There are quiet a few thread that exhaustively discuss the proper crew complement to fight certain enemy ships and monsters already posted. However, these discussions were all about the monsters and enemy ships found in the western hemisphere. First off...... is there a difference since the last update introducing the eastern map for new exploration? If so, is there a new strategy in successfully fighting off Eastern Merchants/Pirate ships, Wyrms, Dragon Ships, Imperial Ships, Krakens etc.....? Inputs mateys please as to what is the best crew combo for winning.
A ship full of 17 maxed brutes + 2 gunners will still win one or two battles just fine, and it will be the cheapest in terms of hiretime and grog cost, however the longetivity is a lot lower than before. Rehiring the entire crew is faster and cheaper than rehiring a half dead crew of more expensive pirates. If you intend to fight three battles in the same trip (which I don't recommend!), you'll need to switch up your crew a bit. For ghost ships, 8 sky raiders on your crew does the trick. For monsters, brute doesn't seem to currently have his buff apply against Eastern seas monsters, so bring some bombers to fight Kraken. People suggest bringing a WD to reduce deaths, but the 100k cost and high recruit time just isn't worth it to save an extra couple slots. If you absolutely NEED to chain 3+ monsters, it might help, but that's horribly inefficient, especially if your WD dies the first battle.
Thank you Skye. I'm currently 56% in exploring Eastern seas and the monster that got me was the Giant Enemy Crab, the bad ass oriental cousin of the western crab which was too lame in comparison. Anyways I'll try your combo and see what works. There seem to be a lot of changes made in the eastern seas exploration.
I like to carry 2 Brutes, 2 Juggs, 2 HG, 8 SR, and mixture of Skellies/Gunners/Bombers. And @Skye is right, trying to attempt three ships/monsters on one voyage (Eastern Seas) isn't recommended. Although I do risk it from time to time. One thing I've learned is: the longer the ship is in heavy seas (the darker waters) the more likely to pick up lots more gold, grog, EP and even gems.
I load my ship up! Nothing is more frustrating than doing several battles and ending 'lost at sea'. I have probably only been lost/defeated 2-3 times, and that was due to laziness of not fulling up the ship. I agree with Skye, if you limit to 2-3 battles and care about recruitment time and cost, use his suggestions. But since I prefer the non-brainer approach, I use 1 priestess, 2 HG's, 2 Skellies, 4 Juggs, 2WD's, 5 bombers, 5 SR's, 4 brutes, a few buccs and rest gunners....and one thief. She is onboard to tell 'the boys' what to do
I can hit 5 eastern sea monsters/ships with. 5 brute 3 jugs 1 wd 3 skelly 24 bombers 12 gunners I regularly attack 5 items on eastern sea with this combo... 6 items is not recommended tho. I find the more bombers I use the more likely I will not have a lost at sea.. I think bombers are best bang for your buck when attacking at sea
Sounds good, however, I thought WD had no relevance on exploration voyages? He doesn't have any exploration skills and mine is maxed.
About a year ago midoki buffed him up to significantly reduce damage taken by the rest of crew when he is on ship. He doesn't have a specific buff toward any one type of monster or ship... But the wd does preserve the crew longer
Although I have accidentally deployed WD on explorations in the past and sometimes he returned unscathed, haven't done it in a while.... I'll give it a whirl and let you know how it turns out.
@ermitaboy I carry a boat load of Buc's on the Western map, but on the Eastern Map I add 1 WD for support. Am able to still get in 8-12hrs sailing and tack down a number of targets.
I just tend to spray the same generic pirate paste at exploration that I use for battles - 2 WD, 2 Brute, rest gunners. It isn't particularly economical or strategic, but for me at least it covers most battles up to 500PP and most explorations with 2-3 (not psychotically powerful) monsters. I'm a lazy pirate though, so do as they say, not as I do. : )
I was recently advised to try 3 to 4 witch doctors and the rest bombers. Expensive for the first recruit but the WDs last well. 5 star anything will take 5, occasionally 6 bombers. Try it, you'll be surprised how good the crew is.
I agree, I have been using the 2wd rest bombers combo for a while now and have really pushed to see what that limit is and havent lost a sail yet. Give it a go !
I would agree with @Dog Breath having played with the WD/Bomber mix during the last event found it to be a solid mix.
Having said that, am sure that if everyone switches to this mix and Sails safe and well. It wouldn't surprise me if somehow the 'A.I.' may mysteriously change to the effectiveness of this mix; increasing the risk of getting 'Lost at Sea' on these long Sails
