Ok so I touched on this in a separate post in the PvP section where it was being debated whether or not Ship PvP should be implemented, and no this isn't related to PvP at all but rather to the Combat System for Ships in general.

When I was little, I remember playing a game called Pirates of the Caribbean: Online. In that game you were able to recruit other players onto your crew, where you would go out into the sea and combat the enemy as a team. What was unique about this system was the fact that you can repair the ship and fire the cannons while the Captain steers and uses the Ship's abilities. If you haven't caught on yet: yes, I'm saying this needs to be implemented into Pirate101 (no worries POTCO died and shut down years ago) in order to spice up Ship Combat and promote teamwork in ALL aspects of the Spiral.

How would this work? Something like this:

First, there would be a queu at any Dock in the Spiral to join another player's Crew within that specific World they're in. Players can have up to a max of 8 Crew-mates (8 Cannons on each side, one for each player in case all hands are needed and because there's no telling which side the Captain will engage on).

Cannons fired by players do the same damage as the Captain's Ship's auto-damage, however, unlike with the Ship, players are able to aim the Cannons and make skill-shots against the enemy Ship. Players will also have a separate leveling system under Cannoneer (sounds familiar from the Companion Talents eh?) where they can unlock 4 different slots. These slots are where players can manually select which Cannoneer Powers to equip (in other words: what kind of Cannonballs to use). Some of these Powers could be Fire Bomb, Ice Shard, Thunder Shock, but my favorite part is Grapple, where you can grab an enemy Ship and pull it towards you (slowly of course). However, these Grapple lines can be severed by the enemy, so the more that are shot the better. Likewise, players can sever enemy lines.

Still working out more details in regards to the different types of Cannonballs and what their effects would be, so that will probably be an additional post latched onto this one.

The other part I want to bring up is Keel Haulin (Ship Repairs). When the game first came out, players could repair their Captain's ship in the midst of battle and promote longevity. It has since been removed, hopefully just for a rework, but I say it should it re-implemented. This gives players another important task to do besides simply firing Cannons. There will also be a separate leveling system where the higher your level in Keel Haulin, the faster and more proficient you are at repairing the ship. Also, there will be some breeches that require you to be a certain level in Keel Haulin to fix them, that way players are encouraged to not only blast the enemy into smithereens but to keep their ship in top-shape as well.

Cannoneering and Keel Haulin will both be classified as Professions, just like how Crafting is.

More To Come