I have seen a great number of posts lately by solo players suggesting how difficult the game has become with many recent updates, and thought I would share my reasoning behind using the brig whether solo or in a group.
1 - Speed, speed, speed. The brig flies across the water. The brig in most cases is as fast or faster than any other ship. It is more maneuverable than a galleon but not quite as nimble as the sloop. Even if you only put the back sails (closest to the wheel) down, you are faster than a sloop. That speed is not just a good thing for PvP, or escaping PvP, it is good for the new AI threats, and just getting your quests done faster by lessening the time it takes to sail between islands.
- The brig is by far and away the easiest ship to bail water from. If you take damage, through any of the many ways you can now, bailing water and last second saves are much more possible in the brig than any other ship. Yes, every hole made is on the same level, unlike the galleon or sloop, but the speed of which you can empty water from a brig makes up for this.
3 - Getting from your wheel to your cannons is much easier and faster on a brig than any other ships.
4 - Takes a little longer for water to fill the boat. This has come in handy when I have a weeping chest on board. You can easily bail the water out as fast as the boat is filling with water when on a brig. Even when you have to keep up with other things, like maneuvering the ship, adjust sails and such.
5 - Intimidation factor. While it doesn't always make a difference, being on a brig suggest you have 3 pirates on board. So other ships, especially sloops, tend to stay clear of you. You still get those sloop guys that will go up against everything on the see, but thanks to the speed difference, they aren't a problem once you are in the wind....
6 - More places to hide loot. You have more nooks to hide the valuable loot you have been working on collecting than you would a sloop.
Keep in mind, there are some things that might not make this ideal for everyone though. Some examples are:
- The anchor takes much longer to bring up in a brig over a sloop. And the location of the anchor is inconvenient. To combat this, I rarely use the anchor. Only if I have to use it because of a storm, or to avoid crashing (which is rare).
- If you do need to use both sails, adjusting both takes more effort than adjusting just one sail on the sloop.
- Getting to bananas on a brig is not quite as convenient as it is on a sloop.
Solo sailing a brig might not be for everyone. But my need for speed, the ease of navigation on the brig (once you are used to it) make it an amazing ship to sail solo.