I suck at shooting cannons. Tips? And what about grape and chain shots?

Best way to practice is definitely shooting at fort towers as you sail by. or anchor your ship near an island that has cannons. The latter only helps if the enemy ship is stationary, but will help you with general aiming. There isn't a great way to sight the enemy ship. It comes down to feel after awhile. I'm not great, but slowly getting better.

Its all about getting used to the rythym of the waves and learning how the shots will act when you are at speed or are turning, if you can gauge distance, speed of the target and yourself, angle of your turn and their turn, and have already learned how the cannon trajectory itself works (aim lower and behind further than you think at close range and lead targets at Longer ranges when moving) and then put them all together, you’ll be fine. Lol, easier said than done I know. It is a lot about just getting the feel for the cannon before you can add all these variables. Precision beats power, timing beats speed. An example is a 4 player broadside even if accurate will be no good if one player strafes their top deck with cannonballs knocking them off, while 2 others repair and one stays at the helm. The mundane tasks of the ship often are more important than all players being crack shots with the cannon. Though it does help.

As of now boarding and clearing a ship at the same time as firing on it is the only sure way to sink a ship, otherwise the mechanics are designed as such that it’s a battle of attrition until someone makes a bolder move than a drive by cannoning.

@gholin

One big thing to keep in mind is that the waves DO NOT stop your cannon shot. You can shoot right through them. Imagine the enemy ship in your mind and ignore the water.

@A-Cranky-Eskimo

Boarding and clearing help, but isnt the only way to sink a ship. Four man crew firing 11 shots each into a ship for a total of 44 shots in less than 30 seconds will sink any ship, I dont care how many people you have repairing.

Lots if great tips below. At full speed for either ship - aim where they will be, not where they are. It's going to be a lot of "trial & error" - just practice!

@shisizle have had that exact thing happen to me and my crew, we waited until the volley was over as 3 bailed and one drove, we repaired as he repositioned and it amounted to them wasting 40 cannonballs, as we had 2 fire we had 2 board and promptly sunk them. Again, precision beats power and timing beats speed. Quoting the double champ who they still havnt stripped after 2 years without a ufc bout! Haha

Not saying ships havnt gone down in droves without us boarding, but it comes down to the other crews incompetence or luck with cannon ball kills more than it being a sure thing with any sized volley.

As @Shisizle said, waves don't stop cannonballs, don't be afraid to shoot through the waves. Use the enemy's masts to adjust your aim.
Learn to time your shots with the waves movement, if your ship goes up while you're shooting, your cannonball will fly way above your target.
To improve accuracy, don't be afraid to lower your speed (expecially on a galleon): raise some of your sails. You'll be a easier target but a ship at full speed has very little accuracy and time to hit you. Let them go faster. A galleon can easily sustain a few shots, so slow down, put 3 men at the cannons (4 if you don't need the helmsman), hit hard and don't worry too much of incoming fire. Hit the low decks, then the middle ones. Most of the crews will repair the lower deck and ignore the middle one, but if they don't repair the lower in time, they'll be in big troubles.
Targeting the main deck to reduce incoming fire is a good option too, dead cannoneers don't shoot (and won't go downstairs to repair the ship).

@shisizle not wholly true, while youd be likely to kill the crew with that volley should you not they would be able to keep up with the damage, the key is bailing my brother and i tested it last stress test and sailed the sloop around in the red sea breaking every available hole into the ship and we were easily able to keep it afloat by just bailing water. I cant speak for the galleon as I have yet to personally test the limits of its dmg but unles you kill the crew on a 2 person sloop you can sail it through any amount of dmg

Fun fact if you sail far enough off the map your boat just dies

Waves don't outright stop your shot either. You can blow right through em from time to time and hit a ship on the other side.

@bookoftheblade

It used to teleport you off your boat into the water if you sailed too far, I wonder if they changed it.

@shisizle yeah you get a white screen and your in the water as the boat sinks