Is the snow the best choice for missions?

[Ruthless4u]

So I started doing missions ( lvl 3) in my snow. And fighting 2 on one I'm barely surviving. So I'm stuck on if I should switch out my carronades( broadside guns, long gun chasers)or just switch ships. Either way something's gotta give.

Any suggestions?

[Nerdwing]

2 versus 1 shouldn't happen imo. Double Snow can be extremely nasty. Plus just looking at the combined BR I wonder why they are even a thing compared to the 1v1 missions

[Bleakbeard]

You have a few options:

1. Kill from range if you have long cannons and speed.

2. Focus one ship down ASAP. Pray you can survive the barrage of two equivalent class ships to do this.

3. If in a Fir or speed rigged ship just run if prior options impossible.

Unfortunately for me, I picked mostly Fir ships as being a solo pirate in enemy waters the top priority is speed. I'd advise against taking the higher difficulty mission completely unless you have mastered your ship and specced it appropriately.

Regarding ship choice, the Snow is capable of kiting with longs, but personally I like up close and personal with the Mercury 24 pounder carronades.

Also check the rank of the AI; some of the higher ones perfectly manage manual sails and you won't want to face those with anything extra.

Edited February 10, 2016 by Bleakbeard

[Ghroznak]

Well, this is just my opinion, but...

 

If you are sailing solo then go for medium cannons.

 

Carronades do damage, but they have very limited range and fairly long reloads. This means the NPC's will be firing on you several times for each time you can shoot them. Also, carronades means getting close, and NPC's are really good at tacking their sails while sailing in circles around you to keep their broadsides aimed at you. They are especially good at sailing into headwind and crossing over, something which often gets players stuck, and then shot up.

 

Long cannons are alright, but they are slow as heck to reload, which again means the NPC gets to shoot at you more often than you get to return fire... and they are pretty accurate with their shots, so they usually hit you pretty good... especially if you are in a relatively tall ship like the Snow.

 

I tested my Brig with 6pndr longs vs 6pndr mediums and my efficiency in taking down NPC's in missions as well as traders was much better with the mediums. The fact that you reload much faster means you can fire more often, ergo missed shots are less critical as well as it being easier to swap over to for instance chain or grape shots (for taking out traders).

 

That said, when I play in a group with friends I prefer the long guns. It's a bit more forgiving since you spread the damage out between two or more ships then, and there's often situations where you have to be careful not ramming your friends so you end up a bit further away from the targets.

[Ruthless4u]

Thought about switching to long guns, but really want something heavier than the 6lb cannon.

[Mindfield]

At rank 3 I had also 2x cutters or even worse 2x privateers or a combination.

 

You can put 2 cutters into your fleet, that will help a lot, but I find it best to simply run (dont forget to tell your fleet to retreat) and dont waste time and money.

 

Get a new mission and hope it is only one ship. Taking down a singe ship is a lot faster and safer.

 

I prefer 6lb mediums too, just in case you come across a juicy trader target.

[Fletch]

Try a Live oak Navy Brig. I had a lot of success on level 3 missions on one. I am up to level 5 missions at the moment and one thing that is constant if you get 2 ships in your mission you are going to be in for some heavy damage. I always try to get one of the NPS to sail away from the other, if you can split them it helps a lot.

I always use long cannons these days they are the most accurate guns for me and have high penertration

[Aetrion]

From what I understand the Snow is the fast and maneuverable 6th rate, while the brig/navy brig are the sturdy and slower 6th rates.

 

So, a snow is overall better for capturing traders, especially since it has bow chasers, but probably not quite as well suited to scrapping with multiple small NPC ships as the navy brig.

[Thymoral]

If you are doing missions at your appropriate level then the match should be fairly evenly matched.   If you need some help, hire a fleet cutter or two.  With the current mission rewards you can hire a cutter with the profits from 2 missions.

 

 

When you have your cutters you can either play more conservatively and let your cutters distract the target and take damage, or more aggressively and dive in with your cutters and take some damage while your cutters do some work.

[Gaius Marius]

I have found that the best strategy depends on if you have two cutters in your fleet.  Should you have two cutters, have them attack one of the enemy ships.  They will easily distract and often cripple one of the baddies.  It's vital to keep an eye of the wellness of your cutters as you're unable to buy more when you hit First Lieutenant (or your nations equivalent).  Always tell one to retreat if it's hurting too bad.  Your cutters will tie up one of your enemies long enough for you to sink the other.  

Should your fleet be cutterless, the above posts describe perfectly viable methods and there's always the option of turning tail and getting out of there.

 

[Ghroznak]

When fighting two at once I always try to engage one of them and make him follow me at full sails downwind, and leave the other behind until first one is dead. Most ships don't have bow chasers, except the Snow, so running downwind with one of the ships means the other one is effectively unable to engage you at all.