PotBS Day 2: Questing and Conquest

Hard to believe two days have already passed since Pirates released. On the first day you might recall that I spent a lot of my time in a large group focusing purely on adding to the contention of Irish Point. In doing so I also gained six levels and a very healthy stockpile of materials to help in the building of ships for the Pirate Nation. On Day 2 I decided to change things up slightly and experiment with the questing system. I had hopes that perhaps in some super secret patch FLS would have changed the quests to give more experience points. Since my level 25 Pirate quest from Captain Kidd sent me clear across the map to Golden Lake, Mexico it actually made sense to quest and not waste that twenty minute boat ride.

Once I landed in Golden Lake I was surprised to see that most every NPC in the port had a quest for me to take. There were in fact so many that my quest log could not hold them all. I decided to work my way from the back of the town to the front and cleared out the quests one by one. The experience per quest ranged from 200-300 on average and gave about 750-800 dubloons each. Most swashbuckling based missions took about 3-5 minutes to complete and the ship ones took about 10 or so minutes depending on the various factors. Overall it wasn’t a terrible way to level. Unfortunately, I wasn’t prepared for one incredible downside to these missions…

When entering one of the ship missions I was immediately faced with a horrific scene. There were 9 enemy ships all level 25+ and most of them mastercrafts. There was also a timer on my screen stating that in a few minutes a French armada was going to show up. The mission required that all of these ships be sunk. Thankfully I was doing quests with 2 of my friends… or so I thought. By the time to armada of an additional 6 ships showed up we had only sunk two. We now had 13 very powerful enemy ships bearing down on us and we were pinned against an island. I tried to escape but was sunk… in my best PvP ship… with all those beautiful outfittings. My Locust Mastercraft Corvette was no more and I was feeling really down. It sucks losing a ship. The ship alone takes time to find and capture and about 5,000 dubloons to outfit properly (at this level. Much more later on).

My two buddies managed to escape the horror of that quest and complete it without me while I sailed back to Golden Lake from Carlos Harbor (across the Gulf of Mexico and a nice 10 minute trip). On the way back I was pleased to see a lone Locust Mastercraft Corvette and captured it, replacing the ship I had lost. I spent 5,000 more dubloons to out fit it and decided I was no longer going to PvE with a PvP ship. One of my buddies who felt bad about my loss gave me the deed to a Stralsund Frigate which has 18 heavy guns per side and multiple swivels. The thing is a beast of destruction but moves like a floating bathtub. In a sense, it’s the perfect PvE ship! Outfitting this took another few thousand dubloons. The price we Pirates pay for a good time!

When all was said and done we had been questing for nearly 4 hours. I was tired and decided to take a break. I had earned over 30,000 dubloons on Day 2 of the PotBS Launch and spent nearly half of it on outfittings. I gained two levels and completed both my level 25 and 30 Pirate quests giving me neat clothing rewards and neat skills to use.

Now for an update on the PvP scene. On Rackham Server the Spanish armada is in full swing. They managed to win their battle against Turtling Bay and it is now officially a Spanish port. At the time I logged off last night they were actually in the middle of winning Belize as well. As for the Pirates we have given up completely on Principe and focused all our attention on Irish Point. At the time of writing this blog entry the port battle to decide if we take control is only a few hours away. The French have still remained dedicated to creating unrest in Nassau – I have no idea why they are so fascinated with ganking pirate noobs but whatever floats their boat. And lastly the English have begun their reign of terror down near their starting ports working diligently not to fall behind the Spanish by taking two ports of their own.

Overall the PvP on Rackham is sound. The nations on our server each have an agenda that is being fulfilled right now… even the French, I guess. It’s projected that the Spanish will undoubtedly win with the English desperately trying to keep up. The tactics they are using have just recently become clear to me. They are using their numbers wisely to contend two ports at the same time. This causes the nation they are attacking to either split their numbers and fail horribly to defend both or choose one to defend and give it their best shot. The Spanish have proved that they are extremely tactical. As a Pirate I know my side rarely, if ever, wins. Our goal is to be a thorn in the side of anyone trying to win. I’ve accepted that and will do my best to die for the glory of piracy.

Below are a few maps of the PvP on Day 2 of PotBS: