Patch 13: Variability in port battles, epic events, swivel guns

[Teutonic]

Just now, admin said:

as i said above.. in this pure case two cutters will cap the zone
but lets see the port battle where 25 cutters win against 13 first rates

rephrasing: if we allow cap by BR - the goal won't be achieved. Because 13 first rates will always win and there will be no benefit in taking lighter ships - e.g. everyone will sail max br ships into a port battle

We need to test it. So it's good to hold off on it I believe.

[Knobby]

3 minutes ago, admin said:

as i said above.. in this pure case two cutters will cap the zone
but lets see the port battle where 25 cutters win against 13 first rates

rephrasing: if we allow cap by BR - the goal won't be achieved. Because 13 first rates will always win and there will be no benefit in taking lighter ships - e.g. everyone will sail max br ships into a port battle

can you please tell us if larger ships are able to join shallow PB

[admin]

1 minute ago, Teutonic said:

We need to test it. So it's good to hold off on it I believe.

i agree. 
The smart fleet commander will not take a fleet of 13 first rates into a 6800 limit port battle. He will probably take 3 first rates (one per circle), 3-5 third rates and the rest will be a 4th rate, fast frigate fleet + some light scouts for fast capture. 

[admin]

2 minutes ago, Knobby said:

can you please tell us if larger ships are able to join shallow PB

2 types of pb

• old shallow pb = new shallow pb and still only lets ships below cerberus
• old 4th rate port battle and old line ship port battle = new unlimited port battle letting all the ships in up to the BR limit (we will see how it works in testing).

[Batman]

15 minutes ago, ShroudedRecluse said:

commented on 3 posts above yours:

Can't say this often enough lol

[Teutonic]

1 minute ago, admin said:

i agree. 
The smart fleet commander will not take a fleet of 13 first rates into a 6800 limit port battle. He will probably take 3 first rates (one per circle), 3-5 third rates and the rest will be a 4th rate, fast frigate fleet + some light scouts for fast capture. 

I agree with you, I just think that Once Br and stat Rebalance happens in the hotfixes you will start seeing the fruits of enjoyment.

 

[Guest]

1 minute ago, ShroudedRecluse said:

historically i don't recall there being more than one constitution - a total of 6 were built in that class

you might have missed my previous comments in this thread where i'm fine with pirate/outlaw faction not being able to sail anything larger than a 3rd or 4th rate

 

But no pirate ever sailed a ship larger than a 5th rate and those started out as privateer captains, like Captain Kidd or Captain Avery..

[Knobby]

2 minutes ago, admin said:

2 types of pb

• old shallow pb = new shallow pb and still only lets ships below cerberus
• old 4th rate port battle and old line ship port battle = new unlimited port battle letting all the ships in up to the BR limit (we will see how it works in testing).

Thank you.

Next time pls put stuff like this in patchnotes tnx.

[George Washington]

45 minutes ago, admin said:

I don't think its quantity vs quality. The goal was to promote mixed fleets and variety. I believe it will be achieved as having 10 santisimas no longer guarantees HMS victory.

Please review/increase penetration for 24lb guns and move Wasa to 3rd rate (400) BR please. 

Edited October 30, 2017 by George Washington

[z4ys]

There are shallow ports with 5100BR limit what ships can we expect in the furture to fill that BR with shallow ships?

Even the 1700BR dont allow much varity than rattles.

[Guest]

Cue the mono fleets of 25x smallest fastest ships that the BR cap allows sailing circles around the slow ships of the mixed fleets and killing off anything smaller.

[Guest]

Just now, ShroudedRecluse said:

agreed 

it's a matter of balance with flavour is my thought

as it stands, basically every faction/nation is a cookie cutter replica of every other one

personally i would have liked it if ONLY british nationals could use a brtish rig refit, or british gunners, french nationals using french rig refit and french gunners etc
"
however due to the delicate snowflake nature of gamers in general (not just in this game), the incessant whining of 'they have something we don't, it's not fair', rather than figuring out how to use what they have to their best advantage against others disadvantages makes this sadly (for me) not somethiung that is practical for the devs to implement and try and blanace in terms of time and dev resources

Arh then we understand eachother and if the different refits were properly balanced I'd agree in order to add variety to the factions..

[Demsity]

1 minute ago, Intrepido said:

A potential exploit (maybe?).

A guy entering with his ship with minimal crew to reduce its BR, and using rum to recover it.

Could it happen?

A fix would be a BR depending of ships, not crew.

Or if someone jumps in with a victory, minimal crew and surrenders.

Another teammate enters with a traders lynx, "interacts" with the victory and puts on full crew.

Dunno if its possible tho.

[TrackTerror]

19 minutes ago, admin said:

2 types of pb

• old shallow pb = new shallow pb and still only lets ships below cerberus
• old 4th rate port battle and old line ship port battle = new unlimited port battle letting all the ships in up to the BR limit (we will see how it works in testing).

Niagara allowed?

[Makrian]

Why set up production lines when you can easy klick ships with marks with best wood...

[Demsity]

Just now, Intrepido said:

I fail to see whats the point of doing that. You lose a player and gain another one.

The point is that you get a fully crewed victory at a huge BR discount because the player with the victory entered the PB with minimum crew.

[Christendom]

42 minutes ago, admin said:

The goal is to promote mixed fleets. Mixed fleets will win against both numbers or limited raw power.

can confirm if PBs are still capped at 25 ships?

 

[Hethwill, the Red Duke]

3 minutes ago, rediii said:

BR of ships has to be changeed right now.

... to take into account everything the ship has equipped and how it is built.

Meaning baseline BR + special woods BR + equipment BR + knowledge BR

Yes, I agree.

[Teutonic]

4 minutes ago, rediii said:

a smart fleetcommander will not take any 1st rates right now. He will take buccentaures.

 

Also a smart fleetcommander will not take any 3rd rates right now. He will take wasas.

 

The mixed fleets right now look like buccentaures, wasas and in lower BR portbattles pirate frigates and hermiones. That's it.

 

BR of ships has to be changeed right now.

as the Admin stated, they plan to balance them in the coming hotfixes.

[Batman]

2 minutes ago, rediii said:

 

BR of ships has to be changeed right now.

pretty much. Don't understand why the devs had to introduce the new mechanics without the new ship battle ratings. It seems overhasty and I can already here people complaining about not getting into a port battle or not getting to sail the ship they want.

[janat08]

more ship slots plz

[Rigs]

5 hours ago, admin said:

• All % caps have been increased by 5% to provide more variability in fitouts
• Turn rates have been improved for Endymion, Constitution, Agamemnon, Trincomalee, Indefatigable

@admin

What are the turn rates for those ships now?

Are all the caps now at +30%? 

Edited October 30, 2017 by Rigs

[Salty Dog.]

43 minutes ago, admin said:

as i said above.. in this pure case two cutters will cap the zone
but lets see the port battle where 25 cutters win against 13 first rates

rephrasing: if we allow cap by BR - the goal won't be achieved. Because 13 first rates will always win and there will be no benefit in taking lighter ships - e.g. everyone will sail max br ships into a port battle

You are correct that capping BR wont achieve the goal of a mixed fleet... at least using the current BR system.  As many posts have pointed out (mine including) the BR system needs to be adjusted....then it COULD be used. 

I think the goal should be to change the BR of the ships so a fleet of 25 would have a even chance of defeating a fleet of 13 first rates.....would that balance be 25 third rates vs 13 first rates?  13 second rates AND 12 fourth rates?  6 first rates, 6 seconds, 6 thirds and 6 fourths and a M-Brig?  If the BR of ships are adjusted so these are the combinations have the same BR , then I DO think capping BR WILL work.

[William Death]

Seems ok at a glance, except...

I WANT THE SHOTLOGGER BACK!!!

Why did you remove it? We don't have a way to tell if our guns are doing damage to the enemy ship: you can watch it with the spyglass and see it strike the ship and leave a mark, but did it penetrate and do damage? Even if you register a hit on the top of the screen "hull 1x" it doesn't necessarily mean you did any meaningful damage. Pressing ctrl+L was the way to tell if the shot penetrated and did a decent amount of damage. I don't care that the exact damage values were off, it is the fact that you could tell whether or not you were actually doing the damage at all that mattered.

Until we get a damage model that visually shows how much damage you are doing (as in, bits of the ship actually missing when you hit it), we need the shotlogger. Since I doubt we'll see damage graphics like that, at least not for a long time, please put the shotlogger back in.

[Salty Dog.]

14 minutes ago, janat08 said:

more ship slots plz

With the ship teleport, I don't think we need more slots.  Before, I had several ships prepositioned but don't really need that now I can port in the right ship for the job.  Removing those "ready ships" has freed up several slots.