Treasure Sense?
 

can someone tell me exactly how this works, if it affects the outcome of a chest for example gettin silver bars instead of bronze? or gettin a treasure chest instead of a crate?

ur supposed to get better treasure. U've sailed with us from time to time, you notice a difference? I got both my pirates maxed

sadly cant say i did cuz ur crew was 1st and only crew ive sailed in that area with. only been play this game about 2 weeks now so dont expect much from me lol

but i think i jus noticed a change cuz i jus got a royal chest from an eitc light frigate, thats a 1st

yea it works sometimes but others u just get crates with wheat and cotton and grog

I have one point in Treasure Sense; so far, I have no reason to believe that my 5% isn't being added to the payoff probability for cargo contents, but I'm not very convinced that it is affecting the types of cargo I receive.

So, while I don't seem to be getting any more royal chests or treasure chests than I was before I put a point in treasure sense, my proportion of wheat has gone down and the amount of cotton, rum, and iron ore has gone up.

Of course, with only 5% being added to my base roll, I still get plenty of Wheat too. I'd accept that it has the same effect on treasure chests and royal chests, but the base percentages still keep it so we mostly get copper bars and emeralds (especially with only a 5% boost from 1 point).

Crates

Contents.......Value.....Payoff Probability
WHEAT...........5 Gold....35% Chance
COTTON.........7 Gold.....25% Chance
RUM...............9 Gold.....20% Chance
IRON ORE....15 Gold.....10% Chance
IVORY..........25 Gold......5% Chance
SILK............40 Gold.......3% Chance
SPICES........90 Gold.......2% Chance

cant say ive seen an improvement in the loot of crates, treasure and royal chest but i have seen plunder improvement(plunder being chests and crates) ive gotten quite a few royal chests from a ship i never received a royal chest from before i took treasure sense

I couldn't say that it doesn't increase the odds of better cargo types.

I have gotten more royal chests since I put the point in treasure sense (which I added at level 14 Sailing); however, I've been sinking mainly big ships since that time, whereas I was sinking mostly smaller ships before that point.

For example, I got my first royal chest from solo boarding an EITC Sentinel. That was the only royal chest I got before adding a point in treasure sense; however, Ironwalls, Vanguards, and Phantoms were the highest level ships that I ever attacked. That Sentinel was right off the coast of PDF, and I also started developing my Cannon skill beyond level 3 at that point.

That also represented a significant switch in preferred targets, for me. After that point, my preferred targets were upgraded to Ogres, Monarchs, and Storm Reaper. I haven't paid close enough attention to say anything about treasure chests, but so far it has been my opinion that I'm getting better cargo types more often simply as a function of attacking more higher level ships.