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Need Help What P.I.R.A.T.E.S. stats should I start with?

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I'm just starting out but don't want to restart the game several times to figure this out. I've read on the forums to get Talent to 10 to increase the rate at which I gain skills but am having trouble finding other information as to which stats I should maximize and which are less important.

What stats do you guys start with when you start a new game?
 
i think the pirate stats are only thing stupid in this game, they never go up unless you go into and change them all to 10 in the program folders, otherwise they stay the same. bah thats the one thing they shouldve just left out of it.
 
Just to expand on the question: How many officers would you guys figure I'll need later on? How many should I plan for and, by extension, how much Authority should I get? I've seen some people saying that you only need 8 officers (4 Authority) at a time for the whole game?
 
as i said before... PIRATES stats are what you care about.
There is NO right.
The Game proposes a few basic Character styles. The carpenter, the Pirate, the Naval officer, and whatnot.
because you can not "ten out" everything.

you want to be a bad nasty man, slaughtering enemies?
go for a strong and fast dude that is good with swords and guns, and can keep fighting when others run short of breath.

you want to become a famous naval officer leading a squadron of 5?
Go with a sharp eye, a bit of talent and a lot of authority.

want to be a tradesman?
cleverness and fast learning might be interesting.

want to be a pirate?
you will have a LOT of enemies. so you need a LOT of Luck.

Before you start playing the game, and asking other people's advice...
figure out what your Goal is.
Because if we do not know what your goal is, how are we sposed to send you in any kind of direction?

there is no "one and all perfect". the game doesnt work that way...
make your career choice, and take PIRATES skills according to that choice.
and for the first 50 levels, stick to that choice.
because as you go on, you get other perks. Master your guns and sails better.
and can, later on become a more flexible character.
 
Well, I'm more asking now so I don't get into the late game then have to restart because I misappropriated my stats at the beginning of the game. There appears to be very little in the way of "documentation" on the way the stats work and interact.

For instance, I'm tempted to take only 5 points of Authority (or perhaps lower) since I don't think I'd need more than 10 officers but I was wondering what others' experiences were.

Additionally, it seems from the manual that Insight and Success only affect skills' initial values. It appears they do not have unique effects themselves (i.e., Authority increasing officer capacity, Talent increasing the speed at which your skills increase, Reaction giving additional energy, etc.). Therefore, it seems that there is no reason to start with more than 3 in each Insight and Success since the skills they affect can be raised naturally later. I'm wondering if there's any reason to start with a higher value.

With 3 Insight, 3 Success, and 5 Authority; I could have 8 Power, 7 Reaction, 6 Endurance, and 10 Talent with seemingly no penalty (other than the skills that are based on those lower stats starting at a lower level). I just want to make sure I'm not overlooking something important due to lack of documentation and/or a deficiency in my own researching skills. Essentially, I'm asking whether any of these stats have "hidden" effects that would be useful to know about before getting too far in.

Edit: It also seems like there's no penalty to having 8 Power and 6 Endurance instead of 7 Power and 7 Endurance? Same Life Points but higher Weight capacity.
 
Nope... the PIRATES skills, once you define them, are solid - they stay the same throughout your life.
They define who you are.

so, concerning the number of officers...
how many do you NEED?
navi, Bosun,Gunner carpenter,Doc,moneyman,3 Fighters=9 for your own ship + 4 for the other ships =13
Except if you are like me and always want to have a few "spare" fighters aboard.
Or maybe you want to hire alllllll of the available special Characters ingame, even if they are only passengers?

what about taking a colony, and needing to have a [very good and loyal] "spare" as a governor... raises the need for officers even further.
however, if your goal is to hit the 1.000.000.000 Dollar mark, and the let the man Retire... then 13 should be enough?

As you observe, the differences are sometimes small when 1 or 2 points are not allocated to a Skill.
But they might change the way you Play the game, or what you can ultimately DO with your character, particularly in regards to "Authority".

Waste skills by setting the "wrong" ones?
You WILL misappropriate your skills. :D
because today you think: i will start with a peaceful trade character. something safe, to get to grips with the game itself.
and tomorrow, after a frustrating day at work you come home and let your peaceful trader shoot the shi* out of a bunch of pirates.
and fail miserably. because he is a trader, has not had any "gunnery" training and nothing.
:)

Or you start your game as a sneaky bastard, good in light weapons, stealth and luck, weak in leadership, and not very charming. a typical Rat of the Night. ou can then win all the card games in a Bar, and have fun amassing tons of cash.
and tomorrow you want to take that guy out to sea, lead an armada against a spanish fortress.

Just because your mood shifted, or you got bored of doing one thing.
In the early stages of a Character, it always helped me to stay focussed for the first two dozen levels.
I have a favorite set of PIRATES skills, which are authority, talent and insight
Authority, to havea lot of officers.
Talent, to make proper progress
Insight, to be a good shot.

Power...
at level 10, you can carry up to 270 units. That does not interest me: once i get the weapons i want (light sword and quad gun), i do not need any exra weapons. I even avoid carrying diamonds and other useless jewelry.
Extra power is of no importance to me.i set it to 2 or 3

Insight:
at least a 6 - as a naval officer, my Gunnery and crew skills will "eventually" reach 100% - but i want that 100% to rest on a high "Foundation" of insight.
If my insight were 1, even with Seadogs for gunners, a top notch Chief gunner, and high cannon and shooting skil... were ridiculous.

reaction:
i keep that low. Okay granted, i loose a few cannon, and swordfights are not my forté...
Thus the early stages of my character are spent on sea, and trading.

Authority:
I want to have a colony once, and all 3 of my fihters should be these hot chicks that we got running around.
as i am a poor fighter, i need escorts.
as i am a poor gunner, i quickly need to find myself a Chief gunner
... at least a 7

Talent:
High - i want to quickly learn new tricks to make up for my weak spots, learn new abilities to make sure i survive.
8.

Endurance:
Same as power...
I am a naval officer. Prolomnged swordfights are not my forte, and as i always carry a pocket full of Red juice and wine, they help me get through some harsh battles. A proper supply of Sail clothing and Planks helps me in the Ship maintenance department... Screw the cargo hold.
3 or 4

Success...
who needs luck? Screw Fortuna! i am making my own luck, with both hands, some proper thinking and a but of tactical planning.
1!

Or...
you take a look at this screenshot.
Take a look at the numbers, and understand that, even i am far into he game (GOF 1.3) i can modify the skills, as i go along. [mouse cursor on "trade" skill.]
So, your Officer can also become "flexible"...

skills.jpg
 
Then i moved the skills up again.
PIRATES, ship and personal skills.
the result , of ONLY upping the abilities, is that i get a lot of personal and sjhip abilities. (18)(22)
the bell went "du-ding" all the time... rank went up, personal skills went down from (1231) to (nil)

I ran out of ponts to attribute, when i reached medium Weapons (worked my way up from trade)
Gave the rest to "leadership",
and now they are not moveable any more :'(

Still...
My Lucky ass jack aubrey is a Son of a Gun...

skills2.jpg
 
I have not played GOF2 much. Only 2 characters and I didn't get far with them. The 1st one turned out to be not too strong but quick. He turned into a good fighter with the light sword. For the 2nd one I went with strength, but he turned out to be slow and always needed help in a fight. For me, luck and stealth made a difference, especially when smuggling.

About that musket. In POTC if you draw your sword and then put it back the musket will move to your shoulder.
 
I'm not sure if I'm gathering everything correctly from the responses. Are there no special bonuses for Success or Insight other than how high the skills that depend on those stats start? Other than the starting level for the skills that depend on Success and Insight, is there any reason to have them higher than 3?
 
Personally I never set any PIRATES number below 5 and I always max out strength, reaction, and authority to 9. I want to carry a lot and early on. I want to be good in a fight from the beginning and I want to eventually command large fleets. I always set my experience leveling to the lowest speed anyway, because I like slow gameplay and slow leveling up anyway. So I don't care about talent, insight, success and endurance, etc... I will eventually get all the skill books and max out the other effected/bonus modified abilities/perks anyway.

Just as HundertzehnGustav said, what you pick from the beginning is what you're stuck with, so choose wisely.

MK
 
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