Comprehensive Port Battle Guide

[Danicia]

For an up-to-date version of this guide, please visit the PotBS Wiki Site at this link (http://potbs.wikia.com/wiki/Port_Battle_Guide).

(Created and originally submitted by Seya (http://www.burningsea.com/forums/member.php?u=174968))
This is a work in progress. Please reply with any information or feedback so that I may improve this post for new players.


Comprehensive Port Battle Guide
PotBS is classified as an RvR MMORPG. In order to “win the map” members of a nation work together to achieve victory points. Points are acquired by controlling ports and by capturing ports.

Capturing a Port
When an NPC or player is defeated within a certain radius (believed to be 40-50 miles, maximum) of its closest affiliated port a number of points is added to the contention point total. This number can be viewed by opening your mini map and changing the tab to show PvP areas. The number of points can vary depending on a) the number of players in the group and b) the level of the NPC(s) or Player(s). Players who take part in building contention points against a port gain personal contention points.

Pirate PvP
A red circle appears on the map, with the contested port in the center, once the contention points reach 6,000. Pirate PvP signifies an area wherein Pirates and Privateers with the skill “Sanctioned Piracy” my initiate combat against other players.

Full PvP
Once the number of contention points reaches 8,000 points the Pirate PvP area is given a wider radius and what was the Pirate PvP area becomes a Full PvP zone. The Pirate PvP area is the same as described above, but inside of the Full PvP zone any player of any nation can attack any player of another nation.

Flipping a Port
Now that the contention point total has reached 10,000 points, a port battle is scheduled for 24 hours later at the contested port and the port’s contention points are reduced to 0. The PvP zones will remain until the port battle has been resolved. Players who have personal contention points are entered into a lottery for invites to participate. The higher the number of personal contention points you have, the greater your chances to participate are. Players may still gain contention points once a port has flipped. Regular contention points gained after the port has been flipped can allow for strategic advantages for the port battle such as modified wind directions and alternate starting spawn points.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Taelorn
You earn unrest points to put a point into contention. Once the port goes into contention at 10,000, you earn contention points via the same activities. Those contention points are added up for the entire nation. There are numerous advantages that are given to the nation based on those points. The bonuses are different for attackers and defenders.

You'll be able to see what bonuses you've earned through NPCs in the ready room sometime before R1.


Leading Up to the Port Battle
32 minutes before a scheduled port battle a warning is broadcast to all players stating that invites will be sent out in 17 minutes. Players should have their port battle ship selected, outfitted, and armed at this point. It does not matter where you are in order to take your invite (in a different port, on the open sea, etc), just as long as you have the right ship you should be good to go. Once the 2 minute window of opportunity has passed, players who took their invites will find themselves in a ready room to discuss strategy and form groups. The timer will go down and players will be asked to zone into the map, or be kicked from the ready room.

Resolving the Port Battle
The attacker wins by defeating all defenders. The defender has the same victory condition. If the attacker is unable to locate / defeat all of the defenders, the attacker may instead destroy both gun emplacements on the map which starts a 30 minute timer. When the timer reaches 0, the attacker and defender may leave their ships to enter the Town. The attacker is also granted an alternate victory condition to defeat the 4 Lieutenants and then the Garrison Commander inside.

As the attacker, destroying one of the gun emplacements enables them to land within the Fort (please note this is NOT the same as the Town). The fort has no bearing whatsoever on the victory conditions for either side, but it will shoot the attacker as long as the Lieutenant inside is alive. The defender may enter the Fort from a side entrance at any time.

When a player is sunk in their ship, they lose 1 point of durability on it. If a player is defeated in avatar combat within the Fort or Town, no durability is lost.

At the end of it all someone will win and the port will no longer be the center of a PvP zone. If the attacker wins, then they gain control of the port and the defender must pay extra taxes when producing goods. Should the defender win, the port will remain in their control so taxes will remain low. If the port was originally controlled by Pirates OR if Pirates are the ones who win the port, the port will revert back to its original control after 36 hours.

[Tiger3224]

Straighten me out here.
Pirates can lose thier ports? But when Pirates defeat a port the original nation(Pirates) claims it, or the previous nation(french/spainish/brit)?
Just worried that Pirate ports could be easily snuffed out...

[kungtotte]

Pirates can only raid ports (hold them for a short period of time before they revert to their previous ownership), and out of fairness, our ports can also only be raided. After a set period of time, it'll revert from french/british/spanish back to pirate.

[Xie Baike]

Complete guide to putting ports into contention:
http://www.potbsmatey.com/guides.php?guide=potbs_conquest_mode_guide

[Gameking]

As I am confused about the differences in points gained by flipping ports between the nationals and Pirates please explain this aspect further.

As I understand it is possible for the Pirates to win but without knowing the above details it is difficult to understand why.

Also I would like to know why if a Pirate raids a port why nothing happens to the warehouses and production during the sacking. In my research we would have taken what we could and burned the rest. In game I see the complications that would come of a complete town wipe but some kind of sacking should take place. And Vice Versa of course. I mean honestly what is in it for a Pirate to capture a port when it will revert back without any player interaction.

Basically some knowledge on how the map victory works for Pirates is in need.


BTW Pirates never lose or gain territory. As any port taken by a Pirate or Pirate port taken by a national auto resets in 36 hrs.

[Jalyfane]

Pirates can not win the map. Only Nationals can win the map.

[Bad'Boy]

what do pirates gain by capturing port?

[bpdlr]

Pirates can not win the map. Only Nationals can win the map.

Not true. Pirates have won the map (admittedly in Beta under different circumstances). It's a question of numbers, organisation and willpower. However Pirates are not suited to Port Battles and there is a consensus amongst a lot of Pirates that there should be an alternative to Port battles when deciding contention. Until the devs change it though, you'll find a lot of experienced Pirates forgoing Port Battles altogether.

[JoeCold]

Hmmm, I'm not really crazy about victory conditions for Pirates, though not for any of the reasons I've read above (or anywhere else in the forums).

Pirates shouldn't be able to win the map in the same way the nations do. In fact, pirates shouldn't even get victory points!

Pirates, in historical context, are not a nation, so shouldn't be in game. They thrived in this time period because of the instability between the nations in the region.

Thus, winning the map shouldn't require just hitting the victory points total, but include a a time limit to the round to achieve said victory points. Pirates shouldn't earn victory points, they should remove victory points from the nations. If no nation wins the map, the pirates win the map because if no nation gained the stronghold that creates stability then the pirates succeeded in maintaining instability.

[bpdlr]

Hmmm, I'm not really crazy about victory conditions for Pirates, though not for any of the reasons I've read above (or anywhere else in the forums).

Pirates shouldn't be able to win the map in the same way the nations do. In fact, pirates shouldn't even get victory points!

Pirates, in historical context, are not a nation, so shouldn't be in game. They thrived in this time period because of the instability between the nations in the region.

Thus, winning the map shouldn't require just hitting the victory points total, but include a a time limit to the round to achieve said victory points. Pirates shouldn't earn victory points, they should remove victory points from the nations. If no nation wins the map, the pirates win the map because if no nation gained the stronghold that creates stability then the pirates succeeded in maintaining instability.

Best idea I've heard so far. However, if we created Contention around a port, what would be the outcome?

[JoeCold]

The game play would be the same, but instead of earning victory points for taking a port, the number we currently would earn would instead be subtracted from the nation that lost the port.

Ultimately, the only thing it would really change is pirate overall strategy from attempting conquest to attempting harassment of what ever nation is currently strongest. To me, that strategic change both addresses the practical in-game differences of the pirates from the nations and, in terms of fluff, makes pirate strategy more appropriate to pirates!

[SolarGuy]

So are people going to be abadoning the battles when their durability hits one to save their ships? Is there a way to refill durability? I'm wondering if these port battles will feature people's best ships or not.

[viper244]

Solar--> Use deeds to refill durability.

I really like Joe's idea, and it makes sense. Nationals would historically payoff pirates to attack other nations as well and really wouldn't be hard to figure ingame. Simply (e.g.) the French and Brits were in contention then any attacks by Pirates would count for/against the nation of the ships attacked (in effect we would either be helping to save a port or increase the contention.)

Of course a few bribes and monetary rewards from those nationals might sway some industrious freelancers. Then there is always turning in pennons and MoV by nation that might work too.....

V

[JoeCold]

Solar--> Use deeds to refill durability.

I really like Joe's idea, and it makes sense. Nationals would historically payoff pirates to attack other nations as well and really wouldn't be hard to figure ingame. Simply (e.g.) the French and Brits were in contention then any attacks by Pirates would count for/against the nation of the ships attacked (in effect we would either be helping to save a port or increase the contention.)

Of course a few bribes and monetary rewards from those nationals might sway some industrious freelancers. Then there is always turning in pennons and MoV by nation that might work too.....

V

Well, you bring up a whole other subject that could add a lot of variety to the pirate side of the game.

Historically, in addition to true pirates, there were two types of privateers. There were loyal subjects (and often officers of their nations navy) who where granted ships to go out and harass trade of rival nations as privateers (pirates in the eyes of the other nations). But there were also in the Carribean (sp?) privateers of the sort that was more common on the Barbary Coast: Privateers whose only loyalty was to a contract with the nation they "served".

Sooooo, why not have Privateers as a class for both the nations and the pirates? For the nations they would be just as they are currently. For the pirates, each round they would have to choose a nation to whom to contract. They would still be part of the pirate "nation" in terms of realm victory, but by contracting to a nation for the round they would not be able to attack that nation's vessels.

This leaves the class essentially the same within the pirate nation with one pro and one con.

The con, of course, is they would neither be able to attack (even in full PvP) either the nation to which they are contracted for the round or Brethren (the "nation" to whom they actually belong).

The pro is that they would get the better of either tax rate. That is, if contracted for the round to the French, for example, they would get 5% in both French and pirate ports.

Anyway, I love the game and don't mean to sound like I'm complaining. I'm not at all. I just think these two differences would have made for an even more vibrant and realistic difference between pirates and the other nations.

[SolarGuy]

They should really allow use marks of victory to refill durability. I want to be able to use my best ship in PvP instead of hiding it away due to a 50% chance of losing it.

[JoeCold]

When an NPC or player is defeated within a certain radius (believed to be 40-50 miles, maximum) of its closest affiliated port a number of points is added to the contention point total. This number can be viewed by opening your mini map and changing the tab to show PvP areas. The number of points can vary depending on a) the number of players in the group and b) the level of the NPC(s) or Player(s). Players who take part in building contention points against a port gain personal contention points.


Two questions about this:

1) Are contention points for nation and individual earned on a one to one basis? That is, does a player earn an individual contention point for each point of contention he creates for his nation or is it a ratio of some kind?

2) Isn't it going to be difficult to earn contention points on the defensive side? Most of the NPC ships near a port are of the same nation as the port. It seems like it will be much more difficult for, say, a Spanish defender to sink British ships within 50 miles of a Spanish port than it will be for a British attacker to find Spanish ships in the same area.

[FryaDuck]

Two questions about this:

1) Are contention points for nation and individual earned on a one to one basis? That is, does a player earn an individual contention point for each point of contention he creates for his nation or is it a ratio of some kind?

2) Isn't it going to be difficult to earn contention points on the defensive side? Most of the NPC ships near a port are of the same nation as the port. It seems like it will be much more difficult for, say, a Spanish defender to sink British ships within 50 miles of a Spanish port than it will be for a British attacker to find Spanish ships in the same area.

1) Yes, no ratio.

2) Depends on the port and on the spawns. The lower level the mission the lower level the ships that spawn hence less points being earned. This allows most new player ports to be relatively hastle free.

Pirates

I know from closed chat (IRC) during closed beta that the devs haven't really got a direction firmly established for Pirates. Against many SoLs pirates have very little chance, hence one of the reasons for the price increase of 1st Rates etc and changes to NO skills. Pirates will have to make their own way with regards to our part in Port Battles and the Conquest system.

Strategic Analysis

Pirates can put a strangle hold on National ports making Freetrading a difficult endeavor without another five player escort. The first objective would be for the Pirates to get Pirate PvP Zones up at numerous choke points on the map (some will be obvious), choke points also include National ports in close proximity. Then all that is needed is to keep actively patrolling those zones to blockade the nationals. Capturing a port, eg Gibara, has economic benefits as it allows you shorter transporting distances for high cost raw materials. Pirate players who have the skill, smuggling I believe, will want these ports to be captured.

Ultimately, this requires Pirate players to have the will and tenacity to pull this off. If most do a "Jack Simple" then it will become a pointless exercise.


"Jack Simple":- A player from closed and open beta who refused to fight in port battles or even to level except via PvP. His play was only myopically concerned with himself and not to the benefit of the Brethren.

[bpdlr]

"Jack Simple":- A player from closed and open beta who refused to fight in port battles or even to level except via PvP. His play was only myopically concerned with himself and not to the benefit of the Brethren.

And yet he was unanimously voted the Most Valued Pirate at the end of closed Beta because of his unique playstyle, his consistent policy of accepting surrenders (except when he wanted the ship he was chasing) and his success rate and skill.

I think his play benefited the Brethren Nation greatly by incurring great losses on the enemy. His refusal to fight in port battles is understandable given the huge disadvantage Pirates have in such battles, and many pirates agree that port battles are a waste of time, and want an alternative victory condition for Pirates to decide port contention.

[keline]

When sinking a group of 2 npc ships does that count as 1 or 2 kills for contention?

[bpdlr]

When sinking a group of 2 npc ships does that count as 1 or 2 kills for contention?

Contention points are per ship.

[FryaDuck]

And yet he was unanimously voted the Most Valued Pirate at the end of closed Beta because of his unique playstyle, his consistent policy of accepting surrenders (except when he wanted the ship he was chasing) and his success rate and skill.

100% incorrect there was a dissenting vote.

I think his play benefited the Brethren Nation greatly by incurring great losses on the enemy.

He hardly contributed at all to the overall scheme. In fact he deliberately interfered with flipping ports and caused quite some consternation amongst the longer playing Pirates in closed beta. A Nation contains many people and no one man is an island.

His refusal to fight in port battles is understandable given the huge disadvantage Pirates have in such battles, and many pirates agree that port battles are a waste of time, and want an alternative victory condition for Pirates to decide port contention.

You are putting words into his mouth, he never was interested in Port Battles or the Brethren as a Nation in a strategic sense, to my knowledge. To that extent we play with the cards we are dealt. Until such time as FLS decides to change the conquest mechanics as applies to Pirates we must work with what we have.

To keep this thread on topic;

Those who wish to play in the "Jack Simple" style would best be served to enter the zone after the port has been flipped. This allows them to contribute but not interfere with the timing of the battle.

Some of us have worked this out over months of play not just post stress test and open beta.

[keline]

What will happen to your auctions in a port that flips?

[Teibidh]

Okay, so this is all well and good... Where do Unrest Bundles come in to play? It's obvious that they play some sort of role dealing with unrest points, but there are a ton of ways this could be implemented.

Are they quest turn ins or does simply making the bundle affect unrest at the port it's produced at?

Are unrest bundles 'offensive' or 'defensive' items? In other words, do you turn them in to reduce unrest at a friendly port or to generate more unrest at an enemy port?

Are there different amounts of unrest points generated/removed by different types of bundles? They're all different manufacturing costs so does this somehow correlate with how much good they do?

[dherki]

Are unrest bundles 'offensive' or 'defensive' items? In other words, do you turn them in to reduce unrest at a friendly port or to generate more unrest at an enemy port?


Unrest Bundles can be handed in at your own ports to reduce unrest. 'Offensive' items to turn in are Black Powder (28 for 1 handin, gives 20 unrest), Small Arms (4 for 40), Rum (17 for 40) and Hardtack (23 for 20).

[bonelizzard]

Unrest Bundles can be handed in at your own ports to reduce unrest. 'Offensive' items to turn in are Black Powder (28 for 1 handin, gives 20 unrest), Small Arms (4 for 40), Rum (17 for 40) and Hardtack (23 for 20).

I am guessing these quests are on a 24 hour timer? (found the answer in that other thread)

Also, is it true that it is harder to flip ports near starter areas? I remember reading that unrest decays faster in these areas.

[RobertIain]

There seemed to be some confusion today about what the turn-ins and missions were to increase or reduce unrest, and what the phrase 'unrest bundles' meant - especially for brand new players who saw a war was going on, wanted to help but were unsure if they could do anything to help since they were low level and in tiny ships, so (please feel free to add or correct anything I get wrong!) as far as I know this is what you look for...

In ports that are open to contention, there are two NPCs to look for, a 'rebel agent' and a garrison commander, or similar title. These have missions on offer, naturally enough those for the rebels (four 'deliver these supplies' runs and one 'blockading' combat mission) will, when completed, add to the unrest total - and give you a reasonable little reward for the task as well. The missions from the garrison commanders, such as 'patrol' the port, counteract the rising contention level.

I have been told (but not tested it yet, since I was too damn tired!) that these missions are good up until the point where open fighting kicks off (5,000 points?) but would appreciate someone clarifying that.

Edit - Tested this, and was able to do the missions in a port at just over 6,000, so they are apparently still viable - as long as you survive the PvP in the area of course ;)

[ozziefudd]

Danica said:
Resolving the Port Battle
The attacker wins by defeating all defenders. The defender has the same victory condition. If the attacker is unable to locate / defeat all of the defenders, the attacker may instead destroy both gun emplacements on the map which starts a 30 minute timer. When the timer reaches 0, the attacker and defender may leave their ships to enter the Town. The attacker is also granted an alternate victory condition to defeat the 4 Lieutenants and then the Garrison Commander inside.
* * * * *
VERY confusing and unclear.
1) Is there a time limit for the battle? I.e., if it starts at midnight PST, is an East Coast player required to have to get up very early or stay up all night? VERY risky for anyone with a real job.
2) "... attacker is unable to locate ... starts a 30 minute timer... 0, the attacker and defender may leave their ships to enter the Town." Does Town combat include only those ships left floating? or all ships? Is there a way for an outnumbered defender to elect to defend in the town rather than at sea? How do the combatants "leave their ships"? Do they have to get to a certain point to debark? What is the point of the 30-minute timer?
3) How about more detail about the alternate victory conditions? I.e., are the Commander and LTs shown on the map? What kind of forces do they have with them? Is there any way for the defenders to increase the forces? For that matter, what kind of forces do the combatants have in the town? How many "waves", or what determines that number?

There are a lot more questions that need to be answered, and a lot more information that needs to be made available to players about such an important game mechanic.

[Erephus]

I got an invite. Didn't catch all the text on it as it disappeared pretty fast. It read something about 17 minutes and get ship ready.

Now after sometime I didn't get to the battle.

So the question is. How do one actually accept the invite?

[Mirgal65]

I got an invite. Didn't catch all the text on it as it disappeared pretty fast. It read something about 17 minutes and get ship ready.

Now after sometime I didn't get to the battle.

So the question is. How do one actually accept the invite?

Me too.
The question it's the same.

[JoeCold]

That wasn't the invite. That was the global warning that the invites would go out in 17 minutes and you should have your ship ready. The warning is there so that when/if you get an invite, you will be ready with ship and supplies to accept immediately. This is necessary because when you accept, you are immediately put in a ready room to talk strategy and form groups with the other participants for 15 minutes before the battle. They don't want you getting the invite, then taking 10 minutes to switch ships and stock up on ammo, so they send out the 17 minute warning 32 minutes before the battle

[Jarvel]

I know from closed chat (IRC) during closed beta that the devs haven't really got a direction firmly established for Pirates.

Well, the game came out so quick and the name of the game was unknown for so long that I can completely understand how something as unimportant as a direction for pirates in the game has yet to come about.

What's important is that pirates be like nationals while still pretending to be pirates. Then follow the guidelines outlined for national warfare and it all works out.

[Gurnisson]

There has been some confusion over what one can do to lower unrest. I joined a Spanish group sailing around Havana and was told attacking anything that was not Spanish would lower unrest if the battle took place within 40 miles of the city. This appeared to be untrue. The only time I saw the British unrest numbers go down were when we fought a British ship- and those were very rare. Were the pirates we fought doing anything for the unrest numbers?

Other than a massive money sink at the Garrison commander, is there anything to do other than sit there and wait for British ships to sail by?

[Envoy]

You must only attack the ships of the nation which is generating the unrest. Likewise to cause unrest, you must only attack the ships of the nation who owns the port you are trying to generate unrest at.

Range is 50 miles.

[Don Juan]

1) Is there a time limit for the battle? I.e., if it starts at midnight PST, is an East Coast player required to have to get up very early or stay up all night? VERY risky for anyone with a real job.
2) "... attacker is unable to locate ... starts a 30 minute timer... 0, the attacker and defender may leave their ships to enter the Town." Does Town combat include only those ships left floating? or all ships? Is there a way for an outnumbered defender to elect to defend in the town rather than at sea? How do the combatants "leave their ships"? Do they have to get to a certain point to debark? What is the point of the 30-minute timer?
3) How about more detail about the alternate victory conditions? I.e., are the Commander and LTs shown on the map? What kind of forces do they have with them? Is there any way for the defenders to increase the forces? For that matter, what kind of forces do the combatants have in the town? How many "waves", or what determines that number?

There are a lot more questions that need to be answered, and a lot more information that needs to be made available to players about such an important game mechanic.

I'm also confused by all these alternative victory conditions, and especially by what timers apply and when. Can anyone clarify?

[Robert Shaftoe]

Could someone either repost or link me to the exact formula for contention points? I'm digging around the forums but can't track it down. I know it has to do allied group size and opponent's level..

Thanks!

[Bach]

Ok, I didn't play the Beta and I'm sure the devs had planned for us to be able to do somehting about defense of the ports. I've read through this thread. All good information and I must say its does seem fairly easy to attack a port and create unrest. However, defensively reducing unrest seems to be much more difficult.

Yesterday, me and some other tried to defend a port. We were new to POTBS and so the attackers were many levels higher than us and in premium ships (level 25-28 with frigates). Ok, so we went into the port to work on defensive missions. The garrison commander gave us "Patrolling Port X" only one time and it counters about 40 unrest I think. We then spent the rest of the evening doing the x4 supply collection/build missions that also countered about 40 unrest points. By the end of the evening the 4 of us had countered maybe about 350-400 unrest. Thats if the mission turn ins we're cumulative. Meanwhile the attackers had gained 1-2 levels in experience through they're non-stop efforts out side the port. They had increased the unrest by about 1000 points dispite our best efforts. Now during this time they spent a little money on ammunition, gained a ton of XP and some good gold. We, on the other hand, spent the evening running around hauling goods and spending gold and earning no XP.

There must be something I am missing. I don't see how we can compete with the attackers and especially when the patrolling mission is only given out one time by the garrisson commander and the collections take longer to collect then the unrest they counter is to build up. What am I missing? How do we fight back?

[Heir]

Ok, I didn't play the Beta and I'm sure the devs had planned for us to be able to do somehting about defense of the ports. I've read through this thread. All good information and I must say its does seem fairly easy to attack a port and create unrest. However, defensively reducing unrest seems to be much more difficult.

Yesterday, me and some other tried to defend a port. We were new to POTBS and so the attackers were many levels higher than us and in premium ships (level 25-28 with frigates). Ok, so we went into the port to work on defensive missions. The garrison commander gave us "Patrolling Port X" only one time and it counters about 40 unrest I think. We then spent the rest of the evening doing the x4 supply collection/build missions that also countered about 40 unrest points. By the end of the evening the 4 of us had countered maybe about 350-400 unrest. Thats if the mission turn ins we're cumulative. Meanwhile the attackers had gained 1-2 levels in experience through they're non-stop efforts out side the port. They had increased the unrest by about 1000 points dispite our best efforts. Now during this time they spent a little money on ammunition, gained a ton of XP and some good gold. We, on the other hand, spent the evening running around hauling goods and spending gold and earning no XP.

There must be something I am missing. I don't see how we can compete with the attackers and especially when the patrolling mission is only given out one time by the garrisson commander and the collections take longer to collect then the unrest they counter is to build up. What am I missing? How do we fight back?

In our experience, it's better to let the port go into open pvp, then actively fight any and all attackers on the OS.

[Karthos]

I love how vague the OP is. This told us nothing that isn't blatently obvious. tell us how the point work exactly- i.e. how many unrest points i would get for sinking a lvl32 spanish warship 40mi outside a spanish town.

and say something about unrest supplies. I still don't understand how these work, but obviously some people do, as they are able to use them to get unrest up to 9k within 10minutes. This happened 2 days ago on Guad @ Jaqueme.

[Verhoeven]

I still am confused over the invitation chances.

In my group we had several people way over 500 cp and stil they were not invited. Where as there were people with less than 200 cp who got invited.

Is there more information on how this randomize statistical thing works?
Is this just bad luck?
If you have 1.000 cp are you almost sure to get in or is it still roulette?

Not being able to battle is not rewarding for some people who have spend hours and hours to flip a port. Actually with the high cp I saw in my group not being invited yesterday it is almost an incentive to sit back and let the other do the job. Than kill a few npc and join the roulette.

[kungtotte]

Contention points are like lottery tickets. Your chances go up if you buy many, but it doesn't guarantee you a win.

[Bluddworth]

I along with 5 of my society members spent a good deal of time attacking every national ship that spawned near Havana. After about 1 1/2 hours we had only generated 235 Contention points. 6000 points seems to be a huge number!

Also, a question concerning Pirates. I would imagine that Pirates are the only "nation" that are given missions to attack other NPC pirate factions (ie. Bloody Arms). Does this not put pirates at a disadvantage, because we are helping to create the Contention points around our own ports?

[bpdlr]

I along with 5 of my society members spent a good deal of time attacking every national ship that spawned near Havana. After about 1 1/2 hours we had only generated 235 Contention points. 6000 points seems to be a huge number!

You'd have to kill Spanish ships, not just any National. One and a half hours grinding by one group of 6 is not going to have a huge effect on contention, you need the whole Nation concerting their efforts. When we flipped Irish Point on day 1 on Blackbeard, we had most of All out Assault, But Why is the Rum Gone, Band of the Red Hand, 1st MI Blackwater and Red Fang (to name a few) at work for 3-4 hours. At any one time there were about 10 battles going on outside the port.

Also, a question concerning Pirates. I would imagine that Pirates are the only "nation" that are given missions to attack other NPC pirate factions (ie. Bloody Arms). Does this not put pirates at a disadvantage, because we are helping to create the Contention points around our own ports?

All Nations get "bounty" quests to kill certain pirate NPC ships. You only raise contention by killing the ships belonging to the nation whose port you are within 50m of. And as all pirate towns are Brethren, killing Bloody Arms etc. has no effect. Pirates killing pirate NPCs does not raise contention (who would it raise contention for, anyway?).

[Dead_Ed]

(Created and originally submitted by Seya (http://www.burningsea.com/forums/member.php?u=174968))
This is a work in progress. Please reply with any information or feedback so that I may improve this post for new players.


Comprehensive Port Battle Guide
PotBS is classified as an RvR MMORPG. In order to “win the map” members of a nation work together to achieve victory points. Points are acquired by controlling ports and by capturing ports.

Is that so? Welp I have my trusty retail box here, lets have a look: the only place game type is even hinted at is on the edge of box, listed as "Role-play".

The only place pvp is mentioned on the entire box is: a brief blurb on the back that goes like this:

(Upper left rear of retail box)
"RULE THE OCEANS.
SIEZE THE LAND.
FORGE A LEGEND.
With Pirates of the Burning Sea, set sail for Massively Multiplayer Online fun and adventure in the Caribbean of 1720. Intense ship-to-ship battles and Swashbuckling combat await. As Captain, you'll take command in solo, group or PvP gameplay and battle for glory, power and treasure on the open ocean and in more than 100 tropical ports."

This is the only place on the box that PvP is mentioned, RvR is not mentioned anywhere. It's clear your product designers for the game box didn't want to advertise that aspect for some reason, or somehow didn't know the "classification" of the game.

[animalMOTHER]

Pirates, in historical context, are not a nation, so shouldn't be in game. They thrived in this time period because of the instability between the nations in the region.

They thrived in this period mainly because of the Europeans sanctioning pirate activity on their behest.

When the Colonial powers decided to rest total control of Atlantic imperialism, the pirates drop from the story.

[karkh]

Had another look in here, and can't find numbers. How many unrest points does a killed npc ship give? How many unrest points does a killed player give? How is this influenced by level differences, group sizes and such?

[ucfmis]

[I
Pirate PvP
A red circle appears on the map, with the contested port in the center, once the contention points reach 6,000. Pirate PvP signifies an area wherein Pirates and Privateers with the skill “Sanctioned Piracy” my initiate combat against other players.



I am kind of confused by this. By the way this is said, it sound like only pirates and privateers with the "sancionted Piracy" can inititate pvp in the pirate pvp zones. Although when I am in game it seems as a pirate anyone can attack me in a pirate pvp zone. More like free pirate killing zone. i thought this was supposed to be a zone where pirates can create havock, not be free hunting targets to nationals.

[Ed Anger]

only pirates or privateers can attack nationals in pirate pvp zones, anyone can attack pirates (as they can attack anyone).

how about updating the numbers in the original post to the current values.. ie its says 24 hours to a battle etc.

[Parra]

Hey Danica,

Do you think its time to update the original sticky or time to just remove it altogether in favor of another source that has more detail and better maintained? Not that I am not grateful to have a summary of the system posted here. :-)

[Lord Alderaan]

Many months ago we copied the original post to the wiki. It can be found at

http://www.potbswiki.com/wiki/Port_Battle_Guide

We've kept it up to date over time. The beauty of the wiki is that if you see any mistakes and you feel secure about what the right info should be you can simply edit it.

[Aeryn]

Thanks for the link, Lord Alderaan, and for keeping the wiki up-to-date. :)

Instead of trying to keep the original post itself up-to-date, I edited it to include a link to the Wiki.

[Yves LeBlanc]

Not sure if this is the right place to ask, but has anybody received an invite to a port battle with less than 10 personal contention points since the 71 patch? Two days ago somebody with 6 points did not get an invite, and today we had a naval officer with a ship of the line miss out, and he had 3 or 4 points, I forget which. Would have been nice to have him along with us.

I myself made sure to have double digits in points because I saw somewhere that you get one entry into the invite lottery, but it would be nice to know for certain so I can help people on my faction out.

[Catman Joe]

Blackbeard Spanish are having problems getting port battles full. Last two battles had mid teen players in battle and people with points not getting an invite. How does this work? Are only 24 invitations sent? If someone declines the invitation does that mean the battle is fought short?

Are additional invitations sent based on declined invitations? If so, is there a window of time involved in that process?

If a lvl 50 does not get an invite at the time I get mine and I am lvl 25, if I decline is there any chance the lvl 50 will get an invite after I decline?

Jose

[CABBAGE]

Great Guide and excellent thread.. I still have a question that has not been answered in any of the guides or links i've seen here.

How many people are allowed/invovled in the Port battles that go to lottery?

is it 6 vs 6 .. 12 vs 12 .. ?? ( I feel it may be good info to include.. )

[Taralin Snowden]

port battles are limited to 24 players on each side.

anybody who has personal contention points for that specific port, or who has general contention points (general points are not specific to any particular port) is included in the lottery. the more points you have, the more lottery "tickets" you get. the more tickets you have, the better your chances are for getting an invitation.

if a player declines an invitation, then another ticket is drawn so that a replacement player may be invited.

-ken

[Bergess Meredith]

Couldnt find this anywhere, so im asking How many ports can pirates flip into Port Battle status at any one time?

[Gameking]

Only 3 at a time for any nation.

[Bergess Meredith]

I noticed we have 3 ports all due for port battles but we can still cause unrest on other ports whats the go there can we take them into a pvp zone and if so what happens is their a limit of unrest we can reach?

[kwhitehead]

Can someone explain how the "Reinforcements Arrive in..." state is triggered, what it means, and how does it affect the Port flipping?