1st rates tactics

[Naxos]

at the moment, 1st rates are game changers in small matches (3v3 or 4v4), the team that fails to protect those lead ships usually loses (often one 1st rate and some frigates forming up a team)

 

apart from being slow and hard to steer, being the lead ship in those matches comes along with a big responsibility for the well being of the team. sinking early and your buddies are dead as well. spotlight on you and full concentration, no failure allowed, no experiments. biggest ship must decide for all others. that burden may be another reason why many people that unlocked all ships still prefer smaller ships, its simply more fun.

 

their firepower is overwhelming though, they just eat frigates in seconds. if the other ships in team protect their stern and act as bodyguards, they are hard to beat. being protected gives the precious extra seconds for needed repairs. most players are happy to protect their 1st rates, a good team always does it by instinct.

 

also with protection, its possible to destroy 1st rates quickly with smaller ships, if one side of the hull gets weakened with double shots over and over by the attackers.

demasting another thing.

[Balsafer]

Yeah one battle i had earlier in my Vic I got off one good broad side on most of the frigates and i let the other frigates take care of them while I try and focus on the enemies biggest ship and hopefully my teamates can keep my stern clear

[RAMJB]

I always pop a smile when people complain about 1st rates lacking maneouverability. I certainly have no problems maneouvering with them. Well, the santisima is a brick with a keel, but its to be expected and even in that one I have no problems.

A 1st rate will eat anything. ANYTHING. smaller than them. I've been involved in 3v1 brawls with 2 bellonas and a Consti in a Santisima and eaten them out like there was no tomorrow. Hence when people say "they need support" I tend to smile. Sure, they do better with support. No, if you know how to sail one, you don't really need it against smaller ships unless the odds are so brutal against you that there's no hope (4v1 or more)

 

My only gripe with them (specially the Victory, Santisima doesn't have the problem to the same extent ,even while it  does) is that if you get your pump yellow and your flooding over 20%, you will sink no matter what. Which is quite unrealistic. New damage model with multiple pumps in ships that had them will probably sort this problem out.

 

Other than that this ships are unbeateable vs smaller ships, with a captain who understands how to fight on them. 1st rates are only equalled by 1st rates. And yet people seem to think they are underwhelming...

[Robert Danforth]

I think it's more that they feel un-maneuverable because of the preceding ships. The Bellona feels like a brick, but that's because I just got her, and compared to the Constitution (who felt like a brick after the Trinco)....