Tutorial for soloing in Haunted Seas
Many thanks to Jsweetie. She was the person that originally got me into soloing HS. Much of this information came from her.
Ship selection: my ship of choice is a fanch. The ability sink a sloop in 3 shots is fantastic. Sloops are the only other ship I've run on. They're probably the least expensive to use, but 6 shots to sink a sloop is a little tedious. I mostly use them to recon maps now.
I've also tried soloing a warbrig, but that was an absolute nightmare. Even though you only ever need one, moves were simply not reliable enough, especially with that chainshot ability in HS ships.
Initial recon: before I start moving ships and buying stock for a map, I'll stick a sloop in just to make sure it's a map I want to commit to. I check the areas around the safezones to make sure the obstacles are workable. Typically, I like to be able to sit in the corner where the edge of the map and the safezone meet.
Stock: Soloing on a fanch, I'll go 20r/70cb or more. Soloing on a sloop, I'd go 20r/100-200cb. Obviously, add more rum if you're bringing friends. I'll add about 10 for each extra person.
Sailing: I usually dnav on Evade both ways. I used to not bother on the way over, but then I constantly got intercepted on the way to a map once. Now I'd rather not worry about getting intercepted.
Entering: There are 2 types of spawns you can get in Zone 1. The more common spawn is 2 sloops and a warbrig (or a GY, which is the same thing), which I personally estimate at a frequency of 85%. The other spawn is 5 sloops, which happens roughly 15% of the time. I stay if it's the latter. If there's a brig, I disengage and let the ship reset.
There are also usually preexisting hauls on the board that you might be able to grab so you have chests even if you spawn a brig board. I take those when I can easily return to the safezone in one turn.
Rinse and repeat until you get a sloop board. For a full board reset (as in, new preexisting hauls and new ships), I usually wait an hour before sailing back out to the point. For just a ship reset, waiting for your ship to reset (30 minutes) does it.
I don't really know how to influence which side of the board you enter on. If I really prefer the opposite side, sometimes I'll jump on rigs and dash across on a sloop. I don't recommend this on a fanch. Even on a sloop, it's often a close shave since boarders will start slowing you down. Fanchs are just flat out not made for the cross board solo dash.
Sinking sloops: If you're a loop gunner, I recommend finding a good board before entering. Usually, I sit in the corner facing the safezone and shoot parallel to the safezone as sloops approach. On a sloop, I shoot like hell. On a fanch, I'm a just a touch more thoughtful on when I shoot. Unless you have a ton of time before any sloop reaches you, I recommend ignoring boarders.
If things get too hairy (too much damage, too many boarders), bail and repair in the safezone. I think boarders overtake you when their numbers either match or surpass you and your swabbies. Definitely exit if you get a shipwide fray. Usually 4 is enough to convince me to exit.
Odd as it sounds, I feel like boarding rate slows down after the first one or two. If you concentrate on keep them completely off, you won't be able to focus on anything else really well. Hence I recommend you just leave them alone (unless you actually want something to do) until forced to exit.
Cool down: If you sit at the league point outside, the boarders will gradually leave until there's one left. I usually give 2 minutes per boarder. So if I exit with 4 boarders, I sit outside for 6 minutes, reenter, then fight the last boarder 1v1. Breaks don't count in the cool down period. The cool down period is a great way give yourself a break. Usually I'm making tea, grabbing food, etc etc etc. Love it.
After clearing the boarders, I fix any damage I might have acquired, clear the bilge, find a solid gunning board, then go again.
To solo, you obviously need to be somewhat adept at each of the stations. I definitely recommend being able to gun ren/gm+ on a sloop, master+ on a fanch. Semi-decent rigging abilities definitely come in handy during emergencies when you need to pull a last minute move out of your hat before the bilge starts filling. The ability to carp and bilge is less important as you usually do that in the safe zone. Decent swordfighting skills probably make clearing bots easier, but again, by the time you're fighting them, you're in the safezone and you can make as many attempts as you need.
Bnavving ability and experience is also less of a priority in this tactic. Sticky situations do arise though. You definitely want to be comfortable with the basics and bumper boat mechanics.
For navvers not familiar with driving in SMHs, be aware that the edges of the board are not hard. You can drive off the side and then get pushed back in without a damage penalty (of course, there is one minor exception). The most dangerous situation I run into is when I get bumped off the side of the board and something is blocking me from sliding back in. I can't exit into the safezone from off the board, and I'm taking damage every time I bump into something trying to slide back onto the board, not to mention any shot I could be taking.
Ships can also move between you and the safezone, yes, even when you're sitting right up against it. This not only temporarily blocks your exit, but this also knocks you away from the safezone, requiring more moves to exit. This is where quick rigging and bnav abilities can make a difference.
Remember that HS ships have chain shots, which will take moves from you. More of a concern to fanchs than sloops, but if you let your moveset dwindle down to the bare minimum, the chain shot can screw you over.
Hauling: For those not familiar with SMH hauling, tactics are somewhat different than shipwreck expos. The most efficient chest pulling method doesn't always score well, so keep in mind that your TH rank may suffer.
I highly recommend timing your hauls with the breaks. Be warned, the countdown to break doesn't always line up with the turns. The timers could be up to 15 seconds off from each other. In other words, the countdown could sit at 0 for a whole 15 seconds before the actual break hits. Super annoying when you're trying to time haul with it.
So tips for catching haul on the break: I usually rig for a couple turns (around the 2:30/3:00 mark) to make sure I have the moves I need. Move to the edge of the safezone sometime before the 2:00 mark. Three turns from break, you should be placing your moves. This is usually somewhere between the 1:15 and the 1:30 mark. I guess I usually go for the turn that *begins* closest to the 1:30 mark. Turns are 35 seconds long.
Two turns from the break, you should be sitting next to the haul. The most ideal spot is in a space diagonal to the haul to draw out the haul time as much as possible to maximize the amount of time you have to pull chests. Sometimes I'll settle for the space next to a haul if it gives me a safer position. Take a look at how close the enemy ships are because they will start moving towards you after you enter. I like to take this turn to position my screen so I can watch for ships while I haul.
The haul will pop up on the last turn before break. Grab it, start hauling your butt off. So yes, you have to sit on the map for a turn before you can haul.
If you move on the second-to-last turn, the option to haul will pop up at the break, but you will not be able to take it until break is over. Break is nearly two turns worth of hauling without ships coming after you, which is pretty precious when you can't sit. I'll sometimes wait entire segments to take advantage of it.
When you're soloing, the chances of you being able to sit on a chest are practically 0. So you either get it fast or it's gone. To encourage chests to spawn on your board, clear something like a 3x2, 4x2, etc to "make a space for it" in a way. A clear like that doesn't guarantee a chest, it just seems to speed the process up a little. This means I will actually take extra clicks to set them up. Also try to keep those clears toward the center of your board to keep the chest spawns toward the center.
Obviously, once you do get a chest, do whatever you need to to get that thing to the top as fast as possible.
Typically a wreck gives you 2-3 chests depending on how much you let it degrade while repairing or how fast you pull them. If you haul two wrecks at once, don't be surprised if that second haul only adds a chest or two.
Walkthrough:
For a typical HS solo run, I...
1. Check the stock, chart the course, set voyage to Evade, hire the swabbies.
2. Set sail, order a swabbie to bilge (since a bot never takes it on its own for me), order a swabbie to gun, then dnav.
Once at the point, I...
1. Exit dnav, enter the board, wait until the current turn/break ends so that the ships spawn.
2. Scan the board for nearby wrecks and ships in zone 1 (I estimate zone 1 to be about 10 squares from the edge. I don't think that's completely true, but it works as a general rule of thumb).
3. Assuming it's a sloop board, I order 2 bots to sails, one to carp, one to bilge.
4. Shop for a decent board on guns... I usually go for a 1 arrow then loop two cannons at a time. If I'm impatient, I settle for being able to loop both top and bottom with two arrows.
5. Enter the board. I usually start with two straights just to get to the edge of the safezone*. A straight and a turn into the edge and wait.
4. Shoot any ships that come down the edge. Turn back towards the safezone and shoot as ships start coming into that area.
5. Sit and shoot until a couple sloops go down, you're overrun with boarders, or your damage gets dangerous.
For the cool down I...
1. Exit. Wait outside at the lp if I need to get rid of boarders.
2. Reenter. Clear any boarders. Repair any damage (max bots on carp and bilge). Clear any bilge. Exit/Reenter if I need to replenish moves quick. Don't forget to move swabbies back to sails.
3. Haul if there's anything down. The cool down period gives time for the enemy ships to scatter so hopefully there's some time to pull stuff up before they come back.
4. Repeat the cool down cycle.
5. Check for GYs and brigs in my zone and make the decision to continue or leave.
6. When I do decide to leave, I rehire the swabbies, dnav back to port, and divvy. Yay!
*As I mentioned earlier, there is a minor exception to zero damage on the soft boundary. If you're sitting in the corner facing the edge then turn toward the safezone, you'll incur a super small sliver of damage. In other words, if you use 2 instead of 3 straights to set up your position, then the two turns, you'll get end up with a small sliver of damage on that second turn. It's not a big deal, but it also only takes an extra straight to avoid it.
Graveyards: GYs do not give you any chests. Honestly, if you want poe, go do something else. So quite frankly, seeing a GY spawn in my zone is bad news. All GYs come with a brig and two sloops. And as I mentioned before, I don't like brigs in this strategy.
That doesn't mean you have to bail as soon as you get a GY. It can get a little risky, but if you can time your entrance so the sloops get to you first, the sloops can shield you from the brig's attacks, and you can probably get the brig to sink sloops for you.
2-3 man strategy: I've been experimenting with this to balance effectiveness vs. maximum shares for people. When I have a friend that wants to come with me to HS, there's a gun spot and a haul spot. The gunner is on guns the whole time. There are times when there's nothing in the area to shoot and then they may opt to take challenges. The haul spot hauls when applicable. This allows you to pull in treasure while shooting more stuff down, which is super nice. The hauler might also supplement elsewhere while waiting for hauls... clearing boarders, supplementing sails, maybe a dab of carp work as they see fit.
If you get a third person on board, a full time carper is nice to combat damage and extend the amount of time you can stay on the board. Something to think about: when solo, I'll often exit/reenter just to get the basic moveset quickly. When you have people on board, sometimes it's worth waiting for the moves to spawn so you can keep their indicators rather than the solo strategy.
Rotating through the different roles between cycles is a good way to keep people from getting bored. Even with one or two more people on board, I limit it to one person hauling at a time. Again, this is to maximize the amount of hauling time to pull chests.
I'm not inclined to go above three on board just because I feel more people won't really help you pull more chests. Other than that, more people probably won't ruin a run.
I don't plan on posting this guide on the forums or wiki yet just because of selfish reasons... I'd rather keep the likelihood of running into other people at a minimum. But if you do come across someone else in HS, be courteous. Don't steal their hauls. Heck, if I see someone else there before me, I leave because I don't want to ruin their operation. At least chat with them, see if you can team up or work something out.
If you're curious, I've started keeping collecting data from my runs. The running spreadsheet can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkHMgVZqDG7RdFJBSm5fREs2MDNmY3lURHJnb2FYcnc&usp=sharing
The blue boxes are just to help me quickly find the boxes I want to manipulate. The data is broken up as follows:
1. WB boards vs. sloop boards spawned
2. Number of one locks (1-L), two locks (2-L), and three locks (3-L) pulled... or at least, that I've accounted for
3. Average amount of poe, highest amount of poe, and lowest amount of poe I've found in each type of chest. After documenting numbers for a while, I concluded that 1-L chests give you <1k, 2-L chests give you between 1k and 3k, and 3-L chests give you >3k.
4. Distribution of items I have found in each of the chest types.
Other than that, good luck. Happy HS Hunting to you.
Ship selection: my ship of choice is a fanch. The ability sink a sloop in 3 shots is fantastic. Sloops are the only other ship I've run on. They're probably the least expensive to use, but 6 shots to sink a sloop is a little tedious. I mostly use them to recon maps now.
I've also tried soloing a warbrig, but that was an absolute nightmare. Even though you only ever need one, moves were simply not reliable enough, especially with that chainshot ability in HS ships.
Initial recon: before I start moving ships and buying stock for a map, I'll stick a sloop in just to make sure it's a map I want to commit to. I check the areas around the safezones to make sure the obstacles are workable. Typically, I like to be able to sit in the corner where the edge of the map and the safezone meet.
Stock: Soloing on a fanch, I'll go 20r/70cb or more. Soloing on a sloop, I'd go 20r/100-200cb. Obviously, add more rum if you're bringing friends. I'll add about 10 for each extra person.
Sailing: I usually dnav on Evade both ways. I used to not bother on the way over, but then I constantly got intercepted on the way to a map once. Now I'd rather not worry about getting intercepted.
Entering: There are 2 types of spawns you can get in Zone 1. The more common spawn is 2 sloops and a warbrig (or a GY, which is the same thing), which I personally estimate at a frequency of 85%. The other spawn is 5 sloops, which happens roughly 15% of the time. I stay if it's the latter. If there's a brig, I disengage and let the ship reset.
There are also usually preexisting hauls on the board that you might be able to grab so you have chests even if you spawn a brig board. I take those when I can easily return to the safezone in one turn.
Rinse and repeat until you get a sloop board. For a full board reset (as in, new preexisting hauls and new ships), I usually wait an hour before sailing back out to the point. For just a ship reset, waiting for your ship to reset (30 minutes) does it.
I don't really know how to influence which side of the board you enter on. If I really prefer the opposite side, sometimes I'll jump on rigs and dash across on a sloop. I don't recommend this on a fanch. Even on a sloop, it's often a close shave since boarders will start slowing you down. Fanchs are just flat out not made for the cross board solo dash.
Sinking sloops: If you're a loop gunner, I recommend finding a good board before entering. Usually, I sit in the corner facing the safezone and shoot parallel to the safezone as sloops approach. On a sloop, I shoot like hell. On a fanch, I'm a just a touch more thoughtful on when I shoot. Unless you have a ton of time before any sloop reaches you, I recommend ignoring boarders.
If things get too hairy (too much damage, too many boarders), bail and repair in the safezone. I think boarders overtake you when their numbers either match or surpass you and your swabbies. Definitely exit if you get a shipwide fray. Usually 4 is enough to convince me to exit.
Odd as it sounds, I feel like boarding rate slows down after the first one or two. If you concentrate on keep them completely off, you won't be able to focus on anything else really well. Hence I recommend you just leave them alone (unless you actually want something to do) until forced to exit.
Cool down: If you sit at the league point outside, the boarders will gradually leave until there's one left. I usually give 2 minutes per boarder. So if I exit with 4 boarders, I sit outside for 6 minutes, reenter, then fight the last boarder 1v1. Breaks don't count in the cool down period. The cool down period is a great way give yourself a break. Usually I'm making tea, grabbing food, etc etc etc. Love it.
After clearing the boarders, I fix any damage I might have acquired, clear the bilge, find a solid gunning board, then go again.
To solo, you obviously need to be somewhat adept at each of the stations. I definitely recommend being able to gun ren/gm+ on a sloop, master+ on a fanch. Semi-decent rigging abilities definitely come in handy during emergencies when you need to pull a last minute move out of your hat before the bilge starts filling. The ability to carp and bilge is less important as you usually do that in the safe zone. Decent swordfighting skills probably make clearing bots easier, but again, by the time you're fighting them, you're in the safezone and you can make as many attempts as you need.
Bnavving ability and experience is also less of a priority in this tactic. Sticky situations do arise though. You definitely want to be comfortable with the basics and bumper boat mechanics.
For navvers not familiar with driving in SMHs, be aware that the edges of the board are not hard. You can drive off the side and then get pushed back in without a damage penalty (of course, there is one minor exception). The most dangerous situation I run into is when I get bumped off the side of the board and something is blocking me from sliding back in. I can't exit into the safezone from off the board, and I'm taking damage every time I bump into something trying to slide back onto the board, not to mention any shot I could be taking.
Ships can also move between you and the safezone, yes, even when you're sitting right up against it. This not only temporarily blocks your exit, but this also knocks you away from the safezone, requiring more moves to exit. This is where quick rigging and bnav abilities can make a difference.
Remember that HS ships have chain shots, which will take moves from you. More of a concern to fanchs than sloops, but if you let your moveset dwindle down to the bare minimum, the chain shot can screw you over.
Hauling: For those not familiar with SMH hauling, tactics are somewhat different than shipwreck expos. The most efficient chest pulling method doesn't always score well, so keep in mind that your TH rank may suffer.
I highly recommend timing your hauls with the breaks. Be warned, the countdown to break doesn't always line up with the turns. The timers could be up to 15 seconds off from each other. In other words, the countdown could sit at 0 for a whole 15 seconds before the actual break hits. Super annoying when you're trying to time haul with it.
So tips for catching haul on the break: I usually rig for a couple turns (around the 2:30/3:00 mark) to make sure I have the moves I need. Move to the edge of the safezone sometime before the 2:00 mark. Three turns from break, you should be placing your moves. This is usually somewhere between the 1:15 and the 1:30 mark. I guess I usually go for the turn that *begins* closest to the 1:30 mark. Turns are 35 seconds long.
Two turns from the break, you should be sitting next to the haul. The most ideal spot is in a space diagonal to the haul to draw out the haul time as much as possible to maximize the amount of time you have to pull chests. Sometimes I'll settle for the space next to a haul if it gives me a safer position. Take a look at how close the enemy ships are because they will start moving towards you after you enter. I like to take this turn to position my screen so I can watch for ships while I haul.
The haul will pop up on the last turn before break. Grab it, start hauling your butt off. So yes, you have to sit on the map for a turn before you can haul.
If you move on the second-to-last turn, the option to haul will pop up at the break, but you will not be able to take it until break is over. Break is nearly two turns worth of hauling without ships coming after you, which is pretty precious when you can't sit. I'll sometimes wait entire segments to take advantage of it.
When you're soloing, the chances of you being able to sit on a chest are practically 0. So you either get it fast or it's gone. To encourage chests to spawn on your board, clear something like a 3x2, 4x2, etc to "make a space for it" in a way. A clear like that doesn't guarantee a chest, it just seems to speed the process up a little. This means I will actually take extra clicks to set them up. Also try to keep those clears toward the center of your board to keep the chest spawns toward the center.
Obviously, once you do get a chest, do whatever you need to to get that thing to the top as fast as possible.
Typically a wreck gives you 2-3 chests depending on how much you let it degrade while repairing or how fast you pull them. If you haul two wrecks at once, don't be surprised if that second haul only adds a chest or two.
Walkthrough:
For a typical HS solo run, I...
1. Check the stock, chart the course, set voyage to Evade, hire the swabbies.
2. Set sail, order a swabbie to bilge (since a bot never takes it on its own for me), order a swabbie to gun, then dnav.
Once at the point, I...
1. Exit dnav, enter the board, wait until the current turn/break ends so that the ships spawn.
2. Scan the board for nearby wrecks and ships in zone 1 (I estimate zone 1 to be about 10 squares from the edge. I don't think that's completely true, but it works as a general rule of thumb).
3. Assuming it's a sloop board, I order 2 bots to sails, one to carp, one to bilge.
4. Shop for a decent board on guns... I usually go for a 1 arrow then loop two cannons at a time. If I'm impatient, I settle for being able to loop both top and bottom with two arrows.
5. Enter the board. I usually start with two straights just to get to the edge of the safezone*. A straight and a turn into the edge and wait.
4. Shoot any ships that come down the edge. Turn back towards the safezone and shoot as ships start coming into that area.
5. Sit and shoot until a couple sloops go down, you're overrun with boarders, or your damage gets dangerous.
For the cool down I...
1. Exit. Wait outside at the lp if I need to get rid of boarders.
2. Reenter. Clear any boarders. Repair any damage (max bots on carp and bilge). Clear any bilge. Exit/Reenter if I need to replenish moves quick. Don't forget to move swabbies back to sails.
3. Haul if there's anything down. The cool down period gives time for the enemy ships to scatter so hopefully there's some time to pull stuff up before they come back.
4. Repeat the cool down cycle.
5. Check for GYs and brigs in my zone and make the decision to continue or leave.
6. When I do decide to leave, I rehire the swabbies, dnav back to port, and divvy. Yay!
*As I mentioned earlier, there is a minor exception to zero damage on the soft boundary. If you're sitting in the corner facing the edge then turn toward the safezone, you'll incur a super small sliver of damage. In other words, if you use 2 instead of 3 straights to set up your position, then the two turns, you'll get end up with a small sliver of damage on that second turn. It's not a big deal, but it also only takes an extra straight to avoid it.
Graveyards: GYs do not give you any chests. Honestly, if you want poe, go do something else. So quite frankly, seeing a GY spawn in my zone is bad news. All GYs come with a brig and two sloops. And as I mentioned before, I don't like brigs in this strategy.
That doesn't mean you have to bail as soon as you get a GY. It can get a little risky, but if you can time your entrance so the sloops get to you first, the sloops can shield you from the brig's attacks, and you can probably get the brig to sink sloops for you.
2-3 man strategy: I've been experimenting with this to balance effectiveness vs. maximum shares for people. When I have a friend that wants to come with me to HS, there's a gun spot and a haul spot. The gunner is on guns the whole time. There are times when there's nothing in the area to shoot and then they may opt to take challenges. The haul spot hauls when applicable. This allows you to pull in treasure while shooting more stuff down, which is super nice. The hauler might also supplement elsewhere while waiting for hauls... clearing boarders, supplementing sails, maybe a dab of carp work as they see fit.
If you get a third person on board, a full time carper is nice to combat damage and extend the amount of time you can stay on the board. Something to think about: when solo, I'll often exit/reenter just to get the basic moveset quickly. When you have people on board, sometimes it's worth waiting for the moves to spawn so you can keep their indicators rather than the solo strategy.
Rotating through the different roles between cycles is a good way to keep people from getting bored. Even with one or two more people on board, I limit it to one person hauling at a time. Again, this is to maximize the amount of hauling time to pull chests.
I'm not inclined to go above three on board just because I feel more people won't really help you pull more chests. Other than that, more people probably won't ruin a run.
I don't plan on posting this guide on the forums or wiki yet just because of selfish reasons... I'd rather keep the likelihood of running into other people at a minimum. But if you do come across someone else in HS, be courteous. Don't steal their hauls. Heck, if I see someone else there before me, I leave because I don't want to ruin their operation. At least chat with them, see if you can team up or work something out.
If you're curious, I've started keeping collecting data from my runs. The running spreadsheet can be found here:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AkHMgVZqDG7RdFJBSm5fREs2MDNmY3lURHJnb2FYcnc&usp=sharing
The blue boxes are just to help me quickly find the boxes I want to manipulate. The data is broken up as follows:
1. WB boards vs. sloop boards spawned
2. Number of one locks (1-L), two locks (2-L), and three locks (3-L) pulled... or at least, that I've accounted for
3. Average amount of poe, highest amount of poe, and lowest amount of poe I've found in each type of chest. After documenting numbers for a while, I concluded that 1-L chests give you <1k, 2-L chests give you between 1k and 3k, and 3-L chests give you >3k.
4. Distribution of items I have found in each of the chest types.
Other than that, good luck. Happy HS Hunting to you.