[capt John]

It took me game wise about a year hammering the English ships in the St. Kitts, Nevis, and Antigua area, but I finally got my Two SOTL's and just missing out on a third SOTL. All three came out at different times from Antigua. This was a different strategy than raiding the towns. I tried that and the best I could do was a couple of Large Frigates. So if you are trying to get a SOTL, which by the way is an awesome ship, be patient. Also hammering the English trade and their pirate hunters, I was able to become a French Duke and a Dutch Duke.

[CaptainPatch]

Personally, I prefer the Large Frigate (Morgan's Queen Anne's Revenge as an example) over the SOTL. The only notable loss in giving up the SOTL is the 8-gun difference. And when it comes down to it, 40 guns will perforate an enemy ship just as badly as 48. Conversely, the LF is a _much_ more nimble ship. Instead of simply standing there absorbing hits, the LF can dodge around and avoid being hit in the first place.

[Taffer_de_Vries]

CaptainPatch, on 03 February 2010 - 06:41 PM, said:

Personally, I prefer the Large Frigate ... the LF can dodge around and avoid being hit in the first place.

That's the reason why I do miss multiplay ability of pirates so much. I would love to fight the large frigate with the royal sloop °;-)

[capt John]

capt John, on 03 February 2010 - 05:55 PM, said:

It took me game wise about a year hammering the English ships in the St. Kitts, Nevis, and Antigua area, but I finally got my Two SOTL's and just missing out on a third SOTL. All three came out at different times from Antigua. This was a different strategy than raiding the towns. I tried that and the best I could do was a couple of Large Frigates. So if you are trying to get a SOTL, which by the way is an awesome ship, be patient. Also hammering the English trade and their pirate hunters, I was able to become a French Duke and a Dutch Duke.

Well it's January 1689, I just dropped off the rescued Governor of Martinique's beautiful daughter. My present armada consists of four SOTLs with all upgrades, one fully upgraded Large Frigate (Morgan's Ship), one fully upgraded Royal Sloop, and one fully upgraded Mail Runner. This set of ships gives me not only a lot of firepower but it also gives a lot of cargo space for trading. Currently my crew is Happy and I guess this is because I am riding the ocean with over one million pieces of gold. The crew has been with me since 1660. I think the reason why they have been with me this long is because in the beginning I went after all the pirates and their treasures and defeated Monty in his lair. So as long as gold was coming in the crew remained happy. My goal was to become a Spanish Duke and then an English Duke, this would allow me to repair captured ships without paying for the repairs and upgrades. Becoming a French and Dutch Duke was easy as I started attacking English Shipping. The quests are all completed and all that is left is which beautiful daughter I want to marry (all the beautiful daughters have been rescued).

[CaptainPatch]

Useful info:

http://www.addictedf...__1

Crew Morale is a function of gold/crewman. The lowest Morale is Angry. Once the Morale sinks that low, the next time you hit port, the crew will demand that you end the voyage. If you try to avoid that by simply staying at sea, they will become Mutinous and you may be forced to duel the ringleader. Lose that duel and you get marooned. Win the duel and enough crewmen will steal one of your ships -- along with some of the onboard gold -- and disappear, leaving you with one less ship, less booty, and an Unhappy crew. To avoid this from happening, just amass at least 1000 gold/crewman and the lowest the Morale will sink will be Unhappy. (They may be Unhappy, but they won't demand that you Divide the Plunder.)

If you amass 2000 gold/crewman, the lowest Morale will go will be Content.

If you amass 3000 gold/crewman, the lowest Morale will go will be Happy.

If you amass at least 4000 gold/crewman, the lowest Morale will go will be Very Happy. If you achieve that level and stay there, you can actually keep on pirating way past the year 2000 if you so desire. (It's been done. Not surprisingly, the ships never change beyond the 1680 set.) Just don't get into ANY duels.