Help! Ghost ship battle

[MustBeDone (J.B.)]

Man, this battles tough.

I got 5 ship of lines (bought, not made).
All ships modified with a ram + cannons front and back. Also got the long barrel cannons on. Got the heavy plate armors.

I put captains in all ships with highest help % to cannon together (I forget the exact name of the tactic): 20% 20% 15% 15%.

I can beat the first phase pretty easy, I just do regular fight, following from back and sometimes shoot cannons with left and right. But the 2nd phase, he keeps running out of the red circle and I loose him. And he’s really fast when the wind is with him.

Those who beat him, how did you guys do it? Should I focus on putting all 4 highest cannon fires on deck? Or brawling?

[Naut]

Where do get the quest to fight the ghost ship ? Ive been trying to get it to proc by sailing at cape town but i dont seem to get it

[MustBeDone (J.B.)]

Originally posted by Naut:

Where do get the quest to fight the ghost ship ? Ive been trying to get it to proc by sailing at cape town but i dont seem to get it

I think I was sailing near Cape Town when it was foggy? There will be an event cut scene saying saw a ghost ship. Then you can go to any port and someone will tell you to go talk to Cape Town mayor.

[Med [Redacted 2x]]

Yeah this one's hard. I had 2 soleil royals + 3 ship of the line in this fight and by the end of the 2nd round I had lost 2 SOTL's my other soleil royal barely floating. Fight basically felt like a souped up very hard bounty. Main thing that probably kept me alive was my lead soleil royal with 5760 hp + 20% steering advantage.

[markelphoenix]

What makes it hard? Is it primarily the speed? If so, does chain shot help reduce the speed?

[Newgunden]

Originally posted by markelphoenix:

What makes it hard? Is it primarily the speed? If so, does chain shot help reduce the speed?

It's the Fxxxing water mines.

[stretch]

Originally posted by Newgunden:

Originally posted by markelphoenix:

What makes it hard? Is it primarily the speed? If so, does chain shot help reduce the speed?

It's the Fxxxing water mines.

You need a reasonably fast ship.
Give it forward cannons.
Follow him as best you can trying to keep a slightly tighter turning circle than he has.
Nibble away till he dies.
If he breaks loose from your tail try to get a broadside into him and run away.
Then you gotta get back in behind him without getting hit because when he comes back in at you he comes hard and fast. It's not easy but it is doable.
Take 4 reasonable ships with you but expect to lose some if not all. You want them to be distractions for him.

Good luck.

NB - if you can keep him turning and stay tight behind him with a slightly tighter turning circle his mines will usually miss you. They slip down to your side.

[Jiggles]

I have also cheesed the second phase with Jaca and a ram before but I definitely wouldn't recommend it as a reliable strategy, it just might work if you really don't want to go grind up better ships for the fight. You also need a pretty heavily leveled crew to really pull it off, definitely recommend Takigawa as your other boatswain.

[Face of Mercy]

I posted some of my experiences as a guide

[Naut]

I had a Victory Rare Variant of Ship of the Line that has 50% loading speed. I just broadside him endlessly, he stood no chance.