Prolog
First let me briefly explain why I think we can use another thread like this. We do have some amazing advices in various threads already and I urge you to read them as well. (but i won't link them, cos i'm lazy and writing this on a phone, so you'll have to look for them yourself)
I'm a Barbie girl
Now to the mandatory gloating part. I've been playing since closed beta, solo sloop, duo and galleon. I think I've become pretty efficient in playing and think some of the things I'm about to write down may help some of you. This is not a tutorial on how to play the game. More like a suggestion on how to improve your gameplay. The beauty of SoT is, that you can play however you want to.
#notmypirateguide
This is meant for new pirates, wanting to sail solo, or those who have some experience with galleon or duo sloop, but never played solo. I'm not going to describe how to sail or the core gameplay, you'll have to figure it out for yourself. Also if you're an experienced bada$$, eat skeletons for breakfast, you probably don't need to read this either.
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
I can't emphasize this enough. The quality of your internet connection is more important when playing solo, than with a group. You drop out of solo session, you loose everything. There's no way to get back in. There are countless threads on how to improve your connection on both xbox and pc.
Press F for fun (pg13 version, 18+ had a different F word)
What some people don't know, you have a few bindable few things on xbox controller. Dpad left and right can be binded to various stuff, as well as pressing the right stick. I'll leave it up to you l, what to use. I have bananas and compass on dpad and looking glass on right stick. It's just something to make your life a bit easier.
It's aliiive!
when you first spawn on an outpost, loot all the barrels for supplies. It will take you a few trips to your ship, but it might save you later on. My strategy on solo sloop is a bit different from a galleon. I don't see cannonballs as important. The most precious resource for me are bananas. You're alone, you can't afford to die often.
Here comes the BOOM!
one thing you can definitely use for your protection are gunpowder barrels. You can randomly find them on islands or just stop by any unoccupied fort, they usualy have a few of them just laying around. Store them in your crows nest. You wouldn't want a lucky shot to blow up your ship.
Show me the moneeey! (© Cuba Gooding Jr.)
easiest way for a solo player to make money is with the gold hoarders company. On lower levels, there's really no point in not doing all the voyages. When you reach a higher level with this company, you can start with being a bit picky. Nowadays I cancel a lot of voyages and usualy only go to islands with 4 or more chests. It saves a lot of time.
Another happy landing
When you're going to a bigger island, chances are that some random skeleton with an aimbot will try to sink you with a cannon. Until you really get a feeling for how their shooting, try to never aim your ship directly toward the island, more like along side of it. There's a chance he'll shoot you off your ship. And there's nothing worse than to helplessly watch your ship crash into the island, turn around and sail away why taking on water, as you're swimming in the water behind it.
Anchor or not, here I come
when your sails are all the way up, your ship won't move anywhere. (it will turn around in place tho, by using the wheel) That's why it's a good idea to raise the anchor as soon as you stop and turn your ship away from the island. It takes a second to lower the sails and get moving in case you need to make a run for it. It takes much longer to raise the anchor. Not as long as on a galleon, but in dangerous situations every second counts.
Look both ways before crossing the street
So you landed at an island. Take a second to look around you before jumping off. You never know when another ship might be coming.
I came in like a wrecking ball
It's fun to shoot yourself out of a cannon. We all love it, but I wouldn't recomend to use it too much when playing solo. Cannons are really loud and can be heard from islands away. And you can bet that if I'm in a PvP mood, I'll come investigate if i hear it.
Sun's out guns out
Everyone prefers different weapons. I used to love blunderbuss but am lately using the pistol more, when soloing just for the fact I can hit things from a distance with it. Take whatever you'll prefer, but i wouldn't play solo without a cutlass. You'll run out of ammo sooner or later and there's noone else to save your butt.
I did not hit her
If you find yourself fighting a group of skeletons, most of them melee and one or more with a gun, try to position yourself in a way, that the melee skellies are between you and those aimbot [Mod edited]. They won't be able to hit you through the others.
Size matters (that's what she said)
When meeting a hostile ship, for a solo player i feel like it's easier to deal with a galleon than a sloop. Setting aside the fact, that you can sink a galleon if you're good enough, it's easier to run away from it as well. Sloop is faster against the wind and has better maneuverability. There are also places on the map, where sloop can fit in, a galleon can't. If you meet a duo sloop, it has the same advantages as you do, but also has one more person who can adjust sails while the other one's steering or repairing. You probably won't get away from it.
We're gonna need a bigger boat
If you find yourself having a lot of treasure and being chased by a galleon that won't leave you alone, your best bet is to look around and pray for another galleon. Chances are, if you lead them towards each other, they'll quickly forget about you.
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a shipwreck!
shipwrecks are your friends. But also maybe the most dangerous things for a solo player. You can find a lot of valuable loot in them, but you're quite vulnerable at them. It's easier to spot your ship parked in the middle of the ocean and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to guess why. You'll want to park as close to the wreck as possible, to get away as fast as you can. It also limits your time in water, making it less likely for sharks to eat you.
Dora the explorer
You can find random loot on islands as well. Especialy messages in the bottle are useful. They give out additional quests, that can be pretty awesome. You'll find them on beaches, they glint from far away. Inland you'll mostly find chests and skulls. If you play enough, you'll learn the usual spawn points for them on each island.
Is that a freaking Batsignal???
No, that's a glowing skull, an active skull fort. Honestly leave it alone if you're solo. You'll either get destroyed by other ships coming to loot it, or it's going to take you so much time to finish it, that it's not worth the loot imho.
I'm not paranoid, but I see dead people
Turning the loot in. Most stressful part of a solo players voyage. Outpost camping isn't nearly as bad as it was on release, it's still a good idea to look if you'll spot a mermaid near the outpost, but it almost never happens anymore. You'll usualy want to park as close to the place you need to go to. You'll remember where to park at each outpost eventualy. For start check the map on your ship, you'll clearly see the pier with vendors on it. That's mostly the place you want to aim towards.
So... is that it, dude? Booo
Yes. That's it for now. Some of you will disagree with some of the points, some of you will probably feel like it's a redundant post. But if it helps at least one person in some way, it was worth my time. Just keep in mind, you don't have to follow anything i wrote, you can play anyway you want and that's the true point of this game.
See y'all on some outpost,
Nick
