Solo Sloop vs Brigantine Strategies

  • Nikells
    Seafarer
    Insider

    Does anyone have any strategies I can employ as a solo player when pursued by competent players on a brigantine?
    I realise I'm always going to be the underdog in these situations and it's unlikely I'll be able to sink them, but is there anything I can try to attempt to shake them?

    The difficulty is that for a pursuer to lose line of sight with you, serious distance has to be put between you and the brigantine.

    To share some of my existing strategies, below are a few things I already do (to limited effectiveness) and additional untested ideas:

    1. Sail into the wind
      Sloops are only faster than other ships when sailing directly into the wind with the sails angled straight forward.
      Once I see a brigantine turn towards me I'll start sailing like this.
      Unfortunately, the speed advantage is extremely small (much less than the advantage multiple sails have when catching the wind), it's impossible to pull ahead without a chase sometimes taking an hour or running out of map.

    2. Sail into the eye of the storm
      Sailing into the storm on the map has worked for me a few times, the chaos and reduced visibility allows me to try something other than sailing directly into the wind. This only works if you have a significant lead on the attacker though otherwise they can just keep following whilst you are stuck holding the wheel and taking storm damage.

    3. Drop the pursuers anchor
      This can be risky and only attempted in a long stretch of open sea. If the brig is directly behind me I will jump off the front of my ship, grab their ladder as they pass and attempt to drop their anchor. This can buy a little more space but not much, and has the disadvantage of leaving my ship uncrewed for a few minutes.

    Untested strategies:
    4) Outmanouvering
    I've read that sloops are more agile than other ships but what is the best way to utilise this without losing the "into the wind" speed advantage? Any kind of turning will allow the brigantine to catch up and one well-aimed chainshot is enough to bring down a sloops single mast and allow them to overwhelm you whilst you are busy fixing it.

    You used to be able to hard turn or handbrake turn 180 degrees and switch up the chase whilst their less agile boat adjusts but harpoons and chainshot have put an end to this.

    1. Rocks and islands
      In theory, it's possible to sail through a tight space and try and make the less agile brigantine crash into something to slow them down. Shallow waters could also possibly work - but I imagine the hull depth of a sloop and brigantine is very similar? Shipwreck Bay is probably the best example of somewhere to do this - has anyone tried this successfully?

    Again by deviating from sailing directly into the wind, you are allowing the brigantine to catch you also.

    1. Gunpowder barrels
      Is it possible to drop several gunpowder barrels off the back of your ship and have one or two of them explode on contact with the brigantines bow? I've tried this a few times but it's never worked and even if it did it would be easy to repair for a 2+ man crew.

    2. Sharp turn
      Again using the agility of the sloop, when a brigantine is pulling up alongside, it might be possible to hard 90 degrees turn into the approaching ship and fire a shot to take out one of their masts and then turn back into the wind?
      There are multiple risks here: you have to steer, shoot straight and then steer again in a very short window and you'll likely get harpooned. I don't know if the sloop is agile enough to pull this off without losing speed advantage either.

    That's all I have for now, hope this was helpful and I'm looking forward to hearing from other solo sloopers!

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  • Partisan Spy477
    Seafarer
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    @Nikells, thanks for your post, I will keep a watch on it. I am also searching for new ways to beat a Brigantine. The new update made it harder for solo players, being the revive ability the best example of that.

    What I have done against a Brigantine in Reapers Hideout was to keep going around the island non-stop and selling my stuff as they made a mistake. But this is not unbeatable, more experienced players would have used the island canons to damage or board me.

  • Nikells
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @partisan-spy477 said in Solo Sloop vs Brigantine Strategies:

    What I have done against a Brigantine in Reapers Hideout was to keep going around the island non-stop and selling my stuff as they made a mistake. But this is not unbeatable, more experienced players would have used the island canons to damage or board me.

    Thanks for replying. I completely agree, if the brigantine players are inexperienced or make a mistake I can usually take advantage of that. The question is if there is anything you can do to try and counter the players that are equally knowledgable and skilled.

    I hadn't even considered the new revive system!

  • GhostOfMerrill
    Rogue

    @nikells I usually do the sail into the wind like you do. If I see that they are going to chase no matter what I'll often times try and combine your #5 and #7, sail into tight rocks / shallows and then do the sharp turn by dropping anchor. On more than one occasion I have lost a larger ship by juking them like this behind an island or they attempt to sail in and when I do the tight turn they crash into the rocks.

    Also remember that you can use your harpoon on rocks / shallows to turn tightly without having to drop anchor.

  • Nikells
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @ghostofmerrill
    Thanks Merrill - in my experience most attackers, regardless of experience and skill, will follow you all the way across the map for hours on end. I can't remember the last time someone just gave up the chase, even when I don't have much loot or the distance between our ships is huge. People are stubborn, myself included.

    I'm glad to hear you've had some success in tighter spaces using your manoeuvrability though. That must have felt amazing when you pulled that off - I am definitely going to try what you've suggested.

    Some questions:
    Did you do anything with the sails when you made the hard turn or just rapidly spin the wheel? Did they just give up following you after you pulled this?

    Also: was this a galleon or a brigantine? I feel like galleons are much better balanced against sloops as the sloops strengths are more pronounced against them.

  • BARMALEY7580
    Captain
    Insider

    the surest way to sail against the wind by setting the sail right in the center
    it sounds strange, but setting the sail straight and sailing against the wind works with brigantines and the same sloops only if the latter does not know about such a trick. There is one minus, you can only leave if the enemies lose interest in you

  • Stundorn
    Castaway
    Insider
    Founder

    harpoon the rear, shoot cannonballs, then shoot ballast, dance, venom, cripple.... sunk :)

    If they board you they sink faster when you kill them at the ladder ;)

  • ricewynd
    Seafarer

    I've had some luck with breaking line of sight behind a rock then sharp turning till I'm facing the other way and sailing back towards them. In most cases the super-smart boys driving the Brig head to the other side of the rock expecting to head me off by which point I'm already behind them and sailing off into the sunset.
    Another time I was able to ditch a Brig by sailing straight towards an island, anchor turning just before I hit the shallows, turned so I was facing directly at them and sailed directly at them, climbed into the crow's nest and dropped a few firebombs on them as they sailed past. It was a two-man brig, one panicked and ran around trying to put out the fires the other immediately boarded me, their ship smacked hard into the island and I was long gone before they could recover.

    A few other times, and this is now my main tactic when dealing with these idiots, is to simply turn aggressively towards them. Yeah you might take a few canon shots, you might have to deal with a border, but if you pull it off you'll be behind them and they'll be down a crew member (or two).
    I've noticed more cursed balls spawn at seaports, drop by one every now and then and stock up, anchor balls are a lifesaver in this situation.

    Carry a few gunpowder barrels, let them get close enough so you can drop them off the back like makeshift sea mines.

    Longshot the crow's nest just in case they have a barrel or two up there, always worth doing.

    And lastly, just fight them. Most PvP noobs are not used to their "prey" fighting back, I once took down a Galleon because all four of them rushed to the cannons, three of them got on cannons and started blasting, the other sat waiting for the board while holding (and I am not making this up) a barrel of gunpowder.
    I shot him, the keg exploded taking out the entire crew. I set the ship to ram with an island, set the deck on fire, put a few holes in her hull and when she sank I scored about 50k worth of loot.

    If you cannot deal with borders then take a few merchant guild quests until you get a snake basket or two, pick up snakes and place them ontop of your ladders, they will poison anyone who climbs up. You can also set your own deck on fire and sit on the back pistol shooting anyone running around.

  • GhostOfMerrill
    Rogue

    @nikells I usually don't do anything with the sails if I'm solo as its a lot to do if I'm also spinning the wheel and raising the anchor back up. As soon as I'm back and reset from the turn then I'll adjust the sails either into the wind or try and catch it for a min.

    Some other things I've done though also have been if they are really really close (enough to see you very well) grab an empty chest and make sure they see and toss it off the side. I've fooled more than one ship who thought I was trying to toss something valuable off the side only for it to be an empty chest. Definitely wont work every time but worth a shot.

    I think my favorite trick though was sneaking on a pursuing ship with a chest of sorrow and placing it in the crows nest and sunk them from the tears filling their ship. I really had nothing else to lose on my ship when I did this but was hilarious that it worked.

  • Nabberwar
    Lord
    Insider

    This is something for all ships in general, but a lot of people tend to ignore island cannons. With the inception of Chainshot island cannons got an indirect buff. Every island you pass by is an opportunity to attack the ship behind you. Even if you don't have Chain-shot, you can use regular cannonballs just to pepper them. The big thing to remember is to make sure your ship is pointed to a safe direction. When returning back to your ship, return back with supplies if you can. Never waste an opportunity to restock if you can.

  • JohnCourtier
    Captain
    Insider

    I've never met a brig that didn't try to go for boarding strategy. It makes sense - you are alone, they outnumber you. Most brigs attempt to ram you and board you.

    When they seem to get in collision course, make sure to pass them at their stern, never bow (it is more difficult for them to adjust course or harpoon you). And prepare for several things to happen before/during the pass. Sloop has enough maneuverability to achieve it and they'll have a hard time with course adjusting. You will be passing at high speeds and there will be short opening for cannon fire. However they are getting ready for boarding, not firing cannons and one is usually busy helm. You can use this opening for nice chain-ball or curse-ball. With good rotation you can deliver multiple hits and make them busy.

    If your maneuver does not go well, they can still ram you - bad case scenario. Use blunderbombs to spoil boarding attempts when you feel them to start jumping on. Finally do not hesitate to use firebombs on your own deck if they get on board - they won't expect it and most of them will try to get away and heal. They will put off fire in water, if ship got hit, quickly and will rush back - get ready to shoot them, do not chase them. If you get killed, the fire will make it more difficult for them to move on deck - it is risky and double-edge weapon for desperate fights.

    Sailing against the wind is good strategy, but it won't shake them off alone. Use every chance when wind changes to get a cannon opening a deliver few shots. It is better to aim the deck - cannons and helm. Those few shots won't sink them, but damaging the wheel or killing the crew will give you some advantage and show them you can fight back. If you deliver more hits then they do, you make them think if they want to spend time chasing you.

    Also use skelly ships or other players if you see them. I was once chased by brig and lead them to another brig. Turned out both brigs were hostile and both started to chase me. I got rammed, but spoiled the boarding and started to sail against wind afterwards. They didn't go for long chase and attacked each other instead "letting" me go.
    Another time a brig literally refused to chase me close to ghost fleet event.. for some reason, these pvpers are afraid of environment threats.

  • LimbicFanatic
    Lord
    Insider
    Founder

    @nikells
    Between you and the people who've responded to this thread; there's a lot of good advice here.

    The only thing I can think of that hasn't already been mentioned here is to flee to the Devil's Roar. This is incredibly risky (if your mast goes down, you're a sitting duck), but might be worth doing if nothing else is working to shake your pursuer. Sail towards an active volcano and take cover below decks- you will most likely take a hit or two (and get hurt in the process), but you'll be in a position to patch any holes that appear. Sloops are practically tanks- as long as you don't die, you can keep bucketing water out before the water level reaches the mid-deck.

    Brigs are more vulnerable to volcanoes- they barely have a mid-deck, so most hits are going to start spewing water. If you can board and anchor them while near the volcano, that'll cause even more damage. Even if you sink you'll likely doom them if they stick around to collect your loot (but hopefully, they'll sink first).

    Again- this is a desperation strategy, and should only be attempted if nothing else is working.

  • Shadow20642
    Marauder
    Insider

    @nikells If you dont do voyages and prefer to just sail around and pick up messages in a bottle etc....

    Keep a shroudbreaker from TT9 on your ship.

    When being persued you can use the island as a personal hideout.
    By the time they do a U-turn yo Morrows peak you’ll be long gone.

    If you prefer fishing, shores of gold has a nice pondies spot free from pesky skeletons and players alike.

    Regarding kegs too.
    Usually ive kept them on a rowboat because people are getting wise and EOR them in crows nest. That fire is a hassle when you gotta keep your mast up. I can deploy the keg quickly, just dont let them get too close to EOR and as an emergency, jettison the rowboat if the risk of keeping it onboard outweights its usefulness. Or just jettison the keg if its like a couple.

    Hopefully this helps.
    Looking at your suggestions and feedback it looks like you got pretty much everything you need.

    Last thing really is just dont panic and dont be afraid.
    Keep calm and you will perform much better when overwhelmed.
    Ive recovered my ship from boarders by keeping calm, killing them, bailing onto the fire and getting the mast up. (Not always though lol)

    Its amazing what you can achieve when you have nothing to lose too.
    So when you have a loot free ship, take more risks. It can pay off.

  • DiabeuZPiekla
    Seafarer

    I sail Brig with my crew and we do Pvp a lot and to be honest, as a single person on a sloop there is not much you can do if a competent Brig decides to chase you.
    Dropping anchor wont work, someone will catch it. Kegging won't work, too easy to recover without some followup. Hard turns and stuff - won't work either - if a Brig crew finds out you're alone they won't hesitate to sail directly behind you.

    The only time we lost a sloop and couldn't help it was when they made a hard turn near an island in the fog.

    However, experienced crews that got over their "kill on sight everything that moves" phase will unlikely decide to chase you for a long time if they find out you're a solo slooper, because everyone knows solo sloopers turn in often and there is a very little chances there's some high value loot aboard.

  • ViperishEmu2992
    Marauder

    Looks like you have the basics.

    Fog: You can lose them in the fog pretty easily. (if there's fog around?)

    Forts: Jump off as you pass forts (preferably heading into the wind) and use the (tower) cannons to harass your pursuer. This is especially handy when you have the right CC's in you pocket. Anchorball, 2xGreen balls, 5 or 6 cannonballs, 2 more green balls ... Some Fireballs, maybe take down a mast with Chainshot? ...etc. Just unload on them and when you run out of Cannonballs or they are climbing the ladder to get you, shoot yourself onto their ship and chop away. Sometimes you even find a powder keg in the tower! Happy days. BOOM!

    I use this trick quite often when Solo-ing. Even experienced Brigantine Crews can't stop it. Even if you don't sink them the first time they will take wide berths of Forts after this.:) Making you harder to catch.

  • xX Mirth Xx
    Master
    Insider
    Founder

    Some specifics that I use and work out very well.

    Kegging: If you're going to keg, jump off the front of your boat and try to board. Explode the keg at the base of the main mast. This will drop their mast, destroy their wheel and most likely kill one or two.

    Harpooning: Use that Harpoon to turn! get near enough to an island to harpoon the seabed, not the island itself. The chasing team won't see the harpoon and you'll be able to turn very quickly without losing speed.

    Blunderbombs: use them to prevent boarders. stand on the canvas and watch both ladders. As soon as you see an enemy name pop up on one, throw at the ladder and knock them off.

  • Arkipelium
    Seafarer
    Insider

    My favorite tactic is to lead them into the wind pas a fort. Disembark from your ship and let it keep sailing into the wind while you are free to man the cannons of the forts shore towers. this gives you a defensible elevated platform to lay waste to the brig from.

  • Shmief8511
    Rogue
    Insider

    @nikells Most of your strategies for this situation involve outsmarting them because your ship is slower, which is absolutely correct. Other comments in this post are highlighting the other part of winning these scenarios. You have to accept that when a brig starts to pursue you there is a high chance that you will have to encounter them in battle. Trying to outmaneuver and slip away is the best case scenario, but you must also use that time to size them up, stock your weapons and repairs, look at your map, and come up with an encounter plan. The time between when they start to pursue and the encounter begins is when you gain the advantage of deciding where the fight will happen and on whose terms. When that encounter does happen, be dangerous. By the time they are on your ship, you should already be on them like a swarm of bees. There ship should be on fire, they should have at least two holes to patch, and you should be shooting and slicing starting with whoever is repairing their ship. I am usually throwing firebombs as I am jumping onto their ship. Sometimes crews will not expect that much aggression from a solo slooper and you can catch them off-guard. Create as much chaos as possible and then either finish them or bail and get your ship moving again. Repeat until one of you wins and have fun doing it either way!

    Also never underestimate the power of special cannonballs to really foil an enemy crew's attacks/pursuit.

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