How to fence?

Gathered together by Abi
Translated by Karlzberg

Ship captains and their condition
The sword fight against a NPC

This guide is mainly about fencing against the NPC, fencing against a player is similar, but not equal. When you fence, there are some factors to take into consideration. There are: The own crew in relation to the opponent (– 3 to +3), kind of crew (ship’s boys, sailor or veterans), the soldier’s moral bonus (specialist max. 4.9) and the own fencing skill as well as that of the opponent (here represented by the ship's class).


The crew quantity in relation to the opponent (here I am not sure):
+3 the opponent has more than three times as much crew
+2 the opponent has more than twice as much crew
+1 the opponent has more to scarce under twice as much crew
-1 the opponent has scarcely less crew
-2 the opponent has less than half as much crew
-3 the opponent has less than three times as much crew


The kind of crew:
Ship’s boys: Should actually be forbidden.
Sailors: Are not really useful; for fencing to approach at veterans – well.
Veterans: The only thing which counts. Veterans can easy defeat a supremacy of ship’s boys.


The soldier:
+7 fencing skill (gives 70 more condition) and moral bonus of 4,9 (max.) is hard to find. Most players in the game have two soldiers, one soldier has +7 the other one has a moral bonus of 4.9. The moral bonus prevents the too fast dropping of the moral in the fencing fight (caused by opposing hits and crew loss).


The level of the own fencing skill:
Each level of the fensing skill gives you 10 points more of condition, in addition to the bonus of the soldier (max. +70) and the initial value of 100. The condition consists of these values.


The level of the opposing fencing skill:
The condition of the opposing captain is determined by his ship’s class. His condition is set in a certain range for the respective ship's class. But pay attention, that the pirates ship's class is always settled one ship’s class higher and that they have more crew than „the normal“ NPC captains.


Ship captains and their condition
back

Ship's classes	from	to	Pirat (+/- 10%)
Sloop	120	150	160
Pinnace	140	180	190
Barque	170	220	230
Fluyt	210	240	250
Merchant	240	270	280
Frigate	280	350	370
Fast Galeone	320	380	400
Spanish Galeone	390	430	540
War Galeone	460	540	550

This table contains only relative values, so that the player can approximately imagine, what condition the opposing captain has. The pirate captain’s values vary about 10 %. When creating this table i noticed, that the different ship's class captains in different waters was differently strong. The Dutch NPC captains had always a lower condition than other captains of the same ship's class.


The weapon choice:
Rapier: fast, little damage per hit
Sword: balanced
Cutlass: slow, much damage per hit


The sword fight against a NPC:
back
The rapier causes little damage per hit, but the fact is that it is three times faster than the cutlass compensates this weakness easily. Therefore the weapon choice is quite simple when you enter. I actually always use the Rapier, because I can hit and run fastest with this weapon. Another advantage is, that you can cause with the “hit & run” tactic (see diagram below) by using the rapier more damage than by using the sword with the same tactic. Therefore, a little but crucial deviation of the normal „hit & run“ tactics is necessary:

As usual you run into the center, in order to face the opponent (NPC). On the way into the center take a look at the opponent’s weapon. If he fights with a sword or a cutlass, this is just an advantage. I take the sword as a basis. You hit instead of one time two times and then move back. You yourself suffer just one hit. Repeat this procedure till you reach the end of the screen. If opponent using the cutlass you hit three times and your opponent only one time. The whole procedure needs some exercise, but will be neverthless very effective. You always aim at the Torso (center) of the opponent. When you have reached the railing you can keep the mouse button (left) pressed and don’t need always „to click “. If you have to defend yourself, keep the mouse button (right) pressed all the time. But bear in mind that you can’t use this tactic in pvp!


1.: Go to the center and stab one time, or two times if you use the rapier.

2.: Make step back and stab one time. Than you make a step back again so that your opponent can’t hit you.

3.: Repeat this procedure till you can’t make any steps back.

The pirates tavern is an Orbit9 project.