Need Help Just a few game play questions

[smrtwhkd]

1. How do I send my officers out to scout beach when smuggling?
2. How do I play cards/gamble with soldiers once you have "high stake" ability? I don't see any options anywhere to do that?
3. How do my gunner's stats and my own stats get factored in computing broadside damage? If I shoot manually it is my own stats? If I shoot automatically then it's my gunner stats?
4. To activate those usable abilities such as "quick repair", do I have to have them myself or simply as long as my officers have them. For instance, as long as my carpenter has "quick repair" then I can use it?
5. Your melee skill affects your block chance. I guess that doesn't stack with my sword's own block chance, correct? So if I have high melee skill then I should simply aim for high damage sword and ignore the sword's own block chance, right?

 

[Kara Korsan]

1. You talk to your officer. A fourth dialogue option is added when smuggling is active; it's at the very bottom.
2. You talk to any soldier inside the tavern. A second dialogue option is added; again, it's the one below.
3. Whichever is higher. Far as I know, manual firing only affects accuracy, and accuracy doesn't directly affect damage.
4. If your carpenter has it, yes, you can use it. The skill has to be relevant to your officer's post. Does you no good if your surgeon has Instant Boarding, for example.
5. You may be right. I remember reading somewhere that every point of your melee skill increases your block chance by 10%, and your block chance has to be between 20% and 90%, but I haven't done any extensive testing or anything. Would like to have modder input here myself, too. All I can say is, currently my melee is 10 and I get pretty much the same results from a regular saber and Nicolas Sharp's saber. It's mostly about what the enemy has in his hand; if it's an axe, for instance, I'm doomed.

 

[smrtwhkd]

1. When do you talk to your officer? Immediately after speaking with the smuggler or at the beach?
2. The second option is always about taking the tavern girl to beach. I have never seen anything about playing cards or gambling.

 

[Kara Korsan]

1. Right after speaking with the smuggler, yes. You don't need to talk to a soldier if you do that. Unless your officer fails the mission, that is.
2. If that's the case, there's something very wrong with your game. What can cause such a thing? Is it your installation? Or maybe you're playing a localized version and the strings got mixed up in translation? I'd say try the second line no matter what it says and see if it actually works.

 

[DavyJack]

2. How do I play cards/gamble with soldiers once you have "high stake" ability? I don't see any options anywhere to do that?

That option will only appear once you've made your first move on a smuggler and activating the side quest.

Step 1: Obviously you need the contraband on that island you're in, in order to make a deal with the smuggler.
Step2: After talking to him, he'll ask you to gather some information before he even makes a deal with you.
Step3: Now you have the second dialogue option @Kara Korsan was talking about.
Step4: From there you'll have the option to gamble to get the information or not.

1. How do I send my officers out to scout beach when smuggling?

As I said, the side quest needs to be active in order for you to do that, and @Kara Korsan is right. It's the last or fourth dialogue option.
And yes, it only makes sense that you do this just right after talking to the smuggler if you decide to do so.
And as long as your officer has good overall stats like the gambler will tell you like my girl here.

 

[smrtwhkd]

How come your soldiers all wear armors?

 

[DavyJack]

How come your soldiers all wear armors?

Those are french soldier uniforms. Each nation's soldiers has its own uniform.

 

[The Nameless Pirate]

Also soldier uniforms change depending on the time period you are playing on.
Just like available ships, flags, relations, and who rules over which island.
Some islands also have different names in different periods.