Cannon Defense

''" I know those guns." - Captain Jack Sparrow, as the Black Pearl laid siege to Port Royal.''

Cannon Defense is a mini game where the player defends Port Royal, Tortuga, and Padres del Fuego from invading Bandit ships by manning cannons located on the Walls of the Fort. When a player loses or quits the minigame, the Cannon Defense level resets back to Level 1.

To play (join or create a game), approach a Cannon Defense location. There will be a Cannon Master outside the door (Basil Calledougal for Fort Charles, Geoffrey Bridgebreaker for Tortuga Graveyard and Rusty McGinnis for Fort Dundee). To start the game, approach the Cannon Master and press shift. Then select play Cannon Defense. Not all the time will you be able to get into a game straight away, there may be other pirates manning the four guns that can be used so you will either have to be patient and wait for a space or go to another island where cannon defense is located and play there.

Man the Guns


Once inside the fort, the pirate is assigned a station on a cannon and can then fire on the incoming ships as they approach shore. Up to four (4) pirates can play at the same time and a pirate can join the gun crew at any time - if it's not full!


 * Newly arriving pirates may join in the middle of a wave.

Just like with operating a deck gun, use your mouse to target and fire. Remember that since you are higher up than on a pirate ship, cannons will shoot ammo farther. It may take some time to adjust to shooting at a higher elevation. If you have more than Round Shot ammunition, use your keyboard to select the type of ammo. You can also SELL back ammunition you've bought.

Also, you can receive other loot rewards as well, such as potions, tonics, Navy weapons, and cannon rams.

Open Fire!
The ships will come from the right and head to the town on the left. If they reach the town, the ship will steal some of the town's treasure and then try to get away. Enemy ships do fire back if you shoot at them. Only from a light frigate and up fire back. If struck, the pirate is stunned, you must shake the mouse to wake up.



If ALL of the town's treasure is stolen, you lose. Once all ships in the wave are complete, players are rewarded. Money earned can buy specialty ammunition. The less that is stolen, the higher the reward. You can also earn items like tonics or cannon rams.



Stats are kept between rounds and at the end of the game, so pirates can compare their accuracy, damage done, as well as how much treasure was saved from the raiders.

Also take note that the higher waves you go, the higher your stats will be, due to the higher ship levels and more ships coming.

Invading Ships
Any of the regular ships could appear in an attack wave (Light Sloop, Light Frigate, Light Galleon, Sloop, Frigate, Galleon, War Sloop, War Frigate, War Galleon, Heavy War Sloop, Heavy War Galleon, and Heavy War Frigate!)

Game Note:
 * The War Frigate and Heavy War Frigate use a speed boost similar to Ramming speed.
 * Galleons sail the slowest, while Sloops sail the fastest. So it might be best to take out the Sloops first. You can sink a sloop by hitting the sails too.
 * As your waves get higher you will notice that the enemy ships require more shots to take down, so you'll need to work faster with your team to knock them down before they get to shore.

Lock and Load!
You earn Navy Cannon skill as you play, but it is ONLY for that game - the skill is not used outside of the game. As you earn skill levels, you get new ammo types and the ability to store more than one type of ammo. But, you still have to buy special ammo from the banknotes you earn from defending the town.



Also, as you level additional slots open up to add a big variety of ammunition.
 * Level 2 - Second Ammo Slot Added
 * Level 6 - Third Ammo Slot Added
 * Level 9 - Fourth Ammo Slot Added
 * Level 20 - Repeater Cannon! Your cannon switches to a gleaming new model with gears and fires even faster.

Game Note:


 * Some players have found rare and even famed cannon rams while playing this game. Rewards (cannon rams etc.) are given out every seven waves starting at wave 6. So the rewards are at wave 6, 13, 20, and so on.
 * Your passive cannon skills and shoot skills DO have an effect on your firing rate. For example, if you max rapid reload and shoot, your cannon will reload faster, and your firing rate will be increased, just like the deck guns on a regular ship.

Tips:

 * For more tips and strategies go here.
 * Use Cold Shot at the start of the wave, this will let you have more time to defend your gold, as well as making the use of Firestorm and Powder Keg easier.
 * Round shot does more damage than targeted shot; if you have good aim, it is strongly recommended to use Round shot as your Basic ammo.
 * During early levels, don't buy mines if you're in for the long haul! Save that money for Powder Keg ammo and Bait Shot ammos later on.
 * When you get low on purchased ammunition, press SHIFT to open the store. You can sell the portion back and then re-buy the full measure of rounds.
 * Always shoot ahead of the ship - the enemy ship will then run into your cannon balls instead of having your ammo fall behind it with no damage done.
 * Ships move fast, so following that ship just ahead of it and shooting your gun rapidly may sink it. This is the best tactic for light sloops.
 * Press ctrl and click at the same time to fire rapidly - the more shots you fire the more damage it is likely to do. (does not work)
 * As you move along farther into the game the ships get harder, this is why powder keg becomes your friend. Powder keg takes out large numbers of ships within a wide radius. Try to land your powder keg in the middle of a large group of enemy ships then quickly swap to round shot and shoot the keg. If the keg is run over it will disappear without doing any damage at all.
 * Aim for the sails if you have a hard time with good accuracy.
 * Aim for the ships farthest away first, then aim for the closer ones. This makes it easier and gives you more time to sink ships closer to you that are loaded and running away
 * When the onshore gold is low, always aim for the ship with a coin above it. If you are good enough, try making sure easy to kill galleons get the shore gold and let the stronger and faster ships take the banknotes.
 * Shoot mines right before and after every wave after wave 10. Mines are best for wave 14 where the entire wave is fast light sloops.
 * There's a known glitch where your ammo slots get all mixed up by the game's own process and the lack of the player using the additional slots, leaving the 1 slot and the 4 slot mixed up and unavailable to be chosen by pressing the number keys. They then must be clicked on to be used. This can be quite a frustrating glitch due to the fact that you can only access your 1 and 4 slots by clicking. The best way to avoid this glitch is by occasionally pressing 1 and 2 keys in the first waves of the game. This way you keep refreshing your slots and prevent them from getting stuck when additional slots appear. If you notice it later in the game and you are already suffering from it.. the only way to fix it is by leaving the game and re-entering it.
 * If a large group of ships come, aim Firestorm at the largest ship in the group, such as the Galleon.