Final exam, post Treacherous Waters Patch Nov 2019

[Kubrat]

Hi

I passed the final exam on my 1st try a couple of months back, but when i decided to get it on my alt after the treacherous waters patch I found it a lot harder. It took me probably more than a dozen tries to get it, finally, yesterday. So I am sharing some observations.  In the end the process i followed was effective. It just took a while to work out.

Process.

1. First I tried the same pattern I used on my main, board the first, sink the second.

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- I found it impossible to win the boarding, the enemy seems to have buffed defense, lots of marines, my attacks even when they were braced were pathetic. If I made a single mistake, for example attacking while he was on defense,  I could lose my whole numerical advantage in one round.  The other ship was constantly blasting me and I was losing men to both.

- i tried this a few times then I gave up the approach

 

2. Next i tried de-masting

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- do not get into a de-masting duel wit these f**kers.  They are pro de-masters.  It was a one sided battle.

- i tried this a few times then I gave up the approach

 

3. Just battle it out, focus on one ignore the other

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- The idea was to sink one then run off and heal up

- almost worked a couple of times, but i was taking too much damage in the first fight

 

4. Chain one down, run off, separate them, sink individually

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- This almost worked.

- ran the timer all the way down on one attempt, 3 more minutes and i would have nailed it

- But finally I decided to once again change my approach

 

5. Chain one down, run off, separate them, board individually

- This worked. It took 49 minutes, 50 seconds

(First step - separate them)

-I focused chain on the guy that turned right, got him down to 65%

-Then i ran like a scared little baby rabbit. I found that the Surprise will outsail the cerberus when you are slightly more than 90 degrees into the wind, i.e. not directly across the wind, but slightly upwind. The Cerb cannot point as high, so you don't have to worry about him catching up.

- I healed up and basically kept him running after me until his buddy was distant

(2nd step - sink the fast pursuer)

- Then I turned, lowered sails to battle-sails, hit 9 for boarding

- when he came for me i kept adjusting so I hit him head on, and turned him into the wind, timing the dropping of all sails.

- G for boarding and off we go

- The key to winning the boarding game (for me anyway) is

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---NEVER ATTACK

-----Threaten attack but always switch to 'fire cannons' or ' fire muskets' at the last moment. The enemy has a huge melee advantage. impossible to beat.

----Watch the rotation, always brace when they are shooting

----as soon as they are on cooldown, do the attack and switch move again

----while doing this keep pumping the square bracket key for the side you are facing them so you can pump broadsides in. You can sink them this way, or if you dont, it kills crew.

----When their morale gets to zero, ATTACK

---win, grab their repairs, sink them then run again.

 

By now the other guy will have caught up.

(3rd step - sink the slow pursuer)

--You don't have to worry about this guy catching you, he is too low on sails.

--You run off long enough to heal your crew back up to 240

--heal the ship too if you want

--when crew is back to 240, turn back and do it again.

The boarding game is long this way, but it is pretty certain.  Just don't actually attack the guys until they are low on morale.

I was starting to think I was never going to get it, but this worked.

Good luck to you all.

 

 

salut

J'ai passé l'examen final lors de mon premier essai il y a quelques mois, mais lorsque j'ai décidé de le faire sur mon 'alt' après le patch d'eaux perfides, je l'ai trouvé beaucoup plus difficile. Il m'a fallu probablement plus d'une douzaine d'essais pour l'obtenir, enfin, hier. Je partage donc quelques observations. En fin de compte, le processus que j'ai suivi a été efficace. Il a juste fallu un peu de temps pour travailler.

Processus.

1. J'ai d'abord essayé le même motif que sur mon charactere principal, embarquez le premier, couler le second.

- J'ai trouvé impossible de gagner l'embarquement, l'ennemi semble avoir amélioré sa défense, beaucoup de Marines, mes attaques même lorsqu'elles étaient calées étaient pathétiques. Si je faisais une seule erreur, par exemple en attaquant alors qu'il était en défense, je pourrais perdre tout mon avantage numérique en un tour. L'autre navire me tirait constamment dessus et je perdais des hommes aux deux.

- J'ai essayé cela plusieurs fois, puis j'ai abandonné l'approche.

2. Ensuite, j'ai essayé de démâter

- n'entrez pas dans un duel de mât avec ces f ** kers. Ce sont des  professionnels. C'était une bataille à sens unique.

- J'ai essayé cela plusieurs fois, puis j'ai abandonné l'approche.

3. Il suffit de se battre, se concentrer sur l'un ignorer l'autre
- L'idée était de s'enfoncer puis de fuir et de guérir
- ca presque travaillé plusieurs fois, mais je prenais trop de dégâts lors du premier combat

4. Enchaîner un, descendre, séparer, couler individuellement

- Cela a presque fonctionné.
- a couru le chronomètre jusqu'au bout en une tentative, 3 minutes de plus et je l'aurais cloué
- Mais finalement j'ai décidé de changer une fois de plus mon approche

5. Enchaîner un, descendre, séparer, embarquer individuellement
- Cela a fonctionné. Cela a pris 49 minutes, 50 secondes

(Première étape - séparez-les)
-Je me suis concentré sur le type qui a tourné à droite et l'a réduit à 65%

-Alors j'ai couru comme un petit lapin effrayé. J’ai trouvé que la surprise surclasserait le cerberus lorsque vous êtes légèrement au-dessus de 90 degrés dans le vent, c’est-à-dire pas directement dans le vent, mais légèrement au vent. Le Cerb ne peut pas viser aussi haut, vous n'avez donc pas à vous soucier de le rattraper.

- J'ai guéri et je l'ai toujours poursuivi jusqu'à ce que son copain soit éloigné

(2ème étape - couler le poursuivant rapide)

- Puis je me suis retourné, j'ai baissé les voiles pour aller au combat, j'ai frappé 9 pour monter à bord

- Quand il est venu pour moi, j'ai continué à m'adapter, alors je l'ai frappé de plein fouet et je l'ai tourné dans le vent, programmant le largage de toutes les voiles.

- G pour monter à bord et c'est parti

- La clé pour gagner le jeu d'embarquement (pour moi en tout cas) est

--- NE JAMAIS ATTAQUER
----- Menacez une attaque, mais passez toujours au "dernier coup de canon" ou au "mousquet de tir". L'ennemi a un énorme avantage en mêlée. impossible à battre.
---- Regardez la rotation, attachez-vous toujours quand ils tirent
---- dès qu'ils sont sur le temps de recharge, attaquez et changez de mouvement
---- Pendant que vous faites cela, continuez à pomper la clé du support du côté où vous les faites face afin de pouvoir pomper les larges-côtés. Vous pouvez les couler de cette façon, ou si vous ne le faites pas, cela tue l’équipage.
---- Quand leur moral est à zéro, alors, ATTACK
--- Gagner, attraper leurs réparations, les couler puis courir à nouveau.

À ce stade, l'autre gars aura rattrapé son retard.

(3ème étape - couler le poursuivant lent)
- Tu n'as pas à t'inquiéter de ce type qui t'attrape, il est trop bas sur les voiles.
- Allez partir assez longtemps pour soigner votre équipe jusqu'à 240
- guérissez le navire aussi si vous voulez
--Quand l’équipage est revenu à 240, faites demi-tour et recommencez.

Le jeu d’embarquement est long comme ça, mais c’est à peu près certain. Il suffit de ne pas attaquer les gars jusqu'à ce qu'ils soient bas sur le moral.

Je commençais à penser que je ne l'obtiendrais jamais, mais cela a fonctionné.

Bonne chance à  tous.

 

 

Edited November 13, 2019 by Kubrat
add french translation

[Sir Texas Sir]

We had a guy do it today and got it on his second try and he is an old player that just returned. I mean he was from the old days we had Durabilities on ships.   He did the board first one and beat it  leave crew on it and went to repair while it fought the second.  The key is to board the first ship with it between you and the second ship so your not beaten up to much.  Also remember to use your [...] keys for broad sides while your in boarding as you tend to kill crew while doing damage to the ships. 

Like you I found it very hard to demast the ships but than I'm in the states and ping does effect my aim at times compared to when we had a server close to us.   The other thing I have been noticing that boarding AI seems to have gotten a bit more unforgiving.  Don't know if they buffed the AI fire power or just it's the fact they always have marines, but out of the tutorial you really don't want to board AI without boarding mods or a crew advantage first.

[Liq]

4 hours ago, Kubrat said:

Next i tried de-masting

Ai dont demast and if done right you can easily demast them with a few broadsides

[Kubrat]

47 minutes ago, Liq said:

Ai dont demast and if done right you can easily demast them with a few broadsides

These Ai do demast. They got me several times.

[Kubrat]

34 minutes ago, rediii said:

AI does not demast. It happens only on accident trough raking and bad shots. And then also after a lot of time.

maybe it was bad luck, just went back in and could not get them to drop my masts

Edited November 13, 2019 by Kubrat
missing words

[Kubrat]

36 minutes ago, rediii said:

AI does not demast. It happens only on accident trough raking and bad shots. And then also after a lot of time.

maybe it was bad luck, just went back in and could not get to attack my masts

Edited November 13, 2019 by Kubrat

[Kubrat]

There is something wrong with the site it keeps garbling my post

[erelkivtuadrater]

the ai still dont fire while in boarding, so you can also just board one upwind, play defensivly in boarding while damaging the side and eventually sinking the ship  

[van stiermarken]

On 11/13/2019 at 9:25 AM, rediii said:

AI doesn't demast. It happens only on accident trough raking and bad shots. And then also only after a lot of time.

just for testing purposes, I tried it again also. And yes got demasted too. tried it again with one of my ALT accounts (other nation) and everything was more ore less an easy going.

[Atreides]

On 11/12/2019 at 11:28 PM, Liq said:

Ai dont demast and if done right you can easily demast them with a few broadsides

You have a ping of like 20.  It makes a difference.

[z4ys]

1 hour ago, Atreides said:

You have a ping of like 20.  It makes a difference.

I played on global with 110-150 ms and I really felt no difference compared to 10 ms regarding raking  demasting.

[Kubrat]

On 11/16/2019 at 8:33 PM, van stiermarken said:

just for testing purposes, I tried it again And yes got demasted too. ALT accounts (other nation) and everything is more easy going.

Nice to know I was not imagining things, thanks for posting.

is there any chance people can Loki into an exam battle? You would think 'no', but it might explain demasting activity.

[GrubbyZebra]

On 11/17/2019 at 1:51 PM, Kubrat said:

Nice to know I was not imagining things, thanks for posting.

is there any chance people can Loki into an exam battle? You would think 'no', but it might explain demasting activity.

According to @admin on the loki rune thread, loki doesn't work in missions, so I would presume it also doesn't work in the exams. (has to be an OW battle).

Edited January 15, 2020 by GrubbyZebra

[Sir Texas Sir]

On 11/13/2019 at 2:25 AM, rediii said:

AI doesn't demast. It happens only on accident trough raking and bad shots. And then also only after a lot of time.

I remember some where they mention AI gets a pen boost.  Which I just did my exam on a char on PvE to get reps and I had no problem boarding the first one  leaving crew and than running to repair.  The problem is I couldn't run from him.  He stayed on me pennning 500M shots instead of fighting the other AI.   Three repairs later and I was sunk.  Repairs seem to not use your skills either so they do very little.

I noticed that it feels some times like your ship is made out of fir and other times it's oak.  While AI ships are always tanky but don't get any speed pen from having a lot more HP's (something else the devs said they have a % more than we have).   The final exam should have ships made of the same woods every time and not some random.   It kinda pissed me off cause it's a good bit of time wasted doing it.  Not to mention I'm so sick of doing the tutorial over and over for each char.....can we please have a skip button for those parts?

I don't need the exam on PvE cause my chars are max, I'm only doing it for the reps and the clock.   

Oh and I also noticed that AI start with prep now in the exam which you don't have and instantly get a shot off on you at the very start of the battle.  I was down 40 crew t he first time before I even got loaded and close enough to fire my first shot and rage board the first one.   So I just restarted it and did the second attempt.  Now after wasting a good 45 mins I'm going to restart it again.....

[BoatyMcBoatFace]

A tutorial skip is badly needed. The process is convoluted beyond reason

[GrubbyZebra]

On 1/26/2020 at 4:46 AM, BoatyMcBoatFace said:

A tutorial skip is badly needed. The process is convoluted beyond reason

Why? The tutorials are not compulsory.