I'm probably the worst P101 player to ever live. I'm horrible at hand to hand combat. The only way I can win is if I have a friend with me. Solo fights its something I just can't do anymore. However, I see so many other players rocking at the game and needed no help with hand to hand, and their level is lower than mine. I've tried to beat the Hoodoo house at least 4 times, with friends, and even tried to solo it, but each time I'm killed. I just want to give up and quit the game so badly, but I can't. I spent 89$. I can't just throw that away. What do I do?

CaptainAureus on Oct 11, 2012 wrote:

I'm probably the worst P101 player to ever live. I'm horrible at hand to hand combat. The only way I can win is if I have a friend with me. Solo fights its something I just can't do anymore. However, I see so many other players rocking at the game and needed no help with hand to hand, and their level is lower than mine. I've tried to beat the Hoodoo house at least 4 times, with friends, and even tried to solo it, but each time I'm killed. I just want to give up and quit the game so badly, but I can't. I spent 89$. I can't just throw that away. What do I do?

Hmm... that does sound bad. Let me run through the list of things I'd look into:

1) First of all, what class are you playing? What level are you?

2) Are you using the best gear you can get for your class?

3) Did you remember to go back and visit your trainer to learn all your new talents and powers?

4) Did you remember to spend training points getting your companions up in level?

5) Did you know that Bonnie Anne has a promotion at 8th level? Finish her promotion quest before you try the Hoodoo House again. When you pick her talents, pick talents that will help in Hoodoo House-- Burst Fire is a very good choice.

Those are the basics to take care of outside of combat. Now let's look at your strategies inside combat:

1) You're not going in wounded, I hope, and none of your companions are knocked out. When you have the option, go in at full strength. Use your potion first if you have to.

2) You have the best companion "for the job" in your Firstmate slot. (For Old Scratch, that's probably Bonnie Anne.)

3) Are you paying careful attention to the Victory Conditions of the battle? If I'm not mistaken, the goal of Hoodoo House is just to take out Old Scratch-- if you just focus on beating him, you'll win the combat. So you can ignore everybody else.

4) Don't spread your damage around too much! You're better off putting two or three attacks on a single target every turn than you are having everybody attack a different enemy. If you CAN reach Old Scratch, hit him with everything you got. If you CAN'T reach Old Scratch, move towards him. If you can't even move towards him, move as close as you can and hit one of the other enemies.

Here's a couple more suggestions if you're finding the game too difficult overall:

1) Slow down. Take some time to do the side quests. The experience on the side quests seems small, but it adds up, and if you can gain a level before you try again, you'll be in better shape. Gaining a level makes YOU stronger, raises the level cap on your companions, and gives you 3 more training points to spend on them.

2) Go back and beat up on some of the prior bosses to get better gear. Bosses drop rare gear that will have better stats than the common stuff, and rare gear will also have extra powers on it. Go back and fight Marcus or Fin a few times (you'll also be helping lower level players get through these bosses, and that's good karma!)

What you're looking for is a chest that looks different from all the rest-- that's usually the rare chest! Pay attention when it opens-- if it's not just full of gold, it will drop a rare item.

You will probably have to do this quite a few times to get gear that is usable by your class-- but don't forget that you can put that rare gear in the bank for another character later. I am playing a Swashbuckler on my first time through the live game, and my shared bank already has 4 or 5 items each for Privateer and Witchdoctor waiting for me next time I play through.

Good luck!

RatBeard has some excellent suggestions!

My suggestions are as follows, make sure you train your companions. Farm for gold if you have to and buy companion points, get them as close to your level as possible. Keep farming and stack up on companion points, try to keep your companions as close to your level as possible if you are having a hard time, the higher their level, the more health and damage they do.

When your companions reach level 4, train them in Rough, this gives them +3 damage in their attacks. This is the first thing to do, when they reach level 8, I suggest training them in Accuracy, the damage does not help much if they keep missing. After that, you can train in Armor, Resistance, or Dodge.

Armor Protects you from Melee attacks, while Resistance protects you from ranged attacks.

Make sure you have the best gear for your level and have the correct boosts for your class. Also, use your power cards to attack and ensure you hit your enemies. If you have to, gang up on 1 enemy at a time! 1 less enemy is 1 less causing damage. Dont try and have all your companions hitting their own target.

This is the best advice I can give without knowing more of your specific information. I hope this helps!

Ratbeard on Oct 11, 2012 wrote:

Hmm... that does sound bad. Let me run through the list of things I'd look into:

1) First of all, what class are you playing? What level are you?

2) Are you using the best gear you can get for your class?

3) Did you remember to go back and visit your trainer to learn all your new talents and powers?

4) Did you remember to spend training points getting your companions up in level?

5) Did you know that Bonnie Anne has a promotion at 8th level? Finish her promotion quest before you try the Hoodoo House again. When you pick her talents, pick talents that will help in Hoodoo House-- Burst Fire is a very good choice.

Those are the basics to take care of outside of combat. Now let's look at your strategies inside combat:

1) You're not going in wounded, I hope, and none of your companions are knocked out. When you have the option, go in at full strength. Use your potion first if you have to.

2) You have the best companion "for the job" in your Firstmate slot. (For Old Scratch, that's probably Bonnie Anne.)

3) Are you paying careful attention to the Victory Conditions of the battle? If I'm not mistaken, the goal of Hoodoo House is just to take out Old Scratch-- if you just focus on beating him, you'll win the combat. So you can ignore everybody else.

4) Don't spread your damage around too much! You're better off putting two or three attacks on a single target every turn than you are having everybody attack a different enemy. If you CAN reach Old Scratch, hit him with everything you got. If you CAN'T reach Old Scratch, move towards him. If you can't even move towards him, move as close as you can and hit one of the other enemies.

Here's a couple more suggestions if you're finding the game too difficult overall:

1) Slow down. Take some time to do the side quests. The experience on the side quests seems small, but it adds up, and if you can gain a level before you try again, you'll be in better shape. Gaining a level makes YOU stronger, raises the level cap on your companions, and gives you 3 more training points to spend on them.

2) Go back and beat up on some of the prior bosses to get better gear. Bosses drop rare gear that will have better stats than the common stuff, and rare gear will also have extra powers on it. Go back and fight Marcus or Fin a few times (you'll also be helping lower level players get through these bosses, and that's good karma!)

What you're looking for is a chest that looks different from all the rest-- that's usually the rare chest! Pay attention when it opens-- if it's not just full of gold, it will drop a rare item.

You will probably have to do this quite a few times to get gear that is usable by your class-- but don't forget that you can put that rare gear in the bank for another character later. I am playing a Swashbuckler on my first time through the live game, and my shared bank already has 4 or 5 items each for Privateer and Witchdoctor waiting for me next time I play through.

Good luck!

You always offer such great advice, Ratbeard. Thank you. It took me a while to figure some of this out my first time through beta, so hopefully people will heed your words of wisdom.


Bloody Scarlet Everhart (beta L53/ NL38)
Merciless Mariah Moone ( L13/ NL9)

Ratbeard on Oct 11, 2012 wrote:

Hmm... that does sound bad. Let me run through the list of things I'd look into:

1) First of all, what class are you playing? What level are you?

2) Are you using the best gear you can get for your class?

3) Did you remember to go back and visit your trainer to learn all your new talents and powers?

4) Did you remember to spend training points getting your companions up in level?

5) Did you know that Bonnie Anne has a promotion at 8th level? Finish her promotion quest before you try the Hoodoo House again. When you pick her talents, pick talents that will help in Hoodoo House-- Burst Fire is a very good choice.

Those are the basics to take care of outside of combat. Now let's look at your strategies inside combat:

1) You're not going in wounded, I hope, and none of your companions are knocked out. When you have the option, go in at full strength. Use your potion first if you have to.

2) You have the best companion "for the job" in your Firstmate slot. (For Old Scratch, that's probably Bonnie Anne.)

3) Are you paying careful attention to the Victory Conditions of the battle? If I'm not mistaken, the goal of Hoodoo House is just to take out Old Scratch-- if you just focus on beating him, you'll win the combat. So you can ignore everybody else.

4) Don't spread your damage around too much! You're better off putting two or three attacks on a single target every turn than you are having everybody attack a different enemy. If you CAN reach Old Scratch, hit him with everything you got. If you CAN'T reach Old Scratch, move towards him. If you can't even move towards him, move as close as you can and hit one of the other enemies.

Here's a couple more suggestions if you're finding the game too difficult overall:

1) Slow down. Take some time to do the side quests. The experience on the side quests seems small, but it adds up, and if you can gain a level before you try again, you'll be in better shape. Gaining a level makes YOU stronger, raises the level cap on your companions, and gives you 3 more training points to spend on them.

2) Go back and beat up on some of the prior bosses to get better gear. Bosses drop rare gear that will have better stats than the common stuff, and rare gear will also have extra powers on it. Go back and fight Marcus or Fin a few times (you'll also be helping lower level players get through these bosses, and that's good karma!)

What you're looking for is a chest that looks different from all the rest-- that's usually the rare chest! Pay attention when it opens-- if it's not just full of gold, it will drop a rare item.

You will probably have to do this quite a few times to get gear that is usable by your class-- but don't forget that you can put that rare gear in the bank for another character later. I am playing a Swashbuckler on my first time through the live game, and my shared bank already has 4 or 5 items each for Privateer and Witchdoctor waiting for me next time I play through.

Good luck!

1. My class is Swashbuckler and my lvl is 8

2. Maybe, I haven't seen any other gear my lvl that has better stats.

3. Yep, right before I fought him I made sure I had all talents I could have.

4. I have a few extra, I was debating about whether or not to spend the last few I have on my strongest companion.

5. I forgot where to go to do promotion quests for your companions.

1. I made sure I had a mojo potion to bring back any fallen crew and to give me full health.

2. I have the fencer mouse (I forgot her name) as my first mate because she does the most damage. If Bonnie is the girl for the job then I'll have her be my first mate.

3. I always pay close attention to battle conditions, however the other players I fought with were saying "No, you have to beat EVERYONE." So I tried to beat Old Scratch with my character and crew when they ran around like headless chickens throwing random punches at smaller enemies.

4. I always do 2 or 3 attacks on each enemy in case the attack wasn't enough or if the enemy dodged or blocked.

1. I do have one side where I need to kill 12 flying fish, maybe I could work on that one for a bit.

2. The other bosses are still a little too hard for me alone, so I rely on new quests to make me stronger and get me gear.

Thanks for the advice Ratbeard now watch out, I'm gonna beat you to that treasure!

~Bloody Wolf Freeman~

Excellent advice, Ratbeard

Achilles398 - It does take practice to learn how to do battles. Each class of pirate is different, so each one takes strategy and practice to find out what works the best when fighting.

Please don't give up. Try to have friends help you for a while. I was certainly confused and frustrated when I was first testing in Beta. Once you get the hang of it, believe me, you will change your mind. It's a lot of fun, along with a little bit of frustration, and I find it addictive.

I've quested with friends, and I've played pirates solo. I've learned how and when to cast certain attacks. I make sure my companions are leveled up as close to me as possible. Live fountains are our friends, too.

Hang in there!

1. My class is Swashbuckler and my lvl is 8

You're "right on track" for the main line quest, but it sounds to me like you might benefit from doing a few side quests and trying to make 9th level first.

4. I have a few extra [training points], I was debating about whether or not to spend the last few I have on my strongest companion.

5. I forgot where to go to do promotion quests for your companions.

Spend them getting Bonnie Anne up to 8th level, and then go do her promotion quest.

When Bonnie Anne (or any companion) is ready for Promotion, they'll pop up and tell you, something along the lines of, "Captain, I have something to discuss with you. Let's head to the tavern..."

So jump back to Skull Island and go to the Kraken Skulls tavern. Just inside the doorway, turn and look to your right. There's a hole in the floor there leading down to the cellar. Go down there, and you'll see all your companions. The one you need to talk to is usually standing at the head of the table. That's how you pick up the promotion quest.

And don't let other players steer you wrong. Focus your attacks on Old Scratch and you'll win the fight. He likes to hide behind some obstacles, so having Bonnie Anne is a definite advantage-- she can shoot him even if she can't reach him.

Let us know when you beat this one! We're all rootin' for ya.

achilles:

For the side quests, what I like to do is when I first enter a new area, (the whale, Skrimshaw, etc), I go around and collect all the side quests I can find, (exclamation points), and I do those first before I do the main story.

Gather them all up before heading out to do them because sometimes, you will have two or three side quests that ask you to do the same thing, ie: "Get 8 teeth from batacuda", and another will say, "defeat 6 batacudas" and yet a third will say, "Defeat batacuda and collect scales" (or whatever they say to do). So you collect all of those before you do anything else, then, you go and fight the batacuda. You kill three side quests with one stone...or, stabby/slashy weapon, instead of having to do it three separate times.

Sometimes the side quests are easy like "Collect 6 starfish" or "collect 5 bird flocks from the skyway". All you have to do is go get them, no fighting involved but you still get experience.

Then, when you are done with all of the side quests, turn them all in and watch your experience go up, you may get even more companion training points and you get stronger. THEN go in and try to kill in the boss fights.

And when you get your set up map in the fight, where you determine who is going to do what to whom, look at the top, there's a red bar that says, "Defeat Fin" or "Defeat All Enemies", as an example. If it says only to, "Defeat Fin", (per this example), don't even worry about those other enemies, just get Fin. I try to do all criticals from all my companions on the main guy from the start. Sometimes it is only another round or two before he is defeated and bam! You just won.

Another note: Crown gear works a whole lot better if you have the means to buy a few things.

Bloody Wolf Freeman- I am Grumpy Nathan Taylor nice to meet you. First when you made yourself in the game you did not make any bad choices. You picked the choices you liked. I piked what I wanted and well I am not the best healing but I do not get knocked out as fast as other . The others have covered everything else, I just want to add. if you need help in game just ask us for it. If you want to start over you can. Just look for myself Grumpy Nathan Taylor in game and we can get you back on your path to being a great pirate.

Having a friend join you in battles is always a good thing. You are always welcome on my ship.

Grumpy Nathan Taylor