Pirate Encounters Design & Rewards

Pirate ships are set to appear at various locations across the sea! Arr! When you encounter one, you or your crewmates will be able to directly attack the boat using your boat's cannons. You can also fight the Pirate NPCs on the enemy ship using your own Magic and Ranged attacks. Traditional combat cannot directly attack boats, only your cannons can. Similarly, cannons can't attack Pirate NPCs, only you can. When an enemy pirate ship reaches certain health thresholds, the pirates on board may decide to jump ship and attack you on your boat. If they manage to get on board, you must defend your boat using your own attacks: Magic, Ranged or Melee. Your crew will start to panic and pause their actions until you've dealt with the threat, so act quickly! Enemy pirates are considered defeated through two possible outcomes:

• •You've defeated the entire pirate crew, so that nobody is left on board, which will cause the boat to sink.
• •You've destroyed the Hull of the ship, causing it to sink.

Either way, the spoils of victory will be yours.

These encounters will be noticeably different to fight compared to the current monsters you're facing at sea. To give you an idea, think the complexity of something like Tormented Demons: a more involved fight, but not quite a boss. We want to be upfront in managing expectations here, since we know that you all want to see more from combat. We're making good progress through the systems behind the scenes, and the team would like to take an iterative approach, so it's important for us to hear your feedback on the content first before we consider adding significantly more challenging variants in the future. We think this content will be most relevant for mid-level players and higher-levelled players looking for something to shake up their gameplay. Some enemy encounters will be in the 50-70 Sailing and Combat range, and others will be in the 75+ range with upscaled stats. They are designed to be repeatable and they won't feel overly punishing if you make a mistake. We're also planning to add them into areas with relatively low traffic at the moment, so that players who don't want to engage in the content can continue going about their normal activities, like Salvaging, as normal. However, if you're unlucky enough to cross paths with a pirate, it'll be something you'll need to pay attention to!

Speaking of rewards, this activity will be primarily focused on its rewards, and not XP. Pirate encounters are combat-focused content, and while combat is part of Sailing, we don't intend this to compete with other training methods. They will be added to Bounty tasks, so whilst they will offer some XP, it won't be a significant amount. When we balance content, we generally look at three factors: XP/hr, GP/hr and unique drops. If content had great XP, great GP and fantastic unique drops, there wouldn't be much of a reason to engage in other types of content, which would invalidate a lot of existing ways to train Sailing! We want to re-iterate that our caution around adding more XP to combat is mainly because Sailing isn't a combat skill, and we don't want this content to replace existing training methods. However, we want to reassure you that this content will definitely fill a gap where we know that the sea needs to feel more exciting, dangerous, and rewarding. Later in this blog, we will outline new boat customisation, new gear for heavy ranged combat, and a new facility for your boat. All of which are subject to changes based on feedback from you, so let us know your thoughts in the survey linked at the very bottom of this blog!

Alongside this update, you can look forward to two new cannonball types: Chainshot and Incendiary. We introduced these before and polled them last August, but didn't include them in the initial release of Sailing. Similarly, the question of whether we should introduce NPC boats at sea has also already been polled, so the technical work is already in progress. The big discussion here is around feedback on the new rewards from this content, included below. We want to work with you on making sure it feels right and appropriate for the difficulty of content. We're especially interested in how you feel about the rewards and whether you want us to make any changes ahead of polling.

Alongside this content, you can expect to see new cannonballs with their own unique mechanics.

Chainshot cannonballs specialise in slowing enemy movement. They will deal reduced damage compared to regular cannonballs, but they have the effect of halving movement speed on enemy targets for 5 seconds. Enough to make a getaway or just delay an incoming threat. You can fire these at boats and sea monsters, and they will have the effect of halving movement speed on the target for 5 seconds. You can create Chainshot cannonballs up to Rune by smithing chains from Steel bars, then combining them with cannonballs at an anvil.

Incendiary cannonballs are designed to break fires out on deck or set enemies ablaze and cause burn damage over time! When used on an enemy ship, a fire will break out on deck and any NPC touching that fire will also take damage over time. This fire will ignore any flat armour bonuses, making it a noticeable DPS increase over time. They can also be fired at monsters at sea, too, applying a burn effect. Watch out, dolphins... Fires can move around the deck as new shots land, forcing crews to react. And don't worry... For now, we don't expect that NPCs will be ready to use these fancy new cannonballs against you. But pirates being pirates, it's only a matter of time before they start taking tricks from you. They are pirates, after all. You can create Incendiary cannonballs up to Rune by mining Rubium splinters (from the Charred Island Dungeon), then combining them with cannonballs at an anvil. As mentioned, we introduced these during Sailing refinement and polled them last year, but if you've got any feedback on the design details, please do let us know.

When you complete The Red Reef, you'll find out more about the threats that pirates pose, especially to the Tortugans. However, as it happens, there are more pirates at sea, and these encounters introduce two distinct factions. If you can’t see the image above, click here!

The Onyx Raiders are a bloody and violent pirate faction who inspire fear and accrue wealth through their vicious attacks on merchant vessels. Frequently they kill the entire crew of such ships and leave them stripped bare of any valuables. Their name comes from a savage ritual all captains must undergo to have one eye replaced with an Onyx gem they have plundered. They can be found in the south of the Unquiet Ocean, near the Onyx Crest, an island to which they often retreat.

The Kraken Collective are a disparate collection of ships that have formed an uneasy alliance around the worship of various types of Kraken that have appeared in the seas in recent years. They are often found attacking fishing ships and collecting their catches as offerings for the krakens they idolise! They tend to appear close to places there are large groups of Kraken, particularly around the Vagabond's Rest area.

Of course, if you're taking down pirates you should expect to get treasure. This update includes a mix of cosmetics, boat upgrades, alongside new Briny and Selachii gear sets designed to fill a niche for heavy ranged combat, improving how you interact with Sailing and having some uses outside of it!

Alongside this update, we're planning to release a range of new sail cosmetics! A range of basic sail colours will be added, as outlined in our Game Jam VII blog. Whilst this isn't directly earned from pirates, it will ensure we have the system in place for more unique pirate cosmetics. Here are the new basic customisation options for your Sails:

• •Black
• •Blue
• •Green
• •Pink
• •Purple
• •Red
• •Yellow

You can unlock Sail customisation at level 41 Sailing. Each of the block colour sails mentioned above can be created with 10 of the appropriate dye. We'll come back to the rest when there's an appropriate source to unlock them! In the future, we are keen to explore popular community suggestions for Sail cosmetics, or perhaps another community-designed competition! If we do run another player-designed competition, we think it would be best to wait until after the system has released, to give us some time to ensure it is working exactly as we hope. If you can’t see the image above, click here! Lastly, as a result of these new additions, the Boat Customisation menu will be tweaked to allow you to customise them, as shown below (please note that the image shows the Sailing level as 1, but it will be 41 as described above): If you can’t see the image above, click here! Poll Question: Should we add a general system for customising boat sails, including a range of new basic sail colours?

If you can’t see the image above, click here! NPC Pirates have a chance of dropping some Fabric Roll that can be used to make pirate sails and pirate flags for your boat's sail or flag slots. These will be untradeable! Poll Question: If question 1 passes, should we add Dread Pirate Fabric Roll, a new reward from NPC Boats that will allow you to create pirate sails and pirate flags?

Bosun's Bench is a new facility, designed to be an upgrade to ship management since it allows your crew to make repairs for you. You'll be able to unlock the Bosun's Bench schematic by completing The Red Reef, the second quest in the Tortugan storyline, which is launching alongside this update. Pirates also have a chance to drop Bosun's Mallet, used to make the new facility. When a crewmate or player is assigned to this facility, they will periodically repair your ship when it can be healed without overhealing it. The facility uses kits stored in your Cargo Hold and will still benefit from your crew's Deckhandiness stats. The Mallet is tradeable, but the schematic for it is not and can only be unlocked by completing the quest. Additionally, Bosun's Bench can be built in any existing facility slot that a Ballistic Attractor can be built.

• •63 Sailing
• •54 Construction
• •6 Camphor Planks
• •24 Adamantite Nails
• •2 Lead Bar
• •Bosun's Mallet
• •Bosun's Bench Schematic (one-time unlock)

Poll Question: Should we add Bosun's Mallet and Bosun's Bench as described in the blog? This would allow you to create a new facility that, when a crewmate is assigned, will periodically repair your ship when it can be healed.

NPC Pirates have a chance to drop a new material called Briny Leather, used to craft Briny Leather Armour. This is a brand new mid-level armour set focused on heavy ranged combat, making it especially useful for Cannons, Crossbows, and any other heavy ranged setups. While we already have heavy ranged accuracy, this set introduces heavy ranged strength, a strength modifier that only applies when using heavy ranged attack types. It's the first armour set specifically focused on heavy ranged, and we're excited to see how this shakes up progression for those using these setups. In case you missed our recent boat combat fixes update, player gear now directly impacts cannon damage and accuracy, so this gear will fit in especially nicely as a result of those changes. Name Requirements Magic Atk Ranged Atk Stab Def Slash Def Crush Def Magic Def Ranged Def Ranged Str Briny Vambraces

• •65 Crafting using 1 Leather
• •65 Ranged
• •40 Defence

-10 +9 (+2 Heavy only) +4 +5 +5 +8 +0 +1 (Heavy range only) Briny Chaps

• •67 Crafting using 2 Leather
• •65 Ranged
• •40 Defence

-10 +11 (+5 Heavy only) +18 +20 +26 +23 +26 +1 (Heavy range only) Briny Body

• •69 Crafting using 3 Leather
• •65 Ranged
• •40 Defence

-15 +20 (+7 Heavy only) +30 +38 +45 +45 +50 +2 (Heavy range only) Briny Tricorn

• •70 Crafting using 2 Leather
• •65 Ranged
• •40 Defence

-5 +6 (+1 Heavy only) +4 +7 +10 +4 +8 +1 (Heavy range only) Poll Question: Should we add Briny Leather and Briny Leather Armour as described in the blog?

Higher-level pirate encounters will have a chance to drop Selachii Leather, which would be used to craft an upgraded version of the set. This is the same core idea: a new armour set focused on heavy ranged combat, however, it's progressing beyond mid-level and designed to be more relevant for higher-level Sailing content. Name Requirements Magic Atk Ranged Atk Stab Def Slash Def Crush Def Magic Def Ranged Def Ranged Str Selachii Vambraces

• •75 Crafting using 1 Leather
• •75 Ranged
• •70 Defence

-10 +9 (+3 Heavy only) +5 +6 +9 +9 +0 +1 (Heavy range only) Selachii Chaps

• •77 Crafting using 2 Leather
• •75 Ranged
• •70 Defence

-10 +11 (+7 Heavy only) +25 +25 +30 +31 +32 +1 (Heavy range only) Selachii Body

• •79 Crafting using 3 Leather
• •75 Ranged
• •70 Defence

-15 +22 (+9 Heavy only) +45 +49 +62 +59 +58 +2 (Heavy range only) Selachii Tricorn

• •80 Crafting using 2 Leather
• •75 Ranged
• •70 Defence

-5 +6 (+2 Heavy only) +5 +8 +11 +6 +9 +1 (Heavy range only) There is also a new set effect when you have all of the armour pieces equipped: +10 Heavy Ranged and +1 Ranged Strength. In the late game, most upgrades favour general ranged setups and we don't expect that this armour will make a noticeable change there. However, Selachii Leather does offer a specialised option for heavy ranged setups if you wish to continue using them. Poll Question: Should we add Selachii Leather and Selachii Leather Armour as described in the blog?

Finally, we're polling a change to the Medallion of the Deep following strong player feedback. Right now, the Medallion doesn't feel particularly useful when you're actually underwater on Fossil Island. Even for simple, low-intensity activities like underwater Farming, you still need to bring and equip full diving gear. We know this has been a common frustration, especially since the Medallion feels like it should help in these situations, but currently doesn't. As the Medallion was originally polled to work everywhere outside of the underwater Agility/Thieving area, we're going to make a change to allow it to function across the Fossil Island underwater area, excluding the underwater Agility/Thieving activity, without requiring a breathing apparatus. Since players expected it to work this way, that won't be polled. However, we would like to poll an additional change: within the underwater Agility/Thieving area, the Medallion could cause oxygen to deplete 75% slower. We appreciate that this may feel a little inconsistent with how it works in the rest of the game, but according to the mermaids, the ocean currents are to blame as there's simply less oxygen in the water! In reality, we don't want to make the Medallion work exactly the same there as doing so would negate the mechanics of this activity! Nevertheless, we recognise that changes are needed based on your feedback. So, what do you think? Poll Question: Should the Medallion of the Deep reduce oxygen depletion by 75% within the underwater Agility/Thieving area at Fossil Island?

We aren't currently planning a major expansion to Sailing combat beyond what's outlined here. However, introducing NPC ship combat requires building a significant amount of underlying infrastructure – something that could support future content for Sailing combat further down the line. That said, anything of that scale would be well beyond the Player-Designed Island (Wyrmscraig) and likely not something you'd see this year. Following December's opinion poll, we've made a number of changes to Sailing combat in response to your feedback. Now, we're running another survey to check in regarding your priorities and interests, and see if things have shifted since then. Please take the time to fill this out and let us know your thoughts. We're also looking to expand our existing group of NDA playtesters so we can continue shaping Sailing alongside the community. If you're interested in getting involved, including taking part in an upcoming remote playtest for this content, let us know. We'd love to have you on board! Want to share your feedback and/or playtest this content? Complete the survey HERE! If all goes well, we're aiming to run our closed playtest for this content sometime in late April. So, that's everything we've got for you today. Let us know what you think, and whether you'd like us to make any changes to the rewards we've outlined. We'll review your feedback, make any necessary adjustments, and then look to poll this design ahead of release. If all goes well, we're currently targeting an early Summer. Until then, try not to get your boat sunk before the pirates do... We'll see you out there!