Ahoy Captains!

We hope you enjoyed our livestream last Thursday and are excited to dive back into the world of Skull and Bones. In case you missed it, you can find the VOD right here. Make sure to give it a watch to see our trailers, Dev talks, and gameplay footage.

As we are ramping up to launch, we will be sharing a series of DevBlogs that will take you through all aspects of our game, from combat to crafting to customisation and more. So, avast ye and let's dive in!

Disclaimer: As Skull and Bones is still in development some of this information may be subject to change.

Combat in Skull and Bones: Choosing your Loadout

Combat in Skull and Bones revolves around naval combat. Between pesky privateers, hostile forts, and dangerous wildlife, you are sure to face many challenges on your journey to become the most infamous pirate to have sailed the seven seas. Luckily, you will have access to a wide variety of ships, weapons, and attachments that will help you on your way. Whether you are fighting ship-to-ship or plundering settlements and forts, having a well-thought-out loadout and strategy will be key in fighting your way to the top.

All ships, weapons, and attachments can be crafted by the Shipwright, Blacksmith, and Carpenter located in each den. All you need is the right blueprints and resources!

Choosing your Ship

Every captain needs a ship! In Skull and Bones you will get to choose from a wide array of different ships, each with different benefits and drawbacks. Each ship is dedicated to a specific role with a dedicated goal in mind.

• Some ships are better for transporting large amount of goods but are ineffective in combat.

• Some ships have awesome firepower but worse navigation, making them optimal for combat but ill-suited for long distance travel.

• Some ships are dedicated to supporting your group but are vulnerable alone.

Out of the many variables, size, category and perks are the main factors to consider when it comes to choosing the ship for your sail.

Size

The size affects hard physical and visual characteristic of a ship.

• Draught profile : Decides whether the ship can go inland through rivers, near the coast or out onto the ocean. While bigger ships may be more appealing in general, they cannot be used to access resources inside rivers and lakes.

• Weapon availability : The bigger the ship, the more weapons it can mount. Additionally, bigger, more spacious ships will be able to equip bigger weapons like the dreaded Giant Ballista or Greek Fire.

Category

The category of a ship influences the high-level pros and cons of each ship and their general appearance.

• Cargo ships usually have a poor combination of speed, turning and acceleration but are sturdy. They come with rounded hulls, few sails and a bulky appearance.

• Navigation ships are the fastest. They have streamlined hulls, with the most sails and a pointy appearance.

• Firepower ships have the most firepower, but lack in other areas. They have blocky hulls, with an average amount of sail and a squarish appearance.

Perks

As we have learnt above, each ship has a specific role influenced by its size and category. But that is not all - there are also the perks to look at.

Perks are dedicated bonuses that are unique for every ship, which should be considered before embarking at sea.

For example, the Ghanja is a navigation ship, but has perks which increase its front quadrant and ramming damage, and that help you breakthrough quickly when navigating through hostile waters. The Padewakang with its extra cargo capacity perk makes it a perfect choice for merchants trying to load as many goods as possible in a single sail.

As you rise through the ranks and explore the world you will unlock new ships with different stats and playstyles. It's up to you to decide what kind of captain you want to be!

Choosing your Weapons

Naval combat in Skull and Bones has a lot of variables to consider depending on your gameplay preferences or the activity requirements: range, damage, reload time, ammo consumption, ballistic trajectory, projectile travel time, area of damage, to only name a few.

You will thus need to carefully choose which weapons will play an important part in winning your skirmishes. Depending on your combat-style, you might want to favour some weapons above others. For example, demi-cannons have a faster rate of fire and will be deadly when used at close range but are not suited for long range engagements. A Giant Ballista takes time to aim and charge but will pack a deadly punch at long ranges.

On top of all of that, different kinds of weapons do different types of damage: blunt, explosive, piercing, fire, flood, crushing, or tearing. Some of these can also apply temporary status effects on enemy ships such as burning. Depending on your enemy's armour and attachments you will want to choose specific weapons to maximise your damage. We will give a more detailed explanation of this system in our next DevBlog. It will be up to you to find the combination that works best for you and your crew. Savvy?

Weapons are sorted into families, each representing a radically different gameplay style. Within each family are weapon variations, which further refine gameplay based on your needs and expectations. Let's have a closer look at a few of them now.

Cannons

This weapon family is the most portrayed representation of naval combat, both historically and in fantasy. They are dependable, have versatile variations catering for any need a captain could have. They are also the only weapon small enough to be fitted on ships inner decks, whereas other weapons in that list are top deck only.

Can be mounted on small or medium ships, bow, port, starboard or stern quadrants.

Here are a few examples you'll be able to find in game:

• Demi-Cannon: a short-range cannon that can be very powerful at close range but loses accuracy long range as its shots scatter. Deals flooding damage.

• Long gun: a long-range precision weapon that might be slow to fire but packs quite a punch. Deals blunt or fire damage.

Mortar

A long-range weapon that fires off projectile in a very high trajectory and does area of effect damage to the aimed location, useful to hit multiple targets at once. However, the damage dealt will be reduced the further the target is from the centre of the blast zone.

Can be mounted on medium ships, only in the auxiliary slot.

Some examples include, but are not limited to:

• Blasting Mortar: has a large explosive radius, but its projectiles take longer to reach their destination. Deals explosive damage

• Siege Mortar: its blast radius is reduced in comparison to the others, but it deals a very high amount of damage and does not have damage drop-off from its blast radius. Deals crushing damage

• Repair Mortar: this Mortar has no damage capability. It instead fires oakum bombs to repair allied ships.

Bombard

This weapon is a mix between a cannon and a mortar. It can be equipped on quadrants like cannons but fires off projectiles in a high trajectory that does area of effect to the aimed location like a mortar.

Can be mounted on small or medium ships, bow, port, starboard or stern quadrants.

Here are a couple of examples, to give you a sneak peak of some of what you'll find in-game:

• Siege Bombard: this bombard shoots very dense and precise projectiles, dealing an extreme amount of damage in a reduced area. It is a very effective weapon against static targets. Deals piercing damage.

• Flaming Bombard: as its name suggests, it shoots firebombs that deal high fire damage around the impact zone. Deals fire damage.

• Repair Bombard: similar in effect to the Repair Mortar with a shorter range.

Ballista

An oversized missile weapon that loads massive bolts on its charging mechanism. The longer the weapon is charged, the more damage, range and speed the projectile gains.

Can be mounted on medium ships, bow quadrant only.

Some examples include, but are not limited to:

• Multi-bolt Ballista: can load a bundle of bolts and fire them all at once. Though it is highly inaccurate, it deals a massive amount of damage. Deals flooding damage.

• Twin Winch Ballista: this Ballista uses twin-winches for charged shots. They travel further than classic ones and deal more damage. Deals piercing damage.

Rockets

A short-range rack-mounted launcher which launches an unguided, rocket-propelled projectile.

Can be mounted on medium ships, auxiliary slot only.

Some of the rockets you will be able to use in-game:

• Revolver Rocket: this rack-mounted launcher has fewer shots per magazine but more damage than a classic Rocket. It fires one shot at a time and deals piercing damage.

• Field Rocket: has an improved range and projectile speed compared to the other types. Deals explosive damage.

Torpedoes

Unloads slow water-skimming projectiles that deal high damage on impact but requires a long reload time. It can cause either flooding or explosive damage.

• Quick Release : deals flooding damage.

• Explosive : a variation of the quick release torpedo that deals explosive damage.

Greek Fire 

A terrifying and highly accurate weapon that releases a torrent of flames at extreme short ranges, burning its target to a crisp. It is a high-risk, high-reward weapon.

Attachments

Attachments are items such as armour or cargo bags that are placed externally on the ship. They do not take up any weapon slots when equipped and can provide valuable protection against incoming fire.  

When choosing your attachments, it is important to consider what kind of situation you will be facing. If you expect to transport items with no surprise on the way, a cargo bag will allow your ship to carry more before getting encumbered. However, if expecting combat, it is wise to protect your ship by investing in different kinds of armour - each with their own strengths and weaknesses against the different weapon types listed above.

Reinforced Wood Armour	Strong against piercing and crushing attacks but weak against flooding or fire attacks.
Metal Armour	Strong against blunt and crushing damage but weak against piercing and fire.
Spiked Metal Armour	A heavier and spiked variation of metal armour that increases ramming damage.
Terracotta Armour	Strong against flood or blunt damage but will crumble when damaged by explosive or crushing attacks.
Stone Armour	Strong against piercing and fire damage but beware of explosive and crushing damage.
Leather Armour	Strong against explosive and fire damage but will tear when faced with piercing or flood damage attacks.

Furniture

In addition to attachments, your ship also has rooms for furniture which can provide valuable synergies for many gameplay styles. Not all ships have the same number of furniture slots, which is another factor to keep in mind when customising your playstyle.

For combat, you can increase damage dealt from a specific quadrant, brace efficiency, ship hitpoints, improve crew to crew attacks among many other points.

For survival, you can automate certain processes like refining or fishing, ammo, repair kit crafting, cooking or improve ship cargohold.

Investing in some furniture will give you the edge you need to survive combat or the harsh elements of Skull and Bones and emerge victorious, so it's a worthwhile consideration! Especially since most of the furniture bonuses are shared for everyone within your group.

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Doing your research and knowing who and what you're up against before heading into combat could make the difference between life and death. Be sure to take your time to explore different combinations and synergies and create your perfect loadout. Over time you will also be able to upgrade your various weapons, attachments and furniture which we will explore further in our DevBlog about crafting. And if you still feel like you're not quite ready to take on an enemy with your current setup, consider bringing along some trusty co-captains to support you in your endeavours!

Once you are happy with our loadout it's time to head out to sea and find your prey! We'll be diving further into the combat of Skull and Bones in our next DevBlog, so stay tuned.

What will your loadout look like? Let us know in the comments below! And remember to follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram to not miss any news!