Give solo sloopers an NPC that can help repair.

The best ways to decrease the chance of solo slooping against larger ships is:

• Not being solo (sail only with your friends)
• Finding new people to play the game with via Discord/Forums/Out at Sea
• Not playing the game when solo is your only option

Solo slooping by far is not a recommended crew size for the game, but it is the most common for a variety of reasons. No solution could help that disparity unfortunately. The game has clearly designed itself around enjoying experiences WITH other people, and have balanced it as such, making it a significantly worse experience to be solo.

NPCs that can help repair won't solve all of your issues without literally destroying the balance of PvP: Yes, the same balance that significantly doesn't prefer a solo to fight the odds of 3-4 people at once. They shouldn't be allowed to bail/drain water from the ship on their own accord, and automatic patching won't solve the issue of eating a galleon or brigantine's entire broadside, in which the same holes are being endlessly penetrated by cannon fire.

I think we can all agree it feels very bad to get dunked on by a brig with 3 players

No. As a solo I expect this.

who can board, repair, and fire at the same time with no real resistance because you can only do one thing at a time.

Most cases, say a Brig, 2/3 pirates leave a ship to board, that 2 less things they can do. Perfect time to pop them with cannon fire and force them to choose.

add some kind of compensation to a solo sloop

We got enough things. We have traps we can place near our ladders, Our mast takes two shots by chain to take down.

While I get that solo play can be extremely rough (it's effectively hardmode SoT), I don't think we need to give more crutches to sloop, as is.

@emilyembers No, a second player isn't a crutch. I'm more talking about how it takes 2 chains to de-mast a sloop, compared to the other two ships. It's also incredibly easy to turtle on a sloop, compared to the other two, and neither of the larger ships are ever going to catch a sloop that escapes against the wind.

@emilyembers said in Give solo sloopers an NPC that can help repair.:

@valor-omega Is a second player a crutch? If not, then having a slight compensation for not having two people on your ship also isn't. It's a way to level the field, even if just slightly.

You shouldn't need to be compensated for something you 100% have control over. You can get a second crewmate if you want one so much.

It is a choice to sail the seas solo, you know the risks that come with it

Just because it's the most common crew type in the game doesn't mean it should be rebalanced to be overpowered, especially when having an CPU crewmate is a massive advantage over communicating with a real crewmate who has the ability to do what they want, when they want. That advantage being doing what you want them to do without question or concern.

No one gets to have that, but a solo can? Nah, not happening chief.

@emilyembers alternatively… find a crew mate.

My crew: vote to open crew

Npc added ;)

For your example, the brigantine can board, repair and fire all at once, but it also takes on water faster and is slower to turn, so it cant also manage its sails and steering as easily if you as a solo use your better maneuvering capabilities against the larger ship. If they are trying to keep up with your maneuvering, then you can guess that at least one of those 3 things is not getting done as actively, if they are still trying to board then that means odds are no one is fixing.

Using your own ships strength to your advantage will make it much more viable for you. As well if you can start hammering their ship while keeping your self out of their cannon line, it will put more pressure on them so they will need more people fixing. A brigantine may have more hands to get work done, but it also takes more work to manage sails and repairs if the ship gets hit enough. A solo can absolutely take on a brigantine, and the galleon especially if you can overwhelm them.

While solo the sloop might be more things for one person to manage, the sloop makes it faster and easier to manage, especially after the old update that strengthened the mast and sped up solo spawn times while slowing down the galleon and brigantines spawn.

You have the advantages you need to be more than just viable, its up to you to learn how to use them.

@vorpalicious

but I can't stand the size of the sloop, it's not a proper pirate vessel

Sloops and schooners were actually and historically the most used (proper) pirate vessels lol. If anything, pirates were rarely using even frigate class ships, let alone galleons.

@lopasi said in Give solo sloopers an NPC that can help repair.:

I really don't know why players on this forums are so destructive, they are usually the same people scrolling through posts and attacking any new and fresh idea.

New and fresh ideas can become a discussion. The problem is that this is an already done topic for years. People who main solo unintentionally dislike the disadvantages that come with being solo: often being opposed with multiple people at once in a game where the numbers tend to favor the general odds.

Then, when Rare adds it, they usually act like they never oppossed to that idea.

It depends on who is attacking the idea, because often it's a fight between the ideals and vision of the dev team that they learned through these forums, Discord, Twitter, Reddit, really anywhere where there might have been real developer citations; and their own biases and preferences for the game based on their playstyle.

Solos getting a free NPC to cover for what should have been another player you should be socializing and communicating with, will be consistently opposed; mostly because it's unfair, it literally breaks the base balance that every crew is manned by real players of varying skill sets, and hardly, if ever are there any NPCs doing much to help in general outside of fighting.

On this case, I am sure people who oppose this idea must be galleon players who believe PvP is easy, so for sloops must be the same

It doesn't matter if it's a galleon player or a brigantine player or a sloop player, you play with the crew size you're intending to log on with and you better hope to stick it out with that crew till the end of the session.

Every player starts out in solo, but as they join the game with friends or make friends through the game's socials, they play in bigger crews- all the better for them, and all the better for the devs and their success in bringing players together.

That said, these rejections of the idea are coming from players with experience. Doubly so because many of us can cite a few cases where CPUs on cannons are much more accurate than what would be acceptable, or at worst- the devs recycle the questionable cannon aim of the sea fort cannons manned by the phantom defenders.

Typical arguments they will use are things like:

1. This is a social game
2. If you ask for that you are not trying enough to get better
3. You would have advantage against other players
4. Solo sloop is the hard mode

These are valid arguments, I'm sorry to say. This is a social game, make friends and work together; if you're asking for assisted help out the gate just because you're solo, you're undermining the efforts of those before you that fought longer, harder battles and came out on top, in which it's definitely possible in the game's current state (minus a burning blade but that was never truly designed for solos lol); Having an AI crewmate doing things on the boat for you mid battle is a severe disadvantage to any crew that may not have an immediately reliable crewmate, it would be insane to just shrug your shoulders and say "you're solo so that's ok"; and yes, Solo sloop, historically in the game's development, was a practically bandaged on after complaints during the game's alpha/beta of players being unable to start a session without a crew beforehand. Solo sloop was so under-designed for the game that over the years, solo sloop, and sloop gameplay entirely, had to get rebalances and buffs so that sloops weren't immediately dead in the water the second a competent brigantine or galleon showed up with a stack of chain-shots and boarders intending to close-range you with the Eye of Reach. Even with those changes, solo was not made for this game and the recent updates and additional activities are proving these instances are much more difficult if you're alone compared to having an actual buddy along to tackle the challenges and wear off some of the weight on your shoulder.

These ones really can be easily countered with:

Brave to assume these counters work and make sense, but let's go through them

1. This so called sandbox game, should let you play as you like, with people or alone, and social people will still be social, NPC are just an option

An NPC assist is an option to not be social, it is an option to have a boat that probably won't sink if you're not on it mid-combat, it is an option that gives too much lee-way to a careless solo that is unable to steer in combat, it is an option to become a worse pirate because you're reliant on playing alone and not understanding or overcoming the challenges that are provided with being solo. You're making the game easier so you don't have to try as hard. That's why my first post on this thread suggests to not play the game if you do not want to solo. Don't waste a player slot because you're not going to socialize and whine about getting into immediately unfair fights when that is the risk you signed up for in the first place.

2. If you believe solo players who want an NPC have not tried to fight back, then it's you who never plays PvP or always play in group, so it's you who play with ADVANTAGE.

Contradicted by the fact that you already pointed out the immediate argument against this topic: it's a social game. They have friends that can play together, and you haven't done that yet. You can definitely do what a galleon can do, when you have the numbers for it. It's been a long running fact that playing on bigger crews is the real game, and playing on smaller crews is a much higher difficulty should you encounter larger crews. This game is a numbers game when PvP comes into play, and if you don't have the numbers (or the competency that equals the enemy's numbers), you will fall. Just an unfortunate situation to get caught in, which is remedied with either skill, or more people.

3. The game already gives advantage to duo, brigs and galleons. The one who has friends will have the advantage. The one who will have the NPC will be as much as good as the duo, but likely the NPC still be worse. Enemy bots in this game are pretty bad, what makes people believe an NPC crewmate would be different?

I'll be honest: even with the burning blade in mind, we have yet to see an NPC crew/crewmate that noticeably bails/drains water from a vessel, they can patch, maybe they can man cannons (which is already going too far for an NPC if one were to ever be considered), they can't steer or manage sails. Yet still, we reject this idea because while it's an obvious crutch in the hands of an inexperienced player. Imagine the horrors and immediate thrashing intermediate crews will get with an experienced solo going wild on their boat while the solo's boat is getting auto-repaired. That would be imbalanced and unfair to an extent, that's not balancing.

4. If solo sloop is the hard mode, then it's bad design, because you are not giving a fast option to play the game normal. I should be able to play how I want without being punished. As people say, tools not rules...

In my experience (as a casual that can be average in any game) over the last few years, unless you're a naturally competent and patient video game player, playing solo in multiplayer PvP-based games are terrible experiences. You will just hate playing multiplayer games entirely and just stick to single player games from Nintendo franchises or RPGs with difficulty sliders.

The common complaints of solos are, unfortunately, a skill issue.

Additionally: you already have a fast option as a solo. The best you can do as a solo now, is just solo an easy dive voyage to get about ~1000-2000 gold without emissary on a very short voyage/sea fort visit, in which you're so far from everyone on the map no one will be bothered to contest you and you can sell at the nearest outpost with full safety. Don't talk about fast when you really just want to quickly stack world events as a solo and never get contested by duos, brigantines, and galleons.

@lopasi said in Give solo sloopers an NPC that can help repair.:

@emilyembers
People on this forum are very reactionary. They attack any idea that changes the game, even if it could improve it.

However, if you go to Twitter or Youtube comments, you will see there's a bunch of people wondering if the Order of Bone and Blade Skeleton (the one of season 16) will aboard the ship and act as a crewmate. I am pretty sure a NPC crewmate will not only help players to engage into battles and give them an opportunity, but will incentive others (like me, which I uninstalled the game for this) to come back and have fun again.
I already proposed this idea (I recommend you looking for it in my profile), so I highly support this one, too. Take my upvote! :)

I love PvP and I love playing alone, but sadly it's impossible to have cool battles if you must repair, shot, steer and defend boarders alone, you have no time to feel like you are in the real battle. They should add something for PvP solo sloopers, because it's very disgusting to not enjoy the game correctly. If they don't want bots, they could make the interactions faster, such as repairing holes in 1 second, repairing the mast, etc.

I really don't know why players on this forums are so destructive, they are usually the same people scrolling through posts and attacking any new and fresh idea. Then, when Rare adds it, they usually act like they never oppossed to that idea.
On this case, I am sure people who oppose this idea must be galleon players who believe PvP is easy, so for sloops must be the same; or running players who doesn't even try to fight. Typical arguments they will use are things like:

1. This is a social game
2. If you ask for that you are not trying enough to get better
3. You would have advantage against other players
4. Solo sloop is the hard mode

These ones really can be easily countered with:

1. This so called sandbox game, should let you play as you like, with people or alone, and social people will still be social, NPC are just an option
2. If you believe solo players who want an NPC have not tried to fight back, then it's you who never plays PvP or always play in group, so it's you who play with ADVANTAGE.
3. The game already gives advantage to duo, brigs and galleons. The one who has friends will have the advantage. The one who will have the NPC will be as much as good as the duo, but likely the NPC still be worse. Enemy bots in this game are pretty bad, what makes people believe an NPC crewmate would be different?
4. If solo sloop is the hard mode, then it's bad design, because you are not giving a fast option to play the game normal. I should be able to play how I want without being punished. As people say, tools not rules...

I highly suport this idea, so take my upvote!

There are so many amazing players in this game. Hop on YouTube and watch older videos of how it used to be back in the day. I've seen amazing videos of one solo slooper having to deal with the entire server chasing him because he stacked so much treasure. He wiped the floor with them. This was during the time when solo slooping was much more difficult, and he still managed to beat the incredible odds against him. It's incredible to watch. Having such challenges only makes you a better player.

So when you say "it's impossible to have cool battles where you must repair, shoot, steer and defend boarders and have no time to feel like you're in the real battle," you might want to watch these videos of these amazing players. I need to remind you that not only did this player do all of those things, he also boarded them (gally, brig, and attacking sloop) and killed them all.

These players didn't come to the forums complaining that it takes too long to repair. They didn't ask for a robot on their ship to help them because "it was impossible" to have cool fights. They had it way worse than solo sloopers have it today, and made incredible videos showing what's possible with enough dedication, time, and persistence. Yet you say it's "disgusting" to not enjoy the game correctly??

If you find solo slooping to be that difficult, don't solo sloop. Go ahead and watch the videos of how it used to be. You'll not only be amazed, it'll inspire you to keep trying, you'll get better, and see for yourself you don't need a robot to help you with "impossible battles" LOL.

@valor-omega said in Give solo sloopers an NPC that can help repair.:

While I get that solo play can be extremely rough (it's effectively hardmode SoT), I don't think we need to give more crutches to sloop, as is.

Yes, it is better to give those crutches to Brigs and Galleons instead. /s

I exclusively solo sloop and I have to say the balance for solo slooping has never been better. Harpoon Guns and The Sovereigns have drastically improved my sessions.

But on topic I don’t see any reason a bone caller can’t be given some limited things they can do on a ship for very limited times. I’m not sure of their current mechanics as I don’t use them, but if the devs went this route they should de-spawn after a couple repairs.

@lopasi said in Give solo sloopers an NPC that can help repair.:

@emilyembers
People on this forum are very reactionary. They attack any idea that changes the game, even if it could improve it.

However, if you go to Twitter or Youtube comments, you will see there's a bunch of people wondering if the Order of Bone and Blade Skeleton (the one of season 16) will aboard the ship and act as a crewmate. I am pretty sure a NPC crewmate will not only help players to engage into battles and give them an opportunity, but will incentive others (like me, which I uninstalled the game for this) to come back and have fun again.
I already proposed this idea (I recommend you looking for it in my profile), so I highly support this one, too. Take my upvote! :)

I love PvP and I love playing alone, but sadly it's impossible to have cool battles if you must repair, shot, steer and defend boarders alone, you have no time to feel like you are in the real battle. They should add something for PvP solo sloopers, because it's very disgusting to not enjoy the game correctly. If they don't want bots, they could make the interactions faster, such as repairing holes in 1 second, repairing the mast, etc.

I really don't know why players on this forums are so destructive, they are usually the same people scrolling through posts and attacking any new and fresh idea. Then, when Rare adds it, they usually act like they never oppossed to that idea.
On this case, I am sure people who oppose this idea must be galleon players who believe PvP is easy, so for sloops must be the same; or running players who doesn't even try to fight. Typical arguments they will use are things like:

1. This is a social game
2. If you ask for that you are not trying enough to get better
3. You would have advantage against other players
4. Solo sloop is the hard mode

These ones really can be easily countered with:

1. This so called sandbox game, should let you play as you like, with people or alone, and social people will still be social, NPC are just an option
2. If you believe solo players who want an NPC have not tried to fight back, then it's you who never plays PvP or always play in group, so it's you who play with ADVANTAGE.
3. The game already gives advantage to duo, brigs and galleons. The one who has friends will have the advantage. The one who will have the NPC will be as much as good as the duo, but likely the NPC still be worse. Enemy bots in this game are pretty bad, what makes people believe an NPC crewmate would be different?
4. If solo sloop is the hard mode, then it's bad design, because you are not giving a fast option to play the game normal. I should be able to play how I want without being punished. As people say, tools not rules...

I highly suport this idea, so take my upvote!

To answer your earlier questions:

People are selfish and don't want to shake any advantages in a game they have or believe they have.

Personally, I would prefer they allow more defensive play:

1. Being able to reinforce sections of the ships with more than one board (up to three boards pre-added to a section that must be destroyed fully damage the hull (holes), adjust for size and balance of ships like previous updates ( 3 board limit on sloops, 2 on brigs, and galleons as normal ?).

Not everyone has reliable teammates available at all times to play and it is time those who are fortunate (yes I am most of the time one of those fortunate ones, but don't begrudge those who do not )to have some recognize that

@sairdontis4317

You just blew my mind there. How cool would it be to have a way to interact with the world’s shipwrecks (static or spawned) for a chance to salvage a random reinforcement for a section of your ship. That way it would be less common than just using standard planks and add a new mechanic to the world. Gives new reasons for everyone to visit sunken shipwrecks PvE and PvP alike or spend an extra minute to run over and check that shipwreck at the island you are on.

I love solo slooping to be honest, if you really want to get good at SoT fast, solo sloop. Sucks in the beginning but when you are soloing out Legend of the Veil over and over again taking in millions. Feels amazing so I’m always down for new mechanics that give more strategy that can be used solo slooping, but I don’t ever want it to be easier than it is now, but I also don’t want it to be harder than it was back when firebombs first came out. 😂

I really can't understand why be against add an npc repair pet for solo players, maybe some player have their friendship and don't wanna loose the opportunity to easy sink solo player sometimes.
I think we are not talking about an immortal npc that can manage the ship but only a hole repair like burning blade ones, and it's not an advantage, real player are smarter and understand what to do and when, can talk with you, it's a lot better than an npc and there's why be solo on the burning blade is not easier than be 2,3 or 4, it's harder.
SoT is a multiplayer game, okay, but it doesn't mean you should not play solo, all multiplayer game are playable solo or with mates equally, it's not like asking for a private server full of events but without other people, that would have no sense.
Be solo in SoT it's a big disadvange because it's not simply half of 2, it's SOLO, and is a lot different like be 2 against 4 for example. Even a sloop with 2 players is really hard to manage, if you kill one the other can still repair, manage the ship, shoot, board on your ship waiting your respawn.
Saying "sloop are faster agains wind, you can run away" is not a solution because the sea it's not infinite and some crew like a lot follow for the whole server lol , even if you use tactics like board with kegs. Yeah cool you've done a big boom and then what? In 20 seconds the ship is new and they keep chasing, the same strategy won't work again. In 2 or more you have two chance, fight or run away if you want, why don't give to solo players a choice? A little chance to win a fight?
Npc are easy to kill in this game, should not be such drama for real player crews.

I can only see positive things about this, taken as an optional choice. A lot of people would come back, solo sloop would be a bit stronger but still easy to sink, even who have his crew can enjoy solo sometimes, as alternative.
The game have to improve anyway, like this season 16 npc that can help to bring loot. it's cool and very usefull, even solos will get more loot, and more loot for who will sink them.

Some players could be disappointed about a repair-npc, because sink a solo ship on the sea or better while moored is easy. Free loot wohoo!

@lopasi There does seem to be a community bias against improvement for Solo play.

@sairdontis4317

This community has always been funny that way. Any suggestions you ever make will always be met with the same people saying it will destroy game balance. Seven years later people are flying around with harpoons and magic mermaid wands with drastically different sell and voyage mechanics and the balance seems surprisingly good, even as a solo player. I almost never get loot stolen from me if I didn’t deserve it which is very different than 2018 solo slooping. At that time I remember getting laughed at by the entire community on Reddit suggesting they implement something similar to emissary flags, and was even told in 2019 animal tracking and hunting voyages “would not fit sea of thieves”

…Like literally anything could be folded into this game with the right mechanics. It’s a game about manipulating the environment in loops that generate gold. That’s the thing that really makes it fun in my opinion.

@gh0stnthmchn said in Give solo sloopers an NPC that can help repair.:

@sairdontis4317

This community has always been funny that way. Any suggestions you ever make will always be met with the same people saying it will destroy game balance. Seven years later people are flying around with harpoons and magic mermaid wands with drastically different sell and voyage mechanics and the balance seems surprisingly good, even as a solo player. I almost never get loot stolen from me if I didn’t deserve it which is very different than 2018 solo slooping. At that time I remember getting laughed at by the entire community on Reddit suggesting they implement something similar to emissary flags, and was even told in 2019 animal tracking and hunting voyages “would not fit sea of thieves”

…Like literally anything could be folded into this game with the right mechanics. It’s a game about manipulating the environment in loops that generate gold. That’s the thing that really makes it fun in my opinion.

Yes, I have found there are some players that would rather a game fail than to allow change in a game they feel they have any advantage in.