Now Boarding, Party of One....
 

I have not established any locations for skeleton ships yet. To date, I've only boarded 1 French Blood Scourge sailing the Salty Flats.

Well, all my sailing around looking for targets to solo board has brought me some insight into the distribution of flagships. So, although the information would probably be more suited to a guide, for the time being I include the information here in case anyone was thinking about solo boarding, but wasn't sure where to look for a suitable target. Some of the flagships seem to have a greater sailing range than others, and I think that some ships can respawn as something else that is similar in power (most relevant to this thread might be the normal EITC Corvette that I think sometimes respawns as a Sentinel flagship that sails around south to southeast of Tortuga).

I noticed that, by flagship distribution (and some other clues), the map seems to divide roughly into 4 quarters; in actuality, the routes seem to follow along specific island clusters more than anything. If you divided the main map into 4 quarters, then it seems like each quarter would be dominated by a major aspect of the game: Governor/Navy (northeast), EITC (southeast), Jolly Roger (southwest) & Pirates (northwest).

I'm moving to a more organized recording system for boarded ships, so I've thrown out a couple of ships I already listed due to them having incomplete information. I'm going to want to board each ship type multiple times anyway, to distinguish relative crew strengths. For now, this still pertains only to solo boarding, as having a crew would modify the plunder.

Note: This new format adopts some abbreviated naming conventions. When listing the ship, I just give the name and the numerical level in parentheses (example: Bulwark (7) would be a level-7 Navy Bulwark). The "Location" is the location that is listed under the compass on the heads-up/on-screen display. When in "Uncharted Waters," I will add the abbreviation for the different "route names" I made up. So, possible entries would be UW-TGR, UW-BR, UW-TPR & UW-JRR. Also, plunder will now be abbreviated (Royal=RC, Treasure=TC, Cargo=CC). Finally, I am including a line for Captain's Treasure Sense Points (CTSP--personally, I have no plans to out any more points in, so this is mainly for any future contributions from other players).

For those who may want to play along at home, here's a template for the form:

--------------------

The Flagships

Navy
Kingfisher, Man O' War, Colossus


EITC
Sentinel, Corvette, Barracuda


Piracy Routes
The following is information about where to find specific flagships to board (pardon my "route names"):











Examples of Actual Plundered Ships
For nostalgia, the now non-existing flagships have been left in this list purely for comparison of types of plunder and types of crew that historically were a part of flagship boarding. The Navy Centurion, Greyhound, Panther & Bulwark are not currently available.These are the results from ships I've plundered, in the past:

Navy

Ship (#): Kingfisher (23)
Location: Windward Passage
Crew: 1 lvl-12 Sargeant & 4 lvl-18 Veterans
Plunder: 2 RC & 1 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Kingfisher (22)
Location: Windward Passage
Crew: 4 lvl-6 Guards & 1 lvl-22 Officer
Plunder: 2 TC & 2 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Centurion (19)
Location: Kingshead
Crew: 3 lvl-5 Cadets & 1 lvl-5 Guard (lvl # not a typo)
Plunder: 1 RC, 2 TC & 1 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Centurion (18)
Location: Port Royal (southeast)
Crew: 1 lvl-9 Guard & 3 lvl-18 Veterans
Plunder: 2 RC, 1 TC & 1 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Greyhound (13)
Location: Windward Passage
Crew: 2 lvl-4 Cadets & 1 lvl-4 Guard
Plunder: 1 TC & 3 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Greyhound (11)
Location: Port Royal
Crew: 1 lvl-3 Cadet & 2 lvl-6 Guards
Plunder: 3 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Panther (10)
Location: Driftwood Island
Crew: 1 lvl-5 Cadet & 2 lvl-8 Sargeants
Plunder: 1 TC & 2 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Panther (9)
Location: Driftwood Island
Crew: 2 lvl-4 Cadets & 2 lvl-6 Guards
Plunder: 1 TC & 2 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Bulwark (7)
Location: Windward Passage
Crew: 2 lvl-4 Guards & 1 lvl-6 Guard
Plunder: 2 TC & 1 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Bulwark (5)
Location: Windward Passage
Crew: 1 lvl-3 Cadet & 1 lvl-4 Guard
Plunder: 2 TC & 2 CC
CTSP: 1


EITC

Ship (#): Ironwall (22)
Location: Brigand Bay
Crew: 5 lvl-6 Thugs & 3 lvl-11 Thugs
Plunder: 1 RC, 1 TC & 2 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Ironwall (22)
Location: Brigand Bay
Crew: 1 lvl-4 Thug, 3 lvl-11 Thugs & 1 Grunt lvl-17
Plunder: 2 TC & 3 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Ironwall (20)
Location: Scurvy Shallows
Crew: 4 lvl-10 Thugs
Plunder: 1 RC, 1 TC & 2 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Corvette (15)
Location: Outcast Isle
Crew: 2 lvl-7 Thugs & 2 lvl-12 Thugs
Plunder: 1 TC & 3 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Corvette (13)
Location: Leeward Passage
Crew: 1 lvl-4 Thugs & 1 lvl-13 Thug
Plunder: 1 RC, 1 TC & 1 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Sentinel (12)
Location: Boiling Bay
Crew: 1 lvl-8 Thug & 2 lvl-12 Thugs
Plunder: 1 RC, 1 TC & 1 CC
CTSP: 1

Ship (#): Sentinel (10)
Location: Boiling Bay
Crew: 1 lvl-3 Thug & 2 lvl-5 Thugs
Plunder: 2 TC & 1 CC
CTSP: 1

-----

I started solo boarding light ships early on in the game because it was giving me much better plunder than just sinking the same types of ships.

While attacking/solo boarding a Kingfisher last night, I encountered the same odd appearance of the "Board" panel that I had been unable to duplicate since it happened a couple weeks ago while boarding a Panther. The reason it stands out as odd that I should have the "Board" option, was that in both cases I had just sailed extremely close to a ship and dropped sail, but still hadn't manned a cannon to have even attempted to grapple.

I'm still thinking it's some sort of uncommon glitch rather than am intended feature, but this has only happened while on my war sloop, and only against other ships with main decks at the same level as my ship (a light frigate and a war sloop). Has anyone else gotten the option to board, without firing any grappling hooks? Is it really just a glitch, or could it be a cool little handy feature of the war sloop?

-------

While I was searching around the forum to research other people's solo boarding experiences, I realized that most commentary on solo boarding ends up embedded in other threads, often as follow-up advice to someone's indirectly related question. So, I thought this thread might enjoy a more fruitful existence as an ongoing discussion about solo boarding. So, in that spirit, I also here recount the other details of what was my first solo boarding of a Kingfisher.

It wasn't a very graceful affair, so I sure wouldn't recommend going about it the same way; however, I did gain some interesting insights. I was actually just "joy-sailing," after having marooned some captain or another for the BP quest; however, I was on a fairly busy server and I was packing it in a 5/9 cargo due to the crowd. Right as I was pulling into Port Royal, a Kingfisher came into Thunderbolt range; unfortunately, it came with 2 light sloops and a light galleon as well (all player ships, of course).

Taking out the Kingfisher was easy enough, a few Thunderbolts, stop on the way in to put 2 broadsides against their bow, and then slip right up against them. So, I've gotten the boarding rights, but the other player ships were doing their best to keep reducing the blue bar (it is really frustrating when they sink a ship before I can board it, usually because I was also planning to knock out masts etc. before boarding), potentially sinking my Kingfisher before I go t to board.

Since I know from sailing one that a war sloop is sort of like sailing around a big dance floor, I decided to just take a few quick cannon shots at the pilot and just swing over there with my dolly.

While I was running 5 Navy Veterans Level-18 around the mast, I could see several red ships closing in on the compass (which I keep all the way zoomed out, as that seems to be the best scale for naval battles--for me it seems like one ship's length from the edge, on the "radar," is the current edge of my broadsides range). I wasn't exactly sure what those ships were, but it took me several minutes to finish them all off (I only have 3 points in attune and poke).

When I swung back to my ship, I discovered it was only 2 Ferrets and a Bulwark, which a I took out in one long "double-S" tack back toward Port Royal, plus 2 left broadsides and a right broadside.

Even if it turns out that the "Board" option, without firing any deck cannons at all, is deemed a bug (and gets corrected eventually), I always smile when I think of the 2 times I was offered the opportunity to board without firing a grapple. When people ask me what I sail in game, may favorite response is: "What I sail isn't rightly a ship at all, more like an infernal force bound to a ship's hull. I be the captain of the war sloop Dark-water Demon." To me, the war sloop is really the quintessential pirate ship; and, a little feature like automatic boarding (as a reward for skillfully slipping up to a ship in one fluid motion following a skillfully launched attacked--likely by some formula considering people on board, overall time, and overall accuracy), just makes me feel like my character is "adding to the legend of the Demon."

EDITED FROM ORIGINAL: This started out to be mostly focused on anecdotal stories about solo boarding and not so much focused on the "tip, trick, or guide" end of things, but it has become considerably more "guide-y" since then. Still, the follow-up question is what are other people's solo boarding stories? However, now there is also a chance to share those stories in more concrete terms of actual rewards.

yea the bolded i too noticed once an enemy ship appears on my radar it is near broadside range.

also interesting i would think it is a bug but who knows with this game it may or may not be a bug but it sounds cool

My two favorite aspects of sailing are solo boarding, and solo engaging multiple targets simultaneously. The Kingfisher turned out to be great fun for me because it ended combining both elements.

I'll definitely keep trying to slip up, and "auto-board" them. I also have a Frigate that I bought as crew trainer/solo cannon platform; I've never gotten the "auto-board" option while sailing it, but I tend to grapple from the forward cannons of the lower deck when on that ship.

I solo board all the time. I like the challenge.

But sometimes, I wind up biting off just a little more than I can swallow.

Last week, I attacked a flagged Centurion solo. Based on prior experience, I was thinking it'd be a couple Sergeants and maybe a Veteran.

Turned out to be two Officers and a Veteran. Oops.

Whip out the dolly, tag them, and start running around like a madman. Run to the bow, wait, head for the stern, wait, then back to the bow.

But I prevailed! Got a Royal Chest, too.

I love to solo. I've never gotten an auto-board, technicly, but several times, I see a grapple fly from my ship before I even reach a cannon! (and it always hits) The first time it happened I had to do a double take to make sure i didn't have a stowaway. Now I just figure it's some little ghosty of a pirate past, LOL, and always say "Thanks Anne Bonny" when it happens :)

Just solo boarded a centurion and staffed the officers. All I got was 5 measly crates! Not bad for having my treasure sense maxed.....

Maxed treasure sense is sadly bugged. I maxed mine a long time ago. You have to stay on the helm while you sink a ship to apply your treasure sense or else the last shot's treasure sense applies to the ship. For flagships, if you want to apply your treasure sense, you have to use a Sloop ship and grab the helm before the ship sinks.

That's interesting because yesterday I was plundering warlord with a crew and received 0 royals with maxed treasure sense. I was at the helm the whole time.

I don't know where your information about having to use a Sloop for flagships come from. But that hasn't been my experience. I've sunk flag ships, even a little Panther with a WG, and received royals. Sometimes getting 2 royals.

I think it's very random.

Aye. Treasure sense works fine on or off the helm.. I had 11 royals in one run the other day off of nothing but flag ships with my WG.. Next run could be 12 cargo. Its totally random, but its working correctly.

I've also boarded some ships I shouldn't have. The first ship I boarded was an EITC Sentinel that was one of 2 that kept respawning off Driftwood one day; I found a few EITC Thugs aboard (2 level-11 and 1 level-3). I forget exactly what notoriety I was at, but I believe it was 14 or 15 annd the Sentinel was of the level-12 variety. Encouraged by early success with a Sentinel, and being at that time all Sailing with almost no Cannon or any other real skill, my next target was a Navy Bulwark, then a Navy Greyhound.

Those all went well, but I hadn't yet learned to soften my target before boarding...that was a lesson I finally learned when I boarded my 4th target, a level-17 EITC Ironwall. I found a level-22 Hired Gun aboard with some other crew; I'm not exactly sure what happened after that, but I woke up in jail thinking to myself that I should try to take out the guys I see holding onto the helm before I swing over to another ship.

Both times that I got the "Board" option popped right up, I had taken a line that brought me alongside the other ship by barely grazing them. I didn't even check the time with the Navy Panther, but I didn't see any "phantom" grappling lines this most recent time with the Kingfisher.

On the subject of Treasure Sense, I only have 1 point in it; I don't regret that point, but I doubt I 'd take another. Personally, I see its use primarily as a selling feature for captains, in an environment where good crew is difficult to come by, but highly sought after.

I thought I would do more of my Cannon training serving aboard other vessels, even after solo Sailing to 17, but as it turns out I never found any crews that had any real plan. I just found a bunch of shoot "anything that moves" operations; to me, it seems like the purpose of taking a crew out should be to hit specific types of targets. I kept winding up serving on crews that would wind up plundering Ferrets and Bulwarks, so I ended up just buying myself a frigate that I could anchor off PDF (Playground Del Fuego) and shoot Ogres to my hearts content.

I love to solo board. My favorite way to sail alone is to jump on my sloop and attack Kingfishers. I weave back and forth to take them out with my broadsides while behind them (you never really get attacked that way. frigs and gals are too slow to turn, but sometimes a sloop can). Then it's just attune, poke, poke, poke, die Navy swine! :D

As for crews, well, I enjoy plundering with my guild. My cannon level has skyrocketed because of it. We don't have the shoot "anything that moves" mentality, more like the "shoot anything that's above level 30" mentality. :D

What about the "shoot anything shooting at you"? They can be buggers sometimes, and all you have to do is wave your pinkie finger at them and they sink. :D

I suppose it depends a lot on which targets you favor. Personally, I tend to prefer galleon types over sloop types, and sloop types over frigates; at this time, EITC Ogres are my favorite target.

Since the weakness of the galleon types is in the bow, I spend a lot of time as the chasee rather than the chaser. I depend quite a bit on not just seeing "established contacts" but also getting position, orientation, and bearing information from watching my compass. I depend on instrument sailing mostly for finding dead spots, and getting myself in position in high-traffic areas. I used to do almost everything with broadsides, now I soften all my serious targets with Thunderbolt and Flame Brand from a distance.

So, since I hit level 12 Cannon (about 600 points from 14 now), I've sunk almost all of my intentionally sunk frigate types either entirely from outside their cannon range, or by taking out their sail power and picking by ingress route carefully.

My favorites strategies aren't that much different for any type though, just for frigate types I apply the idea to the aft instead of the bow. Oddly, the bases for my attack methods originated from playing the tabletop game Star Fleet Battles (yes, I mean dice, hex maps, cardboard counters, and energy allocation forms).

With galleon types and sloop types, I try to approach from the front but inside the ~45-degree cone of cannon blind spot that extends out from the bow (sloops can waggle their broadsides to bear much faster than galleons though, so you may want to stay inside a 30-degree cone as you get closer); unless they're pretty close, a ship that has you targeted will tend to point straight toward you though (meaning galleons and sloops are happy to show you the weak parts of their hulls, whereas a frigate would be showing the well-armored business end).

Knowing your turning radius for the ship you're in, and keeping inside that cannon dead spot, I turn out in front of the vessel. As long as you make keep your wits about where you are, you can sail out in an empty direction, dropping sail and turning to broadside as able (once you get a feel for distance you will be able to reliably put 2 broadsides across their bow before you have to raise sail and move again, of if you're sure a 3rd will finish it then you can squeeze in a 3rd...made easier with some Taskmaster points). So, I try to stay in what I would call their Front Arc (FA).

Knowing the limits of the cannon dead spot in front of the frigate, you can also get a feel for timing when you raise your sail from a broadside cycle and get yourself into a turn (you have you jog your turn wider, by turning back in the opposite direction very briefly every so often) that keeps you and them perpetually turning with you in their blind spot...then you just spin kill them as your broadsides recharge. This is more useful in crowded places, where you can't keep running out in front of an enemy forever; however, you have to be very careful about the pace of your turn once you start this with powerful ships, because if you fall back a hair into their firing arc they'll hit you extremely hard due to the close proximity (in my light frigate days, I had some type of skeleton ship, that spawned right on top of me, one-hit me with Thunderbolt).

So, for frigate types, I try to take the same oblique run-in approach, but to the aft of the vessel; however, since I got Thunderbolt unlocked I'm not as picky about which end, just preferring it be moving either directly toward or away from me. At this point I'm pretty comfortable with "de-sailing" some pretty big ships before they get in cannon range, but until your comfort level is high it is better to move back a little farther when dealing with frigates.

Before I unlocked Thunderbolt though, I made my oblique run inside the 45-degree cone projecting from the aft of a frigate; however, instead of turning to sail directly away from the aft of the frigate, I'd extend the run-in a little bit (trying to time two broadsides on the aft before you have to turn to stay out of their cannons on the other side). You will get tagged a few times before you get the timing of making the turn and you'll need at least 1 point of Come About and some Tacking doesn't hurt, but the idea is to make a fast turn away from the frigate and hopefully get one broadside from your ship's other side (so, when all goes perfectly, 3 unreturned broadsides to the weakest part of the frigate).

Also, unlike spinning a galleon, you're spinning a frigate from the aft, and it's a bit easier with a little more distance and your ship should be turning in the opposite direction of the frigate with Come About. Optimally, after you Come About you want to drop sail right behind the ship and put your ship in reverse holding it in the Rear Arc (RA) cannon dead spot of the frigate type; just like spinning a ship from in from of it, you'll need to get the hang of jogging your turn a little wider to stay in the dead spot. This might take a little getting used to since you're now trying to get used to pointing the aft end of your own vessel wider, in the direction of the turn.

EDIT: I thought I might try my hand at illustrating what I was talking about, as that might make it easier to visualize.

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/upl...d925f17442.jpg

I just recently bought a frigate after using my galleon for awhile but since I bought the frigate I have been unable to grapple a flag ship. Does anyone know why? Last night I grabbed four flag ships and couldn't grapple them! The "board" sign never popped up no matter how many times I tried. I usually sail solo and have been from level one to nine (sailing level) and I then acquired a few crew on the galleon and we have been able to board but not on the frigate which since I bought it I have had no crew. Can anyone tell me what I am doing wrong! Or what is wrong? Any advice would be great!

Kani
Notoriety 17
Sailing 13

Well, I am a little confused when you say you grabbed them but didn't grapple them. Did you shoot grappling lines at them and the ship was reeled in like you expected; but, you neither saw the grappling lines/hooks, nor got the board option? Or, could you see the grappling hooks/line extending to the other ship, but just never got the option to board?

In any case, I board the little Sentinel flagship off PDF with my frigate quite often. No special frigate tricks or anything, just shoot grappling lines at the green circles like from any other ship. I'd have to guess that if you're seeing the grappling lines, but not getting the "Board" pop-up menu, then it's some sort of bug. If you've boarded from other ship types, then you should be able to do the same from a frigate

Do you still own any other ships, and can you still board with any other ship? When you have other people on your frigate, are they seeing the board option after the ship is reeled in? You may want to try getting on the crew of someone else's frigate and see if anything changes before you report it to customer service.

EDIT: To follow up, I took my frigate out from PDF and boarded that EITC Sentinel. I did a full routine: brought it down with regular cannon balls, took out the masts and the pilot, and threw over some stink pots at the guys on their deck. Everything went normally, including firing the grappling hooks over and the timing of the pop-up "Board" menu.

EDIT2: I just boarded a Level-21 EITC Ironwall near Isla Perdida using my frigate, all 4 of the Level-11 Thugs found aboard were slain mercilessly, after their helmsman had been shot with a cannonball. I didn't have any trouble with the grappling or boarding process, so it's seeming more like a bug.

Thanks for the reply. I guess "grabbed" was the wrong word to use instead I should have said I "enabled" four flag ships and the green circles were there. I didn't see the hooks/lines but I was pretty close to the flagships. I tried backing away from the ships just to see if maybe I was too close but yes I could see the "board" sign on my galleon and I have done that solo and a few times with a crew but not since I obtained the frigate. It is very frustrating because it was fun to swing over and take down the navy soldiers. Someone suggested it was because I broadsided them and then tried to grapple them. I will try my galleon tonight and see if I can do it again on it and if I can then I guess the frigate has a bug. Thanx again! Kani

Well, hopefully you won't have any troubles on your galleon then, and also that they get that nasty frigate bug cleared up for you quickly. I like the frigate for "park and shoot" cannon training, which I ended up getting level 14 Cannon today playing around with boarding ships. Good luck!

are you letting the ship automatically shoot the grapples
or are you manning the cannon and doing it yourself?

Sometimes I've noticed that the green circles only appear on one side. So if you can't see them check the other side, maybe?

Even if the green circles are on the other side of the ship, we can still attach our grappling hooks from the far side. It is a slightly different shot angle than trying to grapple the facing side of a ship, but the grappling hooks should still attach without a problem.

I tried the galleon last night and I still can't seem to "board". Yes, I am manning the cannons myself. By the time (this is on my frigate) I get down to the broadside cannons (and it takes awhile, LOL) one would think the "board" sign would come up automatically but it doesn't. Now I am thinking maybe my broadsides are too strong? All I know it is driving me crazy trying to figure out the problem. I know they are a lot of glitches but still. Last night I parked the frigate over on Padres and was taking down (with my cannons) the Phantoms and War ships and letting everyone around me board them unless I sunk them first! My cannon level sucks so I have got to level that up. Thanx for all the input everyone! Kani

Well, that might give me a few more thoughts. Are we definitely talking about flagships, meaning only ships that have a checkered flag flying over the ship itself (black & white check for EITC and red & white check for Navy)?

I ask because I don't currently know of any ghost flagships, although I gather they were in one or more of the beta versions of the game.

Alternatively, are you also having issues with ships that do have flags flying over them, but that sink before you have a chance to grapple/board them? That seems to be a fairly common issue for people; I've definitely been frustrated by it, since it doesn't give any plunder when it happens. This seems to be a bug to me, but it also does seem to happen when I put a very strong attack on a ship that doesn't have many hull points left. The rep usually suffers too, since I typically board a slightly lower level vessel than I look for when I'm just sinking them.

Thank you for all the input but suddenly when I logged on tonight and enabled a war sloop the grappling lines were suddenly there and I was able to board. I guess it was just a bug. No, not a ghost ship but the phantom ships that roam around the outskirts like Padres, Cuba, etc. But anyway for now everything is fine and I had fun swinging across. Although, I did get a little excited and swung across too soon and ran into (4) Level 11 soldiers and ended up in jail but oh, I had fun! LOL! Also, I had read somewhere on the boards about stowaways and suddenly tonight I had one! Someone with a sloop came in between and my frigate that I was broadsiding and just as the frigate went down I saw the name "Ricardo" on the little sloop and he suddenly jumped on my ship! I went about my business of sailing and he suddenly disappeared! How weird! To also answer another one of your questions that yes, I do attack the ships I want to board with the "flags" over them. Tonight was the first night that I got brave enough to try a War Sloop but I thought what the heck all he can do is sink my ship and throw me in jail so I tried it and succeeded the first time with a little help of other ships around me by keeping the sloops from firing at me and I had slight damage but I took everyone out with the cannons but one soldier and he was only a Level 4 so he was no problem. But as I said earlier then the second time I tried the War Sloop I got a little excited but oh, well! Thanks again for all the suggestions/ideas! I gotta go I feel the need to plunder! AARRG! Kani

I guess we don't really have a category name for them like we do for Navy or EITC, but by ghost ship I did mean Phantoms, Revenants, Storm Reapers, and Black Harbingers.

So far, I've not encountered cursed crew aboard Navy or EITC ships. One of the things that initially drove me to solo board ships was the desire to find a cursed crew; I've started to think I misunderstood and Disney just meant that there were ghost ships sailing alongside living ships.

Kani, I'm glad to hear you got the boarding option back. I'd be gutted if I couldn't board ships; since mid-21 Notoriety, I've actually been mostly land-based trying to catch up my other weapons (upper-26 now), so I go boarding just to break up the monotony.

I put off trying War Sloops for a long while too, mostly out of the uncertainty of what I'd find aboard. I suppose that hesitation really was silly, since I've gotten myself killed several times after I had an idea of what to expect anyway. That was one of the reasons I wanted to start this thread though; I know there are a lot of other solo sailors, but I wasn't sure how many were even trying to board any flagships at all. I enjoy it so much that I also wanted to share what I was finding on the other ships, so that people who might have been curious would have enough of an idea about what to expect to try it for themselves.

Ive come across this problem today. We disable a flag ship, get the grapple commmand.....and the ship keeps sailing!!! We chase it down, try to grapple it and no green circles. Weird. We end up sinking it and moving on. No more flags for us for a while.

Yes, I know what you mean in regards to breaking up the monotony. I used to be a land lubber too and that is all I wanted to do and I hated the thought of sailing. Then Chris Redcutter showed me how to do it solo and now that is all I want to do. Sadly enough my weapon levels seem low in comparison to my sailing and notoriety levels. I should be working off finishing the Greer Quest but I can't seem to take out 8 Level 12+ skeletons in Murky Hollow by myself so I become disgusted and go sailing instead. I am not afraid of what I find on board once I grapple a flagship but I am afraid of the firebrand and thunderbolt cannons so I try hard to stay behind them and out of the way of those cannons but those War Sloops have a great turning angle compared to the frigate I sail. Lol, one time about 4:30 a.m. I woke up suddenly due to the fact I was dreaming of one of those firebrand cannons shooting at me! Sailing solo is great for me but I have had a few crew at times and I don't think they like the way I sail. I can't see what they are trying to take out with the cannons and I am focusing on something else. I had one "friend" (supposedly) that always wanted to steer my ship and I thought what the heck I will be able to level up my cannon skills so I would let him and we did great for the first 2 or 3 times then he started taking on bigger ships than I like to handle and to me I was having to pay for everytime we sunk and I didn't like that. The last time I was taking on two ships at once (I love to sail between two and take them out with my broadsides! Lol) and he demanded with explanation points which to me is screaming at me that I let him steer. Well, you know what? I am the captain of this ship and I am really busy at that point so I don't have time to step away. He apparently got mad and went offline. Once I got to a quiet place I "de-friended" him off my friend list. I don't know what level he was (which I wish Disney would list the levels on the friend list) but you don't demand something right in the middle of battle. I did one time with a full cargo (the galleon) and was heading to port as fast as I could (I had a lot of damage) and was sunk because the green circle didn't appear for him. Which I have had happened to me several times but all you have to do is step back a few inches and approach it again and then it appears. But anyways needless to say we were sunk! My crew weren't very happy with him and told me from now on I was the captain and no one else. Has anyone else had the problem with right in the middle of sailing all of a sudden your sails go down (like you had hit the Escape button to go man the cannons and board) and you have to step back and go up again to the wheel for the green circle appear? It has happened the last couple of nights and once I was right in the middle of battle. I was not a very happy camper. All in all sailing solo is great for me that is but my cannon levels are low so there at times I wish I had crew (with a good captain that won't sink my ship) or I could crew up at times with others because I really, really want the firebrand and thunderbolt skills. I see I am rambling now....so sorry. Kani

Uh oh, disabled ships just keeping on sailing? Just out of curiosity did you experiment with taking out all the sail points before finishing off the hull points? It probably wouldn't have mattered anyway, since the green circles aren't appearing.

I'm still hoping my golf game isn't going to fall through due to 1.5 days of rain, especially since one of the regulars planned to jilt the wife, kids, and extended family to get back into town early enough to play. If it ends up being too wet to play today, then I'll have to experiment with it, to see if that bug is affecting me currently too.

-----


For me, I took to Sailing right off; then, I realized I was level-16 Sailing and didn't have anything else over 5 (including my level-3 Cannon). I had a pretty fixed plan for how I wanted to distribute my points at level-17 Sailing (where I still am), so after that I had to go back and start working up my land-weapons. Funny enough, the realization that I needed to start improving other skills in a hurry really hit me when I got killed by a level-22 Hired-gun, while solo boarding an EITC Ironwall.


Over the last 2 weeks or so, I have been experiencing the bug where I suddenly disengage from the helm or cannon for no apparent reason. So far, it has gotten me killed, but it has happened at some inopportune times.

You'll soon get the hang of solo Cannon-eering. I've only ever been on 2 crews where I sailed under someone else, so almost all my level-14 Cannon is from solo action.

Eventually, I plan to use my guild as a part-time guild/permanent crew sort of thing. I do think a crew should mutually agree about what types of ships they want to target, but once underway I think the captain should direct the action of the entire crew or assign officers to oversee specific actions...this is solely about preserving the chain of command to maximize the efficiency of operations.

I haven't decided exactly how I want to build it yet, so it's just me. I'm not really inclined to join hierarchical organizations unless I'm at the top of the hierarchy, so I'm not very inclined to seek out and/or join anyone else's guild either. So, that's sort of on the back burner for me.

I need your opinion and I have a question to ask please. This morning while sailing I enabled a Level 22 War Sloop and threw one grapple over and was fixing to throw another one over and this other player slid in on the other side and grappled and boarded before I had the chance to. And yes, I was the only that was attacking that ship. And yes, I know we are pirates and pirates steal but still I didn't think that was right. But my question is even though I enabled it, grappled it first, was I still able to board? I got so shocked and amazed that someone would do that I forgot to check and see if the board sign was on and try it and see if I could board too. Have you heard anything about this before. I tried it again once it reset itself and grappled it too soon before I took out a few Navy soldiers before boarding. But to my defense I was afraid another ship would take over again. Needless to say I was up against one Level 22 and three Level 12's all at once and ended up in jail. I worked hard to enable that War Sloop and got nothing for it! Doesn't seem fair. Anyway thanks for letting me vent. Kani

To answer your question: yes, I hit the hull a few times and then I proceed to take down the masts...I love to hear the cracking of that wood (LOL). I am just a Level 14 on sailing and my level on cannons is so low I am embarrassed to say what it is. I let my cutlass skills fall by the wayside (only an 8) because I acquired the doll and was trying to level that up and I can't remember what my doll or gun level is at. My notoriety is only 18 but I did all that by myself. I don't like to have to depend on others.
1.5 inches in rain is nothing in comparison to what we had these past two days which was
20+".....here I thought we were going for the 40 days, 40 nights thing! LOL! Anyway, I better get to plundering! Aarrrg! Kani

I've never been denied the ability to board once I had my grappling hooks attached to the other ship; however, I did like to lob grenades over to the other ship sometimes, after waiting for some of the other mobs to start coming out and wandering around their deck. They don't seem to be coming out as much anymore anyway, and I also had something happen once that made me want to quicken my pace when other ships are around.

One time I had done all the damage to enable a flagship for boarding; I got the green circles, but I started to take out the masts and some crew before I connected my grappling hooks. There hadn't been any other ships around, but sure enough someone sailed up and started shooting at the ship I had taken out. I wasn't too worried because I had taken out the entire red bar (hull points) on my own; however, the other guys shots were reducing the blue bar (sail points).

Imagine my surprise when suddenly I could no longer see the green circles that had been there, and a few seconds later I see that the ship I had taken out was being boarded by the other guy. Ever since then, I've always been quick to grapple and never had any problems; I guess now I'll be even quicker to board. There's no rep in taking out mobs on ship decks anyway; it's just good for aiming practice for long volley.

-----

We didn't have 20" of rain certainly, but since it was all day yesterday and this morning it makes conditions at several of the golf courses I play at very unpleasant. In any case, my friend's wife vetoed the plan, so I ended up just hitting a bucket of balls at the driving range with the guy that didn't back out.

Yes, there has been a few times that I boarded and other ships suddenly come up and start blasting away. One time there was so much smoke I couldn't see and was lashing out blindly with my cutlass but I made it out alive. LOL. I ticked off a few people tonight who decided every flagship was theirs even though they were busy enabling theirs. First come first served! LOL. Those little sloops are like mosquitoes....annoying by coming and blasting away! But oh, well, I had fun. I do the same now....grapple then start taking out the captain with my cannonballs then I board. I can handle three Level 9's with no problem but if there is a Level 20+ that I hadn't taken out then I am in trouble. I sat out on Padres trying to level up my cannon skills and I got bored with that after awhile and then went out plundering.
Well, at least you got to go out and hit a few balls. My Uncle works at a golf course and loves it! He gets to play all the time. He had tons of snow these past few months so he hasn't been able to go out and hit a few balls but he is waiting inpatiently! LOL. Kani

Question: Why do you take out the masts after grappling?

As far as I can tell, it has no effect on anything after the ship's crippled.

I am not entirely certain to whom that question is directed, but personally there is only one reason that I take out masts after I have grappled a ship: there's a big ship circling me and my prey, and I'm waiting to board until I'm looking at their aft sailing away from me. So, no it doesn't add anything, but cannonballs are free and it's good for my timing when swinging back to my ship.

Other than that, as I alluded to in post #30, I take out masts before I fire grapples. Although, as I discovered yesterday when I was trying to test out the bug where enabled/crippled ships just kept on sailing. What I discovered is that I've become so fixated on de-sailing enemy ships in the distance, that I sort of have to make a conscious effort now to let them get to me with some sail power intact. Actually, that was born out of laziness, as I got tired of sailing out to board ships and started leaving them with sails for long enough to let them sail back toward me.

EDIT: I remembered another reason: I'm waiting to see if more mobs will come out on the deck before enough time elapses that I can't put off boarding anymore. This usually happens when I'm boarding larger ships, and hoping to take out as many mobs as I can before boarding. Again, taking out masts doesn't add anything to my character, but it keeps me occupied while I'm waiting for someone else to stroll across the deck of the enemy ship.

EDIT2: After re-reading my first post, I suppose it wasn't made clear that I did take some actions between earning boarding rights, and actually firing my grappling hooks/lines; in any case, as I divulged later in the thread, I had to give that up because I discovered precisely that it wasn't useless to keep firing even after you have earned boarding rights--after all, someone once took the boarding rights from me by continuing to fire on a ship that I had already reduced but hadn't yet grappled.

So, there can be an effect to continuing to fire on a ship before it is grappled, as you could potentially steal someone else's boarding rights.

I agree with you Steely Jim and that is the exact reason why at times I take out the masts due to the fact the soldiers don't come out all at once plus as I said earlier someone stole my boarding rights one time but now I don't let that happen. It only takes me one time to learn with the exception of boarding too early and with me being solo I try to take out the higher level soldiers then board. Besides from all that ....it is fun to take down the masts...it helps with the cannon skills so what more can I say. Kani

Ok, that makes sense.

I just solo boarded a Level-19 Navy Centurion off Cutthroat Island. The crew consisted of the helmsman and 6 Level-10 Sargeants. I took out the helmsman and 3 of the Sargeants with regular cannonballs before I boarded. I took out the remaining 3 Sargeants with cutlass, after I boarded.

I plundered 2 Royal Chests (both emeralds), 1 Treasure Chest, and 1 Cargo Crate.


EDIT: Hmm, apparently I'm slower to report my failures, but I also had a negative outcome with a Level-20 Ironwall off Isla Perdida yesterday.

I got ambushed! After grappling, I took out the helmsman, a level-12 Thug, and a level-10 Thug with regular cannonballs. I boarded, with 14 seconds left, to find a level-10 Thug and a level-16 Grunt waiting for me. They were far enough away that I could pan the camera around to look for other mobs; I didn't see any. So, I engaged them both with cutlass drawn.

We exchanged attacks, and suddenly 4 more level-16 Grunts appeared in a semi-circle to my left and behind me...in other words, they surrounded me! I did manage to get a tonic but I was only carrying the +400 health variety; and, I was trying to switch to voodoo doll when they brought me down.

I've had that happen. We were out sailing, and took down a couple flag Ironwalls. They only had thug crews, so it was no problem.

Then we hit one that had all hired guns in the crew, and woke up in jail...

Hehe, yeah, I've seen that surprisingly high level crew for a particular ship happen on most ships types, although I would definitely say that the EITC seems far more likely to both field generally better crews than Navy ships of around the same level-type, and also more of a chance of a better than average crew ship type.

It's sort of funny though. I do sort of pick on EITC vessels more than Navy vessels, so the I laughed at the "ambush" tactics. It was sort of like they were "settin' a trap fer ol' Steely Jim."

Has anyone experienced the yo yo effect on a ship? After grappling the enemy ship seem s to go on a yoyo ride and swings itself all around the ship until it ends up a few meters away and we have to grapple it agin. This has happened a few times .

That one's new to me. So far, once I've gotten it grappled it stayed that way.

Does it "heal" at all, or is it simply something that makes you fire the grappling hooks again?

It sounds like you got caught by the old "random higher-level crew than normal aboard the ship you just boarded" phenomenon. It seems several of us have experienced that as normally occurring, so you should be safe to go boarding Navy Greyhounds again. You will find a surprisingly strong crew aboard every once in a while though.

EDIT: I was out double-checking the flagship locations, and boarded a level-9 Navy Panther off Driftwood. The crew consisted of 2 level-4 Navy Cadets (1 was the helmsman), and 2 level-6 Navy Guards. I plundered 1 Treasure Chest, and 2 Cargo Crates.


I also added location information to post #1, on the first page of this thread. The flagships do sail around, but can mostly be found around the same old haunts.

I suppose the next step will be to post a "example normal crew, example good crew, and example plunder results," for each type of flagship.

EDIT2: Solo boarded level-15 EITC Corvette (so, that's Outcast), and found 2 level-7 Thugs (1 was the helmsman), and 2 level-10 Thugs aboard. Plundered 1 Treasure Chest & 3 Cargo Crates.

EDIT3: Solo boarded level-19 Navy Centurion (Kingshead), and found 3 level-5 Navy Cadets, and 1 level-5 Navy Guard (guard level is not a typo). Plundered 1 Royal Chest, 2 Treasure Chests & 1 Cargo Crate.

EDIT4: Found an unexpected level-18 Navy Centurion northeast of Cuba, and followed it to the southeast coast of Port Royal, where it started to turn back around toward Cuba. For now I don't know whether it is a random in addition to where the regular flagships are, or if it was an odd respawn for something else in the area. On board were a level-9 Navy Guard (helmsman), and 3 level-18 Navy Veterans. I plundered 2 Royal Chests, 1 Treasure Chest & 1 Cargo Crate.

Pardon my double post, but I wanted to keep this information separate from my little nest of edits in the above post.

I'm moving to a more organized recording system for boarded ships, so I've thrown out a couple of ships I already listed due to them having incomplete information. I'm going to want to board each ship type multiple times anyway, to distinguish relative crew strengths. For now, this still pertains only to solo boarding, as having a crew would modify the plunder.

Note: This new format adopts some abbreviated naming conventions. When listing the ship, I just give the name and the numerical level in parentheses (example: Bulwark (7) would be a level-7 Navy Bulwark). The "Location" is the location that is listed under the compass on the heads-up/on-screen display. When in "Uncharted Waters," I will add the abbreviation for the different "route names" I made up (now seen in post #1). So, possible entries would be UW-TGR, UW-BR, UW-TPR, UW-JRR. Also, plunder will now be abbreviated (Royal=RC, Treasure=TC, Cargo=CC). Finally, I am including a line for Captain's Treasure Sense Points (CTSP--I know it's for solo captains, but without the "C" it would always seem like "teaspoon" to me).

For those who may want to play along at home, here's a template for the form:

I've now moved all the examples of plundered ships out to post #1, and added some Kingfisher examples.

Not to dispute the above Jim, but I noticed the one night when I switched to a more quiet server (because of one ship deciding all the flagships in the ocean were theirs) the bulk of the ships had switched sides. How can I say this better? Okay, I had been playing where the bulk of the ships were out toward Padres, Kingshead, & Port Royal area and when I switched to a quiet server it was the reverse...towards Rumrunner's, Driftwood, Cuba, & Port Royal. Not to say there were other ships on the opposite side but they are usually thicker on one side than the other. Have you noticed that yet? Kani

My next step is actually going to be to go back and figure out whether there is a rhyme or reason to the placement of non-flagships, and also to figure out the ultimate source of the seemingly anomalous flagships (are they odd respawns of other types, or do random flagships just spawn in odd locations occasionally?).

The regular flagship positions I've given held up on server after server, quiet or ideal (although sometimes the ideal was confusing when someone had just sunk the ship). You should be able to go to any server, and find those flagships around those positions; however, some are more wide-ranging than others. For example, the EITC Barracuda tends to almost hug the shores of Driftwood, while the EITC Ironwall can be anywhere from the south side of Isla Perdida to almost the north side of Tortuga; however, that seems to reflect the normal travel range of that ship (most of the time the Ironwall will be sailing east-west across the Scurvy Shallows or the Blackheart Strait, or circling Isla Perdida).

There also seems to be a number of "anomalous sightings" of flagships,and I don't really know what to make of them yet. It wasn't just the Sentinel and Centurion I mentioned here already. One of my first solo boarding experiences was with a pair of Sentinel flagships that kept respwaning off Driftwood; however, I've neither been able to replicate that situation, nor ever found any other Sentinels off Drfitwood (plus, that time, the Panther and the Barracuda were also there, as expected). So, there are sometimes flagships that appear outside these regular locations.

A few days ago, things seemed a lot more random to me. If you'd asked, then I probably would have guessed that spawn were generally either Navy or EITC, and that type depended mainly on what other vessels were already on the map (anywhere) for that group; however, now I've seen some regularities that I need to keep observing.

I noticed that in the pack of ships sailing the Salty Flats, there seems to almost always be 3 Ironwalls, 2 Barracudas and an Ogre; however, sometimes the Navy ships were dominated by galleon types, and other times it was dominated by sloop types (mostly war sloops). I don't fully understand how the computer selects the non-flag support fleets that sail around, but I am working on that.

EDIT: Just as a note, the ship locations listed under "Piracy Routes," on the first page, are usual locations. The location named for each example ship was taken straight from under the compass on our heads-up/on-screen display.

EDIT2: Since I'm now only recording boarded ships where the entire boarding process is completed, I had 2 failed attempts yesterday. First was an Ironwall-23 (1 lvl-22 Hired Gun & 4 lvl-11 Thugs), and the other was a Man O' War-29 (1 lvl-22 Officer & 3 lvl-29 Officers).

I know I can get examples for the Ironwalls, as I normally end up taking them down. For the time being, it may be difficult for me to get solo examples for the Man O' War, Colossus, and Barracuda (although I haven't tried the Colossus or Barracuda yet).

EDIT3: I added an example Ironwall, but it only had 4 lvl-10 Thugs aboard. I think that's one of the lowest-level crews I've ever seen aboard an Ironwall, so I may take that one back out eventually.

EDIT4: I caught the Ironwall respawning right off the east coast of Isla Perdida. I cannot confirm that this respawn point is as reliable as the Bulwark and Greyhound off the Devil's Anvil, but I will try to make sure I take the Ironwall in sight of Perdida a few more times to confirm it. Since this Ironwall had a more usual crew aboard, I also included it among the examples.

Once I solo boarded an man-o-war and there were like 5 level 30 officers there. I am just glad the frigate's built allows me run in circles around the front tower of the ship. Voodoo kiting those dudes to death, with an occasional blast of flaming skull when they are not not paying attention.

And it seems the higher the enemy's levels are on the ship, the better the loots. The 30 level officers ship give me 3 royal chests.

Yeah, running them around the forecastle of their frigate is a lot of fun. I had a similar experience the one and only time I boarded the Navy Colossus...there high level Officers coming from every part of the ship. While I was trying to figure out why the Navy was sending out ships with all Officers and no crew, I was too distracted to invite dolly out to play, and those mean-spirited Navy-types killed me.

I definitely agree about the higher level crews equating to higher than normal plunder. If I see a higher than normal crew on a ship I've just boarded, then I know I'm going to get some good plunder out of the deal...usually Royal Chests.

Since the 30 April 2008 updates, the positions of some flagships seemed to have changed, or their sailing ranges have been extended considerably.

Preliminarily, the EITC Barracuda appears to be stationed around Isla Perdida, the Navy Kingfisher is stationed around Rumrunner's, the Navy Colossus is still sailing Dead Man's Trough but is much closer to Tormenta, and the EITC Corvette seems too have stayed at Outcast. I also caught the EITC Sentinel once in the Dead Man's Trough, not far from Tormenta.

EDIT: Sighted Man-O-War at Kingshead/Smuggler's Run. No contact with Centurion formerly stationed there.

EDIT2: With fairly decent coverage across all seas, I have yet to make contact with the Navy Bulwark, Panther, Greyhound, or Centurion. Also, no contact with the EITC Ironwall.

Id Like you to teach me to sail there Jim. I Like to solo Kingfishers. I use a war sloop and get behind my enemies irregardless of the ship type be it frig or galleon or sloop. Using this tactic yields success but I sustain a good deal of damage getting into position. Im terrible at leading the enemy ships into me. I suppose with pratice I would be as efficent if not more using this tactic verses the other. Anywho hit me up Jim Currently noto 26, sailing 18, and cannons 12.

I'm currently sailing on the Eustabia server.

EDIT: Done for the evening, perhaps another time.

Steely is a great captain to go out with. Anything you need on the sea, he knows where it is. Manning a cannon is one of my favorite things to do in game, I always hit up Steely James to see if he wants to hit the waters. I do need to get behind the wheel sometime, my sailing is dismal lol.

I havn't been brave enough to board by myself, I've done quite a few with just one other person but I can't seem to figure out what level soldiers I'm going to get when I board the various ships and this thread has kept me confused. :(

So is there any way at all to determine what your going to get on board an enemy ship?

Lucy, I don't think you can really predict exactly what you'll find aboard any given flagship, although you get a feel for the range of variation through experience. Additionally, with the recent loss of most of the low-level flagships, there are less opportunities to gain experience on the smaller flagships. I'd recommend working from Outcast, and experimenting with the Corvette, and then look around for the Sentinel. Soul Patch sailed with me last night, and we experimented with readying our highest and lowest weapons before boarding, but it didn't seem to change anything.

-----

Soul Patch, thanks for the kind words; you're a top-notch gunner yourself (you'll have Fury in no time).

Unfortunately for me, it looks like I won't get another chance to play until Friday evening. I caught wind of some grant money, and I finagled my way into presenting a proposal on Friday morning.

thanks Jim, next time I'm running solo I'll check out a few corvettes and sentinals, even if it means dying a few times lol.

If you shoot the helmsman with th ecannon before you swing over, then you might only find 2 level-5 Thugs aboard the either one of those ships, but you aren't likely to meet anything higher than a couple of level-11 or maybe 12 Thugs.

You are welcome to sail with me this Friday if you happen to be playing in the evening/night hours EDT. The strength of the enemy crew doesn't seem to be much influenced by the strength of the boarding party.

I wouldn't mind sailing with you bit :) just pm me where you typically make port and I'll see if I can find you friday. I must warn though, I find myself in solo situations less and less, it seems that these days any time I set foot on a boat at least one person teleports to me, lol, not a bad thing I suppose, but sometimes a girl just needs a little me time. :D

Hehe...the more's the merrier. We'll bring as many aboard as can fit, and wish to sail. If anyone has specific targets, we generally try to take those out first. We've been sailing the war galleon mostly, but we can do some runs on the war sloop also. I have to admit the idea of having a full crew of observers of my solo sailing style onboard; I better try to practice a little before then....

I'll remind myself to send you a PM, but I'll probably mention it here too. If either Caicumal or Galaacare is Quiet, then it'll be one of them, usually around 7:30 PM EDT.

EDIT: Sorry, I ended up not really being on much Friday night after all. Every time I tried to log in, I'd get called away by something, and Steely would end up just standing around with the AFK sign over his head.

Yeah I agree solo boarding is loads of fun :dancetl6:. My only regret is that I've only now discovered that.

Oh, about the Colossus Flag I've noticed it spawns right near Outcast. As for the Man-O-War Flag, it spawns near Kingshead.



Edit: As for their course, Colossus Flag sails from Outcast all the way to Cuba I believe. And I think Man-O-War Flag sails from Kingshead to Tortuga. Keep in mind I always play on quite servers.

I haven't personally seen the Colossus respawn over by Outcast, but I've had it follow me there and seen it seen it sail there as a natural course. IN any case, it doesn't surprise me. After what I saw with the corvette, I think they can respawn all along their normal sailing routes.

Very nice guide to locations. It helped me track down the barracuda so thank you a million times!

I'm glad the new locations seem to be holding up. I've only managed to log about 2 hours in the game over the last 2 weeks and that was all pretty much between Cuba and Tormenta Cave, so I may have missed out on some subtle changes.