Megafort DevBlog

"All in the Indian Ocean shall look upon the sentinel of steel, and remember their place. Let its gaze burn the wicked, the weak and the foolish."
- Commodore Jonas Vanderkill, Dutch Merchant Company

"The Wolf-Hunter's pride today will be his humiliation tomorrow."
- Bertrand Hubac, Compagnie Royale

Captains, we're back with another DevBlog --- and this time, we're setting our sights on the Red Isle as we dive into the brand-new Megafort Wolvenhol.

Once under the Compagnie Royale, the Megafort fell into the DMC's hands and came under the command of Commodore Jonas Vanderkill, also known as the Wolf-Hunter. Its strategic location proved an advantage for the DMC, cementing their ability to secure and stockpile the flow of powerful weapons and other war supplies.

Megafort Wolvenhol is a towering presence in the Red Isle --- and it's up to you to challenge it. Take on this behemoth and send a message that the pirates of the region will not bend the knee to the megacorporations.

Going into the development of this brand-new Megafort, the team took inspiration from Megafort Oosten. Teamwork and strategies shown by players when first taking on Megafort Oosten were also something the team looked at closely while designing the new Megafort.

Though originally a Compagnie Royale Megafort, the DMC have now made it their own, and you may have noticed a few things with Megafort Wolvenhol. It bears a striking resemblance to a wolf. Inspired by the DMC Commodore and his obsession with his own reputation for being ruthless and elusive.

The Megafort was designed to look cold, brutal, and imposing, in line with how we see the DMC, and throughout its development took many different shapes before arriving at the one you now see in game. When designing the new Megafort, we wanted to take it to the next level in terms of challenge --- ensuring everything from visuals to mechanics reflected its status as a Megafort.

We can also share a little behind the scenes with you --- the darker and grittier lighting for the Megafort is custom; the team had a desire to make the ambience more realistic.

Did You Know?

Megafort Wolvenhol was inspired by the real-life Frederick Hendrick Fort, an island fort situated on the southeast coast of Mauritius during the Golden Age of Piracy.

Built by the Dutch in 1638 and named after the Prince of Orange, the fort's strategic location on the northern coastline allowed for effective surveillance and defense against naval threats, making it an essential military outpost. It endured cyclones, fires and internal unrest before being abandoned in 1710.

A few years later, the French claimed Mauritius and built over the fort, turning it into a military post and renaming it 'Fort de l'Isle de France'. However, they later moved their main operations to the nearby city of Port Louis, and the fort became abandoned once more.

The site later came under British control, who took over Mauritius in the early 1800s after defeating the French.

The fort's legacy depicts a long history of conflict between colonial powers vying to stake their claim in the Indian Ocean at the time. The structure suffered damage and destruction in various incidents but was also altered and rebuilt several times. In many ways, it is symbolic of how the region was able to endure and adapt in the face of great turmoil.

How to access the Megafort

To challenge the new Megafort Wolvenhol, you'll need to be in World Tier 2. For our newer players you'll be able to unlock World Tier 2 upon reaching the Kingpin Infamy tier and then completing the "World Ascension" Infamy Quest.

Whilst in World Tier 2 head over to the Journal, and look at the Events tab. Here, you'll find the activity "T__he Wolves' Hollow__". Here you'll be able to select "Call to Arms" to begin matchmaking to enter the Megafort encounter.

A minimum of 6 players is needed to begin the encounter, and up to 20 players will be able to join the raid on Megafort Wolvenhol.

You'll need to be prepared as the encounter with the Megafort will begin straight away, and every minute counts. With only 30 minutes to take down the Megafort, you and your fellow captains will need to get to work if you are to avoid the DMC armada on its way to stop you.

Following the completion of the Megafort, whether you are successful or not you will have 300 seconds before returning to a 'normal' server. This timer has been included to give you enough time to collect any loot you might have missed, and should you have been sunk during the encounter, give you the opportunity to return to the Megafort to pick up your shipwrecked cargo. We're aware many of you have shared your thoughts and feedback on this timer and we are currently monitoring the situation and may make changes to this timer in the future.

Gameplay

Split into five phases, Megafort Wolvenhol is a challenging test even for the most experienced Captains. You'll need to work together with other Captains to take down the ships surrounding the fort and the fort itself. Each of these phases offers a different challenge you and your fellow Captains will need to work together to overcome.

Will you choose to focus on the ships that surround it, or bring your top siege weapons, such as the "Roaring Meg" and the "Lange Kartouwe" to take on the fort itself?

With this towering new Megafort we've introduced new tower archetypes and fort weapons, each designed to add a challenge to the encounter.

These new tower archetypes are the Cannon Tower, Repair Tower, Mortar Tower, Sniper Tower and 2 Fort Weapons: Homing Culverins and Torpedo Walls.

When creating these towers there was a desire from the team to move away from what was implemented with Megafort Oosten. We wanted each tower architect to look unique with a unique silhouette.

As you progress through the phases, there will be various weakpoints that become available to target.

In the early stage of the encounter, you'll notice the appearance of Commodore Aechte; to progress you'll need to deal with him and his escorts who guard the fort.

Upon entering Phase 2 your attention will need to turn to the fort and work as a team to take down the available weakpoints and reduce the Megaforts Central Keep HP through the phases until it's fully taken out.

You thought we would spill all the secrets of this Megafort Captains? You'll need to take on the Megafort yourself to learn more about each of its phases.

Rewards

Should you successfully take the Megafort down, you'll be rewarded with:

• Masterwork Kit
• Upgrade Part
• Ascension Modules
• Pieces of Eight and Silver
• Gildmarks
• A Megafort Cache containing Deep Iron, Specialized Materials, Refined Helm materials and a random Ascended Weapon

Shaping the Megafort with Your Feedback

Following the launch of Megafort Wolvenhol, we are closely monitoring your feedback - your input is instrumental in shaping the Megafort experience.

We're aware there are areas of improvements - such as the end-of-event timer of Megafort Wolvenhol which feels too long whether you succeed or are defeated. The timer was put in place to ensure that players have the time to get their loot or recover their shipwrecks should they be sunk - but we're aware there is some tweaking to be done. Our team is actively investigating this issue, and we'll share more details once we're ready to deploy fixes.

Following the recent update that improved the rewards obtained from the event, we're now keeping an eye on feedback related to the topic to ensure that rewards remain relevant and meaningful for all players.

We're also exploring potential improvements such as minimum ship requirement to ensure that players approach the event well-prepared and equipped for the challenge.

Megafort Wolvenhol marks the beginning of our journey toward delivering a more dynamic and challenging Megafort experience. Our goal is to evolve toward a polished, raid-style structure that offers intense, satisfying gameplay moments.

As with all content in Skull and Bones, we're committed to iterating and improving hand in hand with, you, our community. Your feedback is key, and we're monitoring comments across Discord, Reddit, and other channels.

Your voice helps us shape future content - and Skull and bones as a whole - so make sure to keep your feedback coming.