Advice for PVP Defense (Naval Officer)

[Pierre LeBrun]

Hi guys,

I'm from the Antigua French Team, and I was just looking for some advice for a ship I can defend against attacks, but still have the possibility to kill some common PVP ships. At present, I own a Cap MC, Mercy, and Slerc. (I also have some warships but obviously not for PVP). Anyway, I want to know a good PVP build for PVP (NO, of course), and basically some techniques I need. I ended up going through 1 durability on my Slerc, 6 durabilities on a Tigre MC, and over 500k for PVP supplies. However, every time I try to go PVPing, I end up dealing loads of damage, but I die before they do, (most of the time due to menueverabiltity). Thanks guys, I've had this question forever, but nobody on my nation can help me fully since the majority of my nation doesn't do PVP. Thanks in advance!

[cea12]

Always have defender resist up, use scatter shot, even if it costs you a volley ( it works full effect fired at tmtd/invincible), save last stand for when you're primaried, preferrably pair LS with repairs.

And above all, sail well.. staying in position to save each others ***** if far more important than getting any shot off.

The boat doesn't matter much, proper sailing and timely skill use keep you alive..

[The Bad Touch]

If you 1v1 in a NO would need 2 turning mods and sail integrity in my opinion.

I normally use a double weave and a nimble rig, you will be slow as hell but the turning is invaluable in a 1v1, and very useful in a 2v2. The Double weave gets a Cap MC to over 4k sails which deters them from going for your sails.

1 x double weave
1 x nimble rig
2 x acc guns
1 x heavy flanked
1 x double planked

Disco Reinforcement 3
Victors armour 2 (or Dauntless hull mod 5) or Victors Rigging 3
Prototype cannons 3

If you want to win 1v1 as a NO you have to spec for it, speed will not help you.

http://www.gumworm.com/index.php?id=188 - go here for a skill planner.

55055050 - gives you max damage, but you will need to get in close as you will have low accuracy

55055032 - More accuracy, slightly less damage/range and reload.

Those are two fairly forgiving builds to use in 1v1 as you have high DR and integrity. There are tons of other builds that will work, but It depends how you like to fight, I know a lot of people will say break rudder is essential for example and 1 point in escort for acceleration is also really useful. See what works for you.

Most important as a NO in 1v1 - ALWAYS use your scatter shot when it is available, it is essential... turning, defence and resistance are your friends. For God and Country is also an essential 1v1 skill, a NO without crew is like sailing a marshmellow, not very effective. No turning, no acceleration = dead.

Privs - Decrew with stone
Bucc - Decrew with stone
Cutt - Bosuns whip negates crew loss. But I leave upper deck on stone anyway to deter a board later in the fight.
FT - Decrew with stone

Use explosive when you get within 100-150 yds. Good damage and decrews as well.

A Cap MC is a really good ship and forgiving to sail, NO in a slerc can kill just about anything 1v1 but will cost you a bit more if you lose or get ganked.

EDIT: Also know your enemy, Privs and Buccs can really hurt you with a Jugular. Learn what that looks like and always watch what effects/debuffs the enemy has on you. I often negate their Jugular by going invincible just as they are about to fire their follow up volley to their Jug - this will likely be a big spike by them to deal massive damage on the Jugged opponent - if you go invince just before the follow up spike they get no benefit from their Jugular and they waste their biggest spike. Invincible is often more useful at this point rather than later on when you are on 3 structure with no crew, its fairly pointless then.

p.s. dont waste your spikes right up front, spend time decrewing with stone when you are at distance. Once you have closed in use your spikes, they do FAR more damage within 200 yds.

Take all the above with a pinch of salt. If Bucc or Priv have the crew line they will be much harder to decrew for example, you may have to change your tactics depending on the ship you are facing.

hmmm - reading the OP again, you didn't mention 1v1, I just made that assumption... This generally works for me for 1v1 and brawling. If you are in larger groups then you can change the sails out for Runers Rigs as sail integrity is less important.

[Pierre LeBrun]

Thanks so much - this is literally perfect. Yes, it was for 1v1. THANKS!

[The Bad Touch]

Originally Posted by Pierre LeBrun Thanks so much - this is literally perfect. Yes, it was for 1v1. THANKS!

No problem, glad it helped.

You seem keen, so here are some additional suggestions.

There are 3 items in particular that can really help a NO in a 1v1, they are:

Lucky Albatros - is an additional crew repair 'clicky', very useful to keep crew up if they try to decrew you for the minute or so your For God and Country is down, or if it looks like they/you might board. (P.S. a big advantage for a NO in 1v1 is that you are hard to decrew if you spec for it, which means that you will often have more than double your opponents crew in the second half of the fight. Useful as they can't board you, and you can board them if you want or if you are going to lose the shipcom). EDIT: 'Decimate' is a fantastic skill, use it if you want to board or avoid getting boarded.

Lucy the Figurehead - another 'clicky' restores 30 or so morale nearly instantly, very useful when trying to get 75 moral for Invincible.

Sharps Blackout Stout - trade in 1 gold and 1 silver goblet at the junk dealer in MT. Another 30 or so morale if you are really in a hurry to go invince. The silver goblets can be difficult to get hold of though so use them sparingly. I have bought them at MT for 8k each, so if there are any fleeters out there reading this, please dump any silver goblets on the AH at MT and we will pay handsomely


I didn't mention why you decrew your opponent. In case you didn't know:

Priv - Loses Reload and Acceleration, so they will keep flipping broadsides to negate the reload problem. If you can get close and broadside lock them, your damage per second will be far higher than theirs. If they have the full crew line, then they have 20% max crew on their ship and will have great crew recovery. i.e. Cap MC is 300 standard, they will have 360 crew.

Cutt - Same as Priv but gets a 2(?) minute free ride where they suffer no ill effect if they spec for bosuns whip.

NO - Loses turning and acceleration (Which as you have experienced is not fun at all because you just get stern camped and there is nothing you can do about it)

Freetrader - Loses reload and turning. Now this combo is as bad as the NOs, he cant turn and he has no reload... HOWEVER, Freetraders have insane repairs, reload and spikes so they can often demast or kill you within the first minute if you get too close up front. Try to keep distance from them and decrew with stone for the first minute or two when they are strongest, then move in when they have no crew and have used their skills. Only change away from stone to explosive shot when you are within 100 yeard. Free traders suffer with no crew.

Bucc - same as freetrader I think, but they can be impossible to decrew if they have the crew line, and if they 1v1 they will... If they have the full line they will have -25% max crew.

I am sure there are innacuracies in here, as I have not played FT or Cutt. This should help a bit though, play to your strengths and the NO can do well in 1v1.

[Luck Fest]

Originally Posted by The Bad Touch No problem, glad it helped. You seem keen, so here are some additional suggestions. There are 3 items in particular that can really help a NO in a 1v1, they are: Lucky Albatros - is an additional crew repair 'clicky', very useful to keep crew up if they try to decrew you for the minute or so your For God and Country is down, or if it looks like they/you might board. (P.S. a big advantage for a NO in 1v1 is that you are hard to decrew if you spec for it, which means that you will often have more than double your opponents crew in the second half of the fight. Useful as they can't board you, and you can board them if you want or if you are going to lose the shipcom). EDIT: 'Decimate' is a fantastic skill, use it if you want to board or avoid getting boarded. Lucy the Figurehead - another 'clicky' restores 30 or so morale nearly instantly, very useful when trying to get 75 moral for Invincible. Sharps Blackout Stout - trade in 1 gold and 1 silver goblet at the junk dealer in MT. Another 30 or so morale if you are really in a hurry to go invince. The silver goblets can be difficult to get hold of though so use them sparingly. I have bought them at MT for 8k each, so if there are any fleeters out there reading this, please dump any silver goblets on the AH at MT and we will pay handsomely I didn't mention why you decrew your opponent. In case you didn't know: Priv - Loses Reload and Acceleration, so they will keep flipping broadsides to negate the reload problem. If you can get close and broadside lock them, your damage per second will be far higher than theirs. If they have the full crew line, then they have 20% max crew on their ship and will have great crew recovery. i.e. Cap MC is 300 standard, they will have 360 crew. Cutt - Same as Priv but gets a 2(?) minute free ride where they suffer no ill effect if they spec for bosuns whip. NO - Loses turning and acceleration (Which as you have experienced is not fun at all because you just get stern camped and there is nothing you can do about it) Freetrader - Loses reload and turning. Now this combo is as bad as the NOs, he cant turn and he has no reload... HOWEVER, Freetraders have insane repairs, reload and spikes so they can often demast or kill you within the first minute if you get too close up front. Try to keep distance from them and decrew with stone for the first minute or two when they are strongest, then move in when they have no crew and have used their skills. Only change away from stone to explosive shot when you are within 100 yeard. Free traders suffer with no crew. Bucc - same as freetrader I think, but they can be impossible to decrew if they have the crew line, and if they 1v1 they will... If they have the full line they will have -25% max crew. I am sure there are innacuracies in here, as I have not played FT or Cutt. This should help a bit though, play to your strengths and the NO can do well in 1v1.

Crew penalties are:
All rats + priv lose acc + reload
NO lose acc + turn
FT lose reload + turn

btw P.M. me if you wanna try my hypo in 1v1