2 indias in my fleet = pirate attack

[Skools]

Hi all,

I play NA for a few weeks (Britain), and I try to make money by trading. I travel between Fort Royal, Santiago and Savana. I 'hide' my traders behind my main ship (trinco or neufchatel), I guess this is a good idea. When I take 1 indiaman and/or 1 trader, it seems ok (I always travel carefuly, I don't even take winds), I have never been attacked so far. But each time my fleet is 1 main ship + 2 indiaman, I get attacked by Pirates. And each time I have no chance : either 6-7 pirates in semicircle just when I'm too far from the port to go home, or a heavy ship (e.g. Wasa) that comes from nowhere and boards my indias. Each time I lose about 500K reals, and I have to restart everything from scratch. So boring. The last time, I was just reaching a port (after 1 hr travel), there where some trinco/essex/frigate PNJ in the area (I saw them before and after the attack), but the pirate (player) ship really seemed to be at the good time and the good place to attack me.

Here is my question : is this normal ?

- Is there a rule in the game that makes you more visible/vulnerable when you add 2 india in your fleet (= a big deal) ?

- Can one clan/player see what other players do (what their fleet is made of, where there are going, their ranking) ? When I see a "fiend player" in the open world, I can't know anything about him or his fleet, am I missing something ?

- Could this be a cheat ? What the use of attacking a neufchatel with a Wasa in the middle of nowhere, when you start the battle ofwind ? Oh stroke of luck, there were 2 full indias in the fleet.

- I already know that I'm paranoid :-) But I am also REALLY so unlucky :-? 

 

Thanks for your feedbacks

[Thonys]

On 9/12/2020 at 1:37 AM, Skools said:

Hi all,

I play NA for a few weeks (Britain), and I try to make money by trading. I travel between Fort Royal, Santiago and Savana. I 'hide' my traders behind my main ship (trinco or neufchatel), I guess this is a good idea. When I take 1 indiaman and/or 1 trader, it seems ok (I always travel carefuly, I don't even take winds), I have never been attacked so far. But each time my fleet is 1 main ship + 2 indiaman, I get attacked by Pirates. And each time I have no chance : either 6-7 pirates in semicircle just when I'm too far from the port to go home, or a heavy ship (e.g. Wasa) that comes from nowhere and boards my indias. Each time I lose about 500K reals, and I have to restart everything from scratch. So boring. The last time, I was just reaching a port (after 1 hr travel), there where some trinco/essex/frigate PNJ in the area (I saw them before and after the attack), but the pirate (player) ship really seemed to be at the good time and the good place to attack me.

Here is my question : is this normal ?

yes.  i am afraid it is.

- Is there a rule in the game that makes you more visible/vulnerable when you add 2 india in your fleet (= a big deal) ?

yes your more vulnerable , you have the speed of the fleet arrangement in ow  (what means your prince does go around 24 knots- instead of 28  [+ without windboost] ) 

 

- Can one clan/player see what other players do (what their fleet is made of, where there are going, their ranking) ? When I see a "fiend player" in the open world, I can't know anything about him or his fleet, am I missing something ?

they can't see your fleet composition ,but they are not stupid.

 + you can be spotted by a alt player-  disguised as a friendly nation player . he can activate a second account of him, and becomes active on that location in OW. just to attack you.

 

- Could this be a cheat ? What the use of attacking a neufchatel with a Wasa in the middle of nowhere, when you start the battle ofwind ? Oh stroke of luck, there were 2 full indias in the fleet.

they are just looking for vulnerable players in fleet in trader vessels (or combo)

- I already know that I'm paranoid :-) But I am also REALLY so unlucky :-? 

don't get paranoid-  and yes you are a bit unlucky (for the moment - it will change  after this read )

also look very carefully at your route the time of your trading and always look at nation chat and get on discord and ask around if it is save (if you see player who are not active in the nation defend be aware it can be a alt , who is looking for you.

my advise is don't trade alone...... in a fleet composition

but ask your fellow clan members to accompany you with battleships

 you are also probably trading in a dangerous trade route ( look for the opportunity)

it's just  more than just take a ship and trade ......like there is no predator on the water .

 

Edited September 14, 2020 by Thonys

[Aquillas]

@Skools, there is no known cheat code here, and this is probably not possible, because of some server arrangement (position of ships and fleet composition is in server only, not in user computers).

But (there is always a but...)

• Most of times, players with several medium ships in fleet have traders. So seeing your Trincomalee or (worst) Prince with two mediums in fleet declares your fleet as "probable easy target". With, as a consequence, immediate attack.
• Few players can resist to an attack on traders, even if these fights are not the most fun. Easy means fast earn of doubloons at no risk, if sinking your man ship.
• Ganking or being ganked... Yes, this is the rule, not only in Naval Action game.
• The trading route that you are describing here is one of the most used. You can expect privateers on your way. Try and change your trading route for some less classical one.
• Don't escort Indiamen (square rigs) by Prince de Neufchâtel (fore and aft). Your fleet is slow downwind (because of the Prince) and upwind (because of the Indias).
• Trading means big profit when achieved, and total loss when intercepted. To be accepted.
• Avoid dangerous destinations (Santiago de Cuba, Belize, etc.) at European prime time.

[Skools]

Thanks, I understand better.

What a wicked world : since I know alts exist, I've lost my faith in other human beings 🥵. But I still prefer to be taken for g. by human beings than by servers 🙂

Edited September 19, 2020 by Skools
Moderator

[Elric]

Make sure you arm your indiaman, and get them to shoot sails when the battle starts.  While you have limited control over your fleet ships, you can change their orders to pull the fleet together using the follow option for a short while.  Use an escort ship with good fighting ability and enough speed that you are not slowing down all ships in OW.

I would suggest using longs for broadside cannon on both the escort and the indiaman to make shooting sails more effective.

Many players fill their traders to capacity - this slows down those ships.  Consider using two traders at half capacity rather than 1 trader totally full.  This not only speeds up each trader, but gives you a chance of escaping with half your cargo and sacrificing the other trader to let you get away.  Empty, a fir/fir indiaman reaches 12.8k max speed.  Half full that speed drops to 12.0k, totally full, the speed drops to under 11.0k.

Place a small amount of repairs (sail mainly) on each trader.  Then if you lose your escort ship and end up on one of the traders, you can at least repair sails to help avoid being a sitting duck if you get tagged again.

[GhostOfDorian]

Don't use Indiaman at dangerous routes at European prime time. Much safer is using 4 Trader Lynxes. Those have their best speed upwind and can escape all square rigged ships. Only Requin, Lynxes, Privateers and Princes you have to fear then. Bad thing is you can only transport 2000 cargo then. But 16000 cargo in 4 Fir Fir Indiaman probably undercrewed and without cannons is extremely high risk and will lead to a lot of loss.

When you have enough crew for 3 Indiaman, don't craft them in Fir Fir. Use Teak Sabicu or something similar strong. You will lose some speed, but even a fir fir Indiaman is a slow ship, which can be catched by everybody. Put cannons on all Indiaman and take a Trinco, Wasa or Redoutable as main ship. Then it is almost impossible for a single frigate to attack you successfully. The firepower will destroy it before it is able to sink one of your traders. Of course a ganker squadron will kill you anyway.

Best way to avoid attacks while trading is to avoid hunters. Stay outside main trading routes. Trade in the morning. Do the dangerous part of your travel with trader lynxes and sail your cargo into the next port which is outside of the busy area. Get out on the high sea far away from every coast as fast as possible. Coastal waters are dangerous waters.

And nver forget. There is no trading with zero risk. So don't put your whole fortune in one fleet. You can lose everything then in a few minutes.