Value as single Player

[lordclane]

While the ratings say it can be single player, there seems to be a lot of emphasis in cooperative play and PvP. I don't do those, but it is otherwise intriguing. How is it as a single player game?

[Darth Revan]

the game can only be played in a shared online world with a maximum of 17 other players on the same server than you are.

you can do most things solo but certain world bosses will need other players to be able to defeat them.

PVP is completely optional, there are certain PVP activities (that are market as such) that you dont need to do and you can activate an open world pvp flag but if you do neither of those 2 things other people can not attack you.

[Ya Big Stud]

It's a multiplayer rpg....

[Donoghu]

I would say that to play solo, you got 2 tiny parts of the game that might be too hard to do on your own and a 3rd part that might feel like a big un-fun chore.

First, there are things called "World Event" which can be done solo, but only if you're MUCH stronger than the suggested level of the event. There are also bosses events which can be done solo, but if you take too much time, the boss "flee" once it's around 50% HP after a while and you cannot keep up with it without a late-game ship. When you're multiple players on the same target, things gets a lot more realizable.

The good thing though is that you don't necessary need to find people to do things. It's surely convenient to have friends to play with, but it doesn't mean that you cannot do with randoms that join in (or that you yourself join in) cannot blindly work together to bring down a boss/event. I had my fare share of town's take-over which I joined or got joined mid-way and a good part of the rewards are instanced (each get its own drops/rewards) with only a small part being first-take-first-get.

The 2nd tiny part of the game might around doing certain mission earlier. Some missions (quests) are received WAY too soon to be done solo. For example, taking a port while you only have rank I or II basic cannon is doable, but a massive pain in the butt as you got to shoot as many as 50-60 cannon ball at each tower to destroy them, not counting the incoming enemy ships and all. First time I took a port, I think I used over 170 cannon balls.

The game is really bad at explaining things when it comes to timing and knowing what you should do or not. It throws 10+ things at your face not telling you that 4 or 5 of those should not be done "right at this moment", but maybe a bit later once you get a better ship or once you're able to craft better weapons.

Outside of that, the "chore" part is the fact that if you're on your own, you're basically a 1-ship-company. The game has a lot of moments where you will think "Ha, I needed that?!? I just sold a crap-ton of that 1 hour ago because it had some value and I didn't need it!" You'll feel like you'll redo the same things over because your hull full and you had to make some space for some goods at one point just to wander around again for that exact thing you had to sell away previously.

And even if you think of keeping everything in case you need it, one of the main ways of making coins in this game is to do trade as coins rewards from taking down basic/normal ships can be minimal many times.

Multiple players playing together as a company means multiple hulls and a good group of players can make a big difference when it comes to sharing the spoils. For example, a mission could as you to deliver 50 fruits and you might have 42. A friend could give you the remaining 8 if he was with you and also gained those fruits while, if you're on your own, you might have to cross >3km of waving sea counter wind to reach the spot where you can get that fruit (which can take a good 15-20 mins).

If you want to play on your own, you're kinda in luck because the game's chat system is utterly broken. Chances are that you'll never feel the need to reach the chat or hear other players because it might just not work at that moment. At the moment, many players who play together uses Discord or some other means of communication instead of the in-game chat system since it's so unstable all the time.

[BlueLightning]

You don't even have to play coop or pvp as the game is fully playable solo, but some bosses require you to team up, but the game is kinda mmo so you can also call for help and other randoms may decide to... hit same target together? You don't even need to be in party to do this as group are often made impromptu. But if you don't want that, then you can also just sail alone and deal alone with your own power. It has better in coop, yes, since you can trade etc, but can be played solo

PvP is disabled by default so other player can't damage you

Besides, why not try the 6h free trial and decide yourself?
https://www.ubisoft.com/en-us/game/skull-and-bones/free-trial

[LordCarmesim]

This is a multiplayer game, but has some single player content. Basically, you can single player to learn the game, improve your ship, get better armor, weapons and furniture. That's what the single player is for. The real fun is in the multiplayer, playing the PvP events using what you built to face other players.

[lordclane]

Thanks. Sound like the game is fun for some, but is not for me. :-)