Colonial Ambitions

The Colony Ship has a purpose at last. Send it to an unclaimed island and plant your flag.

Colonisation

Research Colonisation at the Navigator's Guild, then build a Colony Ship at the Shipyard. Dispatch it to any empty charted tile to establish a new port.

• The Colony Ship is consumed on arrival
• Escort ships are stationed at the colony
• Cargo is delivered as starting resources
• Each Colonisation research level allows one additional colony

Choose your colony location carefully - the tile's discovery determines a permanent production bonus.

Colony Bonuses

Every colony inherits a resource bonus from the island it was founded on:

• Driftwood Shores (Flotsam) - +20% Timber
• Iron Wreck Coast (Shipwreck) - +20% Iron
• Smuggler's Haven (Hidden Cove) - +20% Rum
• Golden Sands (Buried Treasure) - +20% Gold
• Fertile Isle (Uncharted Island) - +10% All Resources

Scout for the right tile before you commit your colony ship. The bonus is shown on the Port page and on each production building card.

Deploy Between Ports

Use the Deploy mission to move ships and resources between your ports. Load cargo, set your destination, and your fleet will deliver everything directly to the colony's resource stores.

Port Switcher

A new dropdown in the header shows all your ports with their flags. Switch between ports to manage buildings, ships, and defences independently. Research and collections are shared across all ports.

Alliances

Alliances give members shared production and fleet speed bonuses based on the leader's Alliance Hall level. Members can contribute resources toward upgrading the hall. Leaders can schedule cooperative raids against NPC strongholds, with participants committing ships and supplies for shared chest rewards.

Joining an alliance now requires the leader to accept your application. Leaders can promote members to Officer rank, giving them the ability to schedule raids and manage applications.

Quest Chests

Quest reward chests now improve with every reputation tier:

Supply CrateChestA basic supply crate. Common resources, and now and then a gemstone. Iron ChestChestA reinforced iron chest. Gemstones, rare materials, and now and then a dye or a blueprint. Gold ChestChestA gilded chest. Always a gemstone, rare materials likely, dyes and blueprints possible. Treasure HoardChestA legendary hoard. A handful of gemstones, rare materials, and a one in four chance of a blueprint.

• Outsider - Supply Crate
• Recognised - Iron Chest
• Trusted - Iron Chest
• Honoured - Gold Chest
• Revered - Gold Chest
• Exalted - Treasure Hoard

Drop chances for bonus loot (map fragments, journal pages, relics) have also been increased at early tiers.

Shore Defences

PalisadeHeavyDefenceCheap wooden defence. Strength in numbers.Attack 5Hull 10 Cannon BatteryMediumDefenceA battery of light cannons covering the harbour. Built for sloops and brigantines.Attack 25Hull 20Powder 2/rd Heavy CannonHeavyDefenceA 32-pounder. Devastating at range. Built for frigate lines.Attack 60Hull 40Powder 6/rd Mortar EmplacementLightDefenceLobs shells over walls onto the biggest hulls in the water. Requires brass fittings.Attack 150Hull 50Powder 10/rd Coastal FortressHeavyDefenceA stone star fortress. Guns behind walls that take a fleet to bring down.Attack 300Hull 500Powder 20/rd

All defences now have a maximum count per port, scaled by your Watchtower level. Higher Watchtower = more slots. The Watchtower card shows your current limits and what the next level unlocks.

Naval Stores & Trade Posts

NPC trade posts have arrived - and they deal in gold. Each archipelago has a merchant at tile 13 (scout to discover). They sell four new naval stores:

OakumMaterialTarred rope fibre for caulking ship hulls. Bought from trade posts. CanvasMaterialHeavy sailcloth for rigging and repairs. Bought from trade posts. CordageMaterialTarred hemp rope for rigging and mooring. Bought from trade posts. PitchMaterialBlack tar for waterproofing hulls. Bought from trade posts.

Each archipelago has one of four specialist merchants - Caulker's Yard (oakum), Sail Loft (canvas), Ropewalk (cordage), or Tar Works (pitch). Scout to find which type is in your archipelago, then explore others for the materials you need.

Stock is shared across all players and restocks weekly. Send a trade fleet loaded with gold to purchase - no instant buys. One fleet per trade post at a time.

Hauling Research

HaulingResearchUnlocks larger cargo ships. Each level increases cargo capacity by 5%.Navigator's Guild 3 Hauling - +5% cargo capacity per level. Unlocks cargo ships.

A new research topic at the Navigator's Guild. Each level increases cargo capacity by 5% and unlocks the next tier of cargo ship. Costs gold and naval stores - your first reason to visit a trade post.

Cargo Ships

New transport vessels for colony supply runs. Built with naval stores from trade posts.

Supply BarqueMediumCargoA deep-hulled barque built for hauling cargo to distant colonies.Attack 0Hull 80Cargo 2500Speed 4 Supply Barque (Shipyard 4, Hauling 2) - 2,500 cargo. The colony workhorse.

Heavy ArgosyMediumCargoA massive merchant vessel with enormous holds. The backbone of colonial trade.Attack 0Hull 200Cargo 5000Speed 3 Heavy Argosy (Shipyard 6, Hauling 4) - 5,000 cargo. Massive holds for long hauls.

New Blueprint: Convoy Flagship

Convoy FlagshipHeavyBlueprintsepicThe ultimate logistics vessel. Coordinates and protects an entire supply convoy.Increases cargo capacity of all ships in fleet by 20%.Attack 0Hull 400Cargo 10000Speed 3 Convoy Flagship (Shipyard 8, Hauling 6) - 10,000 cargo. Blueprint discovery required. Ability: +20% cargo capacity to all ships in the fleet.

The ultimate logistics vessel. Discover the blueprint through quests, journals, or treasure maps, then build it with naval stores worth over 3,000 gold.

Other Changes

• Message notification badge - unread message count now shows on the Messages icon
• Max build button - shipyard and defences show a Max button with how many you can afford
• Sea chart navigation no longer reloads the page - instant switching between oceans and archipelagos
• Background polling consolidated - significantly reduced server load
• Build and fleet actions show errors inline instead of navigating away
• Sea chart home button shows all your ports with flags and coordinates
• Cargo capacity shown in fleet dispatch with remaining space indicator

Fixes

• Trade escrow - cancelling a market offer or replacing it with a different one now correctly returns your escrowed resources
• Command ships - sending multiple command ships on separate fleets no longer assigns the same ship to both