Thunderbolt is a highly charged, long-range cannonball that causes a lightning bolt to strike where it lands. The ability to use these rounds becomes available at Cannon Skill level 12.
Increasing the Thunderbolt ability will increase the overall damage it does. Additionally, damage levels can also be increased by using Open Fire, Barrage and Cannon Rams. Thunderbolt rounds are only mildly effective against ships masts and sails.
However, it can cause considerable hull damage.
They can be purchased at any gunsmith on the main islands and the privateering islands for 12 gold coins (per 25 rounds).
To use Thunderbolt, be stationed at a cannon and press 5 or click the icon at the bottom of the screen. Once one round has been fired, it will take several seconds to reload. You can improve your reload speed by using the Passive Skill Rapid Reload.
Below is a table of Cannon Damage for Thunderbolt:
Rank | Damage | |
1 | 474 to 948 | |
2 | 593 to 1185 | |
3 | 712 to 1423 | |
4 | 830 to 1660 | |
5 | 949 to 1897 | |
*Only with Cannon Ram Boost | ||
6* | 1083 to 2165 |
- Please note damage ranges listed are before any additional damage bonus, i.e. Barrage.
Thunderbolt Broadsides[]
With Ship Customization, when pirates reach Rank 4 Hull Upgrades, they can choose between 5 different upgrades. One of these upgrades is the Storm Chaser Upgrade, which gives the ship a 15% chance of a cannonball fired out of a broadside, to be Thunderbolt. If a pirate chooses to progress to Rank 5 or 6, they will have an even higher chance of Thunderbolt broadsides.
Game Notes[]
The sheer range of this round makes it very effective at engaging and doing large amounts of damage while being out of range of enemy counter-fire. Many pirates will use this round to damage a ship's masts from a distance before closing in.
Also, in privateering using from a forward cannon can keep you in range of a fleeing target.
Since the thunderbolt has the farthest range cannon ammo in the game so far, take note that you must fire from a lower angle than you would other ammo (Firebrand, Round Shot etc.).
Several Skeleton enemy ships also use this cannon ammunition, such as the Phantom, Storm Reaper, Death Omen ships. Spanish Undead and French Undead fleets are also known to use this cannonball. Additionally, the En-Garde is the only Navy ship known to use this ammunition.