Regular cannons not working vs SOTD ?

[Talono 434]

Dear Pros,

do you have hints for a noob SOTD hunter ? Regular cannons with crew on auto fire have a very short range, the undead fleet is definitly in range when my crew starts firing.

I also tried the large cannons, but my crew is aiming very badly with 80% miss.

Anyone has some hints ?

[DocHolliday 366]

Yeah I noticed once the PTR started up my NPC's were making some very bad shots.  I run a side and back loaded brig.  If you time their weaving motion right they will never land a shot.  If they start turning to get a shot on you turn with them so they cannot do so.  If they are about to line you up then turn the opposite direction immediately so they miss.  Stick to max range if possible.

 

The NPC aiming thing is weird for me.  It seems like the first couple of shots are horrible misses then they get better.  They do miss consistently when a ship of the damned starts turning towards your guns.  Your NPC's over compensate and the shots land next to the ship.  When I recognize this I smack "C" a bunch of times to cease fire and once the ship straights out I hit "V" again for them to fire.  Get better consistency that way. 

[Vegetto 59]

5 hours ago, Talono said:

Dear Pros,

do you have hints for a noob SOTD hunter ? Regular cannons with crew on auto fire have a very short range, the undead fleet is definitly in range when my crew starts firing.

I also tried the large cannons, but my crew is aiming very badly with 80% miss.

Anyone has some hints ?

Try changing the range of each cannon to high, and sometimes crew will shoot even if the sotd is not in range.

[George Catcher 367]

I hunt SqotD with just a Regular Brig with 10 regular cannons each side. I took down more then 50 SotD's before wipe (highest one was lvl-36) and around 30 SotD's in this 1.5 (highest here so far was a Galley lvl-29).

My point is - you never use automatic aim and automatic shoothing.

You make sure - there is enough ammo in your ammo box (and box is not far from guns, if you use a Galley. For Brig I take with me 250-300 cannonballs in each hunting mission).

You sail by SotD. You make sure you selected all groups of guns you needed (those down line of icons where 1 - front, 2 - left etc). And then you HOLD LMB and point it to the guns direction (for example if you sail by and SotD is left side, you select all left guns and if you put some extra to nose or stern they can count as front or back but you can change that. You HOLD LMB and point a cross to forward-left side of your ship, to the waters (I mean not to the horizon or skies).

Cannons can turn left-right a bit, so within range of cannons you'll see white trajectory of your cannonballs and white circles of their hit areas. Then you aim. And when ready - you release LMB and click it immediately to fire. This way you able to see max range of your cannons, you can aim ahead etc.

With 10 cannons battery - Brig oneshots Schooner of damned lvl-1 and lvl-2. And successfully fight all other. Right now my alpha-strike is 12k damage and with new damage skill and highest quality cannons it can be raised up to 20-30k (or maybe even 40k with mythic 200% damage cannons) per shot and successful hit. 

Edited May 1, 2019 by George Catcher

[INVALID 1,037]

We haven't really made any tweaks to how NPC Crews aim with autofire, it may just be unfortunate luck.

[George Catcher 367]

If any1 cares - that's how my SotD's destroyer looks like:

It's just as simple as ti gets.

- There is NOTHING in center because SotD's lands most of their damage there, and you'll just get tired of repairing and rebuilding all there.

- There is no railings, half walls and other beautification, because they have so little HP, so you'll get tired of rebuilding and repainting all after each hunting mission.

- Extra guns can be placed either in front or in back of ship, but I found front is the safest place and less damage goes there.

- Back slope for ballistas against whales (now I took them off to save some weight. We done 2 whale quests). And steering wheel. It's also most simple to minimize risk of being thrown outboard.

- Blue squares for better recognition of ceilings. Center ones are always get tons and tons of SotDs damage.

I'm actually very proud that I DO NOT USE all ugly shotguns and extremely long and safe kiting tactics! Just boardside fights! Just HARDCORE! : ))

Edited May 1, 2019 by George Catcher

[Talono 434]

I checked by setting regular cannons to high range and NPC personal targeting also to high range.

The crew still has a very shitty range when auto firing, they start shooting a long time after the SOTD death fleet landed volley after volley on my ship.

I also tried manual firing the regular cannons. The range is a bit further than by using auto firing NPC, but not much. I am a lot more early in range of the SOTD cannons before they come into range of mine.

I use a battery shooting to behind my ship.

Edited May 1, 2019 by Talono

[George Catcher 367]

 I am a lot more early in range of the SOTD cannons before they come into range of mine.

But it's ok to receive some damage. That's why experience, and tactics need. To find a right angle, right wind and approach them... There is a skill in ship's skill tree that's reduce incoming damage (I have it on 180% right now).