Best ship to raid traders

[Ruthless4u]

As I embark on my pirate career, I am at a loss for which ship is best to raid traders. Up to this point I have been more PVP focused and not cared to much about hauling goods back to port.

Thoughts?

[Shrez]

Surprise

[Slamz]

One of my guildmates is amazingly successful with the Pickle. It's hard to hit, it escapes well and it can beat any traders if you know what you're doing. The key, I think, is how fast it turns. You can fire one broadside and flip and fire the other giving it more real firepower than you'd think the stats indicate. Could probably even beat an Indiaman 1 on 1 though it would take forever -- chain his sails, then S-turn repeatedly on his stern to knock out the stern with ball shot and then just grape the crew down. Anything you can do with a Cutter, the Pickle does it better. Higher sides make it less vulnerable to crew damage too.

But a Surprise is a solid choice and does not require so much expertise to be good at. Also the 4 rear cannons makes escaping a gank a lot more realistic than most other 5th rates. Build it and fit it for speed. Escapes well on a 90.

I actually like the Snow as a raider too. For a small ship it has good firepower, plus front guns. That's what Anne Wildcat always uses. Nimble and escapes very nicely on a 180 which is an awkward angle for most ships. Snow is very much a matter of taste though. I know a lot of people who just can't stand it. It is a bit wobbly and pretty easy to hit for a 6th rate.

Endymion is a popular high end choice, mainly because of its great speed on the 135. It's easy to hit the speed cap with it and it has a lot of firepower. Very popular solo PvP ship. I don't really like its sailing profile and I think it's awkward in group combat. Some people also use 18 pounders instead of 24 to reduce the crewing needs and 18 is plenty for trader raiding anyway.

There is a LOT of discussion to be had over fittings and materials but I think fir/teak is a reasonable build for a raider. Fir/fir maybe but don't get in any extended shootouts with that. Fir/fir is purely for get in, sack a trader, get out.

[mikeCK]

Renommee or Surprise hands down. I'm partial to the Reno because of its aesthetics and great turn rate....makes it so much easier to board. BUT, in reality, of the two, the Surprise has the edge. It carries a lot of firepower for its size and - the biggest advantage over the Reno (besides more guns)- has 2 bow chasers. It's 4 stern chasers and speed at all points outside of close hauled make it able to escape if you are in over your head

Anything smaller than a Reno makes taking down Gros Ventures a problem. Not that you can't but you lose a lot of crew and such. I sure as hell wouldn't attack a GV with a privateer escort in a Pickle.

Anything bigger than a surprise and you start getting into turn rate and speed issues. The larger ships that start having issues when trying to board a Snow, Lynx or Pickle.

The Essex (my favorite overall) has no bow chasers. The Frigate is slow. The Trinc can't turn.

I'm big on turn rate because even with good manual sailing and an enemy at 50% sails, it can be tough to board smaller trader ships.

If you choose the Reno, don't put any guns on the weather deck. It only carries 3 6-lb cannons per broadside up there and it saves a lot of weight....so MORE speed.
I would recommend carronades (32lb) if your just taking on traders

So, in my opinion, considering hold space, speed, turn rate and damage potential, the Surprise is the best suited for that with the Reno a good second choice

[[SOT]Avongunn]

All depends on where you intend to hunt.... and what you are hunting

[[SOT]Avongunn]

Frigate is slow? Mine goes 12.08 without any mods in best wind.... and it is NOT a Fir or Bermuda Cedar build...

Also if yur hunting traders or even warships.. if you got a good tag prepared and a volley of 2 of chain make it a much easier day for you......

[mikeCK]

Well...the Frigate is the 2nd slowest 5th rate in the game outpacing only the Indefatigable. The Reno does about 13.7 knots and the Surprise about 12.6.

So yeah, Frigate is slow.

[[SOT]Avongunn]

Originally posted by mikeCK:

Well...the Frigate is the 2nd slowest 5th rate in the game outpacing only the Indefatigable. The Reno does about 13.7 knots and the Surprise about 12.6.

So yeah, Frigate is slow.

given they can all be Fail fitted to the max speed it becomes a thing for personal preference. any 5th rate can catch any trader in game with a good tag. Heck some of the Traders are getting uppity for the AI even.. had a Trader snow turn to Attack me after they added guns.. it didnt even try to escape... always liked the Surprise pre wipe but the Frigate is a very solid PVE ship...

PvP for trader hunting the only real choices are Surprise, Trinc or Connie... They have speed and good Chasers.<because player traders have a very good chance of being speed builds and refitted>. but if your playing in a lot of shallow water then your either in a Snow or a Privateer. The Brig is a waste of construction materials and the Merc needs a Chaser

[Aussie Pastor]

LGV

[Quineloe]

raiding traders hardly passes as "pirate gameplay".

[Ruthless4u]

Originally posted by Loncaros:

raiding traders hardly passes as "pirate gameplay".

Yes because real pirates spent all their time hunting Ships of the line.

[Dutchy]

Santissima

[Quineloe]

Originally posted by Ruthless4u:

Originally posted by Loncaros:

raiding traders hardly passes as "pirate gameplay".

Yes because real pirates spent all their time hunting Ships of the line.

actually real pirates sail around in ships of the line.