Engaging enemies on the high seas involves unique rules, repair challenges, boarding maneuvers, and the ever-present risk of sinking. This page covers ship combat mechanics and the crucial Salvage system for recovering from defeat. Return to the main Ships page.
Rules of Engagement
The open ocean is a Lawless Zone where PvP is always enabled. Be aware that your ship and crew can flag you for combat; if your NPC Crew attack another player, you are considered hostile. Damage dynamics are adjusted at sea: attacks from Players, Tamed Creatures, and Summons targeting enemies on a different ship deal 50% reduced damage. Conversely, your own NPC Crew inflict 50% increased damage in ship battles. Poison effects are similarly scaled down between ships. While player spells and weapons can damage ships, cannons remain the primary tool for naval warfare.
Ship Repairing
Sustaining damage to your ship's Hull, Sails, or Guns necessitates repairs using Ship Repair Kits (crafted via Tinkering). To initiate repairs, use the "Repair Ship" command available on the Ship Gump or relevant Hotbar. This brings up a targeting gump allowing you to select which hit point type (Hull, Sails, or Guns) to restore.
The repair process requires the ship to remain completely stationary for 10 seconds. An overhead message ("*Repairing Hull*", etc.) confirms the action. The amount of HP restored depends on the ship's specific repair stats, viewable on the Stats Gump. If the repairing player moves or is killed before the 10 seconds elapse, the repair attempt fails.
Repair frequency is limited during combat. By default, you can only perform one repair action every 5 minutes while actively engaged. This cooldown can be shortened by Upgrades that improve the 'Ship Repair Cooldown' stat. Once your ship has been out of combat for 60 seconds and any existing repair cooldown has finished, you can repair continuously without restriction.
Ship Boarding
Boarding enemy vessels allows your crew to engage theirs directly, providing access to Doubloons often carried by defeated enemy crewmembers. It's strategically important, as sinking a ship before looting its crew forfeits this potential wealth.
A boarding attempt can be initiated by the Captain when an enemy ship's Sail OR Gun HP drops below 50%. This requires using a Boarding Rope and selecting the "Send Boarding Party" command. While only the Captain can initiate, other players who have enabled "Auto-Join All Boarding Parties" via the Players Gump Tab will automatically join, along with any readied Crew and followers.
Upon successful boarding, designated party members leap onto the enemy deck. Crewmembers will automatically attack the nearest foe; their names and health bars appear Orange while boarding. The chance of a successful boarding action starts at 0% (when enemy Sails/Guns are at 50%) and scales up towards 100% as the lower of the enemy's Sail or Gun HP approaches 0%. This base chance is further increased by the attacking ship's 'Boarding Chance Bonus' stat provided by Upgrades. A ship can only attempt to board once every 20 seconds and must be stationary for at least 0.1 seconds prior.
If a crewmember is defeated during boarding, they become Incapacitated (Grey name/bar, Skull icon) and must undergo a 'Recovery Cooldown' before returning to duty. Note that embarking onto or boarding a ship cancels active targeting cursors and resets melee swing timers. Additionally, Explosion spells or potions cast from one ship deal only 25% damage if the caster moves to another vessel before detonation.
Ship Ramming
Captains can inflict direct Hull damage by ramming under specific conditions: the ramming ship must have been stationary for 5 seconds, not have rammed within the last 10 seconds, and be physically blocked from moving in 6 directions. In PvP, ramming deals Hull damage equal to 30% of the target's Max Hull HP, while the ramming ship takes damage equal to 5% of its own Max Hull HP. If an NPC ship gets stuck against a player ship (PvE), it will automatically attempt to ram, dealing 20% of the player ship's Max Hull HP as damage to the player, while the NPC ship takes 5% of its own Max Hull HP in damage.
Ship Sinking
When a ship's Hull Hit Points reach zero, it sinks. This triggers several immediate consequences:
- The Captain receives 80% of the ship's Total Doubloon Value (based on registration and installed components) directly into their bank.
- 10% of the ship's Total Doubloon Value is distributed amongst enemy player ships that contributed to the sinking, proportional to their damage dealt.
- Each installed Upgrade and Crewmember has a 1% chance to detach and become "Wayward Salvage" within the Salvage System.
- The Ship Deed itself, along with all non-detached components, is transferred immediately to the Salvage System.
- Crucially in PvP, any Pending Salvage aboard the sunk ship is lost and transferred to the enemy ship(s) that sank it, distributed based on damage contribution.
Ship Salvage System
The Salvage System is the crucial mechanism for recovering sunk ships and associated items. It is accessed via Salvage Foreman NPCs found at town docks by saying "Salvage", "Recover", or "Buy" nearby, or by using their context menu (Shift-Click). Items remain in the system and are recoverable for 30 days before being permanently deleted.
Salvage Credits
You can earn Salvage Credits by dragging unwanted Crewmember Contracts onto a Salvage Foreman. The credits received depend on the contract's rank (Novice: 100, Adept: 250, Veteran: 500, Expert: 1000, Master: 2000). These credits are automatically used first when paying recovery fees within the Salvage Menu.
Using the Ship Salvage Menu
The menu displays recoverable items associated with your account.
Recovering Sunk Ship Deeds
To retrieve a sunk ship deed (with its attached components), you must pay a Recovery Fee equal to its Total Doubloon Value. Clicking the large diamond button initiates payment, prioritizing Salvage Credits before drawing the remainder in Doubloons from your bank. Successful payment re-registers the ship instantly. Its status changes to "Available" (Green text), and buttons appear allowing you to send the recovered deed to your Bank Box, Backpack, or potentially a Dockmaster. The small orb button lets you preview the ship's details without committing to payment.
Recovering Wayward Salvage
"Wayward Salvage" refers to the upgrades or crewmembers that detached with a 1% chance upon sinking. Recovering these specific items is free but normally involves a 7-day waiting period, during which they appear with Pink text. After 7 days, they automatically become available for retrieval.
Expediting Wayward Salvage
If you don't want to wait 7 days for Wayward Salvage, you can Expedite its recovery. Clicking the large diamond Expedite button prompts you to target an item in your backpack for consumption (deletion). To expedite a Wayward Upgrade, you must consume any Ship Upgrade. To expedite a Wayward Crewmember, you must consume a Crewmember Contract of equal or higher rank. Once expedited, the Wayward item becomes immediately available for retrieval. The small orb button allows previewing before expediting.
Handling Looted Upgrades/Contracts (Pending Salvage)
As mentioned in Ship Upgrades, components looted at sea become "Pending Salvage" rather than physical items. This includes items that would have been in MIB/Salvage Crates, NPC ship holds, or on Boss corpses (distributed based on damage contribution in group encounters). This Pending Salvage is tracked on your Ship Overview Gump and becomes accessible only after docking. Upon docking, all Pending Salvage transfers to your Salvage System menu and is immediately available for retrieval, similar to expedited Wayward items.
Yielding Salvage
The "Yield Salvage" command (on the Overview Gump) allows you to transfer your entire current load of Pending Salvage to another player's ship within 6 tiles. This is useful for consolidating loot or helping allies. Both ships receive notifications. Attempting to yield with zero Pending Salvage will announce this fact, useful for proving emptiness if required.