Hunting Pirates

[DiggidiDickmann]

So I'm trying to hunt pirates (auto fight) but everytime they flee and are still on 99% health. Meanwhile my ships are also loosing 0% or get a ton of dmg (dropping from 99% to like 60%).

The pirate uses crayers (3), first time I tried to hunt them with hulks and cogges but I guessed my ships were too slow so I sold my ships and built also crayers (4). On the map it tells me the pirates are traveling with a speed of 5 while my ships are traveling with a speed of 6. So why can the pirate always escape in a fight?

I tried manually fighting but I think the fighting system really sucks. I chase their boats maybe get 1 or 2 shots and then they also flee.


So what's the best way to hunt pirates?

[jynx]

Originally posted by jynx:

Fighting single ships is simple. Sail with the wind to increase speed. When you're far enough ahead to turn and loose a volley, do that. Then get back into the wind and make some distance. Rinse, repeat. Avoid rocks, and keep an eye on the wind, it will shift on the combat map.
Damage you receive on the main map is from wear and tear. Stay out of storms, rain and fog. Pirate captains max higher skills than your captains can. Snaikka's can be hard to hit if you're up against a high sail skill pirate. Crayers can outmaneuver everything else. Use them as your convoy leaders, and to hunt on their own. Cogs and Hulks are for moving cargo, occasionally for attacking forts * because they can carry more heavy weapons.
I assume you know how to arm your sailors. Make sure to equip them to about 20% more than the crew needs, they get used up in fights.

[DiggidiDickmann]

The problem is that even in a manually fight they always flee. I heading right into their direction and they head right away from me. I'm chasing them in fights but can't get in range. The pirate and I are facing the same direction so we are also facing the same wind.
Is the only way to fight against a pirate with a fleet that is worse then his?

[AlP]

If the pirate is outnumbered and outgunned, he will always try to flee. You have to anticipate that in fights, so for example, make sure you lead him away from the edges of the combat map if you want to sink or capture him before he escapes.

Now in your example, you have too many ships for autocombat. Autocombat is generally not a good idea for fighting pirates on the open sea, because as you have discovered, it's likely to get your own ships damaged or have the pirate escape. Autocombat works well in pirate hideout missions, because it doesn't matter if the pirate ships flee, you win by destroying the towers.

To fight pirates manually, you can do several things. One is to keep a barrel of cargo on your warship, that will attract pirate attacks, while they ignore empty ships. Another is to use a single ship, or a weaker ship than pirate convoys. If you use a single cog, a convoy of three pirate ships will not flee until you damage or sink them enough. So you damage them to make them slow, then you sink or heavily damage two of them, and board the third.

Lastly, you can accept fugitive/escort missions in the tavern. They have a very high chance to cause a pirate attack along the way (you can have that ship sail around instead of going straight to the destination until it's attacked). That pirate will never flee no matter what, and will keep attacking until you sink him.

[TheMaster1]

Your captain is important. If it has 0 combat skill and 0 navigation skill its not good, but if its 5/5 its more likely to be successful.

For some pirates you may need a few tries. If not, you can always bait with 1 ship which you control manually to damage them, and then have a convoy of 3 awaiting them.

[DiggidiDickmann]

Well maybe I'm an Idiot but it's still the same problem. If I try to fight them on my own (no autofight) immediatly after getting into the fighting window they (pirates) start to flee/head to the edge of the map.
So if I try to chase them (get in range for my cannons) I'm sailing the same way till the end of the map. I'm not faster with my crayers. We have the same speed. I can't get in range to fight.

My captain has a fighting skill of 5, and 3 in navigation. Is the only way to fight them with a captain with a skill of 5 in navigation? Will I be faster in fights?

[jynx]

You have to use the wind and adjust your sails. You can corner them with practice. They're running because you're stronger than that pirate, and you have no juicy cargo aboard. You lose speed when you turn broadside to the wind (or to fire). You're going to have to practice for a while to get better at manual fighting.
The sailing skill matters, but it isn't the only concern. You can have a level 5 combat captain, and it won't do any good if your crew doesn't have enough cutlasses. If there's more than one pirate, separate them or kill all but the one you want. Try looking on you tube for how to videos on fighting. Auto-fighting happens automatically if any other convoys get in a fight while you're doing this fight manually.

[DiggidiDickmann]

Thanks for your answers but I don't think you get my problem. I am always chasing them so we head to the same direction. So we have the same wind conditions. If he is not sailing with the wind but I am then I won't follow him. Then I will head to a complete different direction and it will end up in even more distance between mine and his ships. For example: He starts on my right side and will immediatly sail to the right side. So if the wind blows from the right side he will sail against the wind. What should I do now? Sail to the left with the wind? Sail downwards and then to the right? This way I will never get in range to shoot him.
My weapons aren't the problem. My ships are upgraded to lvl 3 and full with cannons. I also have a rate of 1.5 cutlasses x sailors (already read this tip). The problem is the range. I'm not getting closer to the pirate.


I was looking on Youtube for fighting tips but in every Youtube video I saw the pirates attack the players and don't flee.

I tried to load some juicy cargo (like 25x pig iron) but the pirates still flee.


So is the only way to hunt the pirate by beeing under armed so the pirate will attack and not flee?
Nevertheless I wanna thank you all for trying to help me!

[DiggidiDickmann]

Originally posted by AlP:

If the pirate is outnumbered and outgunned, he will always try to flee. You have to anticipate that in fights, so for example, make sure you lead him away from the edges of the combat map if you want to sink or capture him before he escapes.

I can't lead him in any direction. He is always choosing the shortest direction to flee. I can only follow him (the range between him and me remains the same) or head to another direction (but then the range will extend). In fight we have the same speed because we have the same ships (crayers).

[AlP]

Originally posted by DiggidiDickmann:

Originally posted by AlP:

If the pirate is outnumbered and outgunned, he will always try to flee. You have to anticipate that in fights, so for example, make sure you lead him away from the edges of the combat map if you want to sink or capture him before he escapes.

I can't lead him in any direction. He is always choosing the shortest direction to flee. I can only follow him (the range between him and me remains the same) or head to another direction (but then the range will extend). In fight we have the same speed because we have the same ships (crayers).

That's normal.

Sometimes the combat starts with the ships in range. If you can hit him once with a broadside before he picks up speed, he will get damaged and his speed will go down.

Otherwise, use the tricks mentioned above. Always have a barrel of something to make him come to you for at least one broadside. Or use a weaker ship, or the same crayer with fewer sailors.

Originally posted by DiggidiDickmann:

I tried to load some juicy cargo (like 25x pig iron) but the pirates still flee.

Cargo makes your ship slower. Sailors above minimum, and weapons also count as cargo (yellow on the ship chart).

[Oakshield]

Juicy cargo isn't pig iron, it's iron goods, wine, spices or skins. Load 10 barrels of those aboard your ship and you'll be certain they will try to attack you and capture your ship.

Another thing that matters a lot is the kind of ship you choose.
If the pirates got Crayers, while you're using a Cog, bad luck but most of the time you won't be able to catch up on them.
With luck you will be able to get them a few broadsides and if you're even more lucky, that'll slow ONE ship down enough to give you the opportunity to capture it.

So how to deal with them? Easy.

1) Assign Crayers and Holks as convoy leader.
A Lvl 3 crayer with full crew, 10 more cutlasses as crew and full weapons, having an x/5/5 captain is very well able to deal with a pirate convoy.
Use Snaikka's and other Crayers with minimum crew to transport the cargo and at some point pirates will attack you, as your average strength is far below theirs.
The moment they do, order your ships to flee, fire one broadside at their ships and turn your convoy leader away from the rest of the convoy. The pirates will follow you, giving you the opportunity to fight and defeat them.

For Holks it's the same; a lvl 2/3 Holk with maximum crew, +10 cutlasses as crew, an x/5/5 captain and maximum wapons is able to deal with a lot of ships. Tactics work the same as for the Crayer.

2) Use a similar Crayer as mentioned above, but load it with 10 barrels of skins. The pirates will most likely attack you, after that it's simply a matter of firing a broadside at them to lure them your way,

As mentioned by others, use the wind and shoals to your advantage and you will be able to defeat them. And if not, I hope you did save prior to the fight.......

Thorin :)

[DiggidiDickmann]

[quote=Oakshield;2995422276385332795
The moment they do, order your ships to flee, fire one broadside at their ships and turn your convoy leader away from the rest of the convoy. The pirates will follow you, giving you the opportunity to fight and defeat them.

[/quote]

This tip was really helpfull :)

If the pirates are underarmed they will always flee regardless of your cargo. But with this trick I was at least able to destroy 2 of 3 pirateships (one pirate), the last pirateship fled.
So now I have 1 pirate with 1 ship. It is still impossible for me to defeat him because he will always flee.

[Oakshield]

Originally posted by DiggidiDickmann:

Originally posted by Oakshield:

The moment they do, order your ships to flee, fire one broadside at their ships and turn your convoy leader away from the rest of the convoy. The pirates will follow you, giving you the opportunity to fight and defeat them.

This tip was really helpfull :)

If the pirates are underarmed they will always flee regardless of your cargo. But with this trick I was at least able to destroy 2 of 3 pirateships (one pirate), the last pirateship fled.
So now I have 1 pirate with 1 ship. It is still impossible for me to defeat him because he will always flee.

You're welcome.

In case the pirate flees, leave him be.
He will most likely flee to his hide out, where he will repair his ship, get one or two new ones and roam the sea again.

So the trick after luring him after your armed ship, is to damage the ship as much as possible, since that would take him out of the running for a while.

There's one disadvantage, however, and in a way it's a big one too.
The moment a damage pirate ship enters their hide out, the pirate will not only repair the ship, but also upgrade it; meaning a convoy having lvl 2 ships at the start, will quite soon have lvl 3 ships. (Since they attack the AI as well and those do fight back).
However, in a way that's also an advantage to you, as you will get perfectly fit convoy leaders or short distance hub-routes like Bremen - Groningen, Bremen - Hamburg etc.

But it certainly is something to keep in mind.

Thorin :)

[russmiller4445]

I like crayers with cannons. and there speed & turning radius. At start, when your in the middle of map, lure him in by turning to avoid his shots. Once is usually enough. Now for the real trick, give chase by just offsetting your sailing direction from his. He will turn away from you. He will do circles on the map to avoid a boarding.thus, never reaching the edge of the map. So don't give direct chase, or he will make it to the edge. You may have to shoot 1 or two salvos to slow him down or to make the boarding party more favorable. Easy money.