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 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. Non-damaging spells like Curse/Weaken will not interrupt spellcasting on ships. Buff/Debuff abilities used by NPC ships have 50% effectiveness.
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 (Gump/Hotbar). This brings up a targeting gump allowing you to select which hit point type to restore. The repair process requires the ship to remain stationary for 10 seconds. An overhead message ("*Repairing Hull*", etc.) confirms the action. The amount repaired depends on the ship's specific repair stats. If the repairing player moves or is killed before completion, the attempt fails.
During combat, repairs are limited to once every 5 minutes by default. This cooldown can be shortened by Upgrades improving the 'Ship Repair Cooldown' stat. Once out of combat for 60 seconds (and any cooldown resolved), repairs can be performed continuously.
Ship Boarding
Boarding enemy vessels allows direct engagement and looting of Doubloons from defeated crew. Sinking a ship before looting forfeits this wealth. A boarding attempt can be initiated by the Captain using a Boarding Rope (crafted via Tailoring) when an enemy ship's Sail OR Gun HP drops below 50%. Other players opt-in via "Auto-Join All Boarding Parties" to participate alongside readied Crew and followers.
Upon success, party members jump to the enemy deck. Crew attack autonomously (appearing Orange while boarding). Boarding chance scales from 0% (at 50% enemy Sail/Gun HP) up to 100% as the lower of the two approaches 0%, further modified by the ship's 'Boarding Chance Bonus' stat. Boarding attempts have a 20-second cooldown and require the ship be stationary for 0.1 seconds prior. Defeated crew become Incapacitated (Grey icon) and enter a 'Recovery Cooldown'. Boarding cancels targeting cursors and resets melee swing timers. Explosion damage is reduced to 25% if the caster moves ships before detonation.
Ship Ramming
Captains can inflict Hull damage by ramming if stationary for 5 seconds, haven't rammed in 10 seconds, and are blocked from moving in 6 directions. In PvP, ramming deals 30% of target's Max Hull HP dmg, while the rammer takes 5% of their own Max Hull HP dmg. In PvE, if an NPC rams a player, the player takes 20% Max Hull HP dmg, and the NPC takes 5%.
Ship Sinking
When Hull HP reaches zero, a ship sinks.
- The Captain receives 80% of the ship's Total Doubloon Value in their bank.
- 10% of the ship's Total Value is distributed to enemy player ship Holds (scaled by damage).
- Each installed Upgrade and Crewmember has a 1% chance to become "Wayward Salvage" in the Salvage System.
- The Ship Deed and all remaining components go immediately to the Salvage System.
- In PvP, any Pending Salvage is transferred to the sinking enemy ship(s).
Ship Salvage System
This system allows recovery of sunk ships and items via Salvage Foreman NPCs at docks (say "Salvage", "Recover", "Buy", or use context menu). Items remain recoverable for 30 days.
Salvage Credits
Earn credits by dragging unwanted Crewmember Contracts onto a Foreman (Novice: 100, Adept: 250, Veteran: 500, Expert: 1000, Master: 2000). Credits are used first for recovery fees.
Using the Ship Salvage Menu
The menu displays recoverable items.
Recovering Sunk Ship Deeds
Retrieve a sunk deed (with attached components) by paying its Total Doubloon Value via the Large Diamond button (uses Credits first, then bank Doubloons). This re-registers the ship instantly. It becomes "Available" (Green text), allowing retrieval to Bank, Backpack, or Dockmaster. The Small Orb previews details.
Recovering Wayward Salvage
Wayward Salvage (items detached on sinking) is recovered for free but normally has a 7-day wait (Pink text).
Expediting Wayward Salvage
Bypass the wait by clicking the Expedite button and consuming an item: any Ship Upgrade for a Wayward Upgrade, or an equal/higher rank Crew Contract for a Wayward Crewmember. The item becomes immediately Available.
Looting Ship Upgrades and Crewmember Contracts (Pending Salvage)
Looted Upgrades/Contracts become "Pending Salvage" attached to your ship, not physical items. Sources include MIB Crates, NPC holds, and Boss kills (distribution often based on damage). Pending Salvage count is shown in the Overview Gump. Upon docking, all Pending Salvage moves to your Salvage System and is immediately retrievable.
Yielding Salvage
The "Yield Salvage" command (Overview Gump) transfers your entire Pending Salvage load to another player ship (within 6 tiles). Both ships get notifications. Yielding with zero announces emptiness.