Guide Tips & Tricks

[William]

G'day mates.

Post your gameplay tips and tricks here.


(Example: trade routes you find lucrative, ship tactics, swordplay tactics, colony management stuff, etc.)

 

[england]

1) trade route : transport wine from any colony on the isle of hispaniola to jamaica

2) swordplay tactics: run around your enemy ,get close enough so he slashes with his sword but stay off enough so he can't hit you.from time to time stop running , hit hard slash asap(while your sword is in the air your enemy gets closer and resieves a hit be4 he can do anything). Repeat it and you win

OR you just can get a good sword and kill your enemy in one hit <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

3) capturing a colony: get a ship form rank 1, park it in front of the fort, clean one side of it and just keep attacking him from 3the person. once one edge is destryed, the otherones can also be destryed wile keeping out of range

4) to defeat the pirate king : The pirate king is quite strong but he has one weakness : he never goes into defence. Speed is the key to succes. just slash him softley (not so mush damage) and they keep running around him.

he will die enentualy <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

 

[Ropblad]

when fighting afort use bombs and when the fort is firing try to turn with your nose or the back of your ship so it hits less
and destroy less canons

also before landing troups sneak to town and buy soldiers

 

[PirateSam]

Easy way to make gold and gain exp is getting a free LOM from the governor cuz first u gain salary and u always get a mission from him .

When in world map and u see a battle u want to join ( let say pirates and french fleet ) then while u still at world map sail to u next to the pirate ship ( make pirates between u and the french ) then hit space and now u join the battle next to french and away from pirates fires .

bs. it is always good to hit F6 often for quicksave .

 

[Handel]

About trade routes - why you people don't understand? EVERY NEW GAME THE IMPORT/EXPORT LIST OF THE ISLANDS IS RANDOMIZED. Contaband goods are randomized too. So tips like import/export wine to somewhere is simply useless.
The tip for successfull trade (besides getting an officer with trade 10 and the first 2 trading perks) is:

1. First rule of thumb is - buy expensive AND low weight/volume goods. Chocolate and coffee are great. The bad thing is they often are contraband goods and sometimes you have a seller but don't have a buyer or the opposite. But you can check the map in the beginning of the game and start a new game if you don't like the trades.
2. If there is no first class trades available you can trade just low weight/volume goods like wine, ale and rum.

If you play unmodded 1.41 version you MUST buy exported goods and sell them for import. This is the only way to make a money from trade and you will make around 25% profit (with 10 trade points and the 2 trade perks).

Of course you cannot non-stop trade those goods - the shops need time to replenish the stocks.

 

[england]

<!--quoteo--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->About trade routes - why you people don't understand? EVERY NEW GAME THE IMPORT/EXPORT LIST OF THE ISLANDS IS RANDOMIZED<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

lol I taught so
But I wasn't entirly sure wheiter it only was the contaband that was randomised or the entire list

 

[Cyberops]

For some people that can be annoying on the other hand it does keep the fun in it giving it a different agame each time u start a new game lol

 

[Stank]

After capturing a ship(s), be sure to pop into the F2 ship management screen to pay off the crew of the new ships to get thier loyalty up again. Since they're only skeleton crews it doesn't take much money to make them happy and it elminates that annoying, treacherous-dog turncoat galleon wandering off on the way to the booty sale.

Stank

 

[chepati]

The easiest way, short of cheating, of getting a Man o' War is thus: once you capture a colony, man your ship and wait for your colony to get attacked, preferably by the French or the English, though I'm not 100% sure the other nations won't send a MoW. When you get the message that your colony is being attacked, you'd better be close by. Sail to that port in the world map and wait until it's daytime before you hit F3 -- I find naval battles much better when conducted in daytime. Then join the battle. You may have to try a few times, loading from the save point just before you hit F3 to enter the battle, before you're lucky and the invading force includes a MoW. If you get really lucky there might be two MoW (off topic, the plural form of Man o' War is Men o' War) -- this happened to me once. Most often it's one or two class one ships, or a couple class two vessels and the rest would be class 3, usually corvettes.

Once inside the battle, don't attack anybody until you see your prey's crew massacred by your fort's cannons. Then sail quickly to it and board it. You have to have good fencing skills, enough crew to satisfy the minimum crew requirements for the desired ship and at least one free officer.

This strategy has worked really well for me and at one point I had four MoW in my squadron. But the upkeep of for such monsters is... monstrously high. Just paying the crew and the many officers I like to keep in my retinue amounted to a few hundred thousand. And if the ships get damaged in a battle, you'd better be a millionaire. If you want to be a millionaire, read below

I hesitate to offer this as a "tip" because it's borderline cheat. It's a bug in reality, but I'm sure many of you will frown upon it.

I've noticed a bug when I capture high class ships (I can't remember which one it was), but when I clicked the Get all goods button, instead of all the conquered ship's cargo being transfered to my ship's hold, the goods in the former started to grow exponentially as I kept clicking the button. At some point the ship was holding millions of units of many goods. At this point don't dump the ship. Capture it if you have a free officer and sail to the nearest port. Sell as much of the most expensive commodity you're carrying and you'll be an instant pirate millionaire. Since stores have a maximum capacity for every type of goods they sell, you won't be able to sell everything in one store. But selling as much as you can in the first store will make you rich beyond belief, so don't get greedy. Dump the rest or just sell the golden goose ship. Just keep in mind that if you keep sailing with that ship in your squadron you'll eventually run out of food and even though you buy more food and your ship's hold shows enough food for many months, out in the open seas you'll get the message that you're out of food and your pirates will start eating each other.

I'm sure this bug will at some point get fixed, but enjoy it while you can

chepati

 

[Lothius]

I have an elementary trick or two: A pirates best friend is speed, in my opinion, so the ships for open sea pirating are basically as follows. 1. Lugger-of course, it's the one ya' start with 2)The Sloop- a favorite of pirates everywhere 3)Corvette-it's a nice jump, and ya' may have to get fancy with yer fencing to take this one, but it'll be a great prize for any sea dog worth his salt. 4) The frigate- it's fast, big, and holds a decent amount of soldiers, one of the best things about this ship, is the cargo doesn't seem to effect speed as much as say the sloop. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sailr.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="sailr.gif" />

That leads me to my second point, which still goes on speed. Upgrade sails to silk, but don't put plating on your ship. (Unless attacking a fort) Second, pick your ammo. I personally use either bombs or cannonballs.
If you have only one type of ammo, it frees up hold for extra booty, and makes your ship lighter so it can catch the booty that demands ye' give chase. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/piratesing.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="piratesing.gif" />

I'm sure most of ye' know these things, but I figured I'd post it anyway, for any who may have overlooked the simplicity of such tactics.

I also note that with the better ships, the ability to "Sail To" is an ungodly easy way to board everyone and thier mother, even if it does make ya' catch a broadside or two. Note: be careful as the "sail to" command may put inbetween a ring of war galleons all itchin' to make your hull breathe a little better. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/me.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="me.gif" />

 

[Kazeite]

Um... isn't copper plating supposed to actually <i>increase</i> the speed of the ship? At least, that's how it worked in real life - for example when <i>HMS Victory</i> had her hull sheathed with copper sheeting it <i>improved</i> her speed.

So, if in AoP copper sheating decreases speed... well, that's not realistic <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> And I'm not sure whether it would actually protect the ship against damage <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />

 

[Humble]

Here is a trick I found:

When you go to hire officers and don't see any with the skills you need, hire them anyway. Then fire them right after that and you should have new officers to hire with different skills.

Least it works for me. =)

 

[Merciless Mark]

<!--quoteo(post=164357:date=Sep 29 2006, 12:11 AM:name=Kazeite)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Kazeite @ Sep 29 2006, 12:11 AM) [snapback]164357[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->
Um... isn't copper plating supposed to actually <i>increase</i> the speed of the ship? At least, that's how it worked in real life - for example when <i>HMS Victory</i> had her hull sheathed with copper sheeting it <i>improved</i> her speed.

So, if in AoP copper sheating decreases speed... well, that's not realistic <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> And I'm not sure whether it would actually protect the ship against damage <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="biggrin.gif" />
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

well the way it works in AoP is flawd, but it would protect against hits below the water line and keep it from sinking, but nothing more, so it dosent apply well to the Hitpoint system AoP uses

 

[Ropblad]

if you want to go to enemy town without the fort shooting at you then park in the world map near the island(so you will see exit near the island option) but not near the fort(out of forts range of fire) and use sneak to town option when you will return to your ship you will return to the same position that you was in before sneaking to town

 

[Draxis]

This is my plan for attacking ships that are larger than you, I capped a galleon with this and then a frig with that galleon! <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/par-ty.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="par-ty.gif" />

chain shot- KS
Grapes shot- GS
Bombs- HS
Cannon ball- CS

Right then, here we go. Close on the larger ship with your KS. Close up on their blind spot VERY IMPORTANT!!!!
Come across the stern, broadsides to the target. Go to the deck, fire on the mast, if you haven't knocked a mast,
keep at it. Swerve across their beam and unload with GS until they are managable. If the Stern Chasers give you trouble, hit em hard with HS, CS to knock them to hell.

This works well for me, though I will confess, it works far better with a ship with more guns, after all you have more KS to hit them with.

Cpt. Draxis

let me know how it goes for you guys

 

[The_Old_Buccaneer]

1. If you get attacked by an overpowering force as you enter the sea map from an island, and come out within sight of an island, most of the time you can use the "sail to" menu to either quickly sail to a friendly ship in the island harbor or the harbor itself. More frequently than not, this will quickly take you out of the enemy squadron's range, and you will be clear to get back into the global map.

2. Allways remember after a battle to re-load your cannons back to the type of shot you generally like to start a battle with. Usually when closing to board an enemy you will have grape loaded. If you don't remember to re-load at some point afterwards you will be stuck with grape at the start of you next encounter and have to waste valuable maneuvering time while you re-load to longer range ammo.

3. When you cannot yet afford a lot of officers, you do not have to maintain a free officer at all times to capture a ship. After you have defeated a captain while still in his quarters and prior to hitting F3 for the ship capture interface, you still can access the F2 character interface and remove an officer from his post . The only time this doesn't work is when the ship surrenders immediately as you board.

4. Remember that even if you have enough extra tactics points to capture a ship, those points may not be free if you are escorting a ship as part of a mission. That companion ship will be considered part of you fleet using up two tactics points until you are no longer escorting it.

5. For ship to ship combat, I prefer culverins over cannons. The extra range of these guns can alow you to stay out of a much larger ship's reach while you pepper them into submission.

6. Here is an easy way to raise your crew morale without having to bribe everyone in the crew.
Go to the crew hire menu in a tavern. If the average morale of those available for hire is higher than that of
you crew then you can dismiss only a portion of your crew and then re-hire from the general pool and raise your morale level. The disadvantage to this method is that it will also lower your crew's experience level.

 

[ledhed]

All right I saw the end credits. After they roll you can still play but even though the British -French-Dutch-and Spain no longer have ANY bases ...they still manage to keep attacking...so the end game..after you capture everthing and get ...well I wont spoil it...the credits...you can run around trying to keep your Colonies...And it doesnt matter a wit how strong your governor is or how much you built it up...they cant defend themselves from a galleon and a brig invasion fleet.... YET let YOU try to take the smallest fort like that.....

It really sucks major *&^%^$ that their is no strategy involved in the Colony defense ...sure you can buy stuff and build stuff...BUT ..WHY ? Why bother if a bunch of sloops can take a large town of 1670 pop. with a castle ? ITS LUDICROUSE .

So Go attack and capture and stick whatever dweeb is aboard your ship on the Island and the attack more until ther are no more left...THE END .

Thats the freakin game .

I tried through vs 1,41 to 1.5 ...NO DIFFERENCE...the A.I. of yours cant defend itself...I took a ship captain I made from a Quartermaster..with NO stat less than 8 in anything..and put him in Charge of a CASTLE LARGE TOWN ..he made lots of money...but the town was Captured BY ONE SHIP ...I watched ....I reloaded and killed it with one Broadside from My Battleship..My ManO war having BEEN SUNK BY A VILLAGE FORT .

Call me when its fixed.

I would be happy to hear from and would pray someone has had a successfull defense of a colony without you running around playing chase the dweebs .

Tips and Tricks ?

The trick was FINISHING THIS BUGGY PIECE OF CRAP.

The tip is ...keep your drug of choice close bye and have blood pressure checked out before playing .

 

[rupertlittlebear]

<!--quoteo(post=176510:date=Dec 20 2006, 09:04 PM:name=ledhed)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(ledhed @ Dec 20 2006, 09:04 PM) [snapback]176510[/snapback]</div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec--> Tips and Tricks ?

The trick was FINISHING THIS BUGGY PIECE OF CRAP.

The tip is ...keep your drug of choice close bye and have blood pressure checked out before playing .
<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->that's alright there LedHed <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/whistling.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="whistling.gif" />

we know you will buy their next offering too. <img src="style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/modding.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="" border="0" alt="modding.gif" />

 

[ledhed]

Here is more to laugh at...the stupid system is so full of crap for forts and towns...that you can get to the colony under attack and face a ship with ONE crew left and a half a mast..

And that ship will sit there forever...I gave up after a half hour of waiting for my *&^%^$!! fort to sink it...and strolled over and captured it..a Battleship with 4 cannon that worked 48 % Hull and 26 % sail....no Crew...

THATS what was going to capture my castle and 1687 pop large town .

Screw this piece of crap game...Ill wait for the super mod before my brain explodes.

I really tried...I wanted to put a FAQ guide up for new players...so I finished the game and really tried to learn the system...

well the SYSTEM IS there IS NO SYSTEM .

And the strategy is ...

THERE IS NO STRATEGY .

Wait...there is...survive long enough to see the credits then shoot the freaking disc with a .44 magnum .

Put it in the mail back to Akella.

This is a joke of a game . A complete and utter farce.

I can get ten times more enjoyment out of POTC build mod with 90 % less stress caused by stupidity.

I would not have put this out for a game boy .

I am sorry to have to insult game boy.

 

[Gyrofalco]

another nagging colony thing:

You get the message: Under attack, fort will hold 30 days. 4 days later the colony isn't in your list anymore and the bartender tells you some other nation got a hold of it. Raced it or some shit. And sometime I get to my poor poor colony, and fights of the attackers (one ship). I visit my town and everything is fine. few days later the news reached the tavern: My colony got raced. I look at my colonies screen; 322 people left. 2 days ago it was 2344 and no money. THATS pisses me off.

Then there is all these wrong rumors. "Spain repelled the French attack on Nevis" Nevis was never Spanish?? And the best of them all; "The British raced the British colony of ST Kitts"

So my Tip&Trick: NEVER start the main story or conquer colonies. The game goes down the drain from that point.