Why are is the 3rd rate strictly worse than the Bellona and why is the St Pavel strictly worse than the Bucentaure?

[Cragger]

What you are trying to say is that a 3rd rate cannot beat a Bellona....  and that is patently false.  There is no reason to "Nerf" or "buff" ships, especially as more examples of each class are introduced.  There is already too many "bordering on" gamey "perks" and mods that enable ships to be "tanky" or "DPS" machine guns...   

 

The "Nerfing" or "Buffing" should be primarily between the captain's ears..

 

It is more that the '3rd' is just a Bellona model, with less structure HP, less broadside weight, worse handling... somehow. It has no actual advantages or reasons to exist over the Bellona currently and really was only around as a weak SoL for the AI to use back when SoL were capturable. Now that the Ingermanland is here the '3rd' has no reason to exist at all. Plus the generic and confusing name is pointless.

 

It's not a priority but it would be nice to see it changed to a 64, 70,  or some other 3rd rate. 

[Vernon Merrill]

Maybe we should think of it as an old, worn out 74 that the Admiralty has re-gunned to get a few more cruises out of her. A bit of rot in the futtocks, but still sailable.

I like it.