

    Or, one well-placed firebomb lights your mast on fire and.......BOOM......down it goes!

    Gunpowder barrels are strictly forbidden on our ship!

  • @muchturnip49319
    So I can see the utility in powder kegs in certain situations, but I would ask you to consider that placing them in the Crow’s nest is absolutely the worst place for them. It’s a relatively easy shot to make and your ship is now crippled and burning. If you’re going to keep them with you I’d recommend below deck and away from the hull.

  • @poslio I agree wholeheartedly, however I have seen powder kegs used to great effect to incapacitate pursuers.

  • I mostly ignored them up until the Mermaid Statues were introduced. Then I made a beeline for the nearest fort and kept 6+ on me at all times. 5 to shatter a surfaced red mermaid statue, 1 for just in case lol. Once I had the commendation for red mermaids and gems started randomly spawning I would collect the kegs and sell any I didn't use at the end of the session. All in the crow's nest. Then they introduced mast damage and I quit carrying them outside of voyage requests. Still put them in my crow's nest though.

  • @bendertheblack

    Back in the day, gunpowder was a feared meta that was often used with devastating effect....

    It can still be used against inexperienced crews with a similar result.....

    However, the odds of sinking a veteran ship with a powder keg nowadays are slim....

    If you somehow get up our ladder with a keg, my crew will immediately split up to minimize casualties, and make sure you die in the explosion...repairs will be made quickly and the chase will continue....

    A more likely scenario is that your kegs are sniped in your crow's nest before you have a chance to use them, dropping your mast. At that point you can expect a boarding party.....and if I see you raising the mast , I know exactly where to aim my cannon shots.....

    I'm not saying kegs can never be useful, I'm just saying that risk vs. reward does NOT favor you keeping them aboard your ship, especially against a crew that knows what they're doing......

    And regarding the idea of keeping kegs anywhere but the crow's nest......DON'T DO IT!

    My cannons will find that keg, trust me!

    I can say, as a cannoneer, there are few things more satisfying in the game than playing tag with gunpowder someone thought they hid below deck.....

    Ultimately it's up to you, obviously .....but I think in general the experienced players are gonna give you similar advice....

  • @poslio
    There are places, depending on ship type that are immune to cannon fire for kegs. For example, mid deck, behind the stairs on the galleon. Also, while a keg going off on your ship will only sink the most inept crews, they can most certainly slow you down. But at the end of the day, you’re preaching to the choir. I think they’re more trouble than their worth.

  • Before Masts can break and before fire was added we had them all the time as they are usefull for PvP and some PvE.
    Since the additions of breakable Masts and Fire they are dangerous to keep.

    If i keep one i have it in the crows nest, knowing it can be used against me and shot or lit and dropped.

    But it's still usefull against people chasing you.
    If i'm beeing chased i try to get some time to get one at a fort and then immediatley try to board my chasers with it. Let it explode and dont die myself to fight and sink them.
    Sometimes this works, sometimes not.

    For golden Skeletons you can use firebombs. For some bosses it's an easy instakill with 5 of them. Same for red Mermaid Gems if you are solo.

    The Skeleton ships are easier nowadays, kegs can be used, bit not really neccessary if you constantly shoot cannonballs.

  • @bendertheblack

    To be honest man, I don't know if that is accurate or not.....you may have just been lucky up until now....

    Have you tested that theory?

    If not, I'm sure there are others in the community that have....(lots of mad scientist pirates around here lol)

    I'd be interested to hear those results.....

    One thing I DO know.......there is no place safe from fire, and I'd rather have kegs detonated in the crow's nest than under my feet!

  • I turned up at the fort of the damned last night, and a galleon had put a stronghold gunpowder in their crows nest, with the others lying on deck before being carried up. A single fire bomb to the mast ignited the one at the top, with the chain reaction exploding the ones on deck, and they sank instantly.

    Glorious.

  • Always have a couple o kegs on us.

    Generally speaking they're always in the crows nest. Or on a sloop I sometimes keep one behind the map table ready to take out pursuers. If that does get set off it limits the fire and damage to a manageable area at least and doesn't pose an immediate sinking threat.

    If we're going into Skelly Ship battles or the Devils Roar, then they're left at home. More often than not they get set off before we get to use them, and where's the fun in that?

    Happily sail around with a mega keg too. If you're unlucky to have it set off up in the nest you can survive it if you're organised.

    Just gotta accept they are high risk and high reward!

  • In the olden days kegs were OP

    • Mast didn't get damage so kegs were safe up there.
    • While underwater they didn't damage the player so you could keg the front of a ship and climb on board all in one go without being hurt.

    Then the damage was changed, you could get damaged while in the water with a keg, this changed tactics a bit. You had to climb on board, drop the keg and get out of range.

    Then the damage models increased, now you can put them in the mast but one shot might disable the whole mast, megakeg is even wose because it had enough range to hit your ship even while in the mast.
    On top of that the keg on a top deck would scarecely damage the lower deck of a galleon making it harder to sink it by just boarding and dropping it there.

    So here's where I stand with kegs.

    • Start of the session we collect a few at a fort, put them in the crows nest.
    • If we meet a ship we want to sink we sail past, one person drops with a keg into the water and swims to the target ship and he kegs it. Often people are so busy with stuff on the island they sink before they can react (this is why you post a scout at all times)
    • If people detonate the barrels the mast drops, it's a shame but it's not much of a hassle.
    • If someone boards us and threatens to reach the kegs we snipe the kegs ourselves.
    • Avoid storms at all costs

    Some rules on kegs:

    1. Never keep them on the ship, neither on deck or below deck.
    2. If you're going to drop from the crows nest to board drop directly into the water, don't stop on deck or wait there with the keg untill you're close, one sniper shot will cause too much damage.
    3. Avoid storms!
  • @poslio
    Yeah, I’ve tested this. Too far away from the hull to be detonated from cannon fire from the sides and the capstan shields it from above. Sure fire is a risk, but unless you get boarded or you get sloppy, it’s hard for it to reach mid deck

  • We hoard them on our ship. My regular shipmate and I are not comfortable unless we have at least 2 or 3 boom barrels on the ship. First thing we do when logging in is sail to the nearest fort to stock up on them.

    More times than not, they are our own demise but when we are able to pull off funny/crafty plays using them as mines or sneaking them on other peoples ships it makes the hassle and chaos of them worth it to us.

    We play primarily for the laughs though vs efficient farming I think our highest rep is 35 with one of the factions.

  • @BenderTheBlack
    The way I look at powder kegs is the same way I look at merchant cargo, cuz that's what it is. I keep it on board to fullfill an obligation... It's all a risk the longer it's on your ship of being damaged or setting you back. So unless there's a plan to use it, it gets dropped off immediately.

    Even on forts, part of my strategy is to account for every powder keg spawn, I plan on using every one of them, on the boss. When It's all over, I move the stronghold keg, nuke the vault. And carry on with loading the loot. It's always the last thing that gets put on board if we decide to take it, and the first thing off the ship.

    Then there's enemy ships. When one gets close to cannon range, the first thing I do is scope down on their crows nest and their bow spirit. If there are kegs in it, the mast is down and a potential fight is pretty much over before it started.

    Too much of a disadvantage IMO.

  • @bendertheblack lol we used to... but then mast damage and fire were added and well... there was now actual risk in keeping them around.

    If you grab one or a few, use them ASAP. We only get one for emergencies and keep it near the helm so capn can drop it in a hurry if things get hairy.

    Otherwise... if you're going out for blood and straight combat, and see other ships around, grab a few and use them asap

  • @bendertheblack last night me and a rando sunk a ship at a seapost cause they left one of their kegs in the water ( they were stuck ant they tried to kamakazie). i just killed the guy with my flintlock and bombed the hull. easy peasy

  • I only get powder kegs when a friend of mine is not on the crew. He often does some nonsense and explodes our ship ...

  • Ahoy there!

    When solo Slooping ( 90% of the time for me ), I dart for the nearest inactive Fort to loot all of the Gunpowder Barrels on that Fort. They can level the playing field and there are certain spots that you can goad other ships into sailing through and drop the kegs in the water as sea mines for them to deal with.

    If they are not used for that, then Ruby Mermaids. Five kegs will instantly destroy a Ruby Mermaid for a 2,000 gold payout ( ~1,400 gold profit, considering value of kegs ).

    If not that, then for ambushes at turn-in points on Outposts.

    If not, extra gold!

  • I only pick up stronghold kegs legend kegs and occasionally if I harpoon a reg keg, I’ll hold onto it just to avoid running it over.

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