Which ship do you prefer?

[Raga]

I am in the middle of Pirate Saga after the Dutch Gambit.
I am using Brigandine (18/14 cannons) and Maifeng (which is really good but I somehow hate her) is given to the officer.
I just captured a Corvette (20/20 cannons) which has speed and maneuverability similar to my ship so I thought that there will be no problems with switching ships.
I was terribly wrong... and the main reason is the inverted against the wind stat. For me Corvette is unplayable and Brigandine with less firepower is much more effective in both combat and pursuit.
Do you have the same feeeling?

[󠀡󠀡]

Bigger is definitely not always better.
Having used a Man'oWar, and a Ship of the Line, I must say that I find them very ineffective for 95% of the situations. They are too big, so they always get hit, too slow, and a pretty small wind angle, and cost a fortune to maintain.
I'm using a Fast Frigate now, and I love it the most out of all ships. Fast, decent crew size, 42 cannons, about 80k per month only.

[Cpt Fracasse]

I agree with Jiffy - the bigger is not the better - but don't forget you can boost your ship (speed, hull, maneuvrability, angle to the wind )
This way a line ship can be as fast as a heavy frigate but much more powerful.
I'm cruising at 17 (speed) with a lineship but don't forget the maneuvrability ( to protect your sails)

[Kaiser1417]

Overall the most balanced ship with plenty of firepower has always been the Fast Frigate you get later in the story. It can go toe to toe with basically anything except the gold fleet and forts

To the OP, it seems that you would benefit most from a strong class 4 ship, the story line allows you to get a patrol brig, which is rather strong for class 4. A suggestion for class 3 would be a polacre, they seem to be really maneuverable and can have around 20 guns

[Anderson]

The best I can get. Engaging is always possible from long distances. Therefore dodging is not a strategy I like especially after using it so much in early steps of all sea games.

[PhoenicianSon]

The earlier iteration of this series, Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships the Ship of the Line was the best balanced Class 1 ship of all ships. It was fast, and at the sacrifice of some maneuvering it was still effective against large and small ships.

I am reading in this thread that it is too slow and has a poor wind angle. Either of you play, or have played, AoP2: CoAS who has owned had this same ship and can form a comparison between the this game and AoP2?

[Raga]

I have lost satisfaction from my current game. As usual I have ambitiousy chosen hard difficulty but the fights became too much frustrating (120 vs 400hp and hard attacks that kills on the spot without heavy armor - I hate the imbalance between player npc and enemy npc)
I restarted the game on normal (much even enemies, much less cannon explosions, I have destroyed for the first time masts of the enemy ship - which I never did on hard difficulty)

Now to the OP after the introduction:
I have finished Dutch Dutch Gambit on hard and now I wanted to do it from the English side to see the whole picture of the story.
I am in love with the Mirage. She is beautiful (Compared to Meifeng). I think that she is the one... Permanent relationship on the horizon :)

[Kaiser1417]

The mirage is great for raiding anything that isn't a class 2 warship, like frigates and heavy galleons. I still have mine in my fleet. The maneuverability is insane.

[Anderson]

Well, Frigates if I think better. Galleons are fine too but if I lost everything then I stick with Frigates, Heavy Frigates.
Overload the ship with blood hungry crew and forward!

[Raga]

I am still sticking to the Mirage. I can defeat any Class 3 ship without any looses (usually crew lost is not more than 10%). The most important factors for me are:
- good positioning (navigation with 2 basic perks - increased speed and man maneuverability)
- good "against wind" stat (X / Y where X < Y)
- good cannoneer with at least 20 pound cannons or culverines

Amount of cannons on the ship affects only the time needed to defeat the enemy.
Heavy Galleon and Heavy Fregate (controlled by AI) have no chances with said Mirage.
If I had to choose between +10 cannons on each side of my ship or better against the wind factor I would choose the latter.

[Kaiser1417]

Yeah, but engaging lots of large ships is gonna be suicide with the mirage, some story quests will require you to face 2 heavy galleons, a line ship, and polacre at the same time. You get caught in a broadside once and you won't tank it well

[Raga]

Thanks for the warning :)

[Kaiser1417]

I will say this, the game is fair enough that it allows you to capture a fast frigate (the only one in the game) prior to facing most of the suicidal naval combat scenarios. 420ish crew and 42 24pounders is plenty of firepower to get by. Not to mention it's angle to the wind is ridiculous for a ship of its size. It's only gonna lose one on one fights against forts and 1st class ships, if they happen to have couleuvrines or full couleuvrines (rare).

I wish people were more active, devs and players alike so we could have very active discussions on this game

[Raga]

Start a new topic with discussion. I wouldn't mind being active. I started a few last topics myself but with litte / no feedback.

[EagleTwo]

Kaiser1417, main problem that most players of the game are russians, and very few of them(like myself) can and want discuss it on this forums.
On topic: quest ships are good, beacouse of fixed states, but sometimes you can get very good ones by boarding, if you are lucky to get ship with max possible stats it will be mostly better than quest ship of his class(case they have middle+ stats).

[tometalian]

1) at the beginning swap to a sloop asap, prefer (indicated by green in ship menu) more guns and crew, because accuracy is terrible, more shots more chance to hit, grape shots from near than board is a good strategy at the beginning.
2)when your nav is high enough swap to a brigantine, again prefer more/bigger guns and crew. both this, and the sloop is fast and manuverable enough without bonuses. swap to the light xebec Meifeng or ketch Mirage during/after dutch gambit. when you move to a bigger ship, moor this one, it will come in handy later at justice island.
3)if your nav is high enough swap to a Xebec/Polacre, super fast, manouverable, sail againts the wind, fun to play with. again go for more/bigger cannons and crew. later, you'll get a small frigate in the main quest line
4)for me, the heavy frigate was better than the heavy galleon. a bit faster, better wind ratio. i went for speed and manuveribility. increased speed at Port Royal shipyard. if you have at least 50 cannons thats good enough. max 32pound better. if you want sniping preferably with high accuracy go with coulverins. slow, but very good distance. if you want overall good midgame cannons, go with the fast 24pounders. if you want devastating damage at the cost of slower reload time, go with the 32 punders. for me 50+ 32pound cannons is the way.
5) at rank 1 for overall usage i prefer a line ship, currently using one with high generic manouveribility, improved speed at port royal, wind ratio as good as a frigate, 52 32pound cannons and almost a thousand man. i sail alone in my line ship, and have a moored pretty good heavy frigate, and (captured in the defense of saint pierre) a beast man'o'war with its full culverins for forts and gold convoys, but other than that its frustrating, slow as hell and easy to hit

Addition: just finished Caleuche, captured the Flying Heart, increased speed at Port Royal, manuveribility at Capsterville, and now its my main.