Fire Bomb Spam. How effective?

  • Shadow20642
    Marauder
    Insider

    Let's assume I have tons and tons of fire bombs on board my solo sloop and I'm up against another crew...

    Instead of firing cannon balls, instead I fire fire bombs.
    Tons and tons of them.

    I'm theory the fire should kill the crew, down the mast enabling me to shoot holes in a crippled ship and a damaged crew.

    But does it work?

    If you were pelted with tons and tons of fire what would you do to counter? Would being overwhelmed with fire even stop you in out manoeuvring and out-fighting another ship if the fire was out of control?

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  • WolfManbush
    Champion

    Fire in general is an effective tool but only using fire will only work on crews that aren't very good at playing

    Even unskilled pirates can fumble their way into being able to handle a solo slooper shooting only fire

    exception would be pirates carrying kegs around

    every now and again you send that firebomb in and 2 seconds later they are landing on the moon because they gambled with kegs and lost

  • CotU42
    Lord
    Insider

    @daringclarky

    When I expect combat I tend to have a full bucket and food, usually with cannonballs. It takes a long time for fire to impose any true risk unless you are carrying kegs.

    Any experienced crew should not panic at the ship being engulfed by flames. It looks more intimidating than its actual impact. I am not stating that fire is not at all impactful, it does add pressure that one places on the crew. Just on its own it is not a big concern. Usually fire is the lowest on my list of priorities to deal with, as well as something that when bailing water can be a side objective.

    It is in my views more of a distraction and a manner in weakening the opponents. Adds additional tasks and might alleviate the amount of pressure they can return on you, which is naturally beneficial.

  • William Flint
    Commander
    Insider

    @daringclarky fire on it's own takes forever to do damage. I have found the best application is when you have already done a decent amount of damage and the other crew has alot of repairs to do, then setting half their ship on fire becomes a major headache for them, forcing them to stop repairs to either put out fires or eat food so they don't die.

    The only time I set a ship on fire to start a fight is when I find one at an island with no crew on it, just on the principle that there is nothing more demoralizing than having to run back to an already ablaze ship and get it into action from scratch.

  • Scorp2821
    Marauder
    Insider

    Fire has different spots on the ship where it can be lit, so there can only be so much fire on the ship at one time, theres no point shooting 2 fire bombs in the one spot.

  • Scorp2821
    Marauder
    Insider

    So if a good crew filled their bottom deck a little they would have a “safe zone” and they would prioritise saving the mast so it would essentially just be an annoyance. Also fire does friendly fire so theres no point boarding the enemy ship. In theory it could kill a really bad crew if u where really good but if they where that bad u may as well just cannon them

  • NeedSmokes
    Commander

    When I get the chance to sail with my regular crew, towards the end of a session we will sometimes set ourselves ablaze and then continue hunt down other ships to fight.
    A fire drill if you will. At this point in the session we will have quality food in storage crates all over the ship and the fire doesn't really bother us at all. We have yet to be sunk by another crew doing this.
    It's hilarious fun and invaluable practice for when players do use fire against you.
    Will occasionally run arena matches like this too.

  • Psyche Titan
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @DaringClarky I don't use firebombs as a main attack. I use it more to blanket the enemies deck to get them off cannons and to split their attention for things like holes and downed masts.

  • Xultanis Dragon
    Sailor

    @daringclarky

    Fire is actually a very under utilized option in naval combat. Players use it all the time when they miss a board but fire is crazy good in combat with cannons.

    When the fire hits the deck where the player is shooting cannons 2 things is about to happen. They have to go downstairs to get water and they have to eat to replenish their health. You have effectively taken them off cannons for a good while. Now lets say you hit their top deck with a good spread of firebombs and you start hitting them with cannons. Now the crew has to focus on repairs and can't get back on cannons because you have the advantage. If they get on cannons while on fire chances of them dying is very high, so they will try to put out the fire first but since you hit them with good spread the fire will hit tier 2 and spread hard. So now they are basically running defense the whole time. If someone was stupid enough to hop off to try and board you, that just hurts the ship even more because now they are a man down while in a defensive position.

    When I utilize fire in combat, it is deadly to the point I think its overpowered.

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