[h2][b]New seasonal Patch[/b][/h2] [h2]Captains.[/h2] We would like to announce a patch and a start of the new season. [h3][b]Caribbean Wipe/Reset information[/b][/h3] Players combat experience, Captain chest, Player Name, ClanTag and Investments are kept and are NOT reset. Naval Service Medal Rewards for the finishing seasonal events Naval Service medals are moved to captain's chest. All other assets and experience levels are reset (due to significant changes to gameplay and system mechanics). [h3][b]Major improvements to AI of NPC vessels[/b][/h3] Combat AI have received full overhaul - here is the list of improvements [list] [*] AI will better avoid friendly obstacles [*] AI accuracy bugs were fixed [*] AI will better behave near land and will beach less [*] AI will pick which side to choose for shooting much better and will know when to continue to turn and when to turn back as guns are close to reloading [*] AI will be able to keep required distance moderately well [*] AI will no longer stop shooting when avoiding obstacles [*] AI will try to move out of current position at speed if something is blocking the shot [*] AI will not stop when passing stationary or slow obstacles to the right or left [*] AI will no longer get stuck in the wind trying to turn right and left due to bugs with logic [*] AI will kite, or get close or stay at mid range depending on its role [*] AI will use perks and books giving improvements to combat [*] AI will no longer attempt to board the player (as it felt totally random before). [*] Fleet composition. 1-2nd rates will no longer sail alone [*] Fleet composition. 1-3rd rate ship variety has been increased [*] Fleet composition. Heavy fleets will no longer have light ships in them [*] Overall: AI is now more deadly and interesting. [/list] [h3][b]New player experience and quality of life improvements.[/b][/h3] [list] [*] Bot locations have been improved to provide smooth leveling experience with less gaps in NPC locations. Early levelling areas will have much more 5th rates. Amount of lineships around Hispaniola and Puerto Rico - increased. [*] Combat rank visualization in form of insignia added to open world and ship auction to give new players better understanding of the target level compared to his. Blue insignia - it is possible to kill a ship, Red Insignia - it might be hard without experience. [*] Multiple other minor changes to help new and current players enjoy the game more. [/list] [h3][b]Repair changes[/b][/h3] The goal of repairs is to a) help the player to recover from minor mistakes b) give the ability to not interrupt the fun and return to action after successful local engagement in large battles c) help to balance hit-points of ships both for large battles and small engagements d) ship that is repairing should be fighting as well as the ship that is not repairing. [b]Changes to repairs. [/b] [list] [*] Hull repairs will fix 50% of armor and 50% of structure [*] Mast/Sail repairs will fix 75% of sails [*] Player will only have one repair per hour (cooldown will be increased to 60 mins) [*] Combat repair PERK will reset the cooldown after you sink a ship granting additional repairs after local tactical victories in battles larger than 1v1. (In group battle to get kill counted your damage to target must be higher than damage of all other shooters) [*] Amount of crew for repairing is significantly increase - reducing your ability to shoot all guns [*] Time to repair is increased from 2 to 4 minutes at full crew on repairs (if your crew is lower the time will linearly increase) [/list] As a result. In 1v1 engagement the player can only have 1 repair; in 25v25 players of one side will have 1 repair per ship + up to maximum of 25 additional repairs per fleet based on the number of enemies they sink. This will promote action and naturally balance the speed of large battles. Ships repairing will not have full combat performance due to amount of crew required and time required to repair and will have to disengage and be protected. [h3][b] RvR and port battle improvements .[/b][/h3] To improve incentives to capture and control ports counties will allow clan owners to buy unique resources: currently permits, rare guns, rare woods. These resources will be available for doubloons at moderately low prices. [list] [*] Resources will be available in all ports of the county which will reduce the chances to monopolize access by one clan (as it will be hard to keep all ports of the region). [*] For example Santisima permit currently drops from NPCs, in addition to that all ports in one county of the Caribbean will also deliver Santisima permits for controlling clan in exchange for certain currency. This will give an incentive to capture ports of that region to guarantee supply of permits. Allied clans should help the port owner if they share these resources, if they dont clans should join another alliance. Please provide the feedback on the supply and locations of those resources - also provide ideas on additional resources which we can add to clan barter. [/list] [b]Port battles [/b]- Players leaving the battle before it ends will count as a kill for the enemy and give points. [h3][b]Privateering and Safe Zone changes.[/b][/h3] Amount of ports with safe zones will be decreased but will still allow safe levelling up to heavy frigates. [h3][b]Crafting changes – special resources for Lineships [/b][/h3] Ships of the line and heavy guns will now require up to 5 special resources for crafting, requiring logistic planning and some minimal amount hauling. Resource locations: [list] [*] Cartagena de Indias - Frame Timber [*] Nuevitas - Cast Iron [*] Santo Domingo - Heavy Rope [*] San Juan - Compass wood [*] Cumaná - Mast Timber [/list] There locations will create a lot of traffic and action in the Caribbean Sea. We are going to monitor their supply and traffic and add more locations (for example in the gulf) if needed. The resources are cheap and abundant, which will not cause tears when losing them to privateers. Clans that want to field large fleets of heavy crafted ships of the line will have to involve more players in either crafting and occasional hauling or in privateering to capture those resources by force. We also plan to add some resources like gun drills for crafting heavy guns but this feature will appear later after we get feedback on the line ship resources. [b]Tobacco changes[/b] Tobacco is now 4 times heavier Tobacco can only be sold in 3 locations [list] [*] Vera Cruz [*] Gibraltar [*] Kidd's Harbour [/list] [h3][b]Lineship rarity.[/b][/h3] NPC Ships of the line - 3rd rates 2nd rates and 1st rates will be almost impossible to capture and all received extensive boarding bonuses. Avoid boarding NPC 3-1st rates at all costs. [h3][b]Boarding changes[/b][/h3] [list] [*] Boarding commands, costs and flow have been reworked and generally improved. Commands received better clear counters and boarding combat overall have been made more fluid and dynamic. [*] Boarding immunity: Player who successfully defended against boarding will be immune from re-boarding for 1 min (cannot be boarded). [*] NPC boarding: NPC no longer will attempt to board the player which will especially help lower level new players. [/list] [h3][b]Combat changes[/b][/h3] [list] [*] [b]Tracking shot horizontal accuracy buffs removed!!! [/b]to remove the opportunity to shoot masts shot by shot. Tracking shot is still great for judging general distance (angle of shooting) by looking at splashes, but its almost useless to judge the deflection of the target. Long range shooting will require more skill as a result [*] Critical damage to structure reduced from 6x to 3x. [*] Critical damage threshold reduced from 10% to 9% [*] Rudder HP increased [*] Overall ship structure is now 80% of its side. [*] Broadside HP rebalanced for all vessels and generally became lower to provide appropriate time for solo battles. [*] Penetration curves adjusted for all types of guns, accuracy [*] Gun sector movement is now slower [*]Medium guns now can penetrate targets at 1000m and are no longer basic trash guns. They have better DPM than long guns and should be used for medium and short range combat [*]Long guns have lower DPM than medium guns but compensate it with accuracy and penetration at distance - they should be used for long range combat. [*]All guns including rare guns damage and reload numbers have been rebalanced to improve choices [*]All cannons (except for carronades) lost accuracy to provide more realistic feeling to combat as we did not like laser guns as only option [*]Carronade DPM and damage is rebalanced for carronades 32lb and below (32-12pd) to improve carronade/cannon damage balance on 5th rates and below. Vertical dispersion on carronades have been slightly improved (reduced from 17 to 11). But we think they can be improved even further. Please provide feedback on carronades after you tried them. [h3][b]Perk Changes[/b][/h3] [list] [*] Perks have been reset for all players [*] Perks rebalanced [*] New perk lines added [*] Cost of perks changed [*] Unlocking 5 knowledge slots on the ship now grants 1 perk point. Unlocking knowledge slots on all ships significantly increases your perk selection options. [/list] Multiple other changes and improvements have also been applied. [/list] Please discuss on Steam and Discord. We are looking for your gameplay feedback and suggestions on improvements. *Spotlight image by Sato