New Naval Action player getting frustrated

[Jacke]

Just started playing Naval Action.  I understand the game is Early Access and has a lot to develop.  But I'm not getting how to play it.  Despite having a vague idea how fighting in the classic Age of Sail happened.  And understanding the game interface.  And everything seems to take forever.  Really starting to lose any fun and enjoyment here.

 

I really like the classic Age of Sail and its combat. Played a lot of Wooden Ships & Iron Men decades ago (and I still have the game).  Purchased and read all of C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower stories soon after (also still have them).  Purchased and read all of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series novels, and am now rereading them for the second time.

 

I learned about Naval Action last year.  I'd heard it was very detailed and the actions could take a far amount of time.  Followed it from a distance.  This week, I decided to buy the game and try it.  I'd read that many people are frustrated with its current state and have either decided to stop or not get involved with the game until there's more development.  As well, I heard it was moving in a direction similar to EVE Online.  So I went into it with my eyes open.

 

However, I'm really getting frustrated, despite checking out a lot of articles and videos.  I'm finding battle to be long, drawn out, and I'm just not getting it, despite having an idea about how it's supposed to happen.

 

What I've done: Created a British character on PvP1.  I understand the Port interface.  I know I'm no where skilled enough for PvP combat (even though I kind of understand Mr. Doran's A treatise on Naval Action: a complete guide).  Even kind of understand manual sail control for tacking (which I found useful even in the Cutter in a, umm, exceptional circumstance I relate below).  So, to get practice, experience, and gold, I've been playing missions.  Badly.

 

Anyhoo, to skip all the sturm und drang, jump down to CONCLUSION.

 

(Times are estimated.  I'm sure all the battles lasted more than an hour or two.  I know there's an upper limit, 2 hours?, so none of these could have lasted longer.  Though some felt longer.  Also, all this happened over the past day, with a server reboot and me logging off a few times interspersed between the action.)

 

"Call me Jacke. (The e is silent.)"

First off, I got a Fleet Order mission, not understanding that Fleet Order missions have me engage a fleet of Pirate ships along with AI controlled British ships. Off into the Open World, learning about it and getting around in it and learning the environ around Port Royal.

Clear for action and beat to quarters! Into battle with the squadron! With my Cutter's stock 4lb medium cannons, I tried to damage the rigging with chain shot. And started to see how hard it is to maneuver and fire. Really ripped up one Pirate ships rigging, down to under 65%, with a bit of damage to others. After literal hours of combat. With me being the last British ship afloat. For a while. Started learning about damage control. For a while.

Back at Port Royal after my first sinking, I found I'd earned enough gold to get carronades for my Cutter. Horray! I know they're not good for PvP but now I'll rip apart those Pirates!

This time I got an Order mission and was up against a Pirate Cutter. More practice with carronades and chain, ball, and grape shot. Well over an hour later, even after several stern rakes that stripped all of the structure from the stern and a lot of the rest, after more frustration and sailing, gunnery, and damage control practice, I finally set on laying broadside-to-broadside and battered the Pirate into sinking. Horray! He sunk and I'd didn't! Back to Port Royal under my own sails for once! Practicing more damage control!

Out again on a Fleet Order. This time, I decided to separate a Pirate Cutter from their squadron and work it over. That was an interesting battle. Again found despite ripping open the stern he just wouldn't sink. And in laying broadside to broadside, we kept shoaling up on a beach. The Pirate was smart and back sails and never got beached, but I did. First time wasn't too bad, I got off pretty quick. Second time, I was on the beach and facing into the wind. For like 10 minutes. Oops.

Finally, judicious use of manual sail control and the rudder turned the ship and I was able to get off the beach! Horray! Soon afterwards, that damned Pirate Cutter finally sank! Horray! Okay, where's everyone else? Over that away!

Oh, my. Two sets of British masts sticking out of the water. And the last British ship besides me was fighting with a Pirate up against the beach. And two other Pirate ships working him over. Never fear, Jacke is here! Got stuck in with the other British ship and soon finished the one Pirate. Soon followed by the other British ship. Me against two. With a battered Cutter, and them a Cutter and a larger vessel (Privateer?) battered but much less than me.

I should have just run then. I actually soon realised I wasn't going to get much farther with either and started to run. And learned more about damage control.

Back at Port Royal after my second sinking, I decided to do a bit of research. After that, tried another Order mission. Went up against a Pirate Privateer. Stripped his stern structure and more and hit him again and again and again there. Most of his shots missed. But enough went home. More damage control practice.

 

Back at Port Royal after my third and most recent sinking, I'm really not liking this a lot.  Went out and watched a few more videos.  Looked for guides.  Lot of the information is already out of date for older versions of Naval Action.  Nothing that stood out to provide me with a way to improve my sailing and gunnery skills.  Except watch a lot more videos (which I will get to soon anyhoo).  Even though I sort of know what I'm doing wrong.

 

I think back to Mr Doran's guide.  Even though I don't know the ranges well, I kind of know my Cutter is somewhere around 20m long, so a 100m would be about 5 Cutter-lengths. I've tried to follow it.  But my gunnery is crap.  And just to try to kill the Pirates, I've given up on trying to follow Mr Doran's advice.  At least now I'm sure before I end up in irons to have a good speed on the ship to get onto the opposite tack.  But mostly I maneuver at full speed trying to get close to my target ship and either go broadside-to-broadside or do successive stern rakes.  Still takes forever and I don't always finish him before he finishes me.

 

When I was using the 4lb cannons, using chain shot took forever.  I was crap at getting the range and azimuth right.  (By the way, I'm retired from the Canadian Armed Forces Primary Reserve.  And I was trained as a gunner.  And I was damn good on the 76mm gun on the Cougar.  I know what I'm talking about with respect to gunnery.)  And even after getting the sails down to under 65%, it didn't seem to affect the ability of the Pirate ship to maneuver.

 

Using the 12lb carronades, I found damage to be slow to nil unless I maneuvered to within a ship length or less, often colliding with my opponents.  Even after smashing all of the stern structure, took forever to actually sink a vessel, and often I would get leaks, even before all the structure was gone from my ship's surfaces, that demanded crew attention.

 

I know I'm lacking something in ship maneuvering.  I found in some ways it's like air combat dog fighting.  Often I could get my slow turning ship behind my opponent and I was really wishing for bow chasers.  Other times I puled off stern rake after stern rake, but saw little change after I stripped all structure from the stern. Only once did I sink a ship that way.  The other ship I batter broadside-to-broadside.  Whichever I used, my ship is always battered after any action and any attempt to fight a second ship before full repair leads to my ship almost certainly sinking.

 

I know I need to change my speed as well as turn, as well as hold on a point of sailing to build up speed.  Tried battle sail but I just can't get it to work.  Have to go full speed, even though I know that makes getting gunnery hits harder.

 

CONCLUSION

 

I'm just missing something completely with Naval Action.  Any fun and enjoyment is rapidly going away.  I know my sailing and gunnery are crap, but I don't know how to approach things to get better at it.  And I'm wondering that the battles are going to always be way way long.

 

I'll repeat what I said at the start.  I understand the game is Early Access and has a lot to develop.  But I'm not getting how to play it.  Despite having a vague idea how fighting in the classic Age of Sail happened.  And understanding the game interface.  And everything seems to take forever.  Really starting to lose any fun and enjoyment here.

 

[Destraex]

I just added you as a friend in game. If you want some help you can sail with our little aussie group in British nation. Happy to show you the ropes in discord.

We are also older and love our history books. Sail in the Aussie time zone though.

[GrapeShot]

It takes a bit of time to judge distances. What you might do is fire single shots with the space bar and switch right away to the spy glass to get a good look to see where the shot falls. After a while you'll get a feel for it.

[ObiQuiet]

Every thing you said is accurate -- well done in the detailed explanation.    I think that there may a few realizations that would help:

 

1. Sinking a ship took a _lot_ of shots in the real world, as it does here.    What's missing in the game that was a factor in real life is surrendering.  Either after the first shot (for appearances sake) or after significant damage (mast down, lost all officers), a real captain would cut the battle short long, long before any ship was close to sinking.    The game, currently, is the opposite.   No one gives in until the ship sinks out from under them.   Thus, long battles with lots of battering.   Fire is a recent addition to speed up destruction.   The ability to sink in this game is shown by missing entire sides of blue blocks.

 

The alternative most choose instead of sinking the enemy in 1:1 is to dismast and then attack the crew with guns and finally boarding.   That can be done much more quickly with practice, and you get to keep their ship.

 

2. Sailing at full speed.  Given that other players and NPCs will use full sails in battles, it pretty much means that you will have to too, unrealistic as it may be.   

Sailing with human friends makes this more manageable.  Like in the age of sail itself, the concentration of firepower on a single enemy at a time, and maximizing the weight-of-metal-per-minute is what kept battles short.

 

Keep at it, it's worth it.

[Anne Wildcat]

For a lot of players, including me, doing missions solo that are at the same rank they are seems impossible. Once you get to a level where you can sail larger ships, get a larger ship and do missions a few ranks below you. Best thing to do now is to ask in nation chat for a group doing missions. Let them know what rank you are. Find a clan to join.

[Sir Cloudsley-Shovell]

Try playing in PVE,it will afford you a chance to hone your Sailing and Combat Skills,also you will keep all XP gained in the PVE server when you go back to the PVP server.

[Sir Texas Sir]

Every thing you said is accurate -- well done in the detailed explanation.    I think that there may a few realizations that would help:

 

1. Sinking a ship took a _lot_ of shots in the real world, as it does here.    What's missing in the game that was a factor in real life is surrendering.  Either after the first shot (for appearances sake) or after significant damage (mast down, lost all officers), a real captain would cut the battle short long, long before any ship was close to sinking.    The game, currently, is the opposite.   No one gives in until the ship sinks out from under them.   Thus, long battles with lots of battering.   Fire is a recent addition to speed up destruction.   The ability to sink in this game is shown by missing entire sides of blue blocks.

 

The alternative most choose instead of sinking the enemy in 1:1 is to dismast and then attack the crew with guns and finally boarding.   That can be done much more quickly with practice, and you get to keep their ship.

 

2. Sailing at full speed.  Given that other players and NPCs will use full sails in battles, it pretty much means that you will have to too, unrealistic as it may be.   

Sailing with human friends makes this more manageable.  Like in the age of sail itself, the concentration of firepower on a single enemy at a time, and maximizing the weight-of-metal-per-minute is what kept battles short.

 

Keep at it, it's worth it.

They really should make surrendering a better option for folks like traders.  Where the one attacking can be nice and just take what they want or give you a ransom option to keep your ship and cargo.   A prime example of this is I got jumped the other night in a Snow Trader and some guy in a rattle snake and two cutters started to demast me and I knew he was going to board me.  There was going to be no way I was going to beat him with so much out number crew and it was only a captured trader with about 10K supplies in it.  So I just put up the white flag and logged out of the battle to go on my way.   It's kinda a A-hole move cause he won't get any more XP/Gold for his damage and boarding from that point on, but what was the point of me fighting cause I was going to loose the ship and cargo any way.   I could of used the rest of that battle time for something else productive in game.   This isn't a good habit to have and i feel folks do it when they don't have a chance to even win or get part of there cargo or even ship back.  I would of been happy to let him take what cargo he could carry and pay a ransom to keep the rest of my cargo and be on my way.

[HarryButpain]

here are two tricks which usually work against AI:

 

1) This one takes waaay longer but is safer. Stay just close enough to be able to hit the AI with long cannons. The AI will always head straight at you which means that you can sneak a lot of hits to sail, mast and bow in without being shot at.

 

2) This one is faster but will also cause some dmg to your hull. Stay at medium/close range and start turning a couple of seconds before you think the AI will be rdy to fire at you. I , at least, made the experience that most of AI's shots will miss if you continue doing that as long as you sail one of the starter ships like cutter or privateer, for example. There's also a chance to make AI's shots ricochet off your hull if you getting shot at in an unfavorable angle.

 

I recommend to read this guide to learn more about combat in NA. 

Edited June 5, 2016 by BACk ALLEY ShENANiGANS

[Æthlstan]

I play on PvP1 with France. With the new combat mechanics, the learning curve has only steepened for new players. I am still exploring it myself, as I havent been able to do too many missions due to the war with the dutch and swedish.

Best thing to do is to find someone who is willing to work with you and show you the ropes. If you cant find anyone like that in Britain, come on over to France.

[FieryCross]

Okay I have about 50 hrs in, with the cutter as soon as i could i hired another cutter then a Lynx, average battle time was down to 30mins max. Oh carronades on a cutter help , means you have to get in close but plenty of damage.

 

Next I saved enough to start outposts and buildings, got a cheap lynx to carry more cargo, crafted traded and missioned to buy and outfit a Snow, still havent decided if i dont preffer taking a bit more damage at times and getting in close with the carronades, rather than the smaller long cannons.

 

Captured and Use two trading brigs for cargo hauling, so having lots of fun, up to 1st Lt and Lvl4 crafter.

 

Oh try Ramage by Dudley Pope and Bolitho books by Alexander Kent (Douglas Reeman), as well.

 

Getting to a point where I wouldnt mind more company or clan chat, but not keen on team speak which appears to hamper clan joining, so Ill plod on for the moment.

 

Oh in game Im down as Robert Harvey if you wanna hook up.

Edited June 5, 2016 by FieryCross

[The Spud]

Hang in there mate.

 

The cutter, to me, was not a very fun ship to sail I did mostly small battles until I was ranked high enough to sail a snow (or merc whatever you prefer).

The fun didn't start for me up until I had a snow, and i used that until I could sail a cerberus.

 

The bigger your ships (and opponents) get the slower they will be able to manouver, and the more it becomes a "Chess" game where you need to think several steps in advance in order to not get caught in a bad position.

That is also where some good battle techniques will realy work in your advantage.

 

These cutters and similar ships turn very fast, and if you are brawling this means allot of turning and manouvering in order to get some shots down where you want them.

I recently did a small ship battle (for a change of pace) and I found it harder compared to a 5th rate or above battle, but that might have been me not realy practiced at sailing small manouverable ships.

 

If you like I can add you as a friend, and I would be happy to do some fleet missions or whatever you are up too.

This game is ALLOT of fun, but the small ships can be a bit of a drag and the battles are indeed very long.

 

To harvest some cash, and have some good fun, i do these 135xp battles in a consti.

You are literaly blowing them out of the water without every being in any danger, which is also very fun to do (bit like fighting a game in god mode).

Like someone else said, for some quick fun when you rank up just do missions below your rank, and the battles wil be easier and shorter.

If you do missions of the same rank as yourself, you will usualy find yourself outnumbered in BR terms (this goes for nearly all ranks).

So these will always be very long battles.

 

Once you get a propper ship, you'll be very happy sailing it.

If you have the money you can buy a Live Oak Build Strenght ship, this will give you extra armour so you'll last longer in battles and the chances of your opponents penetrating you hull is reduced.

You can also slam on some nice upgrades on a crafted ship, which will make it allot more fun and somewhat easier to destroy enemies.

 

Good luck!

Edited June 6, 2016 by LanderD

[Macjimm]

This is a great post. Was very satisfying to hear others with the same experience. The description that the OP posted resonates with me in everything other than I still enjoy the game. I find it a lot of fun.

Although I've never really enjoyed the combat very much it's a good game.

I like to sail the Lynx or the Cutter for battles. I've tried the larger ships but don't much care for them. With the smaller ships I find that the battles take a very long time and I just can't seem to do much damage to the enemy. Ive watched videos and read guides and have to agree ... They don't help much. It is a little vindicating to read from others that sailing alone (without a clan) in a cutter it is tough to get a lot of damage into an enemy. Thought that it was just my poor skills at fighting. It used to be easier in the trials before open world. Now it seems pretty hard to weaken and capture other vessels. I usually lose or rather usually don't win.

I can defeat the stern armor and then fire dozens to hundreds of rounds of grape with very little effect killing the enemy crew. Eventually the enemy weakens my armor enough that I must abort the battle. Suppose that my sailing skills are simply too poor.

I have over a couple hundred hours in and have been playing since we were doing sea trials. Fighting used to seem a lot easier but was not very challenging. I'm glad the AI is better but my poor ability makes it so fighting just isn't very satisfying. Don't really want to sail in a pack or use the bigger ships. So it seems better to just sight-see and perhaps trade a wee bit.

The other night I was coming into Port Royal and was jumped by a pirate almost in sight of the port. I promptly pulled up all the canvas and stopped. Fully prepared to surrender. My Trader Snow had a few hundred tons of cargo which is a considerable amount for me. The proceeds of over two weeks of trading at my very slow rate. I was looking forward to arrival at port and cashing in so was disappointed to lose my goods so very close to the final destination. I was convinced that I was about to be pillaged (no cannons on board).

But the pirate cancelled the attack. He/she broke contact a few moments after I stopped. Nice guy/lass.

I like this game and have experienced lots of examples of great gamesmanship. It is helpful to hear that fighting in smaller ships is difficult for others and not just for me.

[The Spud]

This is a great post. Was very satisfying to hear others with the same experience. The description that the OP posted resonates with me in everything other than I still enjoy the game. I find it a lot of fun.

Although I've never really enjoyed the combat very much it's a good game.

I like to sail the Lynx or the Cutter for battles. I've tried the larger ships but don't much care for them. With the smaller ships I find that the battles take a very long time and I just can't seem to do much damage to the enemy. Ive watched videos and read guides and have to agree ... They don't help much. It is a little vindicating to read from others that sailing alone (without a clan) in a cutter it is tough to get a lot of damage into an enemy. Thought that it was just my poor skills at fighting. It used to be easier in the trials before open world. Now it seems pretty hard to weaken and capture other vessels. I usually lose or rather usually don't win.

I can defeat the stern armor and then fire dozens to hundreds of rounds of grape with very little effect killing the enemy crew. Eventually the enemy weakens my armor enough that I must abort the battle. Suppose that my sailing skills are simply too poor.

I have over a couple hundred hours in and have been playing since we were doing sea trials. Fighting used to seem a lot easier but was not very challenging. I'm glad the AI is better but my poor ability makes it so fighting just isn't very satisfying. Don't really want to sail in a pack or use the bigger ships. So it seems better to just sight-see and perhaps trade a wee bit.

The other night I was coming into Port Royal and was jumped by a pirate almost in sight of the port. I promptly pulled up all the canvas and stopped. Fully prepared to surrender. My Trader Snow had a few hundred tons of cargo which is a considerable amount for me. The proceeds of over two weeks of trading at my very slow rate. I was looking forward to arrival at port and cashing in so was disappointed to lose my goods so very close to the final destination. I was convinced that I was about to be pillaged (no cannons on board).

But the pirate cancelled the attack. He/she broke contact a few moments after I stopped. Nice guy/lass.

I like this game and have experienced lots of examples of great gamesmanship. It is helpful to hear that fighting in smaller ships is difficult for others and not just for me.

 

The pirate might have thought you didn't have any cargo on board, or was fully equiped for boarding, so didn't want to waste time on trying to cap you. I have rarely seen any mercy like this realy.

 

Although I have the impression they nerfed it a bit since, but when they implemented the "No NPC capping" the AI became laser accurate and allot better at manouvering etc. As in small ships especialy the basic cutter, the oponent tends to be in a cutter that might be of a better build strenght. This combined, will make it very hard to sink one especialy if you are still learning to shoot and sail, as if you miss a broadside or two, the AI will not and at one point your game is played, unless you pull some nice manouvers out of your hat. When one side of your armour is down, face your other side towards the enemy and try to continiously fire his weakest side. Fighting two ships is always more difficult then fighting one even if the combined BR is the same.

[daHeld]

They really should make surrendering a better option for folks like traders.  Where the one attacking can be nice and just take what they want or give you a ransom option to keep your ship and cargo.   A prime example of this is I got jumped the other night in a Snow Trader and some guy in a rattle snake and two cutters started to demast me and I knew he was going to board me.  There was going to be no way I was going to beat him with so much out number crew and it was only a captured trader with about 10K supplies in it.  So I just put up the white flag and logged out of the battle to go on my way.   It's kinda a A-hole move cause he won't get any more XP/Gold for his damage and boarding from that point on, but what was the point of me fighting cause I was going to loose the ship and cargo any way.   I could of used the rest of that battle time for something else productive in game.   This isn't a good habit to have and i feel folks do it when they don't have a chance to even win or get part of there cargo or even ship back.  I would of been happy to let him take what cargo he could carry and pay a ransom to keep the rest of my cargo and be on my way.

 

You should make a new post out of this!

It's a really good idea for a long overdue addition to the game!

 

Any ship would surrender if they had lost more than half their crew. It shouldn't be necessary to board a hugely inferior enemy as well. A trader would have surrendered long before that. Two or three shots in front of the bow would normally have sufficed...

[Hethwill]

Yes. We could have a mechanic to do that but also the Captain could have the sense to surrender ?!

 

It is a razor sharp double blade. You want to surrender or you want to be forced to surrender ?

 

Watch out what you wish for. It might come true.

[SeaMist]

My advice is to go after trader cutters. You get experience, you learn to sail, all without being able to be sunk.

[Jean LaPointe]

Try playing in PVE,it will afford you a chance to hone your Sailing and Combat Skills,also you will keep all XP gained in the PVE server when you go back to the PVP server.

I totally agree with this. Instead of going off on missions, hunt down traders as mentioned above. This will allow you the time and experience to fight better and get past mistakes.

I'm a casual player and work on both platforms, PvE and PvE. PVE is a great way to ramp your skills on a ship you never been on before. A great area to learn the game in.

[mikawa]

The main problem with the small ships is that they are really hard to hit. Waves throw the boats up and down and without the correct timing you send a complete broadside into the water, because just at the moment you click the left mouse button the enemy ship drops down or up in a wave ...

 

I did find the beginning very hard too and I cannot say how it is now after the groundbreaking changes we've seen in the last month(s).

 

Maybe it's time to think about how this game can be made easier for beginners. Maybe add a new trader ship which is rather big and easy to hit and has almost no cannons? I still don't like gunnery against small boats, and I wonder if the fact that small boats are really that hard to hit is also true in reality? Hmm ...

 

One advise I could give is to sail out to OW and wait in front of a port for AI trader ships to appear. They don't have much guns and are therefore easier to sink. Also PVP in a free cutter (so it doesn't matter when you lose the ship) is a viable option. Or try to find some mates for low level fleet missions (but speaking for Great Britain I must say that they are quite hard to find nowadays).

[Quineloe]

It's a real problem with the early game that should be addressed. It's very hard to hit cutters and lynxes compared to hitting sixth rates. The shooting part of the game becomes so much easier as you level up.

Maybe make rank 1 missions match you against a trader's snow?

[Vernon Merrill]

They really should make surrendering a better option for folks like traders.  Where the one attacking can be nice and just take what they want or give you a ransom option to keep your ship and cargo.   A prime example of this is I got jumped the other night in a Snow Trader and some guy in a rattle snake and two cutters started to demast me and I knew he was going to board me.  There was going to be no way I was going to beat him with so much out number crew and it was only a captured trader with about 10K supplies in it.  So I just put up the white flag and logged out of the battle to go on my way.   It's kinda a A-hole move cause he won't get any more XP/Gold for his damage and boarding from that point on, but what was the point of me fighting cause I was going to loose the ship and cargo any way.   I could of used the rest of that battle time for something else productive in game.   This isn't a good habit to have and i feel folks do it when they don't have a chance to even win or get part of there cargo or even ship back.  I would of been happy to let him take what cargo he could carry and pay a ransom to keep the rest of my cargo and be on my way.

 

 

I've started making offers at sea.  Giving players back their ship if they just surrender their loot.   Only works in certain conditions, like if you both have a outpost in common.

[Eishen]

Yes. We could have a mechanic to do that but also the Captain could have the sense to surrender ?!

 

It is a razor sharp double blade. You want to surrender or you want to be forced to surrender ?

 

Watch out what you wish for. It might come true.

 

 

Forcing a player to surrender could be a bad move (thought IMHO a moral system to not fore sunk or boarding can be a good adition)   but making it an attractive option , by not punishing both players for a surrender (no xp money for winner, total loss for losser) would be a great addition for sure .

[mouse of war]

Just started playing Naval Action.  I understand the game is Early Access and has a lot to develop.  But I'm not getting how to play it.  Despite having a vague idea how fighting in the classic Age of Sail happened.  And understanding the game interface.  And everything seems to take forever.  Really starting to lose any fun and enjoyment here.

 

I really like the classic Age of Sail and its combat. Played a lot of Wooden Ships & Iron Men decades ago (and I still have the game).  Purchased and read all of C. S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower stories soon after (also still have them).  Purchased and read all of Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey–Maturin series novels, and am now rereading them for the second time.

 

I learned about Naval Action last year.  I'd heard it was very detailed and the actions could take a far amount of time.  Followed it from a distance.  This week, I decided to buy the game and try it.  I'd read that many people are frustrated with its current state and have either decided to stop or not get involved with the game until there's more development.  As well, I heard it was moving in a direction similar to EVE Online.  So I went into it with my eyes open.

 

However, I'm really getting frustrated, despite checking out a lot of articles and videos.  I'm finding battle to be long, drawn out, and I'm just not getting it, despite having an idea about how it's supposed to happen.

 

What I've done: Created a British character on PvP1.  I understand the Port interface.  I know I'm no where skilled enough for PvP combat (even though I kind of understand Mr. Doran's A treatise on Naval Action: a complete guide).  Even kind of understand manual sail control for tacking (which I found useful even in the Cutter in a, umm, exceptional circumstance I relate below).  So, to get practice, experience, and gold, I've been playing missions.  Badly.

 

Anyhoo, to skip all the sturm und drang, jump down to CONCLUSION.

 

(Times are estimated.  I'm sure all the battles lasted more than an hour or two.  I know there's an upper limit, 2 hours?, so none of these could have lasted longer.  Though some felt longer.  Also, all this happened over the past day, with a server reboot and me logging off a few times interspersed between the action.)

 

"Call me Jacke. (The e is silent.)"

First off, I got a Fleet Order mission, not understanding that Fleet Order missions have me engage a fleet of Pirate ships along with AI controlled British ships. Off into the Open World, learning about it and getting around in it and learning the environ around Port Royal.

Clear for action and beat to quarters! Into battle with the squadron! With my Cutter's stock 4lb medium cannons, I tried to damage the rigging with chain shot. And started to see how hard it is to maneuver and fire. Really ripped up one Pirate ships rigging, down to under 65%, with a bit of damage to others. After literal hours of combat. With me being the last British ship afloat. For a while. Started learning about damage control. For a while.

Back at Port Royal after my first sinking, I found I'd earned enough gold to get carronades for my Cutter. Horray! I know they're not good for PvP but now I'll rip apart those Pirates!

This time I got an Order mission and was up against a Pirate Cutter. More practice with carronades and chain, ball, and grape shot. Well over an hour later, even after several stern rakes that stripped all of the structure from the stern and a lot of the rest, after more frustration and sailing, gunnery, and damage control practice, I finally set on laying broadside-to-broadside and battered the Pirate into sinking. Horray! He sunk and I'd didn't! Back to Port Royal under my own sails for once! Practicing more damage control!

Out again on a Fleet Order. This time, I decided to separate a Pirate Cutter from their squadron and work it over. That was an interesting battle. Again found despite ripping open the stern he just wouldn't sink. And in laying broadside to broadside, we kept shoaling up on a beach. The Pirate was smart and back sails and never got beached, but I did. First time wasn't too bad, I got off pretty quick. Second time, I was on the beach and facing into the wind. For like 10 minutes. Oops.

Finally, judicious use of manual sail control and the rudder turned the ship and I was able to get off the beach! Horray! Soon afterwards, that damned Pirate Cutter finally sank! Horray! Okay, where's everyone else? Over that away!

Oh, my. Two sets of British masts sticking out of the water. And the last British ship besides me was fighting with a Pirate up against the beach. And two other Pirate ships working him over. Never fear, Jacke is here! Got stuck in with the other British ship and soon finished the one Pirate. Soon followed by the other British ship. Me against two. With a battered Cutter, and them a Cutter and a larger vessel (Privateer?) battered but much less than me.

I should have just run then. I actually soon realised I wasn't going to get much farther with either and started to run. And learned more about damage control.

Back at Port Royal after my second sinking, I decided to do a bit of research. After that, tried another Order mission. Went up against a Pirate Privateer. Stripped his stern structure and more and hit him again and again and again there. Most of his shots missed. But enough went home. More damage control practice.

 

Back at Port Royal after my third and most recent sinking, I'm really not liking this a lot.  Went out and watched a few more videos.  Looked for guides.  Lot of the information is already out of date for older versions of Naval Action.  Nothing that stood out to provide me with a way to improve my sailing and gunnery skills.  Except watch a lot more videos (which I will get to soon anyhoo).  Even though I sort of know what I'm doing wrong.

 

I think back to Mr Doran's guide.  Even though I don't know the ranges well, I kind of know my Cutter is somewhere around 20m long, so a 100m would be about 5 Cutter-lengths. I've tried to follow it.  But my gunnery is crap.  And just to try to kill the Pirates, I've given up on trying to follow Mr Doran's advice.  At least now I'm sure before I end up in irons to have a good speed on the ship to get onto the opposite tack.  But mostly I maneuver at full speed trying to get close to my target ship and either go broadside-to-broadside or do successive stern rakes.  Still takes forever and I don't always finish him before he finishes me.

 

When I was using the 4lb cannons, using chain shot took forever.  I was crap at getting the range and azimuth right.  (By the way, I'm retired from the Canadian Armed Forces Primary Reserve.  And I was trained as a gunner.  And I was damn good on the 76mm gun on the Cougar.  I know what I'm talking about with respect to gunnery.)  And even after getting the sails down to under 65%, it didn't seem to affect the ability of the Pirate ship to maneuver.

 

Using the 12lb carronades, I found damage to be slow to nil unless I maneuvered to within a ship length or less, often colliding with my opponents.  Even after smashing all of the stern structure, took forever to actually sink a vessel, and often I would get leaks, even before all the structure was gone from my ship's surfaces, that demanded crew attention.

 

I know I'm lacking something in ship maneuvering.  I found in some ways it's like air combat dog fighting.  Often I could get my slow turning ship behind my opponent and I was really wishing for bow chasers.  Other times I puled off stern rake after stern rake, but saw little change after I stripped all structure from the stern. Only once did I sink a ship that way.  The other ship I batter broadside-to-broadside.  Whichever I used, my ship is always battered after any action and any attempt to fight a second ship before full repair leads to my ship almost certainly sinking.

 

I know I need to change my speed as well as turn, as well as hold on a point of sailing to build up speed.  Tried battle sail but I just can't get it to work.  Have to go full speed, even though I know that makes getting gunnery hits harder.

 

CONCLUSION

 

I'm just missing something completely with Naval Action.  Any fun and enjoyment is rapidly going away.  I know my sailing and gunnery are crap, but I don't know how to approach things to get better at it.  And I'm wondering that the battles are going to always be way way long.

 

I'll repeat what I said at the start.  I understand the game is Early Access and has a lot to develop.  But I'm not getting how to play it.  Despite having a vague idea how fighting in the classic Age of Sail happened.  And understanding the game interface.  And everything seems to take forever.  Really starting to lose any fun and enjoyment here.

 

Look me up in game and I'll also give you a hand

[Jean LaPointe]

Once you gain enough to get yourself into a "Snow" you will find a big change in your method of playing and the rewards start to improve. Until then when in a ship to ship fight, intead of a broadside, single shoot to hit the enemy. You will be able to see your timing while riding the waves and not lose a while broadside over the ship or into the water.

It is also a good way to get your feet wet capturing a vessel and getting some of the goods, and adding to you fleet (to sell off when back in port). These gains do add up to help your advancement.

I will, from time to time, climb back in and sail in a cutter just because it is totally differnt experience than being in the larger vessels.

Another item is at the low rank(s) you are able to get a fleet, this will assist you in the battles. I do not know what rank it was for me when I can not longer purchase a fleet but there is a point when that will happen, so take advantage on it while you can. I will only help you at this point.

[Obi-Heed Kenobi]

I've been playing for about a month, and am literally learning new things every day. I watched a few videos and read a few guides, but honestly I'm learning by trial and error.

Stick with it. I've found this to be a really enjoyable game so far. And it's also fun to get to participate in the testing process. Submitting bug reports and the like, which I know the developers are reading, since I've started getting PM's in game from them with questions and temporary workarounds.