7-Jan-2014 - Player-Owned Ports - The Next Journey

[Saradomin_Mage]

So, uh, that "endgame" unit ...

 

The golem is even worse in overall stats than the standard crew, which has never been the case before. What a mess.

[strilmus]

frankly, the golems have been a huge waste of time past the first three areas because by then you should really have obtained enough lifeboats to last you forever

 

i don't mind merchants being every other tier because they're still neato merchants whose stats never really figure into your voyages most of the time anyway

 

it's not really clear why oxheads or JoD got nerfed seeing as there are zero replacement units to compensate for that loss

[Sy_Accursed]

Wow that final region...it's like they looked at what crew is used and what crew isn't then picked all the ones we don't use and made them with stats suited to like pincers region and said job done.

 

Also failing to see why they nerfed any existing crew since there is no worthy replacement for them anyway, would at least of made sense if there was a better version of them to be had.

 

Kinda bummed on no final merchant either, but meh it's not a game breaker.

[Urza285]

frankly, the golems have been a huge waste of time past the first three areas because by then you should really have obtained enough lifeboats to last you forever

 

i don't mind merchants being every other tier because they're still neato merchants whose stats never really figure into your voyages most of the time anyway

 

it's not really clear why oxheads or JoD got nerfed seeing as there are zero replacement units to compensate for that loss

They were probably allowed to be a bit OP for pop endgame for the sake of repeat players. Then when they started working on pop 2 they saw they might need to be bumped down a bit? Maybe?...

 

After all they are clearly your duo and trio voyage strongarms.

[xpx]

 

frankly, the golems have been a huge waste of time past the first three areas because by then you should really have obtained enough lifeboats to last you forever

 

i don't mind merchants being every other tier because they're still neato merchants whose stats never really figure into your voyages most of the time anyway

 

it's not really clear why oxheads or JoD got nerfed seeing as there are zero replacement units to compensate for that loss

They were probably allowed to be a bit OP for pop endgame for the sake of repeat players. Then when they started working on pop 2 they saw they might need to be bumped down a bit? Maybe?...

 

After all they are clearly your duo and trio voyage strongarms.

 

I don't really understand why anyone would have seen oxheads as in any way overpowered or extremely useful past pincers. Frankly, JoD should have been nerfed considering they will still be useful for 3 regions beyond for trio voyages.

 

And really, i just can't begin to understand the love affair everyone was having with oxheads before pop v2. Beyond trio voyages where you needed to have them, their usefulness was extremely limited in that they could be used as replacements in duo missions with negligible bonus. The maximum someone should have gotten was 4, and i never got more than 3, because, lets face it, you never needed more than 3. It is alot of fun though, now, when i don't have to lug around useless crew and alot of other people are still stuck with 5+ ox.

[Urza285]

 

 

 

frankly, the golems have been a huge waste of time past the first three areas because by then you should really have obtained enough lifeboats to last you forever

 

i don't mind merchants being every other tier because they're still neato merchants whose stats never really figure into your voyages most of the time anyway

 

it's not really clear why oxheads or JoD got nerfed seeing as there are zero replacement units to compensate for that loss

They were probably allowed to be a bit OP for pop endgame for the sake of repeat players. Then when they started working on pop 2 they saw they might need to be bumped down a bit? Maybe?...

 

After all they are clearly your duo and trio voyage strongarms.

I don't really understand why anyone would have seen oxheads as in any way overpowered or extremely useful past pincers. Frankly, JoD should have been nerfed considering they will still be useful for 3 regions beyond for trio voyages.

 

And really, i just can't begin to understand the love affair everyone was having with oxheads before pop v2. Beyond trio voyages where you needed to have them, their usefulness was extremely limited in that they could be used as replacements in duo missions with negligible bonus. The maximum someone should have gotten was 4, and i never got more than 3, because, lets face it, you never needed more than 3. It is alot of fun though, now, when i don't have to lug around useless crew and alot of other people are still stuck with 5+ ox.

They were great because they offered, at base stats, 300 stat points than any pincer crew. They also were further justified as great units when you put them on trio voyages with two other either mo/sf/co and the jod. So keep in mind if you did a trio you would typically only get 4 x 100 stat points for the captain, 2 different crew type and jod. If you ran with a captain, 2 different crew, ox and jod the ox would count as a 5th unique crew person giving you 5 x 100. Not only that the ox would carry 300 stat points more than a typical specialized crew person, but carried over all three stats. So that's a total of 400 stat points or 133 points across the board than if you hadn't used the ox.

 

And as a side note I have seen some good use of ox on duos if you plan things right.

[Bearded Phil]

I've used 5 ox-heads since i could collect them all and I do quite well, even after the nerf.

[xpx]

I've used 5 ox-heads since i could collect them all and I do quite well, even after the nerf.

You can do "quite" well even with 25 oxheads, mostly because there is no penalty for using stupid crew. However, if you want to be efficient, any more than 3 or 4 of them is not ideal for the pincers(prior to the nerf) and past pincers (and considering the nerf) they are next to useless. An ideal Loop crew would contain one nerfed ox at best(at best because triple stat missions play a negligible role in the loop).

 

Anyway, my upgrade plan for the Loop is as follows:

 

Rudder(already got it)

One pincer morale to new merchant

Upgrade 40% of normal crew and a merchant.

Once i've completed last trio, sack 2 ox and get one wisp plus one extra crew.

Ship(cannons->figurehead->hull)

Final Loop crew would be 5-6-5-4-3-1-1

 

It should be noted that considering my current progression, i'd only get around 20k 'cotta total passing trough the loop, much less than the ~32k needed if i wanted to upgrade everything.

[Issildur]

http://imgur.com/mBzDsoL

 

Hopefully it's successful.

 

Edit: Failed:(

[Unknown_Warrior]

So, can we go on deciding what the perfect end-game crew is now? I rolled with 5of each+3merchants+3JoD+4 oxheads when we still had Pincers, has any of it changed?

Edited January 29, 2014 by Jeremy841
edited out a part

[Miss Lioness]

I'm going pretty slow to be honest.

 

But I am trying to get all scrolls done before Loop =)! But whenever I do get a scroll voyage there is also a story voyage with it =S!

[xpx]

God I love the beta. It's the perfect way to see if the crew I rolled has any negative traits.

So, can we go on deciding what the perfect end-game crew is now? I rolled with 5of each+3merchants+3JoD+4 oxheads when we still had Pincers, has any of it changed?

My guess for endgame crew would be either 676411 or 666421. One JoD would be kept for triple missions(speed is also a consideration here as the trio hull has 100 speed). Either one or two shield specialty crewman- one for triple missions, two for seafaring missions, again with speed consideration(seafaring hull has 200 speed). If there aren't too many triple and seafaring missions for trade goods, you can make do with one. One more combat crewman because combat has no on-deck shield items. This can change depending on what trade good missions require most.

Edited January 29, 2014 by Jeremy841
removed a part

[Unknown_Warrior]

Scratch that endgame question, we ain't got enough data to work that out yet.

What we do know is what would be ideal for the Loop.

 

I'm going to assume:

 

-3 Terrocota merchants

-3 Judges of Dice

-6 Pearl divers

-6 Sea-fort guards

-6 Party animals

-1 Wisp

[xpx]

Ideal loop crew is of no consequence as you should never strive for it. Getting all the ship upgrades while still in the loop is much more important.

[Unknown_Warrior]

Ideal loop crew is of no consequence as you should never strive for it. Getting all the ship upgrades while still in the loop is much more important.

 

Should we just skip every crewmember but the Terracota merchants then?

[xpx]

 

Ideal loop crew is of no consequence as you should never strive for it. Getting all the ship upgrades while still in the loop is much more important.

 

Should we just skip every crewmember but the Terracota merchants then?

 

That would put you in a very tough spot once you reach the shield but in general, that's part of the idea. Ideally, you should work out how much normal crew you can afford and buy them before getting the ship upgrades. It all depends on how much 'cotta you can bring in, and unless you are sure you can get 32k while passing trough the loop, there will have to be some cuts.

[Unknown_Warrior]

Well I churned out 1500 terracota in 4% so 32K might not be all that unreachable

[JeRambo]

I got 10% through the loop and only managed 1.5k cotta.. seriously. :(. No failed voyages for cotta either, just no cotta from specials/barmaid.

 

Bought myself my first loop cremwan.. a wisp. I know it's probably not the best choice but I wanted it =/

[xpx]

Well, i've thus far managed 3.5k cotta in 19%, but i also lost 540 due to failure, which is inevitable as the missions get harder. I'm projecting myself around 25k cotta total.

[Urza285]

I just sent my architect finale at 97% with a merchant and FOTS. I should get 16 koi scale and 16 pearl from it. I also sent 5 pearl at 85%. I should have 50 koi scale and 97 pearl when both return.

[Saradomin_Mage]

I just got into the Loop (6 days overseas ripped up my ports schedule beyond saving), and sent a bunch of 50 terracotta missions. But actually, would it be better to power through to the 10% distance mark first and forgo the small terracotta missions? I actually rolled up quite a few trade goods missions which would have given much better distance and gotten me to the bigger terracotta missions sooner.

 

Of course I'd definitely do the adventurer resource and barmaid missions as priorities.

[Quyneax]

I'd go with trade goods over 50 terracotta. I just hit 10% and I'm rolling a lot of 125 missions suddenly (might be luck though, who knows). It won't increase your total terracotta gathered during the Loop, but you should get to the Shield a few days earlier.

[xpx]

I'd go with trade goods over 50 terracotta. I just hit 10% and I'm rolling a lot of 125 missions suddenly (might be luck though, who knows). It won't increase your total terracotta gathered during the Loop, but you should get to the Shield a few days earlier.

Not luck. 10% is to unlock 125 cotta(100%), 20% to unlock 175 cotta(100%).

 

Edit: 20% also unlocks 275 cotta missions, thus the full list with percentage of distance is:

 

50 (70%); 75 (80%); 125 (100%); 175 (100%); 275 (100%).

[Saradomin_Mage]

Alright, thanks for the input. Guess I'll prioritise heading towards 10%/20% when choosing voyages.

[Flabberwocky]

Scratch that endgame question, we ain't got enough data to work that out yet.

What we do know is what would be ideal for the Loop.

 

I'm going to assume:

 

-3 Terrocota merchants

-3 Judges of Dice

-6 Pearl divers

-6 Sea-fort guards

-6 Party animals

-1 Wisp

 

Right now there's only one Party Animal. But I fully expect future ports expansions to include a full complement of party crew for my party boat. To party on with.