Nightmare - Best Ship Upgrades to Prioritize?

[Goilveig]

So I've recently began to play the game, and started in Nightmare mode and finished the first two areas (Kephallonia and Megaris). I'm at level 13 right now.

Ground-based combat isn't too bad so far, I'm used to challenging action games/ ARPGs, but naval battles can be quite tricky. 1v1 or 2v1 ship combat isn't too much of a problem so far, but 3v1 is very dicey and relies on bursting weaker ships down and mid-combat boarding, and even then it's hit or miss. And some enemy fleets are as many as 5 ships. I'm using ship combat as a way to grind materials for ship upgrades.

Are there specific upgrades I should really focus on above others? So far, I've boosted hull (which also gives more lieutenants), archers / arrows, and unlocked fire arrows. I'm thinking that continuing to pump hull as much as possible would be the best as maxing out lieutenants could make up for not boosting other skills.

Also, is there a reason to focus on arrows vs. javelins? I admit I don't really know the difference besides which button I push to use them.

Lastly, and somewhat of an aside - is there ever a reason to board the final ship you defeat, or is it always better to ram it in half for bonus loot?

(Please no spoilers about content that I haven't encountered yet).

[ByTheNumbers]

I haven't been focusing on much other than the hull for survivability and more lieutenants. I did upgrade arrows/javs a bit, but just enough to get the fire stuff. However, I've also not bothered much with doing ship battles other than the ones I'm required to do. If memory serves, javs can help create weak points in the ship. Then you exploit it with the arrows. This does massive damage to the ship, As for boarding ships, you also can get loot from chests that are on the enemy ship, but I've always found lackluster loot (may be because I haven't tried boarding elite ships). However, your ship regains health from doing this, so it might be prudent if you're facing multiple ships and need extra health.

[StormhawkV]

Hull is only important as long as it gives you additional lieutenant slots. Highest priority is being able to fire four arrow salvos in quick succession. Spear salvos are less useful but you will need them, too. Also upgrade the arrows and spears themselves, as well as your fire attacks. To split bigger ships in half after defeating them you will have to upgrade the ram regularly, which is important as it can refill your fire attacks.

Basically whenever you do missions on land, scout enemies with Ikaros and look for those with a golden background. These are legendary lieutenants that come with a special skill in a similar way how legendary weapons come with a special engraving. Look for a skill that looks like a Rostra, the ram used by greek ships. There are two good abilities hidden in that category. The first one is refilling your fire attacks after splitting a ship in half and the other is increased life gain after splitting a ship in half.

When fighting multiple ships always kite away so that they follow you around. When you have allies supporting you use them as a distraction or a meat shield. Let one of them enter the maximum arrow range and then fire all four salvos while giving full broadside. When the enemy ship returns fire immediately turn away. Since it's still so far away the projectiles will spend enough time in the air for you to dodge them all. Don't forget to brace though.

Use fire attacks to speed up the process and drive in wide circles so that you can regularly ram the ships you disabled. A lvl 70 legendary lieutenant with the restore fire skill will completely refill all attacks after sinking a single ship by ramming. Remember to use the speedboost to do so.