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There’s noSailing Erawithout boats. Thankfully, the game is quite generous in handing you a pretty reliable and hearty vessel right at the start. The tutorial will give you a crash course in boat maintenance, crew assignments, and actual sailing to make you comfortable. Although even after all that, a single boat can only do so much.
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As you continue to explore and take on bigger quests, you’ll need to expand your fleet. There are multiple ways to get additional boats to join you on your journey, but there are things you can do to build and manage your fleet more effectively.
Fleet Guide
As you’ll learn early on, your Fleet is the foundation for your entire journey. You start off with only one ship, butby completing stories, optional tasks, or simply buying more ships at the Shipyard, your Fleet will grow. The more ships you have the more you’ll be able to do such as carrying more goods, transporting more people, and taking on bigger battles. Ideally,you’d want a Fleet made up of similar ships or a huge roster to draw from.
If you’re planning on pursuing bounties, you’ll need battleships which are slower but much tougher. They can also host more crew members which are important sincebigger bounties will not only have stronger ships but also stronger crews.For trading and general exploration, ships such as Schooners boast high speeds even when you’re going against the wind.They are quite fragile though and have limited space, so your flagship may have to do most of the carrying.
Then there’s managing your crew. A ship has to have people to run it and the more ships you have, the more crew you’ll need.You can hire additional crew members at the Tavern or recruit them through quests.Make sure you read their specialties and skills so that you can assign them to roles that are compatible such as Surveyor and Captain.You also need to maintain morale, which will drop the longer you’re out at sea.As long as you have supplies,which you can restock at ports or find in floating cargo crates, morale will drop slower. It can be restored by treating the crew todrinks at taverns or by winning victories at sea.Always make sure that your crew members are leveled up and have quality gear before setting out.
However, if your crew is at low morale and gets boarded, you’ll be in danger. Not only will they not fight well, but a loss will drop morale significantly and put them at risk of surrender. There’s very little you’re able to do to raise morale during a voyage, somake sure you have a designated route back to port if you feel that’s going to drop too low.
Focus On Upgrades First
For a body to function well, it needs a strong heart. Think of your fleet as a body, with the flagship being the heart, and also the brain.The first ship you start off with may be different from the one you end with, but it will take you far.
To help with this, you can visit the Shipyard and browse different upgrades for your ship. When you get some money, hold off on buying new ships, and insteadmake your first ship the strongest it can be, so it can serve as a dependable leader as well as an anchor.
Don’t Split Your Priorities
There are a lot of ways to spend your time in Sailing Era, and it can be very easy to get distracted by all of them. If this happens,you may push your ships to do too much or go after things that they’re not equipped to handle.
When ships become available for purchase,check their stats carefully to determine whether they’re suited for trading, discovery, or bounty hunting.It’s always better to have a fleet that is aimed at a particular goal than trying to split your strengths.
Always Hold Out For Better Ships
Once you start making money, it may be tempting to grow your fleet as soon as possible.The Shipyard will start stocking ships early on, but they will of course be starter ships.Having more ships isn’t always the wisest decision as all it takes is one lousy turn to sink your investment.
Take stock of the ships in-store and instead just live with your flagship for a while.Wait for some truly worthwhile ships to build your fleet slowly but effectively.Keep completing tasks and quests in order to make more types available.
Mind Your Crew Morale
The hull integrity of the ship is important, as it keeps the ship from sinking, but it’s not the only factor. You need a dependable and satisfied crew to run it, but they can turn on you quickly if you push too hard.Bad weather, combat losses, rat infestations, or just long journeys will all drain morale.
Always having supplies is a good way to keep things stable, but you should also show the crew that you care.When you pull into port, treat them to a fun night at the tavern.This will make them far more efficient and improve your chances of overall success.
Level Up Frequently
You can hire a lot of crew members to run the ships in your fleet,but some characters will stand out more than others.Typically, these characters will have flashy profile pictures and dialogue associated with them while applying passive bonuses to your ship.You’ll want to put them in complementary positions and accomplish tasks related to their skills and interests.
This will let you earn XP that you may spend to level them up and make them even better.Your key members are only as strong as the crew behind them, but they also need to step up and be people that others can look up to improve your fleet operations.
