Brief guide to catching traders.

[admin]

Catching traders is easy. They behave as players and try to escape if exit timer allows them to do it. 

To stop them you have to understand the following mechanics.

1. Traders always run at their best course at a straight line. 
2. Traders pick one course and stay on it. This course is determined at the beginning of the battle. They will try to turn away from you once during the first minus of combat
3. Traders have a speed penalty but because they don't turn it becomes negligible if you turn to fire.

90% of success comes from proper positioning on the Open world. If you attack incorrectly it will be hard or impossible to catch a trader.

Positioning is key and you have to watch for 3 things

• place your ship a certain way on the OW so you don't have to turn to fire.
• pick your intercept course so enemy run course always crosses your intercept course
• attack from the closest possible distance

Do these 3 things and you will always catch any ship even if you are commanding a slowest vessel

 

If you positioned yourself properly in the OW you will get the following benefits

You don't have to turn to fire

Enemy sails to you or sails through your intercept course

Enemy is 350 meters away or less

 

Simple example

 

 

Cutters and lynxes run upwind. So you have to attack them from the wind side: you are between enemy and the wind

Brigs and snows run downwind. So you have to attack them from the downwind side: enemy is between wind and you.

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

And please, please, please load chain during the battle countdown.  Your first few broadsides on a trader should always be chain to slow them to a manageable speed.

[Reki]

I don't believe this things actually should be said. Pretty obviuosly 

[Tief N Tote]

I don't believe this things actually should be said. Pretty obviuosly 

well we didn't have to think about it before. they would turn and attack

[Tief N Tote]

well i actually hope to see larger merchant ships soon anyway i only used to hit the cutters and lynx cuz it was all i saw

[DeRuyter]

After you have caught them using chain and positioning make sure you keep damaging them because if the timer runs out they will disappear!   Even if they are 100 meters away!

[admin]

After you have caught them using chain and positioning make sure you keep damaging them because if the timer runs out they will disappear!   Even if they are 100 meters away!

 

Yes you have to shoot them once in 2 mins

It is possible even on Santisima

[Prater]

Can we try a timer of 2:30 or 2:15?

[Red Jack Walker]

Can we try a timer of 2:30 or 2:15?

I endorse this proposal.

[Tief N Tote]

Can we try a timer of 2:30 or 2:15?

i endorse this too

[Captain Boneboys]

Essential guide, everybody should take note (sends note to self), I managed to work it out for myself by experimenting with the timing of my  Attack while in Open World, I see many complaining they are unable to catch a traders ship, so I'm just bumping this Topic.

 

                                                                                                                              Bump...

Edited November 5, 2015 by Captain Boneboys

[Kpt Beowulf aka Kpt Ahab]

But proper positioning doesn´t help if you find yourself in the instance with the wind turned 180°...  

[Aloysius Pendergast]

I just started. Thank you for this. I was not sure. I had a devil of a time the first 4-5 times to catch a trader. Now, I have caught about 3 or 4 in a row. Not because of this, but this will definitely help me from now on.

[BallsOfSteel]

I look forward to putting this to the test

[Ned Loe]

Ship positioning does not always work. For example I positioned ship behind enemy and spawned in front when battle started. Please fix it.

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

Ship positioning does not always work. For example I positioned ship behind enemy and spawned in front when battle started. Please fix it.

 

I've witnessed this as well.  It's hard to F11 because you don't have a screenshot of the positioning when the battle kicked off.  Maybe I'll try to screen the last moment of OW and screen again a battlestart.  Can someone remind me where the screenshot button ran off to please?

[kda_0420]

Thank you for this interesting info, guys

[Prater]

I've witnessed this as well.  It's hard to F11 because you don't have a screenshot of the positioning when the battle kicked off.  Maybe I'll try to screen the last moment of OW and screen again a battlestart.  Can someone remind me where the screenshot button ran off to please?

 

You have to use the steam screenshot part of the steam overlay (by default it is f12).  Video would probably be best.  I bet it would only take 2 tries before you catch it on video, it happens so often.

[Lymark]

Isn't sailing downwind the fastest ? Why would Cutters and lynxes prefer sailing towards upwind ?

[Galaga Galaxian]

Roughly downwind is generally the fastest speed yes. But due to the way their sails are rigged Cutters and Lynxes can make a better upwind speed than most other ships in the game. Basically both types of ship are reasonably fast going down wind, but Cutters and Lynxes are faster than others upwind, and can thus escape better that way.

[Henry d'Esterre Darby]

Isn't sailing downwind the fastest ? Why would Cutters and lynxes prefer sailing towards upwind ?

 

A fore/aft rigged vessel exposes far less sail area to the wind going downwind than a square rigged vessel.  If you take a look at the way the sails are designed, square riggers on a run expose far more sail area to the wind.  The tradeoff is that when the wind is abeam, close reach, or close hauled, all of those lovely square sails rapidly become useless, as they can not be cranked over far enough to full catch the air.  In those situations, a fore/aft rigged vessel's sails are far better able to apply more sail area to the wind, allowing them to sail faster than the square rigged ship on those points of sail.

[Flaank]

Thanks for this. Captured my first Trader Lynx after wondering how I would ever catch up to them.

[diomedesbc]

I wasted an evening chasing Traders in my yacht.  I think I have it figured out now though.  I did notice one time I positioned nice and close and with them in between me and the wind and it still positioned me in the opposite side.  Was frustrating.

I got a Traders Snow last night so I was pretty happy!

[VonCarra]

For training purposes i used basic cutter(with carronades) and attacked gross ventre...

That really teach you how to cut sails and how to turn and keep you always near his stern

And yes, i have done it, cutting down gross ventre crew from 262 to 50 and then boarded him.

Timer showed 2.5 minutes left when i was finally done with her...