Ship Upkeep

[Splasher Lars Meißner LP HD TV™®]

Im new to the game and can some more experienced players explain why i should ever get a Cargo ship or even a Clipper? Schooners are just so dirt cheap in Upkeep that i cant see a reason for ever using say a Clipper instead of multiple Schooners. Maybe when playing with hard pirates for more durability?

[way2co0l_2003]

Originally posted by Splasher Lars Meißner LP HD TV™®:

Im new to the game and can some more experienced players explain why i should ever get a Cargo ship or even a Clipper? Schooners are just so dirt cheap in Upkeep that i cant see a reason for ever using say a Clipper instead of multiple Schooners. Maybe when playing with hard pirates for more durability?

The simple answer is 2fold. Less influence cost for the same cargo... schooner can move 2 slots of stuff with influence cost of 2 while clipper can move 4 slots with 3 influence cost. And secondly the extra slots make it easier to arrange trade routes rather than needing a thousand ships to do it all. The influence is the biggest reason though. Before you get to investors you're usually very limited by it so spending less to handle the same amount of trade is a big bonus.

[kiddug]

A couple more reasons are clippers are faster and stronger. It only takes 3 shots to sink a schooner where a clipper takes 6-8 shots and can withstand attacks by sailing away.

[clif9710]

Originally posted by kiddug:

A couple more reasons are clippers are faster and stronger. It only takes 3 shots to sink a schooner where a clipper takes 6-8 shots and can withstand attacks by sailing away.

This.

It makes a big difference if your trade route is running within range of pirate fortress defenses, very likely when you get going with old world - new world trade routes. Clippers will withstand the few shots they may take before their speed gets them out of range.

If you have a repair crane very near your home port, any damage the clipper sustains on a trade run gets repaired as loading/unloading is going on, allowing you to laugh at the pirate fortress guns.

[NovaGenetics]

I got dragged into a war with one of my alliance buddies, and so I swapped to Cargo ships for the extra durability and HP. Some people say the influence cost sucks, but if you're regularly expanding. You will get an influx of influence to spend. I ditched all my Clippers once I got Cargo ships. They don't require good wind speed and I need goods transported regularly and at a good speed, hold way more, can get upgrades to make them super fast and are touch as nails.

So I upgrade to them as soon as I get them, and if there's danger. I just adjust the trade routes to move around in a way that doesn't trigger enemies defenses, and I only ever escort ships if it's something I REALLY need transported and can't afford to lose, but in that case I'll just have one of my kitted out Battlecruisers do the delivery instead.

[pemmons1]

> schooner can move 2 slots of stuff with influence cost of 2 while clipper can move 4 slots with 3 influence cost.

Huh? For me, a schooner costs 1 influence point and a clipper 2 points, so it's a wash in that respect.

I suppose it depends on the kind of game you're playing. My current game has no likelihood of warfare, so the only threat to trading ships occurs during occasional quests when enemy warships appear. If I'm careful to redirect any schooners in their path early enough, rarely do I lose any.

It seems to me that schooners are an advantage for trade routes with the New World, because these islands have a smaller maximum warehouse capacity, and production tends to be distributed among several islands. With small ships, it is more feasible to fine-tune your trade routes and maintain a steady flow of pickup and delivery. As the game progresses, waiting time at docks becomes an issue. Hence if you can keep ships on routes using a single pickup and a single delivery point, so much the better. Yeah, it probably means a lot of adjustment of trade routes, but that's part of the fun IMHO.

But now a word for larger ships that hasn't yet been mentioned: items that can enhance a ship's performance. These are always in short supply. Such an item in a clipper gives you more benefit than in a schooner.

[Tankfriend]

Originally posted by pemmons1:

It seems to me that schooners are an advantage for trade routes with the New World, because these islands have a smaller maximum warehouse capacity

Depots are available to build in all biomes. What prevents you building some to boost the storage capacity on your New World islands?

[pemmons1]

Depots are available to build in all biomes. What prevents you building some to boost the storage capacity on your New World islands?

Upkeep cost, of course. Sometimes lack of space, too. I'll build them when necessary, but I don't think larger ships (more upkeep cost) and depots to accommodate them (also more upkeep cost) are a very good argument in itself. We must look elsewhere for arguments, and I don't deny that there are some.

[Nameless Avatar]

Speed is the main reason. Transferring cargo between the new and old worlds is extremely slow with schooners and will cause logistic issues. Since clippers are faster, and cargo ships even faster, they offer an easy way to fix these issues.

Once you get the cargo ship with 6 slots, you can have a much cleaner trade route list with fewer ships. Plus money will be no issue once you get to the investor tier. So might as well upgrade.

[Nameless Avatar]

I didn't realize how old the original question was when I responded. Have to remember to check the dates.

[Tankfriend]

Yeah, money can be tight early on, but it's less and less of an issue the further you get into the game provided you balance your economy correctly. Meanwhile, influence points become the limiting currency. Larger ships are much more influence-efficient as well as reliable as transport tools than schooners, especially on the trans-ocean haul.
Edit:

Originally posted by Nameless Avatar:

I didn't realize how old the original question was when I responded. Have to remember to check the dates.

Wouldn't consider this a serious necro or anything, since it's not *that* old...

[clif9710]

Clippers have more HP than schooners, so in addition to being faster as mentioned above, clips can also take hits from the pirates and keep on going.