A recent post I was commenting on got me thinking about something. I'm sure I'm not the only captain out there who uses the random all feature for their crew in battle. If there are others out there then here's this: What kind of combination plans do you have when certain members of your crew show up?

When Nurse Quinn shows up, half the time I want to send her out against the enemy because she has first strike and vengeance strike. I'm so use to Dead Mike, Ratbeard, and Sara Steel having those talents that I think nothing of it for them. Then I remember, "Oh snap! She's my healer!" and have to pull her back real fast. So I've been coming up with new plans on what to do when she shows up in battle. Keep her in the back but close enough for her heal to reach.

Tricky Vinnie, my first mate. Such a cute little guy that I love it when he shows up. I always place him off to the side or hide him behind stuff. He has parting shot and that's real hard for me to trigger, and I haven't come up with a plan yet to utilize that.

Black Storm, my big guy who think he's a wall but isn't. No hold the line and has cheap shot and vengeance strike. This guy, honestly I just reset him to wipe the slate clean to rebuild him. None of my plans were working so I'm going to try for brand new ideas when he shows up.

Crazy shot, little monkey. I love it when this guy shows up! He's so small that he dodges most shots even though his dodge is lower than some of my bigger companions. Don't think it really works like that but that's how I like to think. Just wish the little guy was a shooty stabby kind of monkey. When he shows up in battle, there's no one for him to return fire to when he does dodge an attack. Cause he's crazy like that.

Those are some that stand out in my mind at this moment. So how about the rest of the spiral? Anyone else out there with pure random crews with on the fly plans? Or do you use the same plan no matter who shows up at all?

I love the Random/First Mate feature! Books 1-12 I always go the First Mate route, but due to the difficulty of MB and Aquila, I had to put the strongest companions first. But I still love the "useless companions"!

I don't think they're useless at all, but anyway, my favorite team against enemy witchdoctors (on my Swashbuckler) has to be El Toro, Nurse Quinn, and Black Dave Silver, my crab WD (the one you get in Book 4). El Toro's buff enhances acc. and dodge and because of the acc. buff and the low dodge on the enemy WD, they hit each time.

Another team I like, that I'm actually using right now as I complete all the side quests in MB on my Swashy, is the Buffalo Bill, Ratbeard, and Heng Wa (Yakooza Enforcer) team. I Black Fog and Bill's range is amazing after his promo so he can hit everyone in the back. I use Ratbeard for his powers and Hold the Line/Repel Boarders combo. And finally, Heng Wa can destroy with his high dodge and Relentless/Blade Storm combo.

I love the other companions on my Swashy too. Like Tricky Vinnie, crazy monquistador, monquistador veteran, weasel gambler, chicken miner, Mustang Toreador, and Froggo Villa. TBH, I love every single companion that I have on all of my pirates and I wish all could be more useful in battle.I, too, look forward to the discussions on this thread!

I'm not sure why I forgot about the first mate option as I use it myself on my Witchdoctor. Her first mate is the Batacuda. A flying fish with jaws of steel! That's hilarious to me.

I agree that for anyone who has both El Toro and Sally on the field together that something special happen. However, if they design that then people who have different classes will feel slighted that they have to buy Sally from the crowns shop to get that effect.

I've been playing more on my privateer lately. I love Egg Shen's combo chain that I gave him. First strike, relentless, and second chance. When an enemy tries to attack him he goes first, and then attacks again with relentless. Then if he ever misses he attacks with second chance and sometimes relentless kicking in. It seems the rolls for how often it works is a little more than other companions that have that combo. Or maybe it's me imagining it.

I will admit I don't like it when Jim Masterson shows up on the field. I often miss noticing he's there because his colors don't stand out to me. I'm also wondering if I gave him the wrong epic to use. I gave him Riposite thinking that if he had high enough dodge it would be real useful.

I think all my pirates are now totally random, and frankly, I don't sweat plotting out tactics in advance. It completely depends on who shows up and who we're fighting.

That said, I try to remember to look at their abilities in that first round of combat that's usually a prep round, so I can plan for successive rounds. Generally I look at who is weakest and try to keep them back a bit in the early rounds so I don't lose so many crew in the later rounds. If it's one of my absolutely least favorite crew (any of the various animals that don't promote, on my witchdoctor), I just let 'em get whaled on and task them after the fight if they go down.

Come to think, EVERYONE who goes down in battle gets sent on a task after, even if I have to wake 'em up to do so. No slackers on my crew!

Captain Rosethorn on Apr 27, 2015 wrote:

I can just see that as a comic Fiorenza. The scene starts down in the ships hold in the crew room. There are bunk beds, and hammocks everywhere with various other cargo laid about. In the beds and a few hammocks are crew members wrapped in bandages and complaining about the pain. Just then the captain walks in with a piece of paper in hand. The captain then starts ordering each of the bandaged crew members to pick up the slack by going out to do various things. One is sent to the jungle to capture jungle creatures or bring back food. Another is sent to an beached island to dig for gold. A crew member wearing wearing a bandaged eye patch is sent to the dingy with a single cannon on it to sink ships. The last one with the most bandages is sent to go fight a giant creature to get themselves stronger. The crew tries to protest to which the captain answers that when they agreed to sign up for the crew they knew things would be tough, but the captain believes in them that they can get the job done. Then a pep talk speech is given and the crew goes on their way while the captain returns to sitting on a relax chair with an umbrella overhead to keep the sun out, and is handed a coconut drink.

Have you been sneaking into my hold?