Here are a few ideas I had to improve the end-game experience for Pirate Legends.
Make PL Commendations Repeatable And Give Them Rewards
To start, I suggest making the upcoming Pirate Legend commendations that are going to be added to the game repeatable. Instead of completing them one time and being done forever, these commendations would reset every month. This makes it so Pirate Legends ALWAYS have something to do. In addition to giving Athena rep, these commendations could unlock unique titles and sails to use the following month. If you want to keep these titles and sails, you must continue to complete the appropriate PL commendations each month (these titles/sails cannot be purchased), otherwise you will lose access to them. However, you will always be able to re-earn them!
Here are some example PL commendations and their requirements/rewards:
- Legendary Fort Breaker - Complete 10 Skeleton Forts (unlocks “Legendary Fort Breaker” title and sails)
- Legendary Cursed Crew Hunter - Sink 40 Skeleton ships (unlocks “Legendary Cursed Crew Hunter” title and sails)
- Legendary Scourge of the Seas - Sink 10 unique player ships (unlocks “Legendary Scourge of the Seas” title and sails)
- Legendary Fleet Captain - Turn in 100k while in an alliance (unlocks “Legendary Fleet Captain” title and sails)
- Legendary Monster Hunter - Complete 20 Monster Hunt voyages (these are detailed below, unlocks “Legendary Monster Hunter” title and sails)
- Legendary Adventurer - Complete 10 Athena’s voyages (unlocks “Legendary Adventurer” title and sails)
How it works:
- November: I complete the "Fort Breaker" commendation.
- December: I am given access to the "Fort Breaker" title and sails for the entire month. I don't take down any forts this month, though. Instead, I sink skeleton ships and complete the "Cursed Crew Hunter" commendation.
- January: I lose access to the "Fort Breaker" rewards, but gain access to the "Cursed Crew Hunter" rewards.
So, what kind of Pirate Legend are you?
Are you a friendly Legend that crews up and shares wealth with other pirates? Show your friendly nature with the "Legendary Fleet Captain" sails and title!
Are you a Legend to be feared, and relentlessly chase down and sink other players? Show your ruthlessness with the "Legendary Scourge of the Seas" sails and title!
Are you a hunting Legend, and look to take on the biggest and fiercest beasts on the Sea of Thieves? Show your hunting prowess with the "Legendary Monster Hunter" sails and title!
Add New Legendary Voyage Types ("Monster Hunts")
Pirate Legends need more voyage variety and something to do when they don’t have 2+ hours. I suggest adding a new voyage type that has you hunting extra hard versions of the Meg and Kraken, called “Legendary Monster Hunts”. The way this could work is you receive a map with a red X marked somewhere in a wide open area of the sea. You sail to the location and play Merrick’s Shanty to summon the “monster”. Sloops will always get the Meg, while Brigs and Galleons can get the Meg or Kraken. These voyages might take about a third of the time of a standard Legendary Voyage, but they would also award only a third of the rep. Just come prepared with plenty of supplies!
Sample voyage text:
Find and defeat Red Maw on this Legendary Monster Hunt.
Find and defeat The Hungering One on this Legendary Monster Hunt.
Let High Level Athena Players Show Off
Not all Pirate Legends are the same, some have put in a lot more work. This should be shown in-game. This could very easily be done by having the “Pirate Legend” title display your Athena rank. Here are some examples for how Athena rank 1, rank 5, and rank 10 Pirate Legend titles could display in-game:
- Pirate Legend
- Pirate Legend (5)
- Pirate Legend (10)
- Etc.
Legendary Deeds Leaderboard
Finally, I think it would be cool to have a Legendary Deeds Leaderboard (a book on the bar or a plaque on the wall) in the tavern for Pirate Legends ONLY (though everyone can look at it). This leaderboard could display the various commendation categories, and show where all Pirate Legends in the world (or region) rank in each. It could show monthly rank as well as all-time rank. Example Legendary Deeds categories:
- “Fleet Captain” ... GonnaBleedYa - 553k Alliance Gold Contributed - Worldwide Rank = 5,382
- “Cursed Crew Hunter” ... GonnaBleedYa - 267 Skeleton Ships Sunk- Worldwide Rank = 2,435
- “Fort Breaker” ... GonnaBleedYa - 35 Forts Completed - Worldwide Rank = 4,700
- Etc.
