Will's Guide for Mastering Privateering

Placeholder Basics
Privateering is one of the many fun activities offered in Pirates of the Caribbean Online. First of all, the player must pick the side for which they want to privateer for, the Spanish of the French. The Spanish Privateers own the island of Isla de la Avaricia, which was founded by their leader,

TIPS

 * Fire your deck guns at the water line (the part of the hull just above the water) to do the most damage. Rounds hitting too far up do less damage.
 * Your fighting style and crew size may determine what kind of ship you want. Galleons have the most armor, but are the slowest. Frigates have the most deck guns and have to widest firing arcs. Sloops have the greatest speed.
 * Light Sloops, though very weak, VERY hard to hit, making them very effective sometimes in privateering. Using a light sloop with only one person is mostly called soloing. Sometimes, higher levels will use Light Sloops with Fury which has been proved very successfull.
 * Firebrand ammunition not only does damage, but smoke from the fires may blind gunners.
 * Fury rounds may also blind gunners It is also the most affective ammuntion to take out a ship in under three seconds.
 * Grape Shot rounds are used for slowing down ship repair, as well as damaging the enemy ships in Privateering.
 * Thunderbolt rounds can hit enemies from tremendous distances.They are mostly used on sails or during chases.
 * When repairing, try and get away from the battle. Keep a sharp eye out for enemies sneaking up on you.
 * Use your Take Cover, Open Fire, Ramming Speed, Full Sail, and Come About skills wisely.
 * Stay away from the enemy port while their ships are under protection shields. You can't damage them, but THEY CAN DAMAGE YOU.
 * Once you move your ship, your protective shield goes away. Don't move until you're ready to engage the enemy.
 * When performing quests where you must collect damage points or sink ships WITHOUT sinking, discretion may warrant abandoning ship, instead of staying to sink and having to start over.
 * A powerful tactic is to have high level gunners at the front of a Frigate. Have them all load Explosive rounds. Then, ram an enemy ship with Ramming Speed. Use Open Fire and have them all fire their Explosives into the enemy ship.
 * You no longer have to shoot firebrand ammo if the enemy ship uses take cover instead, the ammo that you are using does less damage than regular
 * If you see a light sloop DO NOT LET YOUR GUARD DOWN, many ships underestimate them. The light sloops can sink a war frigate given enough time, because they are so hard to hit.
 * WARNING - Ship PvP can cause MAJOR lag and can cause a computer to disconnect from POTCO. If you have an older computer, just be careful when getting into fights with multiple ships at a time.
 * A good strategy for light sloops that are going up against War Galleons is to go right up to the ship, that way the gunners AND broadsides can't hit you.
 * Starters can help you determine how strong your foe might be... keep an eye on it.
 * A lone pirate in a light sloop can have a bounty of 10 yet a lone pirate in a war frigate can have a bounty of 9, so don't always expect for an easy prey just because it has a low bounty!