Large Frigate:
Henry Morgan has a Large Frigate. Boarding his ship leads to a fairly easy sword fight, even
on Rogue difficulty. This will provide access to a powerful ship without angering any of the
four nations.
Sword-fighting Style:
At the beginning of the game when you’re a young swashbuckler, I’ve found that simply doing
quick strikes with the cutlass is an easy way to win sword fights. However, later in the
game as you start to age and slow down with your moves, you’ll need to start fighting more
defensively or perhaps stack the odds in your favour (by using grape shot on the opposing
crew *before* going into hand-to-hand combat).
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Escorting Ship trick:
Sometimes when meet a Governor at a town or settlement, or at a monastery (almost always
with settlements) the Governor or Monk may require you to escort ship for various purposes
(sending immigrants, ultimatums, seeds, transporting a new governor, etc.)
This ships will almost always be intercepted by 3 opposing enemies (from other nations, or
by pirates), prompting a “sea battle” on the main political sea map. This process maybe a
little irritating especially if your not in the mood for another sea battle. There is a way
to get around this: Attack the ship you’re escorting! Seriously, but when you enter the
combat screen, sail away from the ship (flee – most likely the other ship will sail in the
opposite direction as you). After you exit the combat screen, the escort ship will have
sailed quite a long way from you. If you’re close to the target destination, the ship you’re
escorting should arrive automatically and complete its mission.
Note: May not very well if target destination is still far away.
Gaining Rank and Carribean Politics:
One of the most important features in the game is Carribean Politics which you can view on
your personal status sheet. This shows which countries are at war with each other. The best
way to make use of this is to wage war (pirate attacks) against the country that has the
most enemies. For example if you the Spanish are at war with the French and the Dutch, is
politically easier for you to gain military rank if you fight the Spanish than if you fight
the French and the Dutch. Fighting more ships and plundering more cities also provide you
with more “acre” bonuses each time you gain rank.
Mind you this tactic depends on the situation of Carribean politics and economics. Using
the example above, if the French and the Dutch have better and more cities/towns (wealthier),
it might be better to wage war against them instead since wealthier (and more) cities, this
means they have more ships sailing than a country that has weak and less cities/towns. So
if you want to wage war against a country, remember not to always plunder a city to the brink
of poverty as this will mean less ships to attack. Try changing the political powers of
certain Carribean regions by capturing cities and giving them to nations that do not have a
city or town in that region. For example in Eastern seas (around Martinique), the Spanish
do not have a town there. The closest is Trinidad (South) and San Juan (North) but none in
the middle. Providing a city/town for the Spanish in that area may prove beneficial for
future political wars.
Dealing with Unhappy Mates:
Obtain special items.
Certain special items decrease the unhappiness of your ship mates. Items such as musical
instruments are invaluable for long sea valuables. Obtain these items from the mysterious
traveler at the pub or from Governor daughters. Recruit Mates with Specialties. There are
many person(s) in the Carribean which will decrease the unhappiness of your ship mates.
Among others: The cook will provide better meals, the quartermaster will enforce discipline,
etc. To obtain these special mates, ask the local barmaid for further information on ship
carrying them and try to capture those ships. Also, just because they are unhappy, doesn’t
mean you have to retire soon. You can push the crew to the limit even though their status
is “unhappy”. Its when they are “mutinous” that you know you’re in trouble. So always
balance your cash reserves with your crew size. Thus you can even sail for more than 2-3
years without having to “divide the plunder” any time soon.
