The Wreckers
This update adds the Wreckers, ten NPC captains with their own ships and gear, along with ship classes, a fleet size cap, and five new combat stats.
The Wreckers
Raiding NPC ports can now turn up messages in bottles from wrecked crews, and scouting a shipwreck or flotsam sometimes does too. There are six bottles, one for each of the six Wreckers captains, and each names the captain responsible. Reading a bottle places that captain on the quest board and pays for one fight. Bottles keep dropping, so any captain can be fought again with another of their bottle.
Each of the six drops papers on defeat. Combining the papers from two particular captains in the inventory places one of the three lieutenants on the quest board for one fight. Each lieutenant drops a piece of the Wrecker's Bearings on every win. Combining one of each piece from the inventory assembles the Bearings, which pay for one fight with the Wrecker himself.
Defeating any captain for the first time recovers a page of their ledger.
Each captain fields a fleet built around a particular composition. The quest card describes it before dispatch.
Every victory awards Wreck Iron, with a chance at the captain's ship or gear.
Prize Ships
Each captain can drop their own ship. The hull is added to the harbour as an individual vessel with its own name and rank. Prize ships cannot be built. Additional copies are won by defeating the same captain again, and each is tracked separately.
Prize ships rank up from I to V at the Drydock. Each rank needs a Drydock of that level, costs timber, iron, gold and Wreck Iron, and takes time in the yard, during which the ship is unavailable. Each rank increases attack and hull and strengthens the hull's signature stat. There are ten prize hulls, one per captain, including the Wrecker's Hulk.
Gear
False LanternEquipmentThe Lampman's lantern. Hang it where the light should be and watch what steers for it.
Gullet's HookEquipmentA salvage hook worn smooth by twenty years of hauling wrecks apart.
Marrow Jane's HatEquipmentA wide-brimmed hat of sailcloth soaked in pitch. It does not burn, and neither does the fleet of whoever wears it.
Quartermaster's GlassEquipmentA reading glass in a brass frame, for the small figures at the bottom of a page. Nothing gets past it, and nothing gets left behind.
Saltwick's CharmEquipmentA knot of cord and whalebone that Saltwick swore kept her upright in any weather.
Fathom's KnifeEquipmentA diver's knife, dark and pitted. It has parted more cables than any storm on the coast.
Doctored ChartEquipmentOne reef added in a different hand. Knowing where the false ones are keeps a fleet off the real ones.
Tallow's GrapnelEquipmentOld Tallow's boarding grapnel. Forty harbours worth of scratches on the tines.
Reckoner's PurseEquipmentIt has never been empty. The Reckoner made sure of that.
The Wrecker's HatEquipmentTwenty years of salt, smoke and weather in the felt. The man who wore it never lost a ship, and the crews that see it coming know that.
Every captain also carries a piece of equipment, each built around one of the new combat stats. Wreck Iron reforges gear through three ranks from the inventory, the same way Admiralty Rings are reforged. Rank III adds a secondary bonus. A hat slot has been added to captain equipment; the Wrecker's own hat is the strongest piece in the set and costs double to reforge. The weapon slot is now two: Melee for blades, hooks and clubs, Ranged for pistols, powder and thrown weapons, so a cutlass and a flintlock can be carried together. Public profiles show every equipment slot.
Collecting all ten pages grants the Wrecker's Ledger relic. Defeating the Wrecker grants the Wreckbreaker title.
The ledger and the captains are tracked on the new Wreckers page, linked from the quest board.
Fortified Ports
About one NPC port in four is now a fortified variant of its type: the Pirate Stronghold, Company Factory, Smugglers' Fortress, Haunted Citadel and Admiralty Station. Every NPC port now shows a star rating on the chart, from one star for an outpost to five for an Admiralty Station.
Each fortified port is built around a class. The Stronghold is a swarm of light hulls, the Factory a convoy of galleons, the Fortress a frigate line behind a harbour chain, the Citadel nothing but heavy guns, and the Admiralty Station a full line of battle with two Man-o'-War. A stack of frigates will take the three-star ports with losses and will not take the Station at all.
Fortified ports hold several times the resources, regenerate faster, pay more bounty points, give more command ship experience, and are the best source of messages in bottles.
Port Bounties
Every raid a port launches against another player puts a price on that port. The bounty climbs with each raid and falls back by a fixed amount every day, so a port that raids now and then stays clean and a port that raids all day does not.
At 100% the port is Wanted and its tile carries a gold border. At 200% it is Notorious, with a red border. A Notorious port cannot hide: a scout report shows everything it holds, whatever its watchtower. Stealth ships stay out of sight.
Whoever takes a bounty port takes a bigger share of its stock, rising from the usual half to everything at Notorious, and collects the bounty, which drops back to zero. A Wanted or Notorious port that falls also pays into the ocean's Admiralty Bounty bar.
Wrecked, Not Lost
DrydockBuildingRepairs wrecked command ships and prize ships. Higher levels repair faster.Needs Shipyard 4
Command ships and prize ships are no longer destroyed in combat. A ship that goes down returns to harbour wrecked: still owned and named, but unavailable until repaired. This applies to raids, scouting, quests, campaigns, bounty fights and alliance raids.
The new Drydock building repairs wrecked ships. Every Drydock level costs Wreck Iron alongside timber, iron and gold, so the yard is built from what the Wreckers leave behind. Repairs cost timber and iron scaled to the hull, and prize ships also cost Wreck Iron. Repair time depends on hull size, is reduced by each Drydock level, and is reduced further by Shipcraft research. Ports without a Drydock cannot repair ships.
Ship Classes
War SloopLightCombatCheap and fast. The backbone of any early fleet.Attack 30Hull 20Cargo 20Speed 8Powder 4/rd
BrigantineLightCombatA solid two-masted warship. Good all-rounder.Attack 60Hull 50Cargo 50Speed 6Powder 8/rd
CorsairLightBlueprintsrareA boarding vessel crewed by veteran fighters.15% chance per Corsair to capture a sunk enemy ship.Boarding: Recovers hull from the damage it deals.Capture: May take a sunk enemy hull as a prize.Attack 100Hull 80Cargo 30Speed 6Powder 12/rd Boarding 15% Capture 15%
FrigateMediumCombatFast, well-armed warship. The hunter of the seas.Attack 150Hull 100Cargo 80Speed 7Powder 16/rd
BulwarkMediumBlueprintsuncommonA reinforced shield ship. Absorbs damage meant for other ships.Takes all incoming damage before other ships.Attack 10Hull 120Cargo 0Speed 5
IroncladMediumBlueprintsrareAn armour-plated warship forged for captains who stay the course.Always returns fire when hit.Fire Resist: Takes less from fire and explosions.Attack 40Hull 150Cargo 0Speed 4 Fire Resist 50%
GalleonHeavyCombatMassive warship with devastating broadside. Requires steel reinforcement.Attack 400Hull 300Cargo 200Speed 4Powder 30/rd
Man-o'-WarHeavyCombatShip of the line. The most powerful warship afloat. Requires steel plating.Attack 1000Hull 800Cargo 300Speed 3Powder 60/rd
30
20
20
8
4/rd
Boarding 15%
Capture 15%
Fire Resist 50%Every ship is now Light, Medium or Heavy, shown on the ship card and in the tooltip. Sloops, brigantines and corsairs are light. Frigates, bulwarks and ironclads are medium. Galleons and the Man-o'-War are heavy.
- Light ships deal full damage to heavy ships, which deal reduced damage to them
- Heavy ships deal increased damage to medium ships
- Medium ships deal increased damage to light ships
Light beats heavy, heavy beats medium, medium beats light. A fleet of a single class has a weak matchup; a mixed fleet does not.
No ship's base stats have changed. Some NPC fleets have been adjusted towards particular classes. The Naval Garrison now includes a galleon.
The combat report shows each class's effectiveness per round.
Fleet Size Cap
AdmiraltyResearchLarger fleets under a single command. Each level allows 20 more ships per dispatch.Navigator's Guild 3
Navigator's GuildBuildingEnables research. Higher levels allow more advanced technologies.
CanvasMaterialHeavy sailcloth for rigging and repairs. Bought from trade posts.
CordageMaterialTarred hemp rope for rigging and mooring. Bought from trade posts.
Star ChartsMaterialAncient navigational charts. Required for legendary research.
Compass RoseMaterialA master navigator's instrument. Required for legendary facilities.
A single fleet may carry at most 60 ships. Admiralty, a new research at the Navigator's Guild, adds 20 ships per level. Its cost includes canvas, cordage, star charts and compass roses.
The cap applies at dispatch only. Stationed ships are unaffected, and deploy missions between a player's own ports are exempt.
New Combat Stats
CinderholdMediumBlueprintsrareAshblack's fire ship. Burns everything it touches.Applies burn DoT and makes enemies vulnerable.Fire Resist: Takes less from fire and explosions.Attack 100Hull 60Cargo 0Speed 6Powder 6/rd Fire Resist 50%
Fire RamLightBlueprintsuncommonA ram ship that deals devastating damage on first contact.One huge broadside, no powder. Burns the foe when sunk.Attack 200Hull 30Cargo 0Speed 7
PlundererLightBlueprintsrareA heavy raider that extracts additional loot.+15% raid loot per Plunderer (max +45%).Plunder: Resources from the wrecks, win or lose.Attack 20Hull 40Cargo 300Speed 4 Plunder 3%
MarauderLightBlueprintsrareA Blacktide raider built for speed, violence, and plunder.+20% raid loot when in fleet.Plunder: Resources from the wrecks, win or lose.Attack 120Hull 40Cargo 300Speed 8Powder 6/rd Plunder 3%
StormbreakerMediumBlueprintsTempest's warship. Wreathed in lightning and gale-force winds that damage everything nearby.Every 3rd round, 15% hull off every enemy, no defence.Squall: May wash an enemy ship out each round.Ballast: Resists being washed out by a squall.Attack 180Hull 700Cargo 0Speed 6Powder 10/rd Squall 15% Ballast 50%
Plunder 3%
Squall 15%
Ballast 50%Five new stats that ships and gear can carry, shown on the ship card and in tooltips where present.
- Fire Resist reduces burn damage. The Ironclad and Cinderhold carry it. The Fire Ram now ignites the enemy fleet when sunk.
- Boarding recovers hull each round in proportion to damage dealt. The Corsair carries it.
- Plunder generates resources from the damage a fleet deals, whether or not the fight is won. Nothing is taken from the target. The Plunderer and Marauder carry it.
- Squall gives a chance each round to remove an enemy ship from the battle without sinking it. Tempest's Stormbreaker carries it.
- Ballast resists squalls. Heavy ships have a high base value, light ships have none.
Most sources of these stats are the Wreckers' prize ships and gear.
Fixes
- Loot is only taken from a port when the raid is won. Withdrawing fleets previously carried resources home that were not deducted from the target.
- Faction lore relics now apply their bonuses.
- Captain equipment, talents and relics now apply in Admiralty Ring trials.
- Command ships lost in quests and campaigns no longer leave an orphaned record.
- Prospectors, Treasure Hunters and Relic Seekers now roll for finds after every won fight: campaign waves, alliance raids, Wreckers and trial quests and bounty bosses, as well as raids and scouting. Each participant rolls on their own surviving ships.
- Bounty boss evasion and critical hit values have been corrected. Varnoth's hull and barrage have been reduced, and Blackwell's escort frigates now spawn.
- Being raided now delivers the full combat report: the attacking fleet, your defences, the round by round log and the battle replay.
- Hostile encounters while scouting and offshore fishing are now resolved by the combat engine, with research and captain bonuses applied. A strong escort beats a weak enemy every time.
- Gut All at the fishmonger processes every barrel in one go. It previously stopped partway through with a failure message.
- The bounty captains' flagships no longer appear as blueprint drops. Anyone who received one has had it replaced with a buildable blueprint.
Fair winds, Captain. And mind the rocks.