A Series O' Questions

@superbeast-v, hello.

1. Server size = 6 ships (A max of 24 players)

2. It's rare I am on empty servers. I am in the U.S. I've played since beta from Texas, and Florida. I think it really depends on location and time.

3. Items in water last ~3 mins. Items on land last ~3 hours. (I forget the EXACT times, but I think those are correct) Loot now has a glisten effect added, so it can be seen much easier than before. Hiding loot on an island is a bit harder now, as the glint can be seen from a fair distance.

4. Arena being good practice is going to be opinion, but... If you're into fighting, it's good. If you're just wanting to get your sea legs back, in my opinion, no, as it's such a different game.

5. Running can often times be NOT the best option as many players will chase after you for hours. lol I've spent entire sessions chasing, catching and fighting with single ships. It really depends on the loot/supplies you do or do not have. If a crew is chasing you and that crew has people working the sails really well, there is a good chance they will catch you. Running can be really good if it's your crew that are staying on sails. Staying on sails is one of the best ways to run as well as catch. You will want to juggle that with letting people jump off your ship to try and board the chasing ship. If you get on, you can drop the anchor and/or kill the chasers. That will get your ship a nice little distance advantage. Even if you don't make it on the enemy ship, something I do, I shoot towards them and use my in-game voice chat to distract them. I often lie (by pretending that I didn't know my mic was hot) by saying things like "I'm on their ladder". Many times that will get the enemies off of sails and helm. They will run the the ladders to look for you. lol It works! Any little thing to get their attention away from catching you, even if just for a second!

6. I am going to link you to 3 Youtubers that have awesome SoT videos on how to #BeMorePirate:

@Sneakler - Link
@PhuzzyBond - Link
?CaptainFalcore - Link

7. Voice chat REALLY, REALLY helps. I know a lot of attackers will stop attacking if you're friendly. I know I personally have felt bad before. lol I love to sink every ship I see. I LOVE PVPing non-stop. BUT... If they are friendly, I feel bad. There have been many times my crew and I have actually repaired a ship and given loot away. There is a 99% chance that won't happen if they are not using a mic.

8. If you lose your Tall Tales items before getting where you need to be, you will have to start all over. I recommend doing them will a full crew. There are a couple of spots, once you're deep in a Tall Tale; if you die there, you respawn right back there. Overall, to answer your question, you will have to start all over.

9. Powder kegs are everywhere now. Even skeletons spawn with them now.

10. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS watch out for other players, other player's ships and other player's mermaids. Tip: Mermaids despawn now when a player is on a rowboat. So, a player could be hiding on a rowboat, watching you! Keep an eye out for rowboats. Speaking of, always get a rowboat! If you sink, you can load all your loot into the rowboat and have a second chance of getting the loot sold!

Spam: If you're ever looking for a crew, come check out M.S.T. and see what y'all think!

@superbeast-v, you're welcome.

It seems to vary, how often you see other ships. It may be a bit harder for me to answer, as I am always looking for a fight. lol If I had to take a wild guess, I would say I could maybe, on a slow session, go about 15 minutes without seeing another ship. On a session with a lot of action, I would say you could see another ship about every 5 minutes. Of course, that all changes day to day, region to region and server to server.

Rare seem to do a decent job at not having empty servers. You server merge much more often than you used to, so even if you're not seeing ships, more than likely, y'all just happen to be going to different areas of the map, at the right/wrong times.

I love this post.

If more new players took the time to try to understand the mechanics of the gameplay, and LEARN the game, instead of asking the game itself to change......we would all be better off..

Also, you asked mostly relevant questions in regards to improving your play.....THIS is how to approach our community as a new player!

There are many old salts around here willing to teach you a trick or two if you're willing to learn!

Others will answer your questions here, and if you'd like some in-game assistance feel free to add me and join my crew for a couple of sessions.....we've all been around since launch and are happy to help new pirates who are willing to learn!

Good luck out there - I have a feeling you're gonna be alright.......

It sucks to get sunk and looted. I applaud you for coming back and asking advice instead of quitting for good after a sour experience. Respect.

I just have a quick note about question # 2: Reaper's chests (the glowing fountain of lights erupting from random shipwrecks) won't occur on a server with less than 3 ships, so this is a way to at least get an idea. If you see one, there are at least 2 other ships out there on your server.

Welcome back to the Sea of Thieves!

@superbeast-v said in A Series O' Questions:

An Additional Question:

What are people's thoughts on ship repair priority? We were attacked by a skeletal ship at one point; we were sunk and killed.

• At many points, it felt like the damage was so heavy that if we weren't BOTH on repairs & water bailing we'd sink. But if we're both doing that... no one is steering or firing back.
• I felt like damage inside the hull was too heavy. We were trying to bail water and patch holes; but incoming canon fire was causing heavy damage to our pirates specifically, so we also had to eat on top of that.
• I'm also aware that lack of experience and panic causes these things to seem more unwinnable than they are haha.

I'm sure everyone plays a little bit different, but I'll share how my own personal playstyle is. 😊It can get a bit hectic but it's not too bad. The main priority of course is keeping the water level inside the ship down as that will sink you and end the battle, possibly causing you to lose loot and supplies if you are well stocked. If there are two of you, I personally would keep one person on the wheel and sails at all times (if you are on a Sloop), and the other person would do cannon fire and run downstairs for repairs and bailing, if necessary.

If your ship has a huge amount of water in it and you suddenly realize that it is in danger of sinking, then both would run down to quickly bail and get the water level down as low as possible. From there, usually one person can start repairing the holes and alternating with throwing a bucket of water or two out of the back windows as needed, while the other person gets back up top on the wheel and sails.

Being mindful of the damage below and how much water you have, and how quickly it is filling up, should always take priority over firing cannons. Only fire cannons to fight back when you know you are good down below and have the time to fire without worrying about holes and water in your ship. 😅👍🌊 You don't have to run back down to repair every single time you get hit though, as your ship can still last (usually) while you unleash a full pocket of 10 cannonballs if your ship has only taken 1-2 holes. Just try to pay attention and keep an idea of how many times you've gotten hit, so you know a rough idea of how many holes you have below. If you know you just took 5 full hits on the side of your hull, then I would forget the cannons and get down there to bail and start repairing.

Also, listening to the audio cues in the game helps a lot. As your ship fills up with more water, you will hear audio of this, as you'll hear lots of creaking, rumbling and groaning sounds coming from your ship as it fills up more with water lol. 😅👍🛁💧

If you're down below trying to repair, as you said in your post, and they are still firing cannons to the point it's hitting you and giving you health damage inside your hull, then you need to steer your ship out of their aim. This can happen if you are sailing side-by-side, or you are in a bad position where the way you are angled versus how they are angled makes you a sitting duck for their cannon aim. 🎯💣😅

What I would do there, is keep one person below to keep bailing water, and get the other up above and on the wheel to steer out of their aim. For instance, if they are on your left and you're sailing side-by-side, you can turn your ship to the right and in a large circle to loop back around behind them. While you're turning around in your big circle, this will make the skelly ship lose you as a target temporarily, and have to turn and readjust their direction too. This buys you some time. Make sure there is nothing around you (islands or rocks) and you can actually leave the wheel if you need to, and leave your ship turning like this in a big circle going backwards, giving you 20+ seconds to run below and help with bailing or repairs. Usually, this will buy you enough time, along with having your partner down below already, for you guys to finish repairing and bailing. Now, get back on the cannons and wheel and you're back in the fight.😄🥳 Hope this helps a little!🌊☠🏴⚓🤝😊👍

@superbeast-v

You're very welcome, I hope it helps a little! Happy sailing! 👍😊🌊

@superbeast-v said in A Series O' Questions:

An Additional Question:

What are people's thoughts on ship repair priority? We were attacked by a skeletal ship at one point; we were sunk and killed.

• At many points, it felt like the damage was so heavy that if we weren't BOTH on repairs & water bailing we'd sink. But if we're both doing that... no one is steering or firing back.
• I felt like damage inside the hull was too heavy. We were trying to bail water and patch holes; but incoming canon fire was causing heavy damage to our pirates specifically, so we also had to eat on top of that.
• I'm also aware that lack of experience and panic causes these things to seem more unwinnable than they are haha.

The biggest thing to keep in mind with battling the skelly ships is to not lose your head and panic. Now with the addition of the skelly sloop it evens the odds as in the past you'd have a galleon spawn on you, and that is no fun if you are in a sloop - sepecially if you are solo like I am most of the time. Here are a few tips that may be of use from my own strategies.

First and foremost, work on your aim with the cannons. Landing successful hits on their ship makes them work on repairs and less likely to fire back at you. Also when you are hit, check if it was a cursed ball that hit you as you may have to lower your sails or raise the anchor if you come across one with the appropriate ball - if you are dead in the water then your odds for survival decrease. By the same token, cursed balls are your friend - but do no good unless you land the shots which is why I stressed working on your aim first. The most helpful I've found is the fire bombs, since these have been introduced I sink many more skeleton ships with a lot less effort.

Try to manage any damage the best you can, it is not always necessary to repair it all at once so you can keep pressure on the other ship. Get the water level down to a manageable level (about halfway down the stairs) then repair a hole here and there. If your mast drops, get that sucker up as fast as you can - being dead in the water will result in you being dead. In regards to fire, don't panic on that either as it takes a lot for it to sink your ship. Work on extinguishing it in areas where you may need to go so you don't catch on fire - and in these cases it is sometimes helpful to have one leak still in the boat so you have water ready to put it out without having to pump it from the barrel, thus saving you time. Fire on the bow is generally not a big issue as long as you keep it contained and away from the cannons as you will need to use them. It can also be a weapon, simply ram your ship into the other boat with the flaming bow if you have the opportunity.

Some other more advanced techniques/strategies:

• Have one of you board the skelly ship and drop the anchor, throw fire bombs, and try to kill the skeletons - they will respawn however. Just cause as much havoc as you can while on board, don't worry if you're killed as you will respawn on your ship as long as it hasn't sunk.

• If you are close enough beside them, bucket water onto their ship. Combine this with a ballast ball you can sink them with just water.

• If you happen to have a Chest of Sorrows on board (which would make the encounter all the more difficult), try to board their ship with it and leave it aboard. It will flood their ship in short time.

• Gunpowder! Board the ship while having one of these in your hands and ignite it in a suicide run. Also works if they happen to be trailing you and you drop them behind like mines, though that isn't going to happen too often and can be difficult to pull off - usually works better with player ships.

• Use the environment to your advantage. You can sometimes get the skelly ships tied up in rocks or islands. You can also get in a position where you anchor next to an island and the skeleton ship will circle around it in order to get you. This tactic gives you time to wait for each pass and make any repairs or plan for your next attack.

Week 1 was a bloodbath. I'm glad I didn't quit. It's worth it. Enjoy yourself and dont sweat losing everything. You live, you die, you learn.

@superbeast-v said in A Series O' Questions:

Getting killed and losing 2-3 hours work may not be her idea of fun.... but it certainly is mine.

There are lots of posts with really good tips here, so I will add my 2 cents:

• Until you have enough pvp experience, do NOT sail for 2-3h without stopping at an outpost to sell. Do one or two voyages and sell what you got.

• Keep in mind that you never know exactly how many ships are in the game or where they are. One moment you can't see any, and 5 minutes later you see 4 in islands next to each other.

• Stay up to date on patchnotes and current events. For example, if there is an event right now that asks crews to deliver items to Reaper's Hideout, you can expect players camping that spot, and ships going in and out of that island.

Wow there might be a lot to talk about, I have the same feeling about this game as you do. It's a game that is not meant to be learned quickly but if u allow it, it will grow on you.

First off, im not sure about the server size but at any given time their is no more than 6 or 7 ships per server. Sometimes you will encounter them frequently and sometimes you will have a dry gameplay session for a long time without a ship in sight.

How often? well idk somewhat frequently. Not sure if it's true but according to some players, dropping anchor initiates a server hop if the server doesn't have many ships left. Once u master ship navigation, u wont need to anchor much if at all, which means u can delay server hopping for a very long time. In any case it depends on time zone and other factors.

Chest// treasure persistency: to this I say "yes" if they are on land. Once they are on water they only last a few minutes, like around 5- 10 minutes so make haste if they fall in water.

Is arena good practice... I want to say yes but I absolutely WOULD HATE IT to see a new player in Arena. I don't think arena is the right place to train. If u want to train just play normally and u will learn over time, again every failure is a genuine learning experience. It sucks to loose but over time you do learn and end up succeeding.

Is evade evade a good tactic? Well to be honest it depends on 2 things

1. How good do you know how to evade: Did u know that a sloop is the slowest ship with the wind and a galleon the fastest (On a sloop when being chased by galleon try to go against the wind)? Did you know that a sloop is slightly faster with sails forward when against the wind (Instead of to the sides). Do you know how to pull the harpoon to make sharp turns (There's a button to reel in the harpoon). Brigantines are a good middle ground between sloop and galleon, they are slightly faster than a sloop and only slightly less nimble than a sloop. If ur on a sloop and being chased by a brigantine, be wary it might be difficult to evade these guys.

2. The situation demands it: Sometimes pirates are relentless and will stop at nothing to steal ur loot. Make sure ur prepared and always ready to fight, it's a good learning experience. Learn attack and run tactics like anchoring other ships first when jumpng out of ur own ship, where to shoot cannonballs to actually sink ships (Shoot below water lvl, try not to aim in the same place)

3. Yes voice chat is proximity based and if u use the megaphone speaker tool it will be heard/ seen in a farther distance. Does it help, well not sure, sometimes it does and sometimes people are just out for blood, again BE PREPARED TO FIGHT by using telescope to focus on enemy ships cannons and being loaded with ammunition of all types and on standby on the ship, if a player is on a cannon, they sure aren't there to make friend with u.

Do tall tales provide any reprieve? The last one is a little different, it's worth a lot more gold and it's a culmination of all other tales, its absolutely jam packed. Be warned it takes a long time to do and the way its set up forces you to WALK (not run) a huge section of the map. However, it's designed for the tall tales and nothing else, so it's unique to say the least. Never encountered another ship here, but if it's POSSIBLE to encounter another crew is beyond me. The chances though are minimum if it isn't none. Think of it this way, not many people are out doing tall tales (some don't even know how to find the starting point for them), much less doing the last one so they can't sail into the island, much less because it takes so long, much less because incentives to redo them are even lower. HOw much more reprieve do u need? lol just make sure the trip from and to the outpost is clean and smooth

Are powder kegs found on islands? YES, you will find some sometimes. If ur looking for some go to any fort though, they offer a lot more, but yeah u will find 1 or 2 from time to time while sailing to different islands, and even if they don't have any, u can knock a skelly with a barrel on hand by using the flintlock pistol on the skelly (Missing the powder barrel) to kill the skelly and leave the barrel for ur own use.

My one tip is this: If NO storm in sight, NEVER DROP THE ANCHOR!!!
and as an added tip, "ALWAYS TAKE A FEW SECONDS TO SCAN THE SEAS OF THE ISLAND OR SHIP UR ON" - Using spyglass if u need to

Also take note of what the other guy said, before me, frequently make stops at outpost and sell. Make sure u scan the outpost first, a mermaid or another ship docked is a huge red flag for u to stay away from it.

@superbeast-v I can only repeat what others have posted on your questions.

Advice:

• trust no one
• learn the map
• sail the seas as there are uncharted rocks in the seas that are useful to know
• explore islands in order to dock your ship near cannons. This helps to get back to your ship faster and defend from land
• as others have said, learn to raise sails and always keep the anchor raised. The ship is a moveable turret. Anchoring it only lets you attack from two angles. Anchor up provides you to have a 360 range when you turn the ship. Also let's you get away faster
• shiny clothes and weapons look neat but give away your position
• take on skeleton ships for practice. Helps to aim cannons. Remember to aim low then higher on the hull. You Want holes that bring water in at first. Higher holes help sink a ship once the lower level has flooded.
• sloops are almost unsinkable. Bail out the window from the ladder and keep bailing until the water is low. Then you can patch. May be slower, but I love the sloop.
• learn how to do an anchor turn.

Enjoy the Seas!

most of the general stuff has been covered but i wouldlike to add: spend as little ammount of time on the ferry of the dammed alot of the worst situations only get worse when you cant bail or repair especially when youŕe solo. so get good at pvp (i use a flintlok and a cutlass which is generally a good all rounder build) if im doing nothing and my crew is sailing ill just pratice shooting the bell on the ship, if it rings you know your aim is true. its really fun to pratice in harsh weather and choppy seas too! but in general you just need time to get a hang of it i think.