(Oh man, here comes another Man O'War suggestion ...) The Man O'War has been mentioned dozens of times, and generally it's been mentioned as a player ship. It only got me thinking about it when a friend of mine suggested, "what if it was a boss battle instead?" And to me, that's a golden idea. But only if it's carried out proper. Enter Sea of Thieves' first mobile skeleton fort!!
THE MOBILE SKELETON FORT: THE MAN O'WAR
The Man O'War would be a true challenge for crews sailing the high seas, as it is a unique battle that requires both a hearty crew of experienced boarders and crewmen to bring the structure down. These are just ideas of how it would function, as imagined in my head:
OBJECTIVE: Board, and loot the Man O'War before it sinks into the briny depths!
Phase One: Rising out of the depths of the sea, the Man O'War ascends from the waters, armed to the teeth with skeletons! It boasts five decks, four cannons on deck two and four cannons on deck three sticking out of respective portholes for limited angling, but massive firepower on each side, for a total of eight cannons per side. Four boarding ladders, two per side. Occasionally, from deck three, sea mines will be dropped into the water, to destroy any boats attempting to follow it. And if that wasn't enough, decks four and five are armored, with reinforced upper decks, making sinking this ship impossible. The toughest part of this fort is boarding in the first place, considering the significant threat the ship poses. But, the ship is very slow compared to most ships, and that makes it easier to board. It also has poor aiming, considering the cannons cannot be angled much in their restrictive portholes.
- Tactics: Shoot cannonballs at the portholes, to defeat the skeletons manning the cannons, and not only make an approach easier, but temporarily disable cannons before they are re-manned by other skeletons. Someone will need to, temporarily, remain on the ship to keep it safe and prevent it from sinking.
- Objective: Board the Man O'War either by shooting crew members onto the ship, or getting them close enough to grab a ladder and climb on.
Phase Two: Teamwork! While crew members are on board, they'll be assailed by various skeletons and a skeleton captain. While moving on down decks, ammo crates and food barrels will be available per deck below the top deck, to assist in the survival of the pirates, and they'll come in contact with the skeletons firing the cannons on decks two and three. Two separate capstans on the top deck will slow the Man O'War to a halt. Cannons, after a skeleton has been defeated, can be rolled backward out of the port hole, and then the port hole can be locked, permanently disabling the cannons.
- Tactics: This phase is critical, and important to free up crew members to help assist in the fight, and be able to complete the end-goal of the Man O'War. Grabbing food and ammo to stay alive, while defeating skeletons will keep them off the cannons! Locking the cannons down will assist the pirates outside manning the ship, and lowering the capstans will stop the massive ship from moving.
- Objective: Disable the skeleton cannons and lower the capstans!
Phase Three: Deck four has been sealed off, and requires a gunpowder barrel to get in. If the crew does not have one, there is one available every two minutes (assuming that the fourth deck is locked still, otherwise it does not drop any) at the rear of deck three, rising up from a small trap door from deck four. This is where they would normally be dropped into the sea. Once the charge has been blown, this blows open deck four's locked doors, and the crew enters the armory of the ship! A good wave or two of skeletons are here, each with their own respective captain to lead them into combat, and once they are all defeated, the Skeleton Lord Captain appears, to challenge the pirates trying to steal their plunder!
- Tactics: General combat to reach deck five, the fabled vault of the Man O'War.
- Objective: Defeat the Skeleton Lord Captain and his cronies to retrieve the key to the vault!
Phase Four: The final phase, after defeating the Skeleton Lord Captain, is retrieving the key dropped by the boss, and using it on deck five's locked vault door. Skeletons stop spawning after this point. Opening the vault door reveals a big treasure trove of a deck, filled with various treasures and small objects of value! But, once the vault door has been opened, one final laugh is had, as a ticking sound is heard for about a minute or two, before the armored walls of deck five explode, and open up a couple holes in the ship. Now, it becomes a race against time and greed, where the pirates must grab as much treasure as possible as the Man O'War slowly starts sinking into the water. With careful planning and time management, the pirates might be able to get all of it, if they're fast.
- Tactics: Utilize prep-time wisely, have all pirates at the ready, have treasure chests at the ready if need be, and move as many treasure chests and loot as possible to get on out of there! Utilize the gunpowder drop hole to drop treasure out the back of the fortress, as an alternate drop-off than the top deck.
- Objective: Loot the Man O'War before it sinks!
This was generally just an idea, but I figured I would make it far more detailed and drawn out, so everyone has a better idea of what I'm talking about and can look it over. Naturally, there can always be adjustments, but here is my idea pitch in completion, of the Man O'War skeleton fortress.
