Originally posted by KTiger
This was on the Open Beta boards. I have added a couple of my own question though. Credit for most of the questions goes to MecKill (OP), Caduryn, Wintersdark, KATMAN(Most of the Pirate questions), Barril, DagnyTaggart, Mad Jack Ashton, and taolurker. I have gone through and cleaned them up slightly for spelling, grammar, and formatting.
General Questions
Q: How do I take a screenshot?
A: "P". Also F11 will toggle the UI for better screenshots.
Q: I lost my wind circle, help!
A: Pressing \ will toggle the wind indicator. There is an option in the Preferences->Interface that does this as well.
Q: I lost my firing arcs, help!
A: Pressing ' will toggle the firing arcs. There is an option in the Preferences->Interface that does this as well.
Q: Do other players see the name of my ship?
A: No
Q: What does DB stand for?
A: Doubloons, it's the currency in game. There is only one type to deal with instead of the various coinages (copper, silver, gold) used is some other games you may be familiar with.
Q: What does AVCOM stand for?
A: Avatar Combat. It takes place when you board another ship or are in missions on land. It is also often referred to as swashbuckling.
Q: What does SoL or SOL stand for?
A: Ship of the Line. They are level 50 ships reserved for Naval Officers and Pirates that capture them from Naval Officers.
Q: How do I turn in a bug report?
A: type /support while in the game.
Q: I offered what the last person paid at the Auction house but it says my offer is not high enough, why?
A: the price the AH gives you for an item is only what the last guy before you spent for that item. Most likely, that guy got the last of whatever you were looking for at that price.
Q: What do the different deed colors mean?
A: Red=Warship, Blue=Scout, and Green=Trade
Q: Can I get another hot bar? Move a window? Turn on wind gauge and firing arcs?
A: Hit ESC, Preferences, scroll down a little, it’s all there.
Q: I just talked to someone. Do I have to type their name again?
A: Press your BACKSPACE key.
Q: Who gives me the Economy starting tutorial?
A: The quest is initiated by any auctioneer.
Q: Why can't I talk to the NPC/Pick up item, in this mission?
A: The little red cross-hair under your name means you are in combat mode. You may have to wait a minute or so for it to go away.
Q: At what level should I upgrade my ship?
A: When your current ship ceases to help you advance in the game, when you can afford it, or just feel like it.
Q: Where do I get a parrot, eye patch, Jacket, Peg leg, etc.?
A: They are quest rewards.
Q: How do I shoot my gun?
A: Learn the gun skill from the swashbuckling trainer when you have an available skill point.
Q: How/where do I get the thing I just bought on the auction house??
A: The auction house window has a retrieve tab and it tells you what port stuff is in if it doesn't get placed directly into your inventory or warehouse.
Q: Where can I buy smelling salts?
A: Smelling salts are player crafted, and can be bought on the auction house.
Q: Oh my Lord! An enemy (either PC or NPC) much higher than me just pulled me into an instance! What do I do?
A: You can either fight them, or alternatively, keep moving away from them WITHOUT SHOOTING or OFFENSIVE SKILLS being invoked, for 2 minutes, after which the instance will allow you to exit back to the OS.
Q: How do I turn on/off my PvP flag?
A: Any port-captain (in any port, and not the harbor master, garrison commander, or longboat coxswain!) will allow you to turn your voluntary PvP flag on/off. This does NOT prevent you from being gank-able in PvP zones!
Q: How do I change my difficulty ratings?
A: Any port-captain (in any port and not the harbor master, garrison commander, or longboat coxswain!) will allow you to change your difficulty ratings. The default, and the lowest, is Captain. The highest, and most challenging, is Admiral. For groups, ONLY the leader's ratings will matter.
Q: What is the best ship for level x?
A: For the best resource on ships and their levels, hit F1, then scroll nearly all the way to the bottom, click on "Ships: Deeds" and figure out what ships would be best for you by looking at individual stats, based on what you can captain, and all that.
Q: What do I do with Pennants?
A: Go to your Nation's Capital to turn them in for ship deeds, ammo, nails or XP.
Q: Where is my Nation Capital?
A: Port Royal (Britain), San Juan (Spain), Pointe-a-Pitre (France), Tortuga (Pirates)
Q: What do I do with Derelict ships?
A: You can claim them IF you are level 5 or better using a Captain's Skill and IF they do not have something like (MINOR) in their name. Sometimes you will get a Pennant when you claim them.
Q: What does it take to start PvP? Explain, please!
A: Okay, this is a long one, so I split it into relevant paragraphs. It is probably all skewed (as my thought-processes generally are) but here goes:
There are 2 modes of PvP. Pirate PvP, and FFA (or free-for-all).
To put a town into contention, you need to defeat NPC enemies affiliated to the owner nation of a town within a set radius around the town (believed to be 50 miles, give or take a few). You will see on the main map (M key) or the local map (L key) when you mouse over that town what contention is currently at. Once this contention reaches a certain limit (6,000 I believe), there is a HUGE shaded red circle that appears around the town (visible on local and main maps) within which Pirate PvP is allowed. Once the contention reaches the NEXT limit (8,000 points I think), there is a smaller SOLID red circle within the big semi-transparent circle that materializes. This would be the FFA zone. The pirate PvP zone increases in size as well. Once the contention reaches 10,000, a port battle commences (and is discussed in detail in the PvP forums… somewhere).
Pirate PvP: This zone is where pirates can attack and be attacked by any nationals. However, the nationals cannot fight amongst themselves (unless their PvP flags are enabled). Privateers can also get a skill that allows them to act the same as pirates in this area.
FFA (Free for all) PvP: As the name suggests, any player can attack any other player within this zone.
Q: How do I make DB so I can buy a ship?
A: Do all the missions that you can find and board every ship in those missions. You will end up with around 150K by level 30. Also, do the Economy Tutorial and sell that ship deed reward for 2900 DB to the Scrap Dealer.
Q: How do I build a ship?
A: You can't. It takes three people to make a small ship, six for a large ship.
Q: How am I to complete these missions if my ship is a piece of junk?
A: Buy crates of Canister shot and ship outfitting and use them.
Q: I only have seven building and zero empty lots, bug?
A: Do you have another character with buildings? Do you have a shipyard? Do you have buildings at another port? All three of these can use up some to the ten lots that you get per SERVER, NOT CHARACTER.
Q: What level do I have to be to do some PVP?
A: Level 1. Just listen to the bigger ships and you should do ok. Don't forget that you are in a free ship that will be replaced for free if you get sunk.
Q: When can I buy my first ship?
A: I would suggest at level 8. The Bermuda Sloop is a nice group ship and should cost from 3K to 7K. The Mediator Cutter is a nice solo ship and costs around 5K to 10K. Navy and Privateers will want the Refit ships at level 15, 25, 35. They cost around 15K, 45K and 60K
(Answer for pirates): At level 5 you can start capturing ships from NPCs that will take you all the way to level 50. Players from other nations sometimes offer pirates even better ships to capture.
