Combat

Even the nicest pirate has settle some scores with violence. Players in Pirates of the Caribbean Online have a broad variety of methods of combat, whether dueling guards with their cutlass, casting voodoo hexes on Hired-Guns, or tossing grenades at Undead Brigands.

= Melee Combat = Melee is a nice word for hand-to-hand combat with weapons. To engage in melee combat, the pirate must be in close proximity and make contact with the enemy.

Cutlass
For a pirate, the first primary weapon is the cutlass.

When you first wash ashore on Port Royal after escaping from Jolly Roger, you should go visit Will Turner. He will give you an old sword and a couple of free lessons.

To use the cutlass, press F1. If the cutlass was your last used weapon, pressing the CTRL key or your left-mouse button will also draw it.

Be sure you are close to the target you wish to attack. Use the mouse, direction keys or the W,A,S, and D keys to turn and move your pirate. If you are properly aligned, there will be a red circle under them, keep moving closer until you see it flash on.

Swinging the sword is relatively easy; just press the CTRL key or the left-mouse button to slice away. At first, the pirate only know a basic Hack skill. As you gain experience, your pirate can learn new sword attacks and combine them for more devastating damage.

Cutlass Attacks

 * Hack - A quick opening attack
 * Slash - A broad slash
 * Cleave - A mighty overhead cleave
 * Flourish - A series of fast slashes
 * Thrust - A fancy finishing thrust

Passive Cutlass Skills

 * Parry - Deflect enemy attacks (Chance to block incoming melee attacks)
 * Endurance - Increases maximum Health

Special Cutlass Skills

 * Sweep - A wide circular slash –– hits all nearby enemies
 * Brawl - Fight dirty –– this stuns your opponent
 * Taunt - Pulls enemy Aggression (lowers damage)
 * Blade Storm - Delivers a barrage of sword slashes

Combos
The cutlass can be used in a chained series of attacks. At the end of the first sword stroke, if you click again at the correct time, you will chain your second Slash attack for even more damage - and so on until the combination of all the fully learned cutlass skills are used, or if an attack misses. If you click at the wrong time, your attack will be mistimed and will be weaker (So, don't button mash!)

With each weapon skill increase (not your pirate's notoriety), you get a Skill Point to spend. At various levels the new chain attacks become available to you, however, you can't use them unless you spend at least one point in them! Press the TAB key or click the Sea Chest on the screen to bring up the menu bar, and click the Skills icon.

Special Attacks
You can also get special attacks as you progress. New attacks will become available when the Cutlass skill reaches a certain level. Once unlocked, you can spend a point to buy them or increase your ability with it.

To activate a special attack in combat, click on the attack name on the screen or press the number key that corresponds with it. If a special attack icon is dimmed, it is being recharged and currently unavailable.

Voodoo Doll
After completing the Notoriety Level 5, Tia Dalma gives the pirate a quest to gather components to build and charge up their first voodoo doll.

To use voodoo, a pirate must pull out (press F3) and then attune it by touching to an enemy or an ally. Once attuned, the available spells will be highlighted. To use a spell, click on the symbol or select the number associated with it.

Doll Spells

 * Attune - Upgrading increases the number of enemies or allies can be attuned.
 * Poke - Upgrading increases the amount of damage.
 * Swarm - Upgrading increases the amount of damage.
 * Heal - Upgrading increases the amount of health and voodoo healed.
 * Curse - Upgrading increases the amount of time an enemy is cursed.
 * Scorch - Upgrading increases the amount of damage.
 * Cure - Upgrading increases the amount of health and voodoo healed.
 * Grave Shackles - Upgrading increases the amount of time an enemy is held.
 * Life Drain - Upgrading increases the amount of damage.

Passive Doll Spells

 * Focus - Upgrading increases the maximum voodoo.
 * Spirit Ward - Upgrading increases the chance to resist voodoo attacks.

Spells and abilities become available as the pirate increases their skill level.


 * Note - The more targets you have attuned, the weaker your attacks will be for each target!

Dagger
After reaching Notoriety Level 10, the pirate will get a quest to meet with Elizabeth Swann. Upon completing her requests, Will Turner will give the pirate their first dagger.

Though the dagger does not do as much damage as a cutlass, the pirate can perform swings faster. Like the cutlass, additional dagger abilities create combinations for more damage.

The dagger is unique in that it is both a melee weapon and a ranged weapon.

Dagger Skills

 * Cut - An opening cut
 * Swipe - A whirling dagger attack
 * Gouge - A powerful downward slice
 * Eviscerate - Delivers three quick cuts

Combos
Like the cutlass, the basic dagger skills can be chained together in a continuous attack by timing when to perform the next move.

Passive Dagger Skills

 * Finesse - Decreases recharge time for Dagger and Cutlass Skills
 * Blade Instinct - Increases Cutlass and Dagger Combat damage

Special Dagger Skills

 * Asp - Basic dagger throw
 * Adder - Poisoned dagger throw
 * Throw Dirt - Fight dirty –– this blinds your opponents temporarily
 * Sidewinder - Sidearm dagger throw
 * Viper's Nest - Throw a brace of daggers

=Ranged Combat= Unlike Melee Combat, a ranged attack allows the pirate to strike an enemy from farther away, and lower risk of taking damage.

Pistol
A hand-held firearm, the pistol in Pirates of the Caribbean Online is muzzle-loaded, flintlock - similar to the larger musket or blunderbuss.

The pirate obtains their first pistol from Hector Barbossa after meeting him in his grotto on Devil's Anvil. The first pistol is a single-shot flintlock. Once it has been discharged, the pirate will automatically load another round.

Improved guns with two and three barrels can later be purchased or rewarded as part of a quest. This allows multiple shots before reload.

Use
To shoot an enemy, press F2 to draw the gun from your belt. If the pistol was the last weapon used, pressing CTRL or clicking the left-mouse button will also bring it out.

A targeting circle will appear ahead of the pirate, indicating where the gun is currently aimed. If an enemy is close enough to be shot and in the circle, it will change from white to red.

Press the CTRL key or the left-mouse button to fire.


 * ''Note - Due to the Pirate's Code, guns aren't to be used on other humans (Royal Navy or EITC).

Pistol Skill
As the pirate receives reputation and notoriety points for dispatching enemies with the pistol, their skill level will increase. Each increase earns a Skill Point which can be used to improve pistol skills or learn ones.


 * Shoot - Basic shooting skill.
 * Take Aim - Improves damage by targeting an enemy longer.

Ammunition Skills
New types of ammunition will become available:
 * Lead Ball - Standard
 * Poison Shot - Special coated balls that continue to damage their target.
 * Bane Shot - Cursed loads that do heavier damage to anything.
 * Hex Eater Shot - Special voodoo bullets that lower the target's voodoo power.
 * Silver Shot - These rounds do much more damage to the undead, but little to the living.
 * Steel Shot - These improved metal balls do more damage to the living, but less to undead.

Passive Skills
The pirate can also improve other abilities with their pistol skill.


 * Eagle Eye - Increases the pirate's range
 * Sharp Shooter - Increases pistol accuracy
 * Dodge - Increases chance to avoid enemy attacks

Dagger


The dagger is unique in that it is both a melee weapon and a ranged weapon. The special dagger skills mostly revolve around throwing daggers at an enemy. The combo skills are melee strikes.

See Dagger under Melee Combat for more details.

Grenade


These hand-held bombs can damage or destroy numerous enemies at once. The pirate can obtain grenades once they reach Notoriety Level 20 and complete Grenade Quests.

Basic Skills

 * Throw - Basic grenade throwing skill.
 * Long Volley - Hold down the attack button to throw farther.

Ammo Skills

 * Explosive Grenade - A crude ceramic grenade.
 * Flame Burst - Flammable bomb that sets fire to it's surroundings.
 * Stink Pot - A ceramic pot filled with noxious gas and foul smelling gunk.
 * Smoke Cloud - A bomb of quick burning tar and rags. Creates a blinding cloud of smoke.
 * Siege Charge - A heavy iron grenade that packs a wallop!

Passive Skills

 * Determination - Increase health regeneration.
 * Demolitions - Increases the area of effect for your grenade and cannonball explosions.
 * Toughness - Decreases the amount of damage taken
 * Ignore Pain - Limits effects of poison, stuns, etc.

Voodoo Staff
This voodoo weapon can affect a group of enemies from a distance with some very powerful magic. The pirate obtains their first staff after reaching Notoriety 30 and completing a series of special Voodoo Staff Quests for Tia Dalma.

To use the staff, simply point it an enemy and hold down the CTRL or left-mouse button. Each hex takes several seconds to charge and must be completely charged to work. If the pirate stops charging or is interrupted, the hex fizzles.

Staff Hexes

 * Blast - A basic energy attack
 * Soul Flay - A snake of energy strips away health
 * Pestilence - A cone-shaped cloud inflicts acid burns
 * Wither - Victims suffer damage and lose attack power
 * Flaming Skull - Summons and hurls a Skull of fire at enemies.
 * Banish - Exiles Undead back to the other side.
 * Desolation - A maelstrom of death hurts all nearby enemies, including you.

Passive Skills

 * Concentration - Increases Voodoo Power recovery rate
 * Spirit Lore - Increases staff casting speed
 * Conservation - Decreases amount of Voodoo Power used
 * Spirit Mastery - Increases the damage by Staff and Doll

= Defeat =

At some point, a pirate will be defeated! But, there is no death in Pirates Online. They basically get knocked unconscious and are rounded up by the Royal Navy and thrown in the nearest jail on their home port (last main island visited). Just kick the door open to escape, as taught to you by Captain Jack Sparrow at the beginning of the game. Simply get close enough to the door and press Shift.

Once free, a pirate can exit the jail or teleport.

After being in jail, your pirate will be "Groggy" with reduced health and voodoo for a short time after getting out of jail. At the top of the screen, the groggy time will be represented by a skull with a red circle. Once the circle is gone, your health and voodoo are restored full.

=Ship Combat= To sail, use the arrow keys (or the W, A, S, D keys). The up arrow will unfurl the sails and moves your ship forward, the down arrow will furl your ship's sails up and your ship stops moving forward. Continuing to press Down or S, the ship will actually move backwards - but very slowly.

Use the compass in the upper right-hand corner of your screen to keep track of ships. You may want to adjust the zoom level on the compass using the '-' to zoom out as far as possible when looking for enemies (red ships).

There are three kinds of enemy ships: Royal Navy, EITC, and skeleton ships. The Navy and EITC sail a broad variety of ships, while all Skeleton ships are war frigates. Undead French and Spanish vessels are war sloops.

Deck Guns


Any crew member can man a deck cannon and fire on an enemy. These weapons do more damage than broadside guns, particularly if the gunner is experienced and uses special ammunition.

Firing Broadsides
In battle, the broadside guns (cannons below deck) are controlled by the captain. Use the 1 and 2 number keys or the left-mouse button (Broadside icons) to fire your guns. To hit an enemy ship with a broadside, it should be at the 3 o'clock (directly left) or 9 o'clock (directly right) position relative to your ship on the compass since they have a limited firing angle.


 * Reproduced from the Sailing article

Boarding Flagships
Unlike other naval enemies, a flagship must first be crippled in ship-to-ship combat and then captured.

Once crippled, it can then be grappled, using a Grappling Hook from the ship's cannons. The flagship will automatically be pulled into boarding position. The captain can order the crew to swing over to attack the enemy crew.

After dispatching the crew, the pirates swing back to their own vessel - along with any plunder they find.

Should the pirates be eliminated. They will wake up in jail and their ship will be sunk. If the captain dies while boarding, his crew can continue to sail his ship.


 * Duplicated in part from Flagships

Ship PvP
Pirate crews can become privateers and sail under the flag of the French or Spanish fleets fighting for control of the Caribbean. Simply teleport or sail to Isla De La Avaricia (Spanish) or Ile D'Etable De Porc (French), when you attempt to leave the island via the dinghy your ship becomes part of their respective armadas.


 * Hint - A captain will want to gather a crew for privateering as the one with the most and best gunners tends to stay alive.

The ship's sails and name identifies it as Spanish or French and it can only damage vessels on the opposing fleets. You can sink Navy, EITC or skeleton vessels, but you will collect NO plunder!

Combat is similar to fighting other naval enemies, however other pirate ships are much harder to sink. Plunder comes in the form of bounties or rewards for sinking enemy vessels. The bounty varies by difficulty of opponent. The pirate's own bounty and score goes up each time they sink an enemy.

Another major difference is ship repairing. Crews can Repair a privateer vessel at sea when it is at rest. Also, ships receive a Salvage Bonus for the ships they sink - which goes directly into fixing battle damage.