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Best Fleet Formation
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mixtli
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 28, 2012 10:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a fondness for Sloops which is a leftover no doubt from my days of playing the game on the C64 in the late 80s.

My first couple games I sailed exclusively with a Royal Sloop. Then I found out about war canoes from this forum and tried that. Ultimately I settled on a war canoe flagship for speed on the main map and for chasing down small ships, and a Royal Sloop for bigger naval battles. The war canoe pulls along the Sloop quite nicely.

In my current game, first time I've tried Swash, I came across a SOTL at random about 12 years into my game, so I decided to ditch the Royal Sloop and now I'm actually sailing with a fully upgraded Mail Runner and a upgraded SOTL. Fleet is still very fast as long as I set the Mail Runner as the flagship. I'm not sure what I think of the SOTL yet. I'm not very good with it as I'm used to just taking a few pot shots and boarding. I always seem to take damage to the SOTL, which I don't like when I'm out on the open sea. Slows me down. Most of the time I still just engage with the Mail Runner and board immediately unless I'm going up against some pretty hefty prey.

But, 20 years into the game, I have a perpetually content crew of 570 and can take down anyone or anything on the map without breaking a sweat.


From what I read in another thread, fleet speed is determined by flag ship plus a penalty for each second additional ship. So you get a penalty for your third ship, fifth ship, and so on. If that's the case, I don't see a downside for having two ships.
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sparticus
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 11:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Best Ship to have as Flag Ship When Sailing about is a War Canoe - speeds up your travel time like you would not believe - then - when going into battle , simply change your flag ship to what you like, then back to War Canoe for fast travel times.
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Roland
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PostPosted: Tue Jan 31, 2012 9:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mixtli wrote:
From what I read in another thread, fleet speed is determined by flag ship plus a penalty for each second additional ship. So you get a penalty for your third ship, fifth ship, and so on. If that's the case, I don't see a downside for having two ships.

The penalty is for every second ship counting your flagship. So the second vessel in your fleet will slow you down, but the third will not. If you have two ships, you might as well add a third.
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Sir Loin of Beef
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PostPosted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Once you get used to using 1 canoe with sails and plating you can never go back. Even when I have to go to montalban's hideout I take multiple canoes.
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Wimund
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PostPosted: Sat Aug 31, 2013 1:02 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have one war canoe to speed up the fleet, a Royal Sloop for battles, and a Flag Galleon for storage. And with this fleet I pass every ship in the water.

War canoe with cotton sails = ridiculously fast

Smile
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Young Guilo
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 7:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like to have 2 SOTL. One is my main ship and the other is a backup if I have to leave a battle. Then I have 2 East Indiamen or Treasure galleons. I can easily store plunder and I don't have to worry about loosing alot of crew space.
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Captain Teague
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2014 3:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I try to get a mail runner for speed; failing that a canoe or pinnace will do. I have a warship (anything from a sloop to a SotL) and an East Indiaman or Treasure Galleon for cargo. I rarely have to keep ships, and when I do it's only one or two. I always run out crew before I run out of space Razz
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ZeroTheHero
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2014 2:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Roland wrote:
mixtli wrote:
From what I read in another thread, fleet speed is determined by flag ship plus a penalty for each second additional ship. So you get a penalty for your third ship, fifth ship, and so on. If that's the case, I don't see a downside for having two ships.

The penalty is for every second ship counting your flagship. So the second vessel in your fleet will slow you down, but the third will not. If you have two ships, you might as well add a third.


Well, if that's the case then I would definitely just run with two ships. Mail Runner and Royal Sloop, for example. The first for the speed and small guys obviously and the second one because I can take on anyone in it. The third slot is for hauling those slow ships I capture, and their cargo, back to port and sell.

Thanks for the tip!
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AdamMil
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 27, 2014 1:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've settled on using a royal sloop and nothing else. On my first several voyages, I ended up with a full fleet of 8 royal sloops (captured pirate-hunters) to carry my loot until I could get to a place to sell it. But I realized that the money I make selling loot is far outweighed by how much I could make if I could just get around the map more quickly. So then I switched to just a single royal sloop. I can get around quickly, and still easily take down any ship on the sea, from pinnaces to flag galleons, with ease. Since I started using the iron man mod, I've grown hesitant to take on two ships at once unless I'm close to port, but I've never lost because the sloop is very maneuverable. They're easy to acquire and hold 187 men, which is enough for me.

Also, I never board ships to attack, since I don't like to risk my men's lives or my own. I always force ships to surrender, so I don't need the fast boarding ability of a war canoe.

On the rare occasions when I've needed to do a land battle (e.g. Montalban's hideout) I just picked up another couple sloops temporarily to hold the extra men and sold them afterwards. I might play differently if I fought more land battles.
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KromSoak
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 1:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I would argue fleet composition depends on how far you are into your career.

Early game, I stick to the starting ship (Sloop or Sloop of War typically) but I only go for cotton sail and copper plating upgrades, to save my gold. One of my early priorities is to get a Royal Sloop or Mail Runner, whichever shows up first, but preferably a Royal Sloop, which I will fully upgrade. The RS is fast and maneuverable enough while still packing a real punch if needed. But most importantly, it allows me to keep the crew small while my gold stash is low and thus keep the crew non-mutinous, without spreading it over more than one ship for longer than it takes to haul my prize catches to port for prompt sale.

As my gold stash grows, I will add the MR (or RS as the case may be) to have an alternative flagship and carry some more crew and food. The MR is incidentally great to catch Indian War Canoes, which is a truly great way early on to ramp up my reputation and get promotions with all four nations simultaneously. A cotton sailed RS works too for this but requires a bit more planning... The combined crew of triple hammocked MR and RS is also sufficient to comfortably take on Montalban's hideout.

Once that is done, with the extra gold, I can typically grow my crew and add a third ship to my fleet: a Brig of War, again increasing the flexibility of my combat strategies. And shortly thereafter, I can add a Large Frigate for even more firepower and options. Obviously I will fully upgrade my ships, in particular since at this point, my upgrades are usually free.

It is then with this fleet (MR+RS+BOW+LF) that I turn against England (typically) to provoke the appearance of a Ship of the Line, which I capture to replace my LF.

And after that I truly have the best option to tackle any kind of situation the game can throw at me. Not that the game is too hard by any means (I only play Adventurer level, since I can't stand the AI getting bonuses...) but this is the way I like it, which at the end of the day is the most important reward for any gamer.
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Salty Dog
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 03, 2016 6:54 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

KromSoak,
I love your enthusiasm, I really do! Go out there and get lots of experience, do everything you can and enjoy every minute of it! You sound like me early on. I felt the same way and did many of the same things. I used to go for the Royal Sloop. BTW, best way to get a Royal Sloop is just by attacking the Spanish! Just keep knocking them off and their Pirate Hunters and they will soon start sending out Royal Sloops. Keep capturing them and sinking your previous flagship and use the new one as your flagship. Eventually, they will send you Royal Sloops with most or even ALL of the upgrades and you just keep the best one you find.

Now, after you have played this game all the way through 10 times, you will then be ready to graduate to "Full Time War Canoe" status. I am not kidding at all! I play all the time with a War Canoe or Pinnace or Mail Runner. When I capture a ship I sail to a city and sell it and then go back with just my war canoe. That is the fastest and most fun way to play the game.

You should print off your post from above and put it in a drawer. Then play the game 6 more months and pull that piece of paper out and read it again. You will be pleased at the subtle changes of attitude additional experience has brought you. In the meantime, don't change a thing! Just keep having fun. Remember, the SPANISH are the bad guys and the name of the game is to rescue your relatives!
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