So I'm about to hit the Pincers, any tips for me? Here are all my current upgrades and crew

 

- 8 Card sharps, around levels 6-7

- 8 Cartographers, around 5-7

- 8 Crows' Nest snipers, also around 5-7

- I have one captain specializing in each category, and another captain with a high speed

- And I have one merchant

- My ships are fully upgraded with cherrywood

- I have a renovated bar/office/lodgings and a nautical shipwright with a refurbished warehouse.

Currently have a good stock of around 6k cherrywood and lots of chimes, but very little of the other resources.

I assume you are hitting Bowl (the jade region) rather than Pincers (Stainless steel region)?

 

I'd probably get at least two bureaucrats, but since you are nearly in Bowl anyway, you can probably get away with waiting until Bowl and get Judge then (but you have to unlock it too).

 

I'd also ditch one of each Morale and Seafaring crew and add two witches, ditch a combat one for another merchant (merchants are probably the best single crew member for their effects, their bonus to rewards often far outweigh the decrease in stats.)

I assume you are hitting Bowl (the jade region) rather than Pincers (Stainless steel region)?

 

I'd probably get at least two bureaucrats, but since you are nearly in Bowl anyway, you can probably get away with waiting until Bowl and get Judge then (but you have to unlock it too).

 

I'd also ditch one of each Morale and Seafaring crew and add two witches, ditch a combat one for another merchant (merchants are probably the best single crew member for their effects, their bonus to rewards often far outweigh the decrease in stats.)

 

Oops, your right. I meant the bowl.

 

So lemme get this straight, two judges, two witches and two merchants? And I'll have left 7 of each of the morale,seaf.,combat crew.

Well, you can't get the Judge until you unlock it in the Bowl. It's a triple stat mission with high requirements. Because of this, and because they're expensive, I'd advise getting only one bureaucrat It will be irrelevant once you get a few Judges, but it will help you with the mission to unlock them, and will be nice to have until you get a couple Judges.

So the recommended set up is now two witches, two merchants and 1 bureacrat till I get the judge? When I get the judges, should I dismiss the bureaucrats?

Yes, Judge is a pure upgrade from Bureaucrat. aim for 2-3, 2 is definitely recommended, 3rd one at your discretion.

 

Once you unlock your 4th ship, get a 3rd merchant there too.

Being in basically the same situation(well, 5% trough bowl now), i'd say you are a bit screwed by the choices you've made thus far. I ended scythe with 3 bureaucrat, 3 merchants, 2 chimeras, 2 seawitches and 5/5/5 of all other crew with all cherrywood upgrades and 13k wood left over. As bowl is the first region you'll not be able to cover all the rerolls, 4th ship is a major priority. As i can use bureaucrats on every ship, the bowl rudder upgrade is not of utmost importance(>80% of my ships go out at max speed right now), and the upgrade itself is a bit lackluster as well(only +200). Judges would be good but they cost a ton to buy, thus it's most effective to me to get 2x of every normal jade crew and one jade merchant(for bigger voyages/barmaid tip) and hold off on other upgrades until i get my 4th ship. Yes, this will mean all your voyages will be in the 65-85% range(with merchant, ofcource), but it will certainly pay off nicely when you do have the 4th ship, which should be at around 35-45% trough bowl. Also, as others have mentioned, do not underestimate the value of merchants. A 10% loss in success-rate is easily compensated for with 25%(or 30%) more goods.

^^ I know, I was just too lazy to find proper set-ups. I just hired as many of the avaliable crewman and went yolo on my voyages. But now I'm actually interested in getting scrolls/PoP armours so yeah.

Alrighty, I got my hands on one sea witch, two bureaucrats and two merchants. However, their levels are really low right now. Is it good to train them via the Hook?

Alrighty, I got my hands on one sea witch, two bureaucrats and two merchants. However, their levels are really low right now. Is it good to train them via the Hook?

No. Higher regions train crew much faster- you get 3 first levels off of your first trip in the bowl on new crew. Also, just remember to not waste alot of cherrywood as you'll need 8k for 4th ship.

what does a merchant do? I just reached pincers and dont have any of them

what does a merchant do? I just reached pincers and dont have any of them

+10/20/25/30% more goods(always rounded down), exactly what it says on the tin. Arguably the most useful crew-member to have.