This set of tips and tricks is meant for solo players that have already spent a fair amount of time on the sloop, but wish to learn some more advanced techniques that could help them further their sea faring prowess.
GENERAL
A collection of miscellaneous tips with some useful information that’s good to know.
-
Watch the seas constantly for other ships.
-
If you see a ship, pull out the compass and make a mental note of the bearing, or go to the ships world map and place a circle on their last known location.
-
Always keep between 2-3 health supplies on you when visiting an island, but don’t forget to load your ship with everything else before you go.
-
Rather than rush to get everything done as quickly as possible when visiting an island, seek out the high ground to survey the sea and make sure there’s no threat.
-
Use the sword lunge attack for swimming lengthy distances and jumping off the side of islands. (stand on the edge of a beach or object)
-
You can tell which way a storms heading if you look straight up into the sky and watch the black cloud ring circling around it. The very edge will be visibly expanding or retracting in the direction that the storms moving in.
-
Keep track of the time, there’s 24 minutes in a day with the sun setting at 22:00 and rising at 05:00. If you’ve spotted a ship and they don’t know you’re there, knowing when the sun comes up and goes down could give you an advantage.
-
ALWAYS scout outposts with the spyglass before travelling to one to cash in your loot. If there are no ships then be sure to check the sea for mermaids. Circling the island can help those of you who are extra cautious.
-
The North West corner of the world map has the 2 closest outposts in the game. Both Golden Sands & Sanctuary Outpost are within viewing distance of each other by using the spyglass. This area of the world map also has the clearest seas making it really easy to spot other ships, and should you need to, travel to another outpost.
-
In contrast to this the South West corner of the world map is the furthest distance you’d have to travel to reach an outpost. (currently)
-
NEVER spend hours collecting chests and loot for one big cash in. You should only ever have a few chests/skulls that you’re comfortable losing.
-
Always pick short quest types as this limits the quest island to a short distance from your current location.
-
Quest locations are proximity based according to your current location. With this in mind it’s possible to roughly control the location of your next quest. If for example, you sail to the North West corner of the world map before activating one, your next quest is likely to be on either: Sailors Bounty, Smugglers Bay, Lone Cove, Sandy Shallows, Picaroon Palms, Boulder Cay, Salty Sands, Rapier Cay, Cannon Cove, Lonely Isle, Lagoon of Whispers, Crescent Isle, Twin Groves, Wanderers Refuge, or Mermaids Hideaway. ( I did say roughly)
SAILING/DOCKING
If you don’t want to be caught with your sails up and anchor down then these are for you.
-
When heading directly into the wind “tacking” is a useful real life technique that can help you move much quicker: by changing the ships direction to diagonally face the wind, angling the sails appropriately to catch the wind, and then alternating between the ships direction in a zig-zag manner.
-
Be sure you’re heading in the right direction. There is a golden peg on the ships wheel that will vibrate your controller when the wheel is centred.
-
When levelling out with the golden peg, in order to travel in a straight line you will also need to compensate for rough waves hitting your ship from the sides, one or two notches are normally enough. Watch the compass next to the wheel until you’re sure the heading is straight.
-
During long distance voyages most of your time is better spent in the crows nest looking out for other ships and ship wrecks, instead of behind the wheel.
-
Literally jumping on the wheel and then jumping towards the mast, pushing the interact button while in the air, will save you time climbing up to the crows nest.
-
If there’s another ship nearby or you’re approaching an island for docking, jumping onto the rear of the ship will give you an elevated position for better judging distances without having to climb the crows nest.
-
When docking your ship, NEVER dock in the bay, as this will reduce movement options and could block you in if another ship encounters you there.
-
Hiding your ship is literally a waste of time. Players who know what to look for will still see your ship when hidden on the majority of islands. The only islands where you’re able to hide your ship completely are the ones located at the edges of the world map. But in order to do this you’re once again reducing movement options if another ship encounters you there, as you’ll be situated right next to an out of bounds zone. Then, factor into that the amount of time it takes to hide it, and the time it takes to travel back and forth from a less than optimal position and it simply isn’t worth it.
-
The ideal position for docking is on the corner of an island (where available) or as close to the beach as possible. (without obstacles nearby such as rocks)
-
Raising your sails and gliding in slowly without dropping the anchor is less efficient than sailing in quickly and dropping the anchor, then raising sails and raising the anchor.
-
By dropping the anchor you’re triggering a mechanic in the game that stops your ship from moving off that spot until sails are raised again, or a storm approaches. By doing this you can prevent your ship from drifting to far, by stopping it exactly where you want it to be, and pivot the ship (with sails up) to face the best wind direction for a quick departure.
-
ALWAYS pivot the ship after docking to utilise the current wind direction for the quickest departure and adjust the sails accordingly.
EVADING
It will always be difficult evading a good crew, but smart sailing and good tactics are no match for the sheer will to destroy.
AGAINST THE GALLEON
-
NEVER drop the anchor.
-
The galleon is faster with the wind behind its sails but slower facing directly into the wind, giving the sloop the advantage here.
-
Manoeuvrability is also not the galleons strong suit, and should be exploited as much as possible.
-
As escaping the galleon can be time consuming, it’s a good idea to head in the opposite direction to where you want to go, and lead them further away from it.
-
A good tactic is to start by leading them in the direction you want to go, but then when they get close turn 180 degrees and circle around them to gain more distance before leading them away from your desired location.
-
Raising sails while turning makes for tighter turns but at a huge risk that you want to avoid. If you’re too close the galleon can also turn in time to ram you, or failing that, players from the galleon can use the sword lunge attack to board your ship.
-
Another trick is when they’re close to you begin turning slowly in one direction, and then when you see them matching it, raise sails half mast and quickly turn in the opposite direction. They should swing right past you affording you the maximum time it takes for them to turn around again and carry on the pursuit.
-
When heading in the opposite direction from where you want to go, the perfect scenario will have the wind behind your sails allowing you to make good distance before the galleon catches up to you. As we know the galleon is quicker than the sloop with the wind behind its sails so when they finally catch up, doing another 180 degree turn back into the direction you want to go, will put them at a severe disadvantage when turning back into the wind and possibly demoralise them enough into giving up the chase.
-
Islands and rocks can also be used as a means to increase distance and out manoeuvre tailing ships by circling them, then anticipating the ships reaction to break line of sight and head in a different direction.
-
If you get one of those relentless blood thirsty crews that just won’t quit, provided you have no treasure aboard, there’s other ways to lose them. By “ghost riding the ship” (jumping off after you’ve set a course) you can smugly watch as they obliviously pass you by in the sea, and then scuttle the ship at your hearts content.
-
One better, is to have them sail directly behind you, then use the sword lunge attack to board their ship and drop the anchor. If you have enough distance between the two ships, this is worth attempting in any scenario.
-
2 much more riskier strategies (that can backfire quite badly) are to lure them next to a skeleton fort and then circle around it, or lead them to other players ships and hope that they attack each other and forget about you.
-
If they get too close to you when you decide it’s a lost cause and time to bail, turn the ship so the left side is facing them, then go down the stairs to the ships map and from there the window closest to the stairs on the right side of the sloop. You’ll be able to see the prompt for grabbing hold onto the ladder, this will take you outside of the sloop without them seeing and allow you to slip away quietly.
AGAINST ANOTHER SLOOP
-
Combat is the only way to get rid of them for sure.
-
As an evenly matched vessel your only hope is to out sail them. There’s no tactics you can do that will give you an advantage, as anything you can do they can also do.
COMBAT
Tactics will vary upon the skill level of your opponents, so this section is more like a set of guidelines than actual strategies. Taking on a galleon is possible but ill advised, and I’d definitely wait until you’ve sunken a couple of sloops before trying to attempt it.
-
NEVER drop the anchor.
-
Make sure you fill up on all supplies before going into battle.
-
It’s a good idea to keep one explosive barrel at the bottom of the stairs to the left (in front of the brig) just out of view when walking down. As a last resort you can fall back below deck and shoot it when another player comes down.
-
Less is more, sails at half-mast means a tighter turning radius and more time to deliver cannon fire. (you don’t want to be too slow though)
-
The best distance for accurately landing cannon shots without becoming an easy target is between 2-3 sloop ship lengths.
-
Don’t get too close and watch the seas for players attempting to swim over.
-
NEVER sail directly next to the side of a ship.
-
Remember to account for movement when firing shots, yours as well as theirs. Leading the shot according to where they’re going to be is good, but when they’re stationary and you’re moving, even a shot on target will still travel with your movement.
-
If you’ve taken fire and the ship’s filling up with water, you’re best to sail away from your opponent first so that you can patch up without taking any additional damage. If you need to, lower the sails fully to gain more distance before patching.
-
If you’ve got multiple holes and the ships filling up at an alarming rate, ignore the holes and bail out water until it’s at a manageable level. You can bail quicker than the ship takes on water but patching is a lot slower than bailing.
-
Holes at the front of the ship should be dealt with first, as holes at the rear take on water at a much slower rate.
So that’s it, I hope this was able to help some of you that have found sailing alone in the sloop frustrating, and I hope you’ve learnt something that can make your time on the seas a bit more enjoyable. Just remember that not every ship you see out there has to be a confrontation, some of us are friendly ; )
