Hiya!
Maybe I can help. I soloed the commendation for the 500 skelle fleet and picked up a few things along the way and some strategies to help survive.
Typically encounters are random but after the skelle fleet in particular there is a VERY high probability that you will get multiple attackers. The reason is krakens spawn while there is no fort or armada cloud up...skelle ships have a high chance to spawn on everyone in the server when the fort pops..and megs have a high chance of showing up if there is fighting going on in general. Therefore right after an armada your in the middle of the water and are prone to attack from all three. Kraken will show up since you killed the fleet and if a fort pops you will have company from a ship right after.
Attempt 1: avoid the fight spam
Rowboat sounds like a simple idea but it truly is the best way. Not as a last resort (well that too but hopefully you dont sink) but as the primary strategy. Beat the fleet...one person drop off with a rowboat..maybe two if your brave..whoever's is left take your boat and run to the nearest island (as quick as you can). Being at an island makes it impossible for the kraken to hit you and by the time you get the loot and load it the next fort should be up and your safe. This way takes slightly longer but it helps avoid the encounter spam. When you pull away from the island you may still get a skelle ship but without the kraken there it should be much easier.
Attempt 2: I didnt make it and I'm fighting multiple things.
Ok so your stuck in the middle...my recommended focus? The skelle ship. This is a hard fight in general but here is why I say that.
The kraken is a threat but if your on a bigger ship it takes time to take down. While you arent moving the skelle ship gets an increase in accuracy and is much more likely to cannonball you in the face killing your crew, not to mention the cursed cannonballs can cause hell in your strategy if they are blocking your supplies or cannons. Also while the skelle ship is up a good handful of kraken tenticles will be distracted watching them instead of you. Use this to your advantage and take the skelle ship down first.
During your fight with the ship only change focus to the kraken if it grips you. When this happens switch your offence to the new tenticle on the right or left side of the ship.. depending on the ship size a couple shots will cause it to duck back underwater and pop up on the opposite side. Defeating this single tenticle will cause the one gripping the boat to let go..allowing you to resume your attack on the ship.
It's a stretch but if you have enough crew. One person boarding the skelle ship that's good at pve can completely annihilate the skelle ship. Set fire to top deck to stop them from shooting at you then run below and stop repairs. If done correctly this will completely incapacitate the ship and it will sink with minimum damage to you. This is a better strat for the gally as a sloop can be taken down without much effort. Also, the skelle ships that spawn due to a fort have a high chance of having a gunpowder barrel somewhere. Dont just aim at the bottom deck..take a couple extra shots at other parts of the boat and you might see a much needed explosion! On the sloops they are typically near the back up in the extra armor they have above the back map table.
Now...the meg lol the meg is last as it's the least threatening. Its mechanics are extremely basic and you can easily time out when you will get bit, where and fix holes accordingly. If you can shoot it in the face before a bite go ahead and do it to stop damage but otherwise save it for last. If you truly dont want to fight there is a rare chance you can harpoon the meg on its first time passing you and it may pull you out of the kraken! If that fails the harpooning of it tends to glitch the meg out and there is a higher chance of it leaving on it's own. I've lost many meg because I'd rather harpoon surf them then fight lol
That was a lot but In short
- if your boat is near an island your safe from everything. Use the rowboat to get the loot. This is especially important right after the fleet when everything can show up
-skelle ship first, blow it up if you can, shooting thir cannons also helps lower damage to you
-take out kraken tenticle if it grabs you (NOT THE ONE GRABBING YOU, the new one on the right or left)
-shoot meg in the face during bite if you have the opportunity
-harpooning meg on first pass by right after spawn might save you
Although it might seem like the game hates you with RNG a lot of it isnt rng at all. The kraken spawns right after fleet and your middle of the water, the skelle ship hits everyone not just you, and the meg shows up because its mad it wasnt invited to the sinking party lol if you anticipate that before finishing the fleet you can dodge all the encounters or at least be prepared for them when they happen!
