So.

I was doing some plunding, when i came across of those pirate hunter.

-Ok, I first noticed that one of them is lvl 11. Nothing wrong with that. Althought my question is, how do the NPC Fleet stat work? For us, every level now cost at the range of 2.000.000 - 3.000.000, for a chance to get 3 to 5 stats ( Wich is randomely giving to us ). How about that NPC FLeet? Do their stat are Maxed all around? If so, Why would they need a level 11 SOTL ?

- Second, during my plunding, i lost a ship level. ( Oh god another 3million.. -.- ) I've noticed that i've lost 5 Stats .. So my question is, the amount of stats that we are losing, after a battle ( For losing a level ) do it refer, to the stat that we got when we raised the level of our ship or is it randomely giving to us?

Exemple:
I can see some people being piss off at this. Why? To re-increase you're ship level you need 3.000.000$ , and let's say if you were unlucky while raising those ship level, and only got 3-4 stat per raise for a total of 35 Stats. You lose a level, so now you're at 30. Then pay 3.000.000$ just to get another random 3, to get a total of 33 Stats. Basicly we are just going backwards, wasting "A LOTS" of money on this and we can't do nothing about it.. Fun.

How's that supose to be fair..?

Hi Acadien and welcome to the forums (since I have not given you a welcome in the past

First of all, thank you for your question as we are interested for in-depth gameplay questions as we are interested to get quality feedback which will lead in game improvement.

Secondly, I would like to reply your questions:
a)The sink sunk possibilities (where you lose a level) are as follows:

1 to 3 Ships: 0% Sink Chance (Ships never lose a level)
4 to 10 Ships: 2% Sink chance
11 to 25 Ships: 5% Sink Chance
26 to 50 Ships: 25% Sink Chance
51 to 100 Ships: 33% Sink Chance
101 to 150 Ships: 50% Sink Chance
151 to 200 Ships: 75% Sink Chance
201 or more Ships: 100% Sink Chance (Ships always lose a level)

Only 1 ship per fleet may suffer sinking chance and that is the last ship on fleet.

b)When you lose a level, you lose 3 to 5 stats. (A good tip to ship building is to boost the ship main strength, ie a sloop is a fast ship so it is better off to boost this part). In general ship building is interesting and can play a heavy role already but we want to upgrade this role more with Ship abilities perhaps or voodoos or other ideas.

c)The opponent NPC fleet is decided again by the number of ships you own. Then according to fleet type (which is decided randomly, again on specific percentages), the exact strength is calculated. Obviously, Pirate Hunters will always be the toughest ones that will be generated with up to 5 Ship Of the Line lvl 11.

d)The NPC fleets are constructed in the same way players construct their fleets. Their stat points are given with exact way and are randomly distributed. Expect weaker fleets to have awful stats (For example, having 1 Sloop lvl 10, can easily beat any pirate hunter or Treasure fleet (which will be more difficult if you own 1 ship as only big ships appear in Treasure Fleets in contrary with low level pirate hunter ship which will use Sloop of War)).


I am unsure how profitable NPC battling will be for an advanced player with many ships. Still it can be a way to effiently use your turns. I can say that most big players now use a big network of trade routes and have a couple of fleets of 5 lvl 10 ship of the lines. If you think you cannot beat the pirate hunter, just use another fleet or move it to another port.

We will probably make it even more difficult in the future when it comes to repair your ship. Right now repairing is a bit expensive but is instant. We are thinking to reduce the cost but put some time demand before it is repaired. This way we will give meaning to have more strong fleets than just 1 or 2. Perhaps you will be able to fasten repair with turns, just like with travels but you get the point as how much more improved the game will end up. We can do the same with ship upgrade.

If you have a better idea, please share.

Edit
Updated sink chance
- SPASTIC -

Captain Jack wrote: put some time demand before it is repaired.

Sound Good to me. And thanks for the answers.

Captain Jack wrote: I am unsure how profitable NPC battling will be for an advanced player with many ships. Still it can be a way to effiently use your turns. I can say that most big players now use a big network of trade routes and have a couple of fleets of 5 lvl 10 ship of the lines. If you think you cannot beat the pirate hunter, just use another fleet or move it to another port.

The awnser is that it isnt profitable at all, with the dammage being done to your fleet being much more costly than the ammount of plunder you get unless you get lucky with a string of treasure and merchant fleets.

Hellfire wrote:

Captain Jack wrote: I am unsure how profitable NPC battling will be for an advanced player with many ships. Still it can be a way to effiently use your turns. I can say that most big players now use a big network of trade routes and have a couple of fleets of 5 lvl 10 ship of the lines. If you think you cannot beat the pirate hunter, just use another fleet or move it to another port.

The awnser is that it isnt profitable at all, with the dammage being done to your fleet being much more costly than the ammount of plunder you get unless you get lucky with a string of treasure and merchant fleets.

NPC fleets are also a way to test ship builds. For example, you can create one-ship fleets of specific builds of ship of the lines and see what build is best for this ship. Each ship will have a specific build that it is convenient for it. I am not aware of any code-wise but with my experience as a player too, I have some standards for most of the ships. For example, for Trade Galleon, which are full of Hitpoints, I prefer to primarily raise ship armor , planning in this way to soak most of the damage and head for the tie.

Keep in mind that there might be (in the near future) a decrease in points earned after each ship upgrade OR an addition of one more ship attribute. In the same time we will be making existing attributes more effective. This will be evaluated after the introduce of Voodoo (in a few days) and your feedback is welcomed.