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Ships
Currently there are about 54 ships in the game and there are plans to keep adding more. What ship the player chooses to sail will affect both his combat options and his economic options. A lot of these ships have been created by users.
As a general rule, the bigger the ship, the less maneuverable and faster it is. This means that even though a ship is bigger and has more and heavier cannons, it will not always be the better choice. Because of the way combat works, ship speed and maneuverability has a great effect on combat. Small ships, especially in large groups, will in many cases be able to beat larger ships solely because of this. However, the developers have stated that smaller ships are not designed to take out larger ships in a one-on-one stand off, but to play support roles to other ships such as harassing the enemy ships.
Ships of different sizes will of course also differ in cargo hold sizes. This of course comes in very handy for a Free-Trader. The more cargo you can bring from one port to another, the more you will be able to earn on a single trip. Of course you still have to keep the speed of your ship in mind. Merchant ships are generally less armed than warships, but have more cargo space.
A player will be able to own three ships at anytime. Though only one can be sailed, the others are docked in port, ready for use. The player will also be able to transfer himself directly from one docked ship to another. This means that the player will have very easy access to any of his three ships, no matter how far away. It will also mean that the player will be able to more easily cover the different playing styles.
The developers have stated that some ships will be available in up to five different types:
Stripped: A merchant variant. A low-level requirement version of a large trade ship although not equipped with guns.
Courier: An easy-access variant. Courier ships are faster and easier to handle, but have less firepower and less armor.
Heavy: An upgrade variant. Heavy ships have significantly more armor and structure, and often have combat benefits.
Sleek: An upgrade variant. Sleek ships are faster and handle better. They might also have slightly better armor.
Mastercraft: The premier ship variant. Mastercraft ships are expensive custom made ships that have been restructured to have room for more (and potentially heavier) guns and stronger hulls.
Durability
Durability is a system devised to deal with ship losses. It accounts for the largest expendure in the economy, it makes sire that players sail carefully in their expensive ships, and it is the only real 'death penalty' beyond lost time.
In Pirates of the Burning Sea, each ship has a set amount of Durability Points. When a ship is sunk or defeated it loses a Durability Point. If it loses its last point, it is considered destroyed and lost. This way, players will want to keep as many Durability Points as possible, because Durability directly equals the value of the ship. Ships captured by pirates have only one durability point.
In order to keep the bigger ships in demand and in order to make them more expensive and precious the higher level ships will have much fewer Durability Points than the expendable, smaller ships. This assures that the high level ships will be risky to bring into combat, and players will think twice before sacrificing their ship.
User Created Ships and Flags
One of the unique and brilliant features of Pirates of the Burning Sea is the system in place for players to create and submit ships and flags. If the ship or flag passes a rather rigorous approval system, it is implemented into the game for anyone to enjoy. Many user created ships and flags will be in the game at launch. This also enables Societies to sail under their own flag.
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