Captain Rosethorn on Jan 12, 2014 wrote:

I'm sorry if this has been asked before. My friend and I were wondering do boost skills stack with other boost skills? For example if I were to use Juju and my friend were to use Juju would the two stack together to double the increase boost? Sometimes it does seem that it doubles the boost and other times it doesn't. I have a hard time telling if it does stack or not.

For the ship combat I've been wondering how does one effectively sink the ships. Is it based solely on equipment or do other things factor in it as well? I've seen players dart all over the place around the ship, does that help? I always park my ship because if I move around I attract the attention of other ships. Yet I've been wondering if moving does make a difference. Also the attacks that only do 75% damage with no range listed, it doesn't matter the range of said ship? Finally, does it help if you turn your ship to be actual broadside combat?

Ah, sorry for so many questions.

Hi Capt. Rosethorn, no apologies necessary, questions are the main reason we are here, along with making each other giggle as a close second. Questions just show that you are thinking and want to know how to be a better player and are great qualities in my Pirates Manual.
Abilities and boosts do indeed stack. By stacking those Jujus you can really make things much more fun. I love watching how the Mojo Echo hits keep getting stronger and stronger as I pile on the will boosts for my Scratchy (Old Scratch ) or Necromancer Pig. They become positively lethal.
Generally it's the equipment that has the most effect on broadside battles. Although you do have a great point about excessive movement drawing attention to yourself. When you are in a thick swarm of ships your ability to sneak in and quietly nab that straggler is the only thing that saves you from being swarmed by his buddies.
One point though, if your health is in danger of going into the yellow circling the ship will keep you from being boarded until that healing times in again. They can't board you if you are behind them but be careful, someone else can sneak up behind you and pounce while you circle.
Good attention to reading the stats on the cards. Indeed some are more accurate at the 'Yellow vs Red' distance, actually some are better from the 'Yellow' zone. The ones that don't say are equal no matter the distance.
Your question about turning your ship to the broadside position is a great one and very logical. I have wondered the very same thing as there are more cannons at the sides than from the front or rear. I kept forgetting to ask if it really mattered. You are ahead of me in the inquisitiveness on that one. Keep the great questions coming.

Ok, great gunnery gurus, anyone know if being in the actual broadside position will increase your damage?

A) Yes Prime stat buffs (boosts) stack. They're a percentage of your base number for that stat, and that result is added to your total for that prime stat. The easiest way to check this is to do a combat with a friend and call out the stats to each other after every buff.
B)1. Your ship's accuracy and dodge are based on the ship type, and influenced by ship powers (multiple instances of the same power do not stack), Ship part bonuses, your nautical level, and possibly other factors (like maybe the attacker's and target's relative position to each other).
2. I believe that moving does slightly affect ship accuracy v and dodge ^, so they kind of offset each other. Of course If you're in a wolf pack and the enemy ship is attacking just you, it would be a net benefit to move constantly; conversely if you're in that wolf pack and the enemy ship is attacking only your friend, it's best to be still and sink the enemy. Just don't let movement distract you from clicking your power buttons on time, because the dodge benefit from movement (if it really exists) is minor.
3. Chrissy described a very big benefit to moving that I will repeat. If the enemy brings your ship health down below 50% he will try to close to short (red) range with your ship, so that he can board your ship. The enemy can only board you from his bow, so your heavily damaged ship can circle the enemy until you either heal up (blue health), or sink him (or he sinks you). You could run away, but that doesn't give you much time to sink him before he disengages. The enemy will disengage if you get into a windlane or just leave his home range area.
4. As for turning your ship to give the enemy your broadside, I do it, but IDK if it helps (it's broadside combat after all). I have asked, but Dockmaster Dan prefers to keep some mystery in the game mechanics.
I have found that placing my ship directly astern of my target ship gives me a small but noticeable dodge bonus.

Thank you all for your answers. That does help me a lot, but now I do have a bit of a sticky situation. How close is short range? I am colorblind so it's impossible for me to tell based on the colors of the rings. Most of the time I can't even tell when I'm even in long range to start attacking. I always have to let the enemy ship hit me first so I'll know when to start attacking. However, how close do I have to be for short range to trigger? In the past when I had equipment that was better at short range I would put my ship on top of the enemy - making it move just a little - and that would seem like I was in the short range zone. I assume I am since that's as close to the ship as can be, but do I need to be that close? I'd rather not force my ship on top of the other cause it takes quite a bit of steering to align myself back up with said ship. That and it just really makes boarding that much easier for the enemy ships.

Captain Rosethorn on Jan 14, 2014 wrote:

Thank you all for your answers. That does help me a lot, but now I do have a bit of a sticky situation. How close is short range? I am colorblind so it's impossible for me to tell based on the colors of the rings. Most of the time I can't even tell when I'm even in long range to start attacking. I always have to let the enemy ship hit me first so I'll know when to start attacking. However, how close do I have to be for short range to trigger? In the past when I had equipment that was better at short range I would put my ship on top of the enemy - making it move just a little - and that would seem like I was in the short range zone. I assume I am since that's as close to the ship as can be, but do I need to be that close? I'd rather not force my ship on top of the other cause it takes quite a bit of steering to align myself back up with said ship. That and it just really makes boarding that much easier for the enemy ships.

You are handling it really well. Perhaps you could send an email to KingsIsle and ask if they could change the saturation (At least I think it is saturation, it's been a few years ) levels on one of the rings so that you and other color challenged folk can see them. That was one of the tips they showed us when I learned to make graphics for print was to always look at it in black and white so that the large percentage of the population that doesn't see colors the same can still understand the copy. It is possible to change it so that to standard eyes they are still yellow & red but to you they will be different in shade. I think that would be a minimal fix for KingsIsle and make your game play much more enjoyable.
Meanwhile. I have made some screenshots of the zones for you. If you are a member of Pirate 101 Central you can see them. If you are not, it's easy and free to sign up. No worries about viruses or annoying emails, they don't do that. Yes, once they engage, that is the yellow zone but there is a zone outside of that that we can't see where they become aware of you and will react and head for you to get into range and then attack when they reach yellow zone. This first shot is right on the edge of being able to attack. He was attacking me & I have just backed out of range. This next shot is just into the red zone. I have drifted in just a bit as it moved a bit closer to me just as I stopped. This third shot is also a 'red zone' shot but we are broadside to each other to help you, hopefully, see how I am from him. The forth shot is another angle of the broadside in the red zone but hopefully it will help to gage the distance. My guess is, it's about 2 1/2 to 3 ship lengths but it may vary. It does seem to me that some ships are a bit touchy with what triggers them but that may just be me. I am guessing that Dockmaster Dan could be of more help in knowing if the range is the same in all ships.

I hope these shots help and I really hope that either this post or a letter from you will trigger a change in the appearance of the target so that it will be easier for the color challenged folk to see. Who knows, maybe instead of adjusting the saturation or whatever it is that changes it's appearance in B&W, maybe they could change the target shape for the 'zone' you are in. Either would work

Captain Rosethorn on Jan 16, 2014 wrote:

Wow! Thanks so much Chrissy for posting those pictures. That did help out, and you're right it does look to be about a ship distance or two apart. I was indeed way way too close in the red zone. Haha! Also, sure, I'll send a message to Pirate about my issue. I would love it if they did tweek it just enough for me to tell the difference. For now I'll keep viewing your pictures as references until I have it memorized of where to hit the brakes in combat mode.

You are most welcome. It is what we are here for.