The High Seas

Guns, Abilities & Boarding

Her guns fire themselves; where she is when they do is up to you. This is what every gun does, the abilities a ship can carry into a fight, and how to take a ship by boarding.

How her guns fight

Firing: Automatic — every gun fires at any monster ship in range as it bears. F holds fire
Arc: 50° either side of her beam; half her guns to a side
Hull or sails: T lays her guns on either. About 70% of each hit goes where it was laid, the rest to the other
Under way: At Full Ahead her shot scatters 50% wider and falls up to 60% long or short — slow down to shoot true
The stern: A ball in the aft third of a ship does +50%. Monster ships know it and work round to rake yours
Ramming: A bow driven into a ship is a hit too — and up her stern it bites the same
Other captains: Never fired on by themselves: click a ship to engage her

Cannons

Cast at the Shipyard's Foundry from 200 ingots of one metal, and mounted port by port on her gun deck — drag a gun from one port to another to lay her out as you like. A gun melted down gives back 140 ingots. Range is in cells, reload in seconds.

Cannon	Blacksmithing	Damage	Range	Reload
Iron Cannon	40	15	12	4s
Dull Copper Cannon	65	16	12.4	3.95s
Shadow Iron Cannon	70	17	12.8	3.9s
Copper Cannon	75	18	13.2	3.85s
Bronze Cannon	80	19	13.6	3.8s
Golden Cannon	85	20	14	3.75s
Agapite Cannon	90	22	14.5	3.65s
Verite Cannon	95	24	15	3.55s
Valorite Cannon	99	27	15.6	3.4s
Blackrock Cannon	100	30	16.2	3.25s

💣

Shot is cast from Iron and nothing else: 4 cannonballs to an ingot, at 20 Blacksmithing. Each ship carries her own — loaded aboard from her Restock tab, spent a ball a shot, and lost if she sinks. Wrecks give some back, and Auto Restock can top her up every time she docks at home.

Rare guns

Nobody can cast these. Each beats every cast cannon at one thing and gives something up for it. They come from The Ferryman's strongboxes — the dearer, the rarer — or from the Pirate Bay outside Buccaneer's Den, bought with Silver from your coffer and sent to your house storage.

Gun	Best at	Damage	Range	Reload	Pirate Bay price
Oarsman's Pivot Gun	Arc	24	15	3.5s	25,000 Silver
The Toll-Taker	Accuracy	25	16.5	3.5s	35,000 Silver
The Long Nine	Range	21	21	5.4s	50,000 Silver
Keelbreaker	Piercing	25	14.5	3.6s	60,000 Silver
The Styx Swivel	Reload	16	13	1.8s	75,000 Silver
Charon's Carronade	Damage	49	10	5.6s	100,000 Silver

What makes each rare gun different

Oarsman's Pivot Gun: Trains 80° either side of her beam — near enough dead ahead and dead astern — where a cast cannon stops at 50°.
The Toll-Taker: A rifled bore: its ball flies true, with a fifth of a cannon's scatter across the line and under a third of its fall long or short.
The Long Nine: Throws a ball 21 cells — a third again as far as a Valorite cannon — for a lighter blow, and a slow 5.4 seconds between them.
Keelbreaker: Its ball punches straight through fittings — no armour turns any of it aside — and up a stern it bites +150%, not +50%.
The Styx Swivel: Ready again in 1.8 seconds — nearly twice as quick as a Valorite cannon — each ball lighter and shorter.
Charon's Carronade: A 49-damage smasher — nearly twice a Valorite cannon's blow — for a short reach of 10 cells and 5.6 seconds to load.

Ship abilities

Every ship carries ONE offensive ability (Q) and ONE defensive (E), chosen on her Abilities tab at the Shipyard and changed there freely. Each is ready again 2 minutes after it is called.

Ability	Slot	Lasts	What it does
Full Broadside	Offensive	At once	Every gun on both sides is reloaded at once, ready to fire. (Needs guns.)
Chain Shot	Offensive	10s	For 10 seconds every ball that hits tears the rigging — the ship struck makes 40% less way for 6 seconds. (Needs guns.)
Heated Shot	Offensive	12s	For 12 seconds every ball that hits sets her burning — half as much damage again over 6 seconds. (Needs guns.)
Double Charge	Offensive	10s	For 10 seconds her guns hit 35% harder, at a quarter less range. (Needs guns.)
Marksman's Eye	Offensive	12s	For 12 seconds her guns reach 40% further and throw twice as true. (Needs guns.)
Against the Wind	Offensive	12s	For 12 seconds the wind is behind her whichever way she points — beating into it costs her nothing.
Brace for Impact	Defensive	6s	For 6 seconds she takes half damage from every hit.
Emergency Repairs	Defensive	5s	Her carpenters mend 15% of her hull over 5 seconds — under fire, and without timber.
Smoke Screen	Defensive	8s	For 8 seconds every gun laid on her throws three times wider.
Evasive Manoeuvres	Defensive	6s	For 6 seconds she comes round 80% quicker and makes 20% more way.
Cut and Run	Defensive	At once	Every monster ship hunting her loses her, and will not take her up again for 12 seconds. Her guns are held as she slips away — open fire on one, or ram it, and it has her again at once. The Ferryman is not shaken.
Reinforced Stern	Defensive	12s	For 12 seconds nothing bites deeper up her stern, and ramming does her a quarter of the damage.

📜

Abilities must be LEARNED. Every one starts unknown, and the only way to learn one is an Ability Deed from a wreck — a rare find, for a random ability. Right-click it and that ability is yours for good, on every ship you own or ever build. A second copy of one you know teaches nothing, but deeds can be traded and sold.

Boarding

When: Her target's sails under 50%, and you alongside — close aboard, heading her way or the opposite, and no faster than she is
The grapples: Hold 80% of the time at that line and 100% with every sail shot away; a miss costs 15s
The fight: 15s to 20s on screen, both ships untouchable until it ends
Who fights: Your crew, at their Boarding Attack and Defence (see Crew) — and you need at least one hand fit to fight
Boarding rope: One rope for every hand sent across, spent when the grapples bite — a miss costs none. Made at the Shipyard on her Restock tab, 3 Leather each, and her Auto Restock can keep her topped up. With fewer ropes aboard than hands fit to fight she cannot board; they go down with her if she sinks
Her condition: A crew fights at its ship's condition: whole at full hull and sails, down to 44% with both gone
Lose: Your ship is sunk
Win a monster ship: +75% Silver and crew XP, and better odds of a survivor, an upgrade and an ability deed
Win a pirate crew's ship: +75% Silver
Win another captain's: Her hold — and her crew are held for ransom until paid for, or 7 days pass
Her strongbox: Your boarders bring it back with them — it goes straight into your hold, with no sailing over it. What a full hold cannot take stays in the box where she sank
Never: The Ferryman or his escorts

🪝

A monster ship or a pirate crew's with her canvas shot away is crippled: under half her sails she loses way and helm fast, and at bare yards she makes barely 10% of her way and hardly answers her helm — lying there for even the slowest hull to come alongside.

Guns, Abilities & Boarding

How her guns fight

Cannons

Rare guns

What makes each rare gun different

Ship abilities

Boarding

More on the High Seas

Ships

Sailing

Crew

Foes & Plunder