Need Help Returning to New Horizons after a long time, some general questions.

[casinostrat]

Was away from New Horizons (And gaming in general) for a long time due to health problems, but I still consider it my absolute favorite when it comes to all things pirate/sailing/etc. Honestly one of my favorite games/mods just in general as well!!


Wanted to ask some questions regarding relations, to refresh my memory on some things. And I apologize if this has already been asked and I just missed it searching the forums.



When you have a Letter of Marque (But don't use it to attack pirates)........do pirate merchants in their settlements refuse to trade with you and threaten to call the guards? And if so, is there a way to both have a Letter of Marque and trade with/do jobs for the pirate merchants?


Similarly......for smugglers....if you have a Letter of Marque will they still trade with you? And if not, is there any way to both have a Letter of Marque and also trade with smugglers?


Finally a question about relations with nations.......


Is it possible to NOT have a Letter of Marque, attack specific national ships from time to time, and still maintain somewhat decent relations with at least SOME nations?

As an example....if you don't have a Letter of Marque but attack only Spanish ships.......what does that do to your relations with the other nations....the neutral ones or the ones Spain is at war with, etc.?

Does only attacking a specific nation's ships without a Letter of Marque drag your reputation down with ALL nations.....

..........or do they react to it differently based on their relations with the nation whose ships you are attacking?


Also, not sure if it would apply to any answers, but just in case I'll say don't worry about potential spoilers, I don't mind them.


Just wanted to ask for some help/clarification on these questions......any information is greatly appreciated. Take care and all the best!!

 

[Grey Roger]

Looking at the code, if you have a LoM (Letter of Marque) then pirates will only trade with you if you're not hostile to them. Go to Turks Island or Tortuga and talk to the governor - even if they're not actual pirate colonies (Tortuga is normally French, Grand Turk is British in the later two periods), the governors have connections.

Smugglers don't care about LoM's. If you upset them then the agent in the tavern will refuse to do business unless you pay a fee to make the smugglers like you again.

About attacking ships when you don't have a LoM, that depends on whether you have the latest update, or at least the update from January 2026 or later - have a look at the first post of this thread:
Mod Release - Build 14 Gamma Version [Last update: 29th January 2026]
Before that, sinking any ship except pirates is piracy unless you have a LoM. Even if an enemy ship attacks you, boards you and you win the boarding, you've committed piracy. It won't automatically turn you pirate but doing it enough times will.

The update changes the law of the sea. You can sink an enemy ship if you don't have a LoM provided you're flying a true flag, which is the flag of your served nation (probably the nation you chose at the start of the game if you don't have a LoM). But you can't capture or take the cargo from a defeated enemy ship, and you'll get a warning that it's piracy if you try. If you board an enemy ship, you'll get the ransack screen and you should quit at once, don't try to assign a captain or swap ships, and don't look at the cargo. (If you do try to capture the ship or look in the cargo hold, you'll get a warning that it's piracy. You can do it anyway and face the consequences if you want.)

But, as before, you can do anything you like to a pirate ship - they're outlaws in the original sense, which means they're outside the law and not protected by it.

Attacking a ship will, of course, turn that nation hostile. Nations hostile to the ship won't care if you don't have a LoM from them. Neutral nations won't care at all. Nations alllied to the ship's nation will turn hostile. So, supposing that Holland is at war with France and Spain, allied to Britain and neutral to Portugal, and you have a Spanish LoM. You attack a Dutch ship. Holland, of course, will become more hostile. Your relation with Spain goes up and when its value in your international relations screen turns green, you can visit a Spanish governor to get a promotion. You have no LoM from France so they won't react. Neither will Portugal because they're neutral. Britain is allied to Holland so it will become hostile, or more hostile if it already hates you, and if you had a British LoM then you lose it.

Be careful in "Tales of a Sea Hawk". There comes a point at which Silehard turns nasty and turns Britain against you. Portugal and Holland, being allied to Britain, are watching you! They know Silehard is crooked, so provided you only attack British ships which are sent by the story, they won't mind. But if you attack a non-story British ship, Portugal and Holland will turn hostile and if you have a LoM from either of them, you'll lose it. Those non-story British ships might attack you so make sure you know which ship is story and which is not, and don't return fire against non-story ships. (Or hit them with grapeshot, which doesn't do much damage but might make them run away or surrender - if the latter, leave them alone, don't board them!)