Combat

Ammunition Types

### Iron Cannonballs

The main form of combat that deals damage to the armor of a ship. When the armor is depleted, the hull takes on direct damage. This is the only cannon fire that can deal damage to the hull.

### Chain Shot / Bar Shot

A crippling shot designed to take out sails and slow the target. Once the sails have been depleted, this shot will have no further affect.

### Grape Shot

A crippling shot designed to take out the crew of a ship which can affect crew efficiency when manning the cannons. Furthermore, it can maim a ship's ability to board until enough crew is regained. Once the crew has been depleted, this shot will have no further affect.

## Combat Styles

There are 4 main archtypes of combat that ultimately damage the hull. These are Armor Breakers, Crew Smashers, Keel Rammers, and Hazard Clashers which ultimately use cannons, boarding, and ramming. Different ships have different play styles but they all end up using one form or another to get the job done.

### Armor Breaker

Also called "*Armor Cracker*", the primary means of fighting by attacking the armor quadrants of a ship to get to the hull. Humans are exceptional at this as their primary means of combat and the dwarves also will hit hard in this way. Strip away the armor, expose the hull, destroy the ship. Rinse and repeat. Of the three direct ways to destroy hull, this is the only way to do it from a distance. However, you will be more accurate at closer ranges and boarding can aid in holding an opponent for a full broadside hit if your cannon spread is too wide and inaccurate.

### Crew Smasher

Also known as "*Crew Crusher*", an alternative mode of fighting by attacking the crew and bypassing armor altogether. Grape shot kill crew quickly so that a boarding party can jump aboard and attack the hull directly. The orcs excel at this method of fighting, preferring a personal engagement. Destroying crew also cripples the performance of an opposing ship's cannon fire so that you don't take as much of a beating in the process.

### Keel Rammer

Or commonly memed as "Bumper Boats", many love to open combat with a swift kick your rear end and some of them will boldly do it frontally too! Ramming has the potential to completely remove an armored quadrant in one strike, leaving the hull open to attack. The orcs and dwarves both have hard hitting keels to do this. Beware of budding heads with another however... ramming the front of a ship means you both will do ramming damage to each other! It is also good to note that ramming the aft will have a reduced affect and committing to a T-bone strike to the broadsides can make you an easy target to boarding. That is, unless you knock their crew out to disable their boarding hook ability. Rammers also love maelstroms due to their ramming knockback potential which allows them to also be hybrid Hazard Clashers.

### Hazard Clasher

Players who are experts on this style are known as "*Disaster Masters*". This is a debatable style and can be considered a sub-type that can be used in conjunction with the above styles. But is one of the most satisfying if not also at times, unrewarding archetype. Using hazards to your advantage to cripple or destroy your target is an underhanded way to getting something else to do your dirty work for you. Murkwater Thrasher, Brinemaw Sea Monster, maelstroms and NPC ships can all cause a nuisance to opponents on the seas. Anything that slows or knocks an opponent near or toward these hazards will ultimately lead to their demise. So think sail damage such as that with Barshot / Chainshot and Tempest Storm. The knockback both Thunderhead and Wraith have are excellent sources of forcing your opponent where you want them. You can also hold someone with a well-timed grappling hook. However, take precautions that you do not stay stuck with them in hazards or you will also feel the wrath of the hazard itself.

*Note: Having Murkwater Thrasher or the Brinemaw Sea Monster kill your opponent will not yield any bounty at this time. Right now, only maelstroms will yield bounty if you can push or pull an opponent into it's center. Be careful with the NPC ships as well; if they last-hit your target, they take the bounty instead of you.*

#### The Way Of Hazard Clashing

To expand upon the potential of Hazard Clashing, any function of the game that allows you to take away control of your opponents ability to move where they want falls under this style. This includes all ship's ramming knockback and cannon sail damage with barshot/chainshot, all ship's ability to hook/board, Thunderhead and Wraith's cannonball knockbacks, and captains with abilities that can control the opponent's ship. This includes:

* Flint Brinetide's Balefire Blast
* Fade Marrowtooth's Tempest
* Splint Depthbringer's Chomper Charge (for ram knockback)
* Brick Saltspine's Keelbreaker Mines
* Morte Shadehowler's Blinding Fog (to blind opponents so they don't know where they are going)
* Greavus Leaguemoor's bone cage ability (currently unreleased)

There are also abilities that will aid you escape or avoidance of Sea Monsters while you fight and hold others in Dead Waters or near the map sea monster, Brinemaw, so that they die and you live on. These include:

* the aid of maelstroms and currents
* Cinder's Tail Wind (for speed escape; requires out of combat)
* Bloodfin's Bear Down (for speed escape; requires being hit to trigger)
* Morrigan Shale's Inferno's Wake (for speed escape)
* Splint Depthbringer's Chomper Charge (for speed escape)
* Ledd Gravelbarr's shield ability (to tank sea monsters strikes)
* Brick Saltspine's Keelbreaker Mines (use on self to propel away from dead waters and Brinemaw)
* Merriden Harrowfel's Dark Door (to teleport away from sea monsters)

There are also mate abilities that can aid in escape as well in the form of Swift Start, Zephyr, Dead Water Sprint, and Cautious.