Are you lacking direction in PotBS?

I don’t blame you. Right now if you’re playing Pirates of the Burning Sea you probably feel like you’re stuck in a repetitive loop lacking any all all drive or direction. You might even be considering canceling that pre-order or questioning how long the game can even last if you’re already feeling the burn of boredom.

This is why the early head start without pvp contention enabled was a stupid idea. People who weren’t able to experience what the game is supposed to be like back in beta are going to get the wrong impression and bail before the game even officially “starts”. Your lack of direction is justified people. I’m going to try and give you something to do and add a bit of focus and direction to your gameplay while we wait for the 22nd.

PvE Leveling

First I want to get this out of the way and make it crystal clear: If you grind missions one after another you will burn out on this game very fast. FLS knows their quests lack diversity once you’ve done the first few ports. Until it’s fixed do them sparingly.

The best way to level in PotBS is to get in a group of people your level and take on ships that are ridiculously higher level. My brother and I at level 13 took out a level 30 Frigate and barely broke a sweat. The result was a lot of exp. Also, attacking groups of ships yields some great exp. On my server (Rackham) I’m always seeing people advertising for groups to get together and sink some ships. Mix some missions in there when you’re solo.

Economy Play

The Economy isn’t confusing but you might find yourself overwhelmed and not wanting to even give it a try for fear that you either won’t understand it or waste valuable time trying. FLS did a great job at making it seem way more difficult than it really is by adding all the words and back and forth instancing in the tutorial. Here’s a crash course that will hopefully ignite in you a flame of economical passion and make it sound simple:

Step 1. Find out what you want to make. Give up on the idea of creating ships all by yourself. Do you want to make ammo? Hulls? Sails? Leather? Let’s assume you want to make ammo. In PotBS ammo is a big market because players are constantly using it. Heavy Round Shot is the bread and butter shot and highly consumable. I personally burn through hundreds of it per day already… imagine when I’m in a bigger ship and that multiplies X 5. Let’s assume you want to make heavy round shot.

Step 2. Hit F1 and see what it takes to make Heavy Round Shot. Get a pen/paper handy and write down all the raw materials it takes to make the various components. (Iron Ore and Limestone probably and a forge to smelt them together and a weaponsmith building to turn the Iron Ingots into cannon balls – don’t quote me on this and please hit F1 in-game to check for yourself)

Step 3. Hit M and hover over the ports and find ports your nation controls with the resources required. Be smart about choosing ports because some ports might have two of the resources you need. Every port you want to harvest resources from needs a warehouse and each warehouse you build goes up in price. The first is free with the tutorial, then it’s 3200, then it jumps up to like 16,000 I think.

Step 4. Establish Warehouses and the basic structures needed to harvest the materials. Wait for the necessary labor to accrue (real time). Harvest the resources, get them to your structure and make crates of heavy round shot.

Step 5. Check the various regions (Antilles, Bahamas, Florida, New Spain, etc) for what Heavy Round Shot is selling for. The auction house will tell you the most recent price trends. When you find a region that people buy from heavily (As a Pirate I like La Isabella, Antilles) then undercut everyone slightly and watch the money come in. If you want to start a business of this then post on the official message boards in your server’s marketplace board that you are selling crates of heavy round shot for X Price and that you’ll give bulk discounts. Establish a relationship with your customers.

Okay, let’s say you don’t want to actually get as deep as the production detailed above. Let’s say you’re like me and want to PvP and fund yourself by selling raw materials. Cut out the extra steps and just set up structures to harvest the resources that are currently in most demand. Remember, you’re limited to 10 slots per server. Use them wisely and don’t feel bad about demolishing them if they aren’t helping you. Always produce what’s hot.

How do you determine what the “big ticket items” are? The ONLY way to tell is to actively search the auction houses. It varies per server. If you’re a Free Trader find out what sells cheap for one nation and breaks the economical backs of another and play the auction houses against eachother. You can turn 5,000 Dubloons into 30,000 in one afternoon. I did it, you can too! (That sounds like a cheesy infomercial but it’s true)

PvP in a not so PvP world

Want PvP to be your focus? Looking for direction until the 22nd when the game really “begins”? Turn on your PvP flag and sail near the starting areas of the other nations. There won’t be many people willing to fight you but you will eventually find someone who will either attack you or be flagged themselves. You’ll earn a name for yourself if you are one of the few flagged players openly defying the masses who leave themselves safe from any harm. This is a game about PIRATES! There are risks and there are rewards. Play it right and the rewards outweigh the risks 10 to 1.

Stick with it. I’m not trying to convince you or twist your arm that this game is for you but it needs to be said that this isn’t what the game really feels like. When port contention is actually enabled the game takes on a whole new level of depth and strategy. Good luck and feel free to message me in-game if you have any questions.

Sail long and prosper.

Dirty Nickels, Pirate Captain of Rackham Server.