A head on collision with an island at full speed should cause catastrophic damage

Speed, ship size and all that should be a factor in how much damage you take. I've seen galleons hit an island on purpose just to stop and turn faster to chase my lil sloop.

Yes, we need this.
Too many times I've been in a crew that use these things to get around faster. Like...crashing into an island just to turn your boat quicker? Come on.

Intentionally crashing is a great Solo fighting trick!

I use partial collisions to pull instant ±90 degree turns and then fire directly into the bow of my pursuant. Watch Towers and Rocks work very well for this.

You can leave the Steering Wheel at "forward" and adjust the sail ahead of time to the new course right before impact. Your Sloop will come out of the collision at roughly a 90 degree angle with "full sail". So it will pick up speed quickly. But not too quickly because...

... you are on your Cannon laying into them with CC's and Cannonballs. You'll have plenty of time to run downstairs and "fix" the one or two small holes after you've sailed off with a much bigger lead. They probably won't sink, but with shots to the anchor, mast or an Anchorball they will be dead in the water. I've actually sunk a few ships this way too when I got some lucky Cannon shots in on the enemy Crew.

So practice those Collisions in your free time! Once you get the feel for it it's an awesome. If you have a second cremate with a Powder Keg it's a "sure win"!

@guilleont said in A head on collision with an island at full speed should cause catastrophic damage:

@viperishemu2992 yes, you can use as a tactic but it's a cheap one. Anyway, now you have the harpoons to do so.

Anything that you do with a harpoon your pursuant can mimic. My trick catches my opponent totally off-guard because they think I've crashed because I'm a NOOB or they wonder if I am "in the water" trying to board them. Basically they just don't know what is going on? And in that moment of their confusion I strike!

“mystify, mislead, and surprise the enemy”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

There's nothing "cheap" about it? It's tactically pure genius. Just ask Sun Tzu. The master himself.

It's not my fault that Rare made the collision damage mechanic the way that it is.... but that's how the game is my friend. It's pretty weak sauce of you to call my trick "cheap" when it's actually a master stroke. Don't hate the player, hate the game.

@guilleont said in A head on collision with an island at full speed should cause catastrophic damage:

@viperishemu2992 Wow... that answer was large! I should go grab a drink before star reading.

I'm back with my drink... to me it's cheap because you are using a mechanic that not should work that way due to a bad design... (read below). What it makes it kind of an exploit.

It's not my fault that Rare made the collision damage mechanic the way that it is....

So, yes to your point, it's a legit technique as any one else. A master technique?? If you say so... and you are happy with it, who am I to contradict a war master?

I wouldn't call it an "exploit" any more than squaring your sails against the wind in a Sloop to actually go faster. But if you want to call it an "exploit" that's your definition. Rare seem happy with it at the moment. (they might re-balance ship damage again?). I just play the game that they give me.

What is a little "cheap" is 3 or 4 people chasing down a 1 person on a slower, weaker vessel. I would be crazy not to use every trick and tactic at my disposal to even-the-odds a little bit.

Perhaps what you are calling "cheap" others would call "sane"?

@guilleont Crashing into an island to turn yourself is not really an exploit (I see what you mean but it really isn't that bad). Is it intended? Most likely not, but it is a perfectly legit strategy, it isn't anything like "double-gunning" (I mean double tapping, not using two guns) Since that was straight up ridiculous and yeah.
If your opponent crashing into an island to turn causes you to sink then guess what, you are doing something wrong since they shouldn't be able to use that to gain on you in the first place.
From what it sounds like this is probably just as efficient if not slightly more efficient as anchor turning with 2 people, it turns you around but instead of slowing you down it just gives you a few holes to patch.
I do agree that they should make it very devastating to crash into an island though. At the moment islands (along with volcanos, but that is for another time) are more of an annoyance to crash into than something actually devastating, now it takes what, 2 seconds to patch the holes max so they really need to buff the damage it produces, they should really buff the damage almost everything produces.

@dreadpirate9200
I bet rare is afraid of doing it because they don't want to scare away starting players who fumble around trying to release anchor on a sloop. There has to be some reason why it was nerfed.

I agree the damage is well nerfed but.... I'm not sure it would improve a positive playing experience. One thing I love is getting into a hardcore battle and have ships manuvering, firing cannons, jumping off to try and board, etc. At the end of the fight it seems like you earned the win, or justified the loss. To battle someone across the map and end up hitting an island or sandbar and it creates catastrophic damage, the fight was decided by the environment, vice the other player. It doesn't make sense that you ram into an island and don't take horrid damage, I completely agree. For the player experience, I think it adds value to not having your ship sink. If you decide to park your ship on an island, you usually get more than a hole as you grind off it. It still gives you a shot at surviving to continue the fight. As the attacker, you get an extreme advantage over the crashed ship already. Easy to board, a stopped Target to shoot etc. By increasing the damage to the ship from crashing, you take away the player influence in the fight, as well as shorting the engagement.

With the introduction of gunpowder barrels mixed in with the floating barrels, it feels like there are landmines sitting there. When you hit one while you've been fighting for 10min, it really takes the fun out of the fight because the environment was a large deciding factor. The chance that you hit powder barrels is far lower than if you upped the damage from crashing to %100.

From a new player standpoint, it's already a lot of information to learn how to sail and manuver a ship. You are going to crash into an island. For the inexperienced players, it would lesson the enjoyment to have your ship sink because you made a mistake.

I agree that the damage is silly when you hit an island, but ship manuvering is the foundation of the game. If you make the learning curve too high, you won't get as many players to stick to the game for a long period of time. I believe the learning curve should remain gradual and I think it's in a good place for now.

😊
-facehuggybear