Explosive is a special cannon round that causes a huge explosion on the deck or against the hull of the vessel it strikes.
Explosive rounds are very heavy and can only fire short range - one shot at a time, and takes a while to reload. Explosive rounds become available at cannon skill level 17. Increasing the skill increases the overall damage. Additionally, damage levels can also be increased by using Open Fire, Barrage and Cannon Rams.
Explosive rounds can be purchased at any gunsmith for 15 gold for 1 round. A pirate can carry no more than 12 Explosives at a time, even with large cannonball barrels.
To use Explosives, you must be stationed at a cannon and then press 6 or click the 
icon at the bottom of your screen. Once one round has been fired, it will take several seconds to reload. The Explosive rounds are the strongest ammunition available in the game and as such take a longer time to reload. You can improve your reload speed by using the Passive Skill Rapid Reload.
Some pirates have claimed that Explosive ammo has done up to 20,000 damage in a single shot. The damage can be so great, when combined with Open Fire, it can sink most ships in one hit.
Below is a table of Cannon Damage for Explosive:
| Rank | Damage | |
| 1 | 2588 to 5175 | |
| 2 | 3234 to 6468 | |
| 3 | 3881 to 7762 | |
| 4 | 4528 to 9056 | |
| 5 | 5250 to 10500 | |
| *Only with Cannon Ram Boost | ||
| 6* | 6418 to 12937 | |
| 7* | 8022 to 16171 | |
- Please note damage ranges listed are before any additional damage bonus, i.e. Barrage.
Explosive Broadsides[]
With Ship Customization, when pirates reach Rank 4 Hull Upgrades, they can choose between 5 different upgrades. One of these upgrades is the Copperhead upgrade, which gives the ship a 5% chance of a cannonball fired out of a broadside, to be Explosives. If you have rank 5 barrage it will also raise the damage of attack from explosives and round shot in broadside. If a pirate chooses to progress to Rank 5 or 6 Copperhead, they will have an even higher chance of Explosive broadsides.
Game Note[]
- All EITC heavy warships also use explosives. Behemoths and Corsairs have the most powerful explosives that can destroy even a War Galleon's hull in just a matter of seconds. Other NPC ships that use explosive ammo are the Warships, the Battle Royale, En-Garde, and the Tally-ho. The Treasure Fleet ships are also known to be using explosive ammo.