Wood Thickness and Characteristics Guide

[Ned Loe]

This is my first attempt to create a simple wood thickness guide. Tell me what can be improved or added. 

 

 

 

Detailed Explanation

 

Thickness = Resistance (Increases chance to stop cannon balls).

Structure = Ship Health (HP) after shots Penetrated Thickness.

 

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Live Oak

Pros

-Thick Armor/Resistance (+7cm)

-Extra Structure (+10% HP)

 

Cons

-Speed Reduction (-2.5% Speed)

 

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Teak

Pros

-Better Armor/Resistance (+4cm)

-No Speed Penalty 

 

Cons

-No Speed Bonus

-No Structure Bonus

 

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Oak

Pros

-Extra Structure (+5% HP)

-No Speed Penalty 

 

Cons

-No Speed Bonus

-No Armor/Resistance Bonus

 

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Fir

Pros

-Extra Speed Bonus (+2.5%)

 

Cons

-Armor/Resistance Reduction (-7cm)

-Structure Reduction (-5% HP)

 

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Bermuda Cedar

Pros

-Extra Speed Bonus (+2.5%)

 

Cons

-No Structure Bonus (HP)

-No Armor Thickness Bonus 

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Mahogany

Pros

-Thick Armor/Resistance (+5cm)

-Extra Structure (+7.5% HP)

 

Cons

-Speed Reduction (-1% Speed)

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Inherited Characteristics when crafting ships

(These can cover up some negative % from wood characteristics and usually are random when crafting ships).

 

 

Stiffness - Ship heel angle when turning/ riding waves. You always want to have Gold Stiffness for the best bonus. For example, Gold Stiffness + Gold Ballast + Another Officer Skill Will give your Trincomalee or Essex awesome handling characteristics. 

Speed - Ship Top Speed. Gold Speed goes well with live oak and eliminates that -2.5% speed penalty. 

Crew space - Add extra crew for Boarding, Guns or Sails. 

Planking - Plank construction quality. This simply means  - planks have gaps and after damage they open up letting water in. Gap size is very small on Gold Planking. This will result in better water resistance when your ship HP is low. Less Leaks.

Build strength - Planking amount. This means it will take enemy more time to destroy your planks and cause leaks. So, Gold Planking + Build Strength = Few Leaks under heavy fire or when hull is badly damaged. 

Rigging quality - Sails up and down speed/ yard turning speed; from less to more. Gold Rigging will result in very quick yard turns/ ship turns. Combine it with another General mod for the best bonus and quick maneuverability during the battle. 

 

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Your Default ship Thickness can usually be found under ship stats. In my guide Default ship thickness is X0. Let's say X0 on your ship is 50cm. Your ship is made of Oak. When you craft same ship with Live oak your thickness will increase to 57cm while Fir wood will make it 43cm and Teak 54cm.

 

Ship Characteristics That Can Effect Thickness:

 

Stiffness - heel from less reduction (Grey) to more reduction (Gold) it also gives +5% to mast HP and +2cm to armor.

 

This means when X0 = 50cm (Oak) then Live Oak = 57cm+2cm (Stiffness) will give you 59cm Armor (Thickness). 

Edited January 31, 2017 by Ned Loe

[Ned Loe]

Nice, I think you could remove the +4 on the LiveOak line.

Done

[Ned Loe]

You think I should include Speed and Structure Effects?

[312_JS]

You think I should include Speed and Structure Effects?

Yes please.

[Ned Loe]

Added speed and structure bonus. 

[312_JS]

Cheers.

[Black Spawn]

Neat. Thx for the work. Definitely helpful for new players/crafters.

[Red Jack Walker]

Thank you Wind!!! Nice job!!!   

[lokii]

Hi, great guide. Did they Buff Stiffness to also give +2cm Armor? yet it does not show up on Ship Stats, so that might not be correct yet...

[Ned Loe]

Hi, great guide. Did they Buff Stiffness to also give +2cm Armor? yet it does not show up on Ship Stats, so that might not be correct yet...

Last patch:

 

• Stiffness was buffed to give +5% to mast HP and +2cm to armor

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/15862-patch-994-alliances-new-ships-new-features/

[Cmdr RideZ]

Some wood types had planking bonus as well, or not?

[Corona Lisa]

Is it worth to take planking over build strength?

[themule08]

Is it possible to get stiffness and speed on a ship? I have heard yes from players and no from Mods.

[Bougainville]

no

There, you just heard a 'no' from a player as well, now.

[Kanay]

Is it possible to get stiffness and speed on a ship? I have heard yes from players and no from Mods.

no

There, you just heard a 'no' from a player as well, now.

 

In fact there is  one ship having both, the redeemable Yacht :

 

Beside this particular case it ain't possible to get both by crafting.

[FrostZone]

I am vary glad to see this guide.  Good work!

[Fenris]

Is it possible to get stiffness and speed on a ship? I have heard yes from players and no from Mods.

NOt sure about this,but if you choose "random" crafting new ship, it may happen

[dWhiteWolfb]

Good stuff. Definitely learnt something new. +1

[Ned Loe]

2 new wood types confirmed in new patch. All wood characteristics will be updated soon. 

 

-Bermuda Cedar

-Mahogany

 

 

Bermuda Cedar

 

Juniperus Bermudiana is the generic name of the variety of cedar tree indigenous to Bermuda which was growing most abundantly on the islands of Bermuda when they were discovered in the 14th century. Early settlers and their descendants thereafter used cedar to construct everything (cedar cradle to cedar coffin and everything in between). Bermuda Cedar was even exported to England for ship building. The exotic perfume aroma of the wood is heavier and more complex than its North American cousins. 

 

In 1944, the oyster shell scale and the juniper scale, two parasites, attacked the cedars and within ten years, 90% of the original cedars were dead (about three and a half million trees based on a density of 300 trees an acre growing on Bermuda's 13,000 acres). 

 

During the 1950s as many as 75,000 dead cedars were cut down and the wood stockpiled as re-forestation took place. Many more were cut down as Bermuda rapidly developed and have either been destroyed or extravagantly used to make beautiful furniture, house doors and windows, ceiling beams, floors, and the like at great expense. The wood has become a rare treasure indeed and getting harder to find each year. The Bermuda Cedar items that you buy are made from small pieces of old stockpiled wood and can only be made when such pieces become available to our craftsmen. Because newly planted trees are protected, this old cedar represents the last of this treasure. We are fortunate to have a little of it for our customers.

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Mahogany

 

 

Mahogany is a kind of wood—the straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus Swietenia, indigenous to the Americas, part of the pantropical chinaberry family, Meliaceae.

[Ned Loe]

 Wood hardness in real world.

 

The Janka test measures the force required to embed a 11.28 millimeter (0.444 inch) steel ball into wood to half its diameter. This method was chosen so that the result would leave an indention 100 square millimeters in size. It is one of the best measures of the ability of a wood species to withstand denting and wear. It is also a good indicator of how hard a species is to saw or nail.

 

 

Devs take note.

 

 

[Stilgar]

The real question is Teak/build strength or Oak/Planking? Any opinion?

[Ned Loe]

The real question is Teak/build strength or Oak/Planking? Any opinion?

Teak+Build Strength. Teak is the best all around wood. 

[Ned Loe]

When building "speed" combat vessels yes Teak is the best all around.  

 

But for pure tanks, 1-3rd rate SoLs, Live Oak + Build Strength + Stiffness = NASTY Tough.  

 

I have a Live Oak Ballona with that exact build, its hull armor rating is 84cm I think, and has over 11k structure.   We are talking 1st rate level damage absorption.   I then added gold planking and Improved magazine, extra pumps, carpenter teams, powder monkeys, and survival handbooks.  That think is able to go toe to toe with a second rate and hold its own.   

 

Downside it sails like a brick, tops out at 10.5kn and turns in the space of Haiti.  

Live oak is horrible on 1-2nd if you like maneuvering. Yes it's tanky, but turn rate is bad. If you doing line fights it's acceptable. It could be just me, but that speed penalty/reduction when turning is not my thing. 

[Ned Loe]

They are called Ships of the Line for a reason.   They aren't ballerinas and they don't dance around like humming birds.   These are the lumbering heavy weights of the sea.   They form in lines and beat each other into submission.   The crew breaks long before the ship ever should.  

 

5 good SoL captains who follow tactics for line fighting and sail as a unit, will defeat 5 individuals who fight like frigates in SoLs built for speed.  

That's understandable. Will 5 teak 1st rates turn faster than 5 live oak? If they do, then Teak has better chance to do critical hits on live oak ones. 

 

Here are the tactics where more maneuverable group will smack any heavier slow turn group. 

 

[Bramborough]

My hunch is that the new woods won't be used as main framing woods like Live Oak, etc.  After all, we don't build ships with frames of Compass, Lignum, Pine, or Redwood either.

 

Instead, I suspect these may be the "new resources" referred to in devs' statement: "New resources will be required to craft exceptional ships".

 

http://forum.game-labs.net/index.php?/topic/16751-important-october-patch-information/

 

Just a guess; could be wrong.  Guess (hope?) we'll find out in a couple of days.