Shipping: Your First Ship [Part 3]

If you have followed the first two articles so far, you will be raring to take your own ship out and get some serpent kills under your belt. This article discusses some of the possible ship configurations that one could employ out there and lists down the steps in making your own ship.

Ship types comparison:

There are currently three types of ships available: the Man O'War, the Frigate and the Sloop. The Man O'War is the most commonly seen ship type that offers the most guns (37) with the trade off being speed and maneuverability. As can be seen from the choices of virtually all players, the 37 guns make a compelling argument for both serpent hunting and repelling Khrait scout ships. The Sloop is frequently used for hunting fae crabs as their small size makes it easier to run around the decks killing the crabs. The Frigate is infrequently seen these days as most people think they are neither here nor there. Too few guns to kill serpents or sink Khrait ships effectively and not maneuverable or speedy enough to get out of trouble. I personally do not have any experience using Frigates or Sloops to comment further and will attempt to do so once I have some experience under my belt.

Gun type configurations:

For the purposes of discussion, we will confine ourselves to the configuration of a Man O'War which I am more familiar with and leave the other two ship types aside for now. There are three gun types available: the dart flinger, the fire caster and the bolt thrower. Help files offer several characteristics of various guns which any captain must be aware of.

Ship versus serpent:

Weather affects bolt throwers and fire casters. Bolt throwers do triple damage in lightning storms and halved damage in firestorms. Fire casters do triple damage in fire storms and halved damage in lightning storms. Dart flingers are affected by serpent size, doing triple damage against mammoth and smaller serpents but halved damage against enormous and larger serpents.

Ship versus ship:

Different gun types are effective against different parts of the ship. Fire casters work best when aimed at riggings and do bonus damage from fire. Bolt throwers work best when aimed at the hull while dart flingers work best when aimed at the crew or players that are on the decks or at the riggings.

Having learnt from many much more experienced shippers, I realize that there is no "best" configuration. One can be equally successful with whatever ship gun configuration you choose. However, you will be more successful and have a much more enjoyable experience if the gun configuration is tailored to your style and preferences. Here are some of the possible combinations for ship gun configurations which are more popular and their upsides and downsides:

• All dart flingers - an interesting combination that is highly specialized in deployment and care needs to be exercised when using this type of ship.

  Pros:
  - Triple damage vs mammoth and smaller serpents
  Cons:
  - Half damage against enormous and larger serpents, ie. they take twice as long to kill.
  - Low damage dealt in ship to ship combat.
  
  A popular strategy is to do mammoth and smaller serpents with an all dart flinger ship and then switching to another ship to do battle when the Khrait do pop after you amass 500k in fae. Also, when on a dart flinger ship, try to avoid enormous or larger serpents whenever possible as they take twice as long to kill.
  

• All fire casters - all fire casters make a great combination in ship to ship battles as one cannot underestimate the havoc wreaked by spreading fires on ships. With enough fires started, they can be deadly.

  Pros:
  - In firestorms, fire casters do triple damage to serpents.
  - Sets fire to ships for additional damage in ship to ship combat.
  Cons:
  - Half damage in lightning storms.
  - Fire storms do not last very long.
  While this configuration takes longer to obtain the fae for khrait, it is balanced off by speed at which the fire casters dispose of Khrait ships. If you are willing to venture further out, the firecaster do well against enormous or bigger serpents compared to the dart flinger configuration, and even better in a firestorm.

• All bolt throwers - this is one configuration I have yet to experience. As such, I have little to comment about it at present.

  Pros:
  - Triple damage to serpents in lightning storms.
  - Lightning storms occur more frequently than fire storms.
  Cons:
  - Half damage in fire storms.
  - Lightning storms do not last very long.
  - No 'summon lightning storm' ship secret spell.

• Half fire casters, half dart flingers - assuming that one splits the dart flingers and the fire casters by decks, with the bow being either one, this combination makes an interesting proposition to consider.

  Pros:
  - Double damage on a full starboard or larboard volley on average vs mammoth and smaller serpents.
  - Triple damage vs mammoth and smaller serpents in a fire storm.
  - 1.75 times damage vs enormous and larger serpents in weather other than fire storm or lightning storm.
  - Triple damage when you use dart flinger deck volley to dispose of baby serpents when serpents split when they die.
  Cons:
  - 0.75 times damage vs enormous and larger serpents with no fire storm.
  - Half damage vs enormous and larger serpents in a lightning storm.
  - Storms don't last very long.

• Half fire casters, half bolt throwers - this configuration offers no real weaknesses but sacrifices bonus damage as the fire casters and bolt throwers balance out each other. If you want a balanced all-weather ship with no weaknesses, this is as close as you're going to get.

  Pros:
  - 1.75 times damage vs serpents in either fire or lightning storms.
  Cons:
  - None really.

• Mix of all three - assuming one-third of each, this combination is what I would consider a neither here nor there combination that does not offer much advantages to offset the disadvantages.

  Pros:
  - 1.67 times damage to mammoth and smaller serpents in all weather other than fire or lightning storm.
  - 2.33 times damage to mammoth and smaller serpents in fire or lightning storm.
  - 1.5 times damage to enormous and larger serpents in fire or lightning storm.
  Cons:
  - 0.83 times damage to enormous and larger serpents in all weather other than fire or lightning storm.
  - Firing by decks to target different ship locations? Forget it.
  However, some of the designs put darts on the stern and bow and leave the larboard and starboard sides with only fire casters and bolt throwers. This configuration would behave more like a half fire caster half bolt thrower configuration.

As can be seen, every ship gun configuration offers an advantage and a trade-off which you have to live with. Bear in mind, the above configurations are deliberately simplified for discussion. It is my opinion that you can make the most of any ship configuration you choose as long as you deliberately try to maintain optimal conditions and try to get away from adverse situations.

For example, you have an all fire caster ship and you see a lightning storm coming, try avoid it or minimize the time spent in the storm and when you see a lightning storm coming, be conservative and chum one serpent at a time or better yet, delay chumming as long as you can. 'Sense weather' spell and 'forecast' is your best friend out there. In desperate conditions, 'dispel storm' ship secret spell might help.

For those fortunate enough to have the pleasure of making your own ship, the following are the steps involved:

1. Register a name ('shipadmin register <ship name>') or you could choose to use an already registered name. Registering a new name requires a waiting period for the name to be approved. That can take between immediate to a few days.
2. Make the ship ('shipadmin make <ship type> <ship name>'). This results in the ship being launched in Sea's End docks.
3. Fly to the ship and select your gun configuration ('shipadmin buy gun <type> <location> <number>'). You'll need to specify the gun type at each of the locations and buy each gun individually.
4. Buy sufficient ammunition ('shipadmin buy ammo <ammo type> <quantity>'). You have to be standing in the hold to do this. In a Man O'War, the room names are Forehold and Afterhold. The quantity you purchase depends on how long you want to be out there before you run out of ammunition. It is also dependent on deckhand skill level as poorly skilled deckhands miss more often and you need to account for ammo wastage. Another factor affecting consumption of ammo is the captain's personal style. Some captains fire at serpents from a long range off and the further the target is, the less likely you are to hit.

   From personal experience, I find ammo usage about 500-800 ammo for about 500k of fae when you are doing serpents. As for Khrait, it is rather hard to predict as all sorts of variables are at play. However, if you keep about 3000 rounds of ammo you should be pretty good for serpents, Khrait and a few more serpents for a 1.5-2 million fae run. In this case, I personally prefer to err on the side of caution and load up more rather than run out of ammo.

5. Raise sails. Your ship starts off with sails furled. This means that you will need to raise them in order to move at a decent speed. Hire deckhands or sweet talk enough friends to help if you prefer. Order deckhands to man sails ('job m d s 100'), stand at one of the masts and 'ship raise <battle or full>'. The selection of sails is a matter of individual preference and style. Full sails you move faster and battle sails you go a bit slower.
6. Move ammo to guns ('job m d a 100').

And you're ready to set off on your first adventure.

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