Solo brig/sloop tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves

  • Decided to try another method of gaining rep. Yesterday I was running from every ship and most left after I informed them of what I was doing, only running away and out sailing them. They'd leave or give chase for 45 minutes to 1 or 2 hours for some. Today I tried a solo brig and a bit of gally.

    After going at it for a few hours here are the numbers:
    Day 1:
    Queue times for brigs are the fastest, quickest to get a match.
    Always entered with no emissary at a grade 0, if I did win I lowered at an Outpost.
    Always lift anchor and start moving away from islands ASAP.
    You must be sunk by either enemy players, NPCs or keg (you can use it on your own ship even). Scuttle or flee the zone and you wont get the rep.
    Won 5 battles from players leaving (gives only half a level @ grade 0, if I'm not mistaken when they leave the zone), 1 of the wins being a solo brig vs solo brig.
    Losing 13-14 games under 45 minutes will net you 1 full level.
    AFKing while searching for a match will kick and give you "Lazybeard"
    Out of about 50+ crews I'd say about 7 killed on sight without question of what I was doing.
    I got matched with certain teams more then once, one team 3 times. They knew the drill and we chilled while they asked about my rep grind.
    During peak 1 minute queue times for Reapers you can approximately cut that time down to 30 minutes per level.
    Empty all your supplies and they sink you faster.
    Had 1 battle start with me caught in the middle from 2 invaders right after I won a battle. I helped the fellow Reaper sink the Athena.

    Day 2:
    You can get the same crew multiple times, now on day 2 of doing this I got one crew 5 times in a row.
    Throwing fire down, anchor and prep for battle as they try to board to take your supplies.
    You will in fact continue getting the same amount of rep per loss all the way to 100, contrary to what others have said.
    MMR seems to be grouping low win rate crews with 5-6 wins and 20 losses or entirely new to the Battle crews that are just starting to PvP.

    Day 3:
    Still getting quick queues the entire time at 1 minute if that.
    Getting crews that are still new to the battle or low W/L ratio.
    Switching to a "Sailor" outfit helps crews end you faster and not even take your supplies.
    Allowing the enemy to fill the side of your boat with holes and not anchoring might be the faster play if you slow down at the start I'm seeing.
    Seeing the message "An opponent could not be found, use the war map to search for a new battle"
    The queue timer is majorly off tonight with its timing or something, got the same team 20* times (Edit: Matched up more against them more)so far back to back with an original from my first night another 5 times earlier.

    Day 4:
    Queues are either great and instant or I sit there 2-3 minutes
    Finding you sink faster with buckets being tossed in with a few holes, I've found online its 1% per bucket

    Day 5:
    Level 50 at the end of day 4. First match I get is another solo brig. I defeat them and earn 1 and a quarter of a level taking me into 51.
    Region is playing a major part in the queues.
    Team wins is what seems to be the next factor.
    Still facing nothing but end game Pirate Legends who also have maxxed out rep.
    Queues can bug out. Streamers are being told to lower at 4 wins. Yet I sit in a queue for 5 minutes when it says less than 1 minute? Drop queue and try again.
    If the above method still doesn't find a game then I suggest leaving game and start a new lobby.

    Day 6:
    Queue times can be crazy, I think switching to another size boat with a lower queue time might help speed things up
    We are now at a rate after 50-55 of 1/28th of a level per loss.
    Ended my solo runs at 60 and went to 72 on a sloop crew.
    I'm now getting a rate of 1/32 after 70.

    Day 7
    Current rate is 1/28 of a level per loss
    Check page 3 for the table of some numbers of XP per level. ( Credit to OndrejBakan)
    Got to 76 and called it early, XpRequiredToAttain Level 77: 15788

    Day 8
    Got to level 80 solo brig, tired of low rep I switched to solo sloop to 85
    Friend got on and we finished the night at 95 and a half with duos, 2 wins to 96 and almost there.
    Xp Required To Attain 97: 17271
    Was able to finish the rest running some more solo sloops to 100.

    I know going solo sloop and getting the early jump on someone can net more in a matter of minutes but I wanted to chill and watch the final 5 episodes of The Walking Dead without having to focus too much. This was all done remotely using a wireless Xbox controller and Steam Link to my PC from the couch or on PC.

    F.A.Q's

    Q: Why are you doing this?
    A: Easy passive rep without complete focus while I watch TV, go outside with remote play or use the toilet.

    Q: Why a brig? Why not sloop or gally?
    A: Faster queues at times and get sunk faster vs a solo sloop where people run away.

    Q: How much do you earn?
    A: About 1 level per 30 minutes with decent queue times. Can jump to 45 minutes or an hour if queues die/bug out, thats mostly at the early morning hours.

    Credit to @OndrejBakan for the XP table with another XP tracked Google doc from him on page 3.

    • 560 xp for losing

    • 4200 xp for win

    • 4675 for 2nd win in a row

    • 5160 for 3rd win in a row

    • 5688 for 4th win in a row

    • 6600 for 5th win in a row

    Q: You get more from winning don't you?
    A: Yes but I would have to solo sloop, collect supplies, focus, sink them ect ect

    Q: How do you get games so fast?
    A: 3 factors: Region, # Guardians in queue with 0-20ish wins and speed you can get into queue.

    Q: How do you get sunk so fast?
    A: Sword to your brig, bring anchor up first, sails down and queue ASAP. Once in a game try to stop at the start near seagulls, might have a keg you can harpoon. Explain quickly to the other team you're doing a solo brig strat and go from there. Rinse and repeat.

    Q: What level at you now?
    A: Just hit level 52(at time of writing and getting a free win) at the start of night 5 of doing this. Day 1 of update I was running away from ships for wins.

    Q: Are you playing at all?
    A: I'm playing the entire time, talking with other pirates and helping them out with supplies. When my crew gets on is when the try hard pants get put on.

    Q: Doesn't it get boring?
    A: I'm earning rep, some gold from the wins I do get and having a good time while at sea with other pirates. What else could I ask for besides the curse at 100. Plus I play with a crew later in night for a bit.

    Q: Deranking in other games is frowned upon isn't that what you're are doing?
    A: I'm playing the game at a low entry level against pirates who have many hours in the game. If anything its getting them closer to a curse while I get a tiny bit for just being there. A participation trophy.

    Q: Wouldn't it boost the other team higher then they should be?
    A: Not to a point that it would really matter due to regions, queue time and them just moving on to actual try hard pirates at their level.

    Q: How are you getting wins as a solo brig?
    A: I'll battle other solo brigs. 7-0 W/L at the moment. While also getting some rep from ships also losing/sailing out of bounds or free sinks doing what I'm doing. I've also found sometimes when I invade there is an empty ship parked at outposts for a free win, got 2 to 3 of those so far.

    Q: Why Servants of the Flame first?
    A: Queue times are faster and I want that skeleton curse.

    Q: What about Guardian rep?
    A: I'm level 20 almost with accidental queues and playing a bit with my crew.

    Q: How many games have you lost?
    A: My guess is about 350 or so.

    Q: How do you play remotely?
    A: Steam Link app or Xbox Remote play. Pair my Xbox controller to my phone or PC when I'm home. Astro A50s to talk in game if others talk to me or chat features/emotes while using my phone.

    Q: How do I give more?
    A: Find storage crates on a beach? Fill them up with your supplies and some teams will understand to not bucket your brig and let nature run it's course.

    Final Notes on Servants side 📝:

    Was a fun little experiment. It can be done purely 100% with losses but takes forever. It felt like I earned 75% of my levels from the wins in very little time and 25% from giving away wins over a long period of time.

    Had I tried the entire time it would have gone faster, hence the final push solo sloop and with my crew as we got near 100.

    alt text
    Now for the Guardians of Athena Fortune next:

    Edit:

    Decided I'm getting it with a sloop and trying for just wins. While I watch separately The Walking Dead.

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  • people thinking wins/losses give you a % of a lvl instead of a fixed point value. Think of the levels as experience. So lets say lvl 1 you need 100 exp to hit lvl 2. a loss would give you 25xp while a win would give you 100 xp. So you might think ok its 4 losses per level. But like in most games with exp systems it increases per lvl so for example if it doubles per lvl then 2-3 would be 8 losses, 3-4 would be 16. Just like the other factions where handing in a castaway chest might grant you a whole lvl when you first started the game once your say lvl 20 a castaway chest gives you so little you think "why am I even picking these things up its a waste of time even bringing it back to the ship"

    So the losing our way to 100 tactic is going to be a pretty long grind. That 30 minutes a lvl might turn into 3-4 hours per lvl assuming que times don't start to get out of hand.

    I was curious about the afking out during match making though. Don't think they envisioned the waits being so long that this would happen. I have just been doing milestones while in the tunnel since the game seems to auto cancel sleeping before the afk timer would kick me.

    Not hating on the strat though. For me I gauge how the battle is going off the first few minutes if I think its going to be an annoying long fight I just throw it. Like adding a commendation to sail miles on a pirate legend voyage after you had already hit max level. well guess its time to just sail up and down the map while watching netflix for days. Funny the times I would get chased with people not realizing all I was doing was working on miles. Thank god for multiple screens.

  • @magus104 is that confirmed somewhere? So far its worked out great tonight going from level 5 to 20 almost without having to stress a single bit with my crew. I wanted rep and it's the best way to get it when I'm watching stuff. Plus if anything from what I hear they have a MMR that I'm sure has tanked till I'm actually playing that I wanna put through the tests.

    I'm not sure what I enjoy more... a silly game of cat and mouse solo slooping, intense 1v1 solo sloop fight or insta win with a head on crash and blunder bomb, solo brig strat, 3 man brig or the 2 hour long fight I just had with another solo brig lol...they ran so much. I had to bait them with my sails up, shoot my self over and finally got close enough to kill them about 10 times and drive the boat out.

    If anything Rare needs some time limits in place.

  • You'll also get easier matches when you finally do decide to actually fight. Normally in games, you get punished for intentionally deranking, however I'm not sure that fits the "tools not rules" design philosophy.....

  • @mrat13 I mean I do fight depending on the circumstances. But most the time I get sent to the ferry when they start to shoot my anchored ship and I call out to them. If anything I wish we could get a better understanding of what rank or place we are and if the derank method even works in this mode.

  • @mouse-n-keybord I mean its how every other trade company works. At lvl 1 a loss was 1/4 a lvl it's been giving me less and less as I've worked my way up to 10 so I imagine it works just like all the other trade companies. Though since the game doesn't tell us values of things it seems more like a generic exp system like with trade company loot you could assume the amount of gold = the amount of rep you would get since items have a value range that's why 1 skull might give you a bit more rep than another of the same type. Then again I recall my friends having a similar issue gaining athena levels to where 2 chests got us to a sliver from level or something so perhaps the values were fixed per item type either that or you needed 2 max payout athena chests to hit that first level?

    If the rep was tied to gold value though you would see bigger gains off bigger streak hand ins which doesn't seem to be the case because streaks are paying out huge gold but from the 1 streamer I watched they didn't think it was worth going for streaks as much as just get 2 wins, hand in hourglass, hand in emissary, re-raise both and repeat.

    Sadly we will never have hard numbers as Rare never reveals this stuff but I do feel like my first few wins didn't increase my level as much. So my win values are going up and my loss values are going down from what it appears.

  • @magus104 happen to know the streamer? I'd like to see the level and how much they gain.

  • @magus104 Talked with a streamer tonight and they said exactly what I was hoping for.. We will continue to get 1/14th of a level per loss all the way to 100. The guy was 3 levels from finishing his Guardians rep.

    EDIT:

    This information is outdated and incorrect. You do in fact receive less as you level up. Currently at 70+ at a rate of 1/32 of a level per loss.

  • Sounds awful. I'd rather have fun.

  • Mouse and keyboard you are cringe af

  • @ajm123 I'm actually enjoying it more on day 2 then yesterday. Even faster insta queues, more pirates are talking to me about the method and I finished season 11 of The Walking Dead. Plus I'm noticing Guardians have a 6-10 minute queue time with some saying they've say in queue for 20+ minutes.

    Couple more nights and I should have level 100 without any issues and I'm starting Fear the Walking Dead next. :)

  • @ussain-botte Hope your time in the forums is a good one, off to a great start.

  • omg stop posting your dumb strats its painful to read

  • LOLZ, I am doing the same thing.

    Eventually I give them the win, but I am noticing that people that are good at shooting are terrible a sailing and positioning most of the time.

    U can also keg yourself or put your boat on fire if you want ultimate giggles. The other side usually doesn't know what is happening.

  • @ussain-botte Then block me and go away. Didn't your mother teach you if you don't have anything nice to say? Learn to avoid commenting if things bother you.

  • @licenturion said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    LOLZ, I am doing the same thing.

    Eventually I give them the win, but I am noticing that people that are good at shooting are terrible a sailing and positioning most of the time.

    U can also keg yourself or put your boat on fire if you want ultimate giggles. The other side usually doesn't know what is happening.

    I enjoy the crews I run into multiple times and already know it's me. They stop cannons and come to chat, I love it. Some people are hating on the fact that you get rep while not trying as if it messes with them personally or destroys their MMR.

  • @mouse-n-keybord said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    @licenturion said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    LOLZ, I am doing the same thing.

    Eventually I give them the win, but I am noticing that people that are good at shooting are terrible a sailing and positioning most of the time.

    U can also keg yourself or put your boat on fire if you want ultimate giggles. The other side usually doesn't know what is happening.

    I enjoy the crews I run into multiple times and already know it's me. They stop cannons and come to chat, I love it. Some people are hating on the fact that you get rep while not trying as if it messes with them personally or destroys their MMR.

    Yeah, I met a guy earlier who was so happy he got a big free streak and said, 'I am never going to forget you'. Some asked if there is a secret glitch, they don't know yet about.
    I had more positive interactions this week than 5 years of sailing. lol

  • So you're saying intentionally queueing solo brig and losing is faster to level up the factions than queueing to win because you'll be queueing faster after every loss?

  • So original poster is going to end up with ghost curse from watching the walking dead on TV and I am going to get spawn camped and ship run out of bounds and get zero rep when I try to fight after sitting in 30 minute+ queue times? Is that what I am learning?

  • @navillicious said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    So you're saying intentionally queueing solo brig and losing is faster to level up the factions than queueing to win because you'll be queueing faster after every loss?

    Winning is way faster. This is basically a no stress, watching TV while away from my PC using the Xbox Remote Play app or Steam Link to remotely play while using my phone. Xbox controller and Astro A50s to chat if people try talking to me. Winning will net you 5 times more or greater with your grade/emmy flag but you also either need to spend time getting supplies, queue times and try to win.

    I'm watching TV while earning rep and chatting with cool pirates.

  • @mouse-n-keybord Yeah so my thought process with that is sure, you get more xp for winning which makes sense, but fights can take upwards of an hour if both ships know what they are doing so you can get a bunch of xp for the win with about let's say 20-30 minutes of fighting OR you can possibly get more xp in that same amount of time for anchoring your ship and letting the other ship sink you then re-queueing right? That's all taking queue times into consideration assuming you get fights near-instantly but if the brig queues are faster than solo sloop queues which can be between 2-10 minutes you could probably make more progress throwing fights rather than spending time trying to win the fight right?

  • @navillicious said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    @mouse-n-keybord Yeah so my thought process with that is sure, you get more xp for winning which makes sense, but fights can take upwards of an hour if both ships know what they are doing so you can get a bunch of xp for the win with about let's say 20-30 minutes of fighting OR you can possibly get more xp in that same amount of time for anchoring your ship and letting the other ship sink you then re-queueing right? That's all taking queue times into consideration assuming you get fights near-instantly but if the brig queues are faster than solo sloop queues which can be between 2-10 minutes you could probably make more progress throwing fights rather than spending time trying to win the fight right?

    From what I've been noticing today is that I'm only getting new crews in the Battle update. I've lost over 100+ solo brig games and most the teams have about 2-5 wins and 5 losses or so. But yes you are correct that if you end up collecting supplies, battling for almost an hour and all you get is 1/14th vs the 2-3ish minutes and I'm not even trying for that same amount. When the queues are sub 30 seconds I get the 1 level per 25-30 minutes if I'm fast, close boat respawns, quick return to the boat with a sword and kegs hitting my boat for a faster loss.

    On the other side of the coin if you try, win multiple times then you are ranking up much much faster but you have to be prepared and ready to fight.

  • @mouse-n-keybord you do you. They need to tweak matchmaking imo so people get quicker matches imo but since this probably will be last PvP update for awhile...might as well treat it like its your last

  • @ajm123 Thats exactly what I'm doing, slow going while I'm solo till my crew jumps on. After hearing from few others talk about how they are 80-100+ wins and the match making only gets worse I think this 350+ loss insta queue has been a blessing for easy rep.

  • @mouse-n-keybord said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    I'm watching TV while earning rep and chatting with cool pirates.

    on one hand this season 8 journey you are on gets me to old man clint eastwood slow head shake side to side

    on the other I dig that you are fighting for your right to party

    I dig the roller coaster ride

  • @wolfmanbush said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    @mouse-n-keybord said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    I'm watching TV while earning rep and chatting with cool pirates.

    on one hand this season 8 journey you are on gets me to old man clint eastwood slow head shake side to side

    on the other I dig that you are fighting for your right to party

    I dig the roller coaster ride

    What better way then to hand out some supplies, a free win and have a music party maybe and chat with cool people while I watch Fear the Walking Dead now! But really it's been a wild ride when I get matched solo brig vs solo brig. Those are the fights that I've enjoyed the most as crazy as it sounds.

  • @mouse-n-keybord

    Have you had a chance to go fishing?

    Battlegills in the battle zone???

  • @pithyrumble said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    @mouse-n-keybord

    Have you had a chance to go fishing?

    Battlegills in the battle zone???

    I've only fished up everything to get my Hunter's Call to 50 never really did it again. I know I wanted that glow in the dark fishing line so I just might get into fishing more with this update! I did get a crew all fishing while on an open gally once at a sea post.

  • @mouse-n-keybord

    I love the absolute shenanigans unleashed with this update.
    I got an Ancient skelly while not Hourglassed...

  • Whatever happened to playing a game to enjoy it?
    I'm sure many are happy to get the easy win. Me, I'm in it for the fun of the battle, win or lose and would be disappointed to encounter someone farming losses for xp.
    AFK farming to achieve your goal of the rewards says a lot about your character. Hope it brings you happiness.

  • I truly feel that this method is pretty good. Because I just waited an hour and 28 minutes for the fifth match after four consecutive wins with Brigantine. The flag was lowered in the middle and raised again three times, but it was not matched. This may not be a bad way

  • I hope They don't blame him too much This may be a strategy for extremely friendly PvE players to survive in PvP. I've seen a lot of users repeating Afk, and now this is a problem with the system, which is hard to see as their personal problem.They don't want PvP, but there's only one way to raise the level of new faction. And as others say, he can do what he wants If you don't want PvP, you don't want PvP, and if you want to participate in Season 8, it's his freedom to do it or not because it's theoretically possible to reach level 100.

  • @needsmokes said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    Whatever happened to playing a game to enjoy it?
    I'm sure many are happy to get the easy win. Me, I'm in it for the fun of the battle, win or lose and would be disappointed to encounter someone farming losses for xp.
    AFK farming to achieve your goal of the rewards says a lot about your character. Hope it brings you happiness.

    I'm not afk. I'm here 100% of the time. Be it on my phone through the Steam Link and my wireless controller. I talk to everyone that talks to me. Been friendly and never once toxic. The 1v1 brigs I've fought and won every time. So far got 11 or so wins with one just a while ago against a ship at an outpost empty and full of crates.

    Kinda weird how some teams have 100+ wins, full PLs and have been playing for years still getting me on a repeat basis in my region. They are a bit upset about it but tonight being the 3rd night of them getting me have started to be chill and talk.

  • @fretfulelk45403 said in Solo brig tests in The Battle for the Sea of Thieves:

    I hope They don't blame him too much This may be a strategy for extremely friendly PvE players to survive in PvP. I've seen a lot of users repeating Afk, and now this is a problem with the system, which is hard to see as their personal problem.They don't want PvP, but there's only one way to raise the level of new faction. And as others say, he can do what he wants If you don't want PvP, you don't want PvP, and if you want to participate in Season 8, it's his freedom to do it or not because it's theoretically possible to reach level 100.

    Some have said that what I'm doing is against the spirit of the game, with it being a PvP event. But my crew isn't on and I don't want to do this on open crew. They could have put a required crew vote of 3 to start the event on a brig maybe? I'm still enjoying the conversations I'm having with a vast majority of crews vs arena and even think they mostly get a kick out of getting a free win, I know I do.

  • What you are doing is very much in the spirit of the game...

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