Caribbean Legend News

The Open Beta for Patch 1.6 has been running for a month now. I can't give you an exact end date yet - it all depends on your bug reports and feedback. Especially since we just rolled out a major update for the beta.
[h3]Here are the highlights:[/h3]

• New model for the restored Caleuche with three paint variants.
  
  
• The restored Caleuche now features 42-caliber gun ports, boosted stats, and has become the best ship in the game. For now.
  
• The restoration cost for the Caleuche has increased significantly and is now one of the ultimate long-term goals worth saving doubloons for from the very start of your playthrough.
  
• William Patterson got a new haircut and can now wear displayable hats.
  
  
• More remastered towns:
  
  Santiago
  Havana
  Tortuga
  Belize
  Bluefield
  Porto Bello
  Panama
  Cartagena
  Maracaibo
  Caracas
  
  
  That brings us to 19 remastered towns in total. Almost there.
  
  
• Pirate threat level is now dynamic and increases gradually. Destroying pirate ships lowers it, and if you don't feel like fighting, you can always negotiate with one of the barons.
  
• Pirates and hostile squadrons are now less aggressive, making it much easier to escape from them early in the game.
  
• Added a perk reset potion (works for officers too!). Look for the recipe in graveyards, lighthouse keepers, and in alchemist shops.
  
• Added three new captain cabins: for the ghost Caleuche, restored Caleuche, and galleons. Currently placeholders without lighting for testing purposes. They'll be fully finished by the beta release.
  
  
• Returned missing chests to all captain cabins.
  
• Boatswain perks now work as intended, including for enemy captains. Factored into the Cayman boss fight too.
  
• The theft perk now works on Justice Island.
  
• Made significant changes to ship gunnery. Quick shot accuracy has been improved and balanced, so you won't have to struggle at the start and desperately search for a gunner - there's always a chance to hit. As a result, forts and AI ships also land hits more frequently.
  
• Reduced average cannon firing delay and decreased the influence of captain and crew experience - naval combat has become much more dynamic, which pairs especially well with the new gun sound system. Thanks to flashdeck for testing and reports.
  
• Musketeer officers no longer forget how to shoot.
  
• Sailors finally shoot pistols at each other during boarding actions.
  
• Redesigned character health and energy bars. Added new effects.
  
• Item descriptors and properties are now displayed when looting chests and trading.
  
• Amulets and charms in the inventory are now additionally highlighted for officers who can benefit from them.
  
• Fixed crashes and save corruption.
  
• Spyglasses now show approximate crew numbers according to their descriptions and increase the viewing radius on the global map.
  
• Added new cutscenes with increased levels of brutality to several old quests.
  
• (Hero of the Nation) You can now destroy the Capsterville blockade while rescuing the lugger.
  
• Officer professions are now displayed on the hiring screen.
  
• NPC captains now have their own officers, from whom they receive bonuses to skills and perks.
  
  
• Added minimum rank requirements for NPC captains based on their ship class. For example, ships of the line and frigates are commanded by extremely dangerous opponents.
  
• Perks now have alternative properties: different ones for the main character and NPCs. This way, AI won't waste skill points on perks that are useless to them.
  
• Expanded descriptions for all amulets - now they all include a general description of their effect. Specific numbers and details are still available on mouseover as before, but navigation between amulets has been significantly simplified.
  
• Made balance adjustments to numerous skills and mechanics. Strengthened marksman branch bonuses and increased the value of self-repair at sea.
  
• Rebuilt skill trees - advanced strikes are now available as master skills at the end of branches. At low ranks, there's a much lower chance of encountering enemies with advanced strikes.
  
• Increased health and energy gains from perks, and increased their cost.
  
• Fixed a situation where quick shots from blunderbusses would completely miss due to leaning animations.
  
• Made substantial balance adjustments to the prologue.
  
• Made significant changes to item descriptors (primarily blades and armor). Thanks to Sarevok for the help.
  
• Made significant changes to boarding balance and advantage calculations. Thanks to everyone for testing.
  
• Fixed several balance issues with doubloons, only 999 more to go. Thanks to everyone for the reports.
  
• Fixed the trade formula. It now works as intended.
  
• 28 new Steam achievements.
  

Play the beta and leave reviews — blue ones ːsteamthumbsupː, like the Caribbean Sea!
What we do — we do for you.
ːjollyrː

In just one day, this massive game has transformed. I would never have taken such a bold step if I didn't know how lucky we are with our community: 20% of players immediately jumped into the beta and have already logged thousands of hours. This is a true privilege that very few games can boast.

For our part, we're working overtime every single day. Balancing, squashing bugs, processing your feedback — and we'll keep at it until the beta ends or the feedback dries up.

The latter clearly isn't happening anytime soon.
Thank you all.
[h2]What's New[/h2]
ːjollyrː A modern 3D sound system is now built into the engine. Currently implemented:

• Ship's bells every four hours.
  
• Crew sounds outside of combat.
  
• Crew sounds during combat.
  
• Crew reactions to critical damage, taking damage, and battle victories.
  
• Officer commands.
  
• Cannon fire and echoes — varies by distance from player, with realistic sound travel speed.
  

We're planning to replace all sounds at sea, on land, and on the world map throughout this year. Have a listen!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR2aZl-erWg
ːjollyrː Added first-person mode on land (toggle with mouse wheel). Works in combat too. Skyrim vibes. Work in progress, so use carefully.
ːjollyrː Reworked PIRATES logic for smoother progression for both player and NPCs. This is crucial for controlling combat difficulty and the new character generator.
ːjollyrː Rebalanced attribute system:

• Critical hits: depend on Success and Insight.
  
• HP: depend on Power and Endurance.
  
• Energy: depend on Reaction and Talent, now gradually increase with each level.
  

Talent is actually useful now. In patch 1.7, we'll make Authority useful too.
[h2]Fixed[/h2]

• Reduced ship speeds (without affecting combat dynamics).
  
• Land combat speed normalized, now slightly less lethal for both sides.
  
• Added additional stat bonuses for enemies based on difficulty. Bosses now actually feel like bosses.
  
• Fixed non-functional perks and items.
  
• World map rebalanced: multiple squadrons chase the player less frequently.
  
• New icons refined — closer to final versions.
  
• Fixed crashes when attacking characters.
  
• Item overload no longer breaks movement animations.
  
• Perks interface no longer breaks when viewing officer abilities.
  
• Perks bonuses now display correctly in tooltips.
  
• Fixed firearms that require specific skills.
  
• Amulets no longer conflict with each other.
  
• Perks redistribution / PIRATES fixed.
  
• Mangarosa potions work as described: all last 50 days, duration shown in interface.
  
• Fixed double assignment of boarding crew.
  
• Added perk unlocking via double-click.
  
• "Captain" perk only required for rank 4 ships and above.
  
• Longway now gets "Captain" for Mayfeng delivery.
  
• Treasurer perk tree rebuilt (requirements and costs).
  
• New location and lighting fixes.
  
• New quest fixes.
  
• Localization fixes.
  
• Item and descriptor description fixes.
  
• Increased experience share for officers, companions, and passengers.
  
• Increased weapon permit drop rate.
  
• Increased number of empty chests at the moneylender.
  
• Fixed Tichingitu ransom price according to new doubloon exchange rate.
  
• Ship generator refactored and rebalanced — hunting ships at sea is now more profitable than buying at shipyards. Removed huge stat variations (especially speed).
  

[h2]Still To Fix[/h2]

• Character generator — proper auto-configuration of stats and perks for officers, bosses, captains, and others.
  
• Boatswain perk tree still needs some love.
  
• All the bugs we find together over the next three weeks.
  

Play the beta and leave reviews — blue ones ːsteamthumbsupː, like the Caribbean Sea!
What we do — we do for you.
ːjollyrː

[h3]On the menu: [/h3]

• Open Beta 1.6 is live
  
• Participation is voluntary
  
• "Supporter Pack" DLC released
  
• Purchase is mandatory
  
• No need to start a new game
  
• Disable all mods
  
• Character builds and replayability added to the game
  
• Combat system completely reworked
  
• We really need you to play the beta and share your feedback
  

[hr][/hr]
[h3]Quick FAQ:[/h3]
Why are the DLCs so small?
It's simple. Either we make large paid expansions, or we keep adding tons of mechanics, quests and free content with every patch.
This isn't a big brainer, as the project still has a long way to go before becoming our dream game. Small DLCs help balance the budget and provide valuable rewards to players, while most of the money goes toward developing new content and mechanics. This won't change until we reach version 2.0 in the main menu.

What about the addon?
Same situation. The "OtE" project has completed pre-production. Character concept art is ready, the story is written, mechanics are defined, and a prototype of the main location is built. That's enough to start work — as soon as we fulfill our commitments to the main game.

Why do we always need to start a new game?
That's not true. Over the past year and a half since release, a new game was only required for patch 1.5. We warned about this back in 2024. The next such patch will be 2.0.

Which patch will be final?
I believe it will be 2.1. Probably spring 2026?

When will new localizations be available?
No promises yet, but I expect to add Turkish, Japanese, Korean and Brazilian Portuguese localizations by the end of this year.
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Supporter Pack[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2749310/Caribbean_Legend__Supporter_Pack/
For a year and a half, the "Supporter Pack" remained exclusive to owners of the most expensive pre-orders, contest winners and our friends. That's over two hundred people without whom the game would never have been released.

We've added two achievements, a mini-quest and five new items. They'll really shine in version 1.6, as you can build 1-2 interesting builds with them.
The DLC is generous with loot, available in story mode and free play. This is the best way to support the team. If you enjoy our work and share our desire to make the game better — buy it while it's still available.
[hr][/hr]
[h2]1.6 BETA[/h2]

The patch radically changes the combat system, adds character builds and reimagines the balance of all items in the game.
1.6 would have been much weaker without Pvt. Joker and Apdyak. Thank you guys. For your talent and your work.

We have an incredibly rich list of changes ahead. You'll need to relearn how to fight, rediscover items, and build character progressions. Ship controls, navigation on the world map and trading haven't been left untouched either.
It's impossible to nail the balance of so many mechanics on the first try. That's why it's important for you to play the beta. Only your feedback and reports will help us fine-tune this monster.
Let's go.
[h2]Ships[/h2]

• Barquentine
  
• Trading Schooner
  
• Caleuche
  

Creating ships is a long and expensive process. That's why any new ship must solve a specific problem in the game, not just exist for the sake of it.


The Barquentine and Schooner appear frequently, and their old hulls stood out and spoiled the first impression. Plus, we're planning to increase the role of merchant ships — an upgrade was necessary.


The Caleuche is the most popular ship among players, and its original model was outdated. Now it's a true wonder of the Caribbean Sea. You can no longer restore its hull, but you don't need to anyway.


[h2]Ship Interiors[/h2]

• Small Hold
  
• Medium Hold
  
• Small Cabin
  
• Small Cabin with Windows
  
• Medium Cabin
  
• Large Cabin
  

We're almost done with interior spaces. We only didn't manage to redo the Caleuche's cabin.
A couple of months ago we had big plans for these locations, but priorities changed. It's disappointing, of course, the ideas were great, but when you see what we traded them for — you'll understand it was worth it.


However, it's no coincidence that you can now sit at the captain's table. We'll probably implement this mechanic eventually.
[h2]Cities[/h2]

• Saint Pierre
  
• Bridgetown
  
• Basse-Terre
  
• St. John's
  
• Capsterville
  
• Philipsburg
  
• Port-au-Prince
  
• Santo Domingo
  
• San Jose
  

Instead of completely rebuilding cities, we took a different approach. Thanks to the hard work of Apdyak and mPlank, some cities have been incredibly transformed.
High-quality textures, artistic decisions and a unified style. Amazing work — we'll soon update the remaining cities in the same way.
[h2]Quests[/h2]

• "The Caleuche" quest now available in free play.
  
• "Grant Albalate" - available in free play.
  
• "In a Mousetrap" - available in free play.
  
• Mystery of Le François - new event.
  
• Mystery of Saint Pierre - new event.
  
• Shackles of Gambling - new side quest.
  
• Letter from the Dead - new side quest.
  
• La Espada Del Rey - new side quest.
  

All these quests are available in story mode and free play, but designed specifically for free play. With each patch, we increase the value of this mode and move away from Charles de Maure's story...
But it's not going well.

• "The Wild Rose" - major story quest.
  

Dedicated to your favorite Mary Casper. An Opus Magnum spanning 250 pages, which was proofread, rewritten and developed by an entire team over several months with active participation from alpha testers.

Available after resolving the Tortuga situation, requires normal relations with England and a visit to Barbados. It will give you three items and a tragedy in six acts.


This is the penultimate addition to story mode. You'll meet the last one later this year.
[hr][/hr]
Next, we'll talk about the new gameplay. I wasn't joking when I said the game has changed dramatically. This really is a different, fresh experience.
To help you (and myself) understand the new state of affairs, I'll ask you: when reading everything below, keep this scheme in mind.

Items and descriptors → Perks and archetypes → New combat system
[hr][/hr]
[h2]Items[/h2]
There are about a thousand items and dozens of crafting recipes in the game. Almost all have changed. The old meta and guides no longer work. There are almost no useless items left, and useful combinations are plentiful.

• All items now have descriptors that provide bonuses and properties, and stack with each other and with perks.
  
  
• Simple example: want to sail alone and fear no one? Take a powerful ship, exotic items and perks for them. From fleet power and manual cannon aiming to crafting efficiency and weapon attack speed — there are combinations everywhere.
  
• All weapons and their damage mechanics have been recalculated. Now length and curvature don't do anything on their own, what matters is which perks you choose.
  
• All armor has been standardized. Protection parameters depend on the material it's made from. Armor no longer negates crits and doesn't divide damage into melee and firearm. Armor no longer has penalties.
  
• Critical hit mechanics reworked — now all characters have a base crit chance, and items that increased crit chance are practically non-existent. There are items that increase or decrease crit damage. Crits happen rarely but deal massive damage.
  
• Effects of almost all amulets in the game have been reworked. Amulets have the same duration, no penalties and no incompatibilities.
  
• All potion effects have been reworked, from healing to mangarosa-based drinks. New recipes added.
  
• Ammunition effects changed, as well as crafting recipes. Paper cartridges and special ammo now require rare resources.
  
• Firearms reworked, their characteristics and features.
  

The new item balance and descriptor system serve as the foundation for the completely redesigned character progression and perks.
[h2]Perks[/h2]
The new system was described in great detail with examples here.

• 56 new perks added.
  
• Perk points awarded more frequently.
  
• All perks have different costs.
  
• You can unlock about half during a playthrough.
  
• Personal perks are divided into several archetypes: duelist, soldier, musketeer and pirate.
  
  
• The adventurer branch is dedicated to crafting, loot collection and social life.
  
• The mastery branch — for "tuning" your character to your favorite weapon.
  
• More naval perks, they've been rebalanced and become much more useful.
  
  
• New character generator created. We're even closer to having every character in the game world live by the same rules as the player — like in Bannerlord or Kenshi.
  
• Characters receive perks according to their rank and status — from civilian to boss.
  
• Depending on their build, characters receive an archetype displayed next to their health bar.
  

The difference between archetypes is huge, so every non-standard opponent will require your attention and knowledge of perks.
Let's lock it in: items combine with each other and perks. Perks form archetypes for heroes and NPCs. When they clash — our new combat system begins.
[h2]Combat System[/h2]
First, let's look at what we've done over the past six months:

• Sprint
  
• Pushing
  
• Weapon switching on the move
  
• Carrying muskets on your back
  
• Blocking while moving
  
• Aiming
  
• Headshots and buckshot
  
• Jumping with weapons in hand
  

And now let's add even more:

• Attack speed — weapon type, perks and amulets determine attack speed. Fending off a dozen enemies at once or standing in block against a duelist won't work. Finally, you need to use parries.
  
• Movement speed — armor type, encumbrance, ammo and amulets affect movement speed. Not dramatically, but sometimes it's all you need to change position or land a headshot.
  
• Block breaking — it now breaks: from perks, heavy attacks, firearm shots and backstabs. The victim receives strong stun. There are very few situations left in the game where opponents stand facing each other in eternal block with 10% energy, and pistols got a second life.
  
• Camera-based targeting — we heard your feedback, and now you don't need to move your character to target an enemy. Catch your target in the center of the screen, wait for the marker to appear — and strike.
  
• Area damage — if enemies stand close together, you can hit them not only with group attacks. Study perks and weapons. Nothing stops you from creating a real AOE build.
  
• Advanced attacks — high-level archetypes unlock advanced versions of heavy attacks, fast attacks and group attacks. Very dangerous and spectacular attacks.
  
  
• Feint removed — three attacks added, one removed. Feint looked bad, played bad and reduced duels to one button. Time slowdown hasn't been removed yet, but it's next.
  
• Block no longer cancels animations — this exploit made any duel trivial, just like the deceased feint above. You can no longer abruptly stop an attack and instantly transition to block or parry. Personally, I had to retrain myself, my fingers were too used to constantly spamming the spacebar.
  
• New animations — for headshots, deaths, stuns, block breaks, advanced attacks. It looks very fun, and winning battles is now a real pleasure.
  

Now all our work in recent patches has come together into a new combat system, as originally intended.

Of course, it's become more complex. Now you need to build your character, select equipment, use parries and blocks.
But all rules also apply to enemies. Imagine the situation — three are attacking you. All have different archetypes and attack timings. You're standing in block, praying a duelist or soldier's heavy attack doesn't break it. But Mary approaches from behind and starts breaking their blocks from behind, stunning them and starting a massacre. One advanced group attack — and you've won.


Or imagine how fun it is to run light with a musket from enemies in heavy armor with a perk for slowing from shots.
There are many such situations now. With your help, we'll find them all and polish them to perfection.

One thing I can say for sure: the last time "Sea Dogs" changed this much was in 2005.
[h2]Other Mechanics[/h2]
The tragedy of our game is that it has more than just progression and land combat. So we had to create several new mechanics and tweak the balance in various places.

• Escape on the world map. Previously, if an enemy caught you, there was no choice — you had to fight, flee in naval mode, reload or use exploits. With version 1.6, you can temporarily neutralize any pursuer. The chance depends on equipment, perks and build, as well as the composition, size, cargo and condition of your fleet. And luck — where would we be without it.
  
  
• Gathering nearby fleets into battles. Major innovation for testing. Any encounter on the world map gathers not just you and your opponent, but all fleets nearby. It's not Direct Sail, but it's close. Can create absolutely insane living world situations.
  
• New boarding scenarios: the crew may surrender their captain, and the captain may take their own life. Fighting with the captain on the upper deck instead of the cabin can also happen.
  
• Ability to pick up items when overloaded with penalties. Affects movement speed.
  
• Destroying punitive fleets resets threat from a nation.
  
• Small amounts of strategic goods added to the holds of pirates, hunters and gentlemen of fortune.
  
• Fleet power is used when extorting captains at sea.
  
• Hull wear mechanic removed.
  
• Chest trap mechanic removed.
  
• Sailing angle now works properly. Ships at maximum wind at the right angles now achieve speeds listed in ship characteristics. Fore-and-aft rigs are effective at most angles but have lower average speed. Square-rigged ships' efficiency drops sharply against the wind, but at their effective angles they're unbeatable.
  
• Trade rebalancing. Aggressive demand goods removed, increased influence of "Trade" skill on prices. Trading is now possible from the start of the game, as price jumps from trade skill are smoothed, but goods type now has more influence. For effective trading, it's now more important to collect price lists in cities and plan routes. "On-the-go" trading is now possible — while sailing the Caribbean on your business, you can make profitable deals using the difference between import and export.
  
• Boarding skill affects the range of goods collection at sea.
  
• You can leave a ship docked with its crew. Each month the crew disperses and requires payment. When selling a ship, the crew is distributed among other ships in the fleet, and the remainder goes to the tavern.
  

[h2]UI/UX/QoL[/h2]
Originally, patch 1.6 was called the "QoL patch" and was supposed to focus on what makes the game more convenient and your life better.
We couldn't stay within the scope, but we did almost everything planned:

• Tooltips. Every UI element now highlights and provides a hint when hovering. Thanks to this, all interfaces have become much more convenient, and the game — clearer and more visual.
  
• Hotkeys on the world map. Useful for beginners and those who don't know you can open the atlas or zoom out. Can be disabled in settings.
  
• Inventory and skill windows don't reset when switching between passengers and officers.
  
• Pictures for world map encounters and prettier windows.
  
• Characters available for dialogue are highlighted.
  
• Amulets highlighted by selected officer's specialty.
  
• Price profitability highlighting when selling to street vendors. You'll know which goods they buy more eagerly... If you have the perk, of course.
  
• Portals and levers now get hotkey hints — like doors and chests.
  
• All officers are available in item trading and their positions are shown.
  
• "Sell All" and "Sell Luxury Items" buttons added.
  
• You can sell items even if the merchant doesn't have enough money.
  
• Learned recipes are additionally highlighted in the trade window.
  
• Vanguards are listed first in the officers list.
  
• In the captain's cabin during boarding, you can load loot into vanguards.
  
• Item exchange can be started from inventory if characters are nearby.
  
• Password and riddle input is no longer manual.
  
• You can raise morale on companion ships without exchanging ships.
  
• Atlas and maps reworked. Now sorted by water areas. Excellent maps are also added to the atlas. And if you have the navigator perk — sailing speed on the world map is increased in familiar waters.
  
• Maps are copied to the atlas without consuming them from inventory.
  
• Quests in the archive are sorted by last update.
  
• Doubloons are always taken from the cabin. The inventory counter accounts for all the player's doubloons.
  
• Sorting by clicking column headers in tables in inventory, journal, trade, chests, shipyard and exchange.
  
• Double-clicking a commodity in the trade journal opens a table with prices for that commodity by city.
  
• When selling a ship, you receive money for the cannons installed on it.
  
• When trading cannons, the current quantity on the ship is shown, accounting for installed and spare in the hold. The line with appropriate caliber cannons is highlighted.
  
• Ships at the shipyard are sold with cannons already installed.
  
• You can remove cannons in the ship exchange interface.
  
• Ability to toggle bay marker display on the world map.
  
• Tooltips include calculations of effects from skills, items, temporary boosts and PIRATES.
  
• Added ability to select assignments in port authority. If the ship specialization doesn't match, the port master will point this out.
  
• Character titles added. Useful when talking to officers and just nice to know who you're talking to: a nobleman or a living dead.
  
• Several new settings to control the features listed above.
  

[h2]Miscellaneous[/h2]

• Optimization and final polishing of all systems.
  
• Various small things. And sometimes not so small.
  
• Global character calculation optimization. Previously, the game recalculated ALL characters on the location every second. Their inventory, skills and so on. Now it doesn't, and Willemstad no longer lags.
  
• Fixed FOV. Objects in the game now look more realistic and aren't stretched. You can return the classic FOV in settings.
  
• Character camera no longer switches with TAB. The setting is now available in the menu.
  
• Music no longer repeats.
  
• Remaster of some old animations.
  
• Alonso model remaster.
  
• Many fixes for world map optimization. Fewer freezes and bugs. On powerful systems the changes aren't as noticeable, but daily world map updates and fleet loading are almost instant, eliminating unpleasant freezes and making the game smoother.
  
• World map fleet composition rebalanced based on tests and feedback. On average, fleets are slightly smaller, higher chance of meeting a lone merchant. Fleet progression is less aggressive. Crown expeditions are slightly less protected. Pirates, gentlemen of fortune and bounty hunters slightly weakened.
  
• Maneuverability and sail condition influence rebalanced. Now maneuverability is lowest with furled sails, highest with battle sails. Sail damage affects maneuverability more. Now you can stay in the blind spot of an attacked ship.
  
• Navigation influence on speed and maneuverability rebalanced. These characteristics now depend more on the ship than on skill.
  
• Officer loyalty rebalanced. Less whining and attempts to leave now. Base loyalty also increased.
  
• Complete calm at sea is now impossible. Wind, in general, has strengthened. Battles have become faster.
  
• Usurer deposits are not as profitable now. The Caribbean has lowered the key rate, so maximum deposit interest is about 2.5%, and loans are issued at 6%.
  
• Crafting of several items changed, recipes updated, cemetery watchman's assortment significantly expanded — now he's the best friend for a player with an alchemist build.
  
• Punitive fleet logic and pursuit duration fixed.
  
• Quest officer fixes in free play mode. Free play Longway can carry a musket.
  
• Reassigning vanguards outside the ship and friendly ports is no longer possible. This is an experimental feature, write feedback. The goal is to make the feeling of ship-as-home and ship-as-camp stronger.
  
• Skill check requirements for starting battle with Lady Beth's crew reduced.
  
• Treasure map seller generation and treasure content is now more fair and even. Merchant spawn no longer checks on location entry, but their appearance probability accumulates, no more long losing streaks. Treasure content and location no longer changes on reload.
  
• Free play starting equipment rebalanced. Removed tartan, gave each backstory a class 6 ship.
  
• Updated credits in main menu.
  
• English localization proofread and many errors fixed in other languages.
  
• Two new achievements.
  

And... that's all!
Play the beta, buy the DLC and leave reviews — blue ones ːsteamthumbsupː, like the Caribbean Sea!
What we do — we do for you.
ːjollyrː

September 26 marks the start of the open beta for version 1.6. The changelog is so massive that I’ll begin writing it down this Monday.

So today — let’s keep it short and to the point.

[h2]Supporter Pack[/h2]
https://store.steampowered.com/app/2749310/Caribbean_Legend__Supporter_Pack/

For a year and a half, the Supporter Pack remained exclusive to those who purchased the most expensive pre-orders, contest winners, and our friends. That’s more than two hundred people without whom our beloved game would never have seen the light of day.

Now we’ve added two achievements, a mini-quest, and five new items to the pack. They truly shine in version 1.6, as you can build 1–2 strong and unique builds around them.

How much does it cost?
$9.99

Do I need to repurchase the new items if I already own this DLC?
No, everything will be added automatically. Starting the new game is not required.

Will the DLC work with the 1.6 beta?
Yes — and with version 1.5.1 as well.

[h2]Fleeing on the Global Map[/h2]
It’s finally here! In the past, if an enemy caught you, you had no choice but to fight, run away in naval mode, reload, or use exploits. There were simply no stats or mechanics that gave you control over your movement on the global map.



With version 1.6, you’ll be able to temporarily neutralize any pursuer. Your chances depend on your equipment, perks, and build, as well as the composition, size, cargo, and condition of your fleet. And of course — a bit of luck, because what’s a pirate’s life without it?

What we do — we do for you.
ːjollyrː

Hoist the topsail and set a course for the Bay of Creativity!
Kirill here — great to see you again.

It’s been a while since our last chat, so these GD Notes are going to be a long, packed with fresh details.

Back in Dev Diary VII we teased not one but two new gameplay systems, both tightly linked to each other. The response was huge, and the community had plenty of questions. Time to dive in and clear things up.
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[h2]Descriptors[/h2]
Descriptors are special item traits. They can carry unique mechanics and interact with perks in powerful ways.

Take the Schiavona for example:

• Class: Coldarm
  
• Stats: damage and weight
  
• Descriptors: Heavy, Long, Straight, Fancy
  

Damage and weight are self-explanatory. Descriptors, however, open up a much deeper layer of gameplay.
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[h3]Bonuses[/h3]

Some Descriptors work on their own and stack passive bonuses.

For instance, Fancy and Plain items (opposites of each other) boost Charisma or Stealth for every equipped slot.
Want more recruits at the tavern? Go all in on Fancy gear.
Dream of becoming a terror of the seas — build an Exotic set.


Need to sneak past patrols or make a quick getaway? Equip a full set of Plain items.
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[h3]Synergy[/h3]
Nearly every Descriptor now ties directly into personal perks.
In the Adventurer tree, for example, you’ll find the perk Tailored Fit.


It strengthens the synergy between Plain and Fancy items.

But the flashiest examples are perks based on weapon Descriptors:

• Heavy Hand — +15% damage with Heavy weapons, unlocks the advanced Heavy Attack.
  
• Palace Guard — Heavy Curved weapons: +15% damage with any attack and +5% with Group Attacks.
  
• Cunning Strike — Light weapons: +3% crit chance and +10% backstab damage.
  
• Exhaustion — Parrying with Short weapons drains +20% more enemy stamina.
  
• Perfect Balance — Medium weapons reduce incoming damage by 10%.
  
• Kern — Multi-Shot firearms: +8% damage and +4% reload speed for each empty barrel.
  
• Drill — Muskets: +18% movement speed while aiming, unlocks advanced stances.
  
• Shoot to Kill — Balls stun enemies, slowing them by 25% for 5 seconds.
  
• Elusiveness — Shoves: +30% shove power, less stamina cost.
  
• Marathoner — +15% sprint speed, less stamina cost.
  
• Flanking — Curved weapons: +10% attack speed, unlocks the advanced Group Attack.
  

Here’s how the Group Attack changes with the Flanking perk. Three swings instead of two.
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[h2]Items[/h2]
As mentioned earlier, we’ve reworked almost every item in the game:

• All weapons and damage recalculated. Length and curvature alone no longer grant bonuses — their power depends on your perk choices.
  
• Armor standardized: protection depends on material only, no penalties, and crits can’t be blocked.
  
• Critical mechanics reworked: everyone has a base crit chance, but bonuses are rare. Crits are now rare but deadly.
  
• Amulets: unified duration, no penalties or incompatibilities, new mechanics added.
  
• Potions rebalanced, with new recipes and effects.
  
• Ammo and crafting revised, paper cartridges now require rare resources.
  
• Firearms fully reworked. They only shine in the hands of characters built for them — no more “early-game win button.”
  

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[h2]New Personal Perks[/h2]
[h3]Trees and Archetypes[/h3]
The old system had a few “god-tier” perks surrounded by a pile of useless ones. Some didn’t even work (like the accuracy bonus).

Now perks are organized into larger archetypes, each with its own playstyle:

• Musketeer — firearms, bayonets, ammo, and weapon swap speed.
  
• Soldier — health pool, Heavy weapons, crowd control.
  
• Duelist — glass cannon, reach, crits.
  
• Pirate — area damage, Medium weapons, wider attack arcs.
  
• Adventurer — social perks, rare weapons, crafting and looting.
  
• Mastery — focused on specific weapon Descriptors like Heavy, Curved or Multi-Shot. In other words, tailoring perks to your favorite weapon.
  

Combat fundamentals have changed as well: new mechanics and attack types added. No more skipping animations with a block. Feints are gone. Guard breaks now cause different stun animations, with backstabs being the most dangerous.
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[h2]Progression[/h2]
The old system was too slow and grindy. Here’s what’s new:

• Perk costs cut in half (or even more).
  
• Perk points earned more often (up to 2 per rank).
  
• Perk costs vary: 1 to 3 points.
  

As a result, players can master about 2.5 trees: either two archetypes fully or a unique hybrid build.
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[h2]Buildcrafting[/h2]
The principle: cheap perks are universal, expensive perks are powerful but situational.
Some perks can be combined across trees to create hybrid builds.


Nothings stops Soldier from having some sweet Duelist moves.

Example hybrid-builds:
- Gunslinger-Swordsman — clears enemies at range, then dives in with AoE.
- Alchemist-Shooter — stacks power through items, crafting and social perks.

We’re excited to see your guides — there may be at least eight builds… or infinite!
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[h2]Build Example: Rank 10 Pirate[/h2]

We’ll start with the Accountant background — it comes with a Machete right away.


By rank 10 you’ll have around 20 perk points.

• First 3 points — Endurance and Marathoner.
  
  
• Next 4 points — Dragoon, Reach, Ottoman Grip. Together that’s +28% DPS.
  
  
• Then grab Flanking and Saber Whirlwind for crowd fights.
  
  
• Final 7 points — Rising Energy, Perfect Balance, Core Defense, Rising Health.
  
  

The result: a build perfect for large-scale battles, including the fight with Blackwood on the Caymans.
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[h2]Equipment[/h2]

• Weapons: start with the Machete, later upgrade to Scimitar, Storta, Shamshir, or Gallowsblade. Finding a better weapon would be easier since Accountants tend to find better loot in treasure chests.
  
• Armor: pieces with the Tailored Descriptor (e.g., Leather Belt or Wicker Armor, + Attack Speed).
  
• Hats: Cavalier Hat (gain stamina on kill + even faster Group Attacks).
  
• Potions: Squall for more Attack Speed.
  
• Amulets:
  - Widowmaker (+damage to Group Attacks).
  - Ngombo Shield (if you don’t have Wicker Armor).
  - El Trozo (+2.5% movement speed per each Pagan amulet/ward).
  

This is the perfect setup for tackling all mid-game content. And it's only one option of the many.
See y'all you soon.

[h2]Q&A[/h2]
Joruba's back again, folks. Taking the microphone from Kirill to answer your questions. I've already covered some questions personally in Discord, but the most pressing and interesting ones made it here.

The questions below came from:

flashdeck, U1993, Qorben, Mr Gualtieri, Mr. Goodman, Maksim, Sea Wolf, Honest Merchant, Wazar, Sarevok, Reider, Captain Fadey, Vanish, Frazzle, DimkaSuperStaR, GunpowderHater, macio460, Hawx, dolken0291, Escorpion, Lucy Okada, Ahoy, Sellec, Guarwo, Vokshus, Dimchik, KingOrren, Rizen, kacpermalinowski007, PZh, 4Za-V9, Ariel, Inner Observer, Мастер Течи.

Might have missed someone, sorry for that.

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Question: Will there be a rework of how the maps work? Currently they don't do much.
Answer: In 1.6 the player's fleet speeds up in regions of which they have a map. If, of course, the corresponding naval perk is unlocked.

Question: Are there plans to expand the global map — new islands, settlements?
Answer: Not in this game. But we might add Old Providence island.

Question: Is a radical rework of fencing planned on the current engine?
Answer: Depends on what you consider a "radical rework". In version 1.6 land combat plays completely differently, and you'll have to relearn everything.

Question: What's the current status on the story mode for Diego?
Answer: That's a 2016 meme. But seriously, there's almost no chance.

Question: Will there be an official mod-kit with utilities and documentation?
Answer: Possibly, after version 2.0.

Question: How will trade and economy develop in future patches?
Answer: This is big. Much needs to be redone from scratch. For example, making the game to "see" which goods were bought or stolen where.

We're aiming for the Mount & Blade series experience. I always loved freeplaying in the early game there with a minimal squad, earning money in various ways and spending everything on buying enterprises. At some point money started making money, and you could afford an army. Amazing feeling, and I want to reproduce it in our game.

We planned to implement purchasing merchant stands already in 1.6, but with a heavy heart, I decided to postpone it. For now, we're carefully adjusting the economy to increase the value of money in the game. It's not about hardcore, it's about not making hundreds of thousand of pesos instantly and with little effort. Where is fun in that?

• Increased the usefulness of the "Trading" skill.
  
• Made loot less rich.
  
• Removed cheaty trade routes completely.
  
• Removed aggressive demand goods.
  
• Made deposits less profitable.
  

Question: Is it possible to explain the logic behind the new ship balance?
Answer: Due to how the bearing angle is currently implemented, our original design only works in tactical sailing mode. Once we solve this, the ship balance will work as intended. I think.

Generally the logic is rather simple:

• A raider with fore-and-aft sails can easily defeat one merchant.
  
• But if you conduct the attack poorly — the second merchant will surely escape downwind.
  
• And if there's also an escort of warriors — you'll be the one escaping.
  

Question: Is a rework of Vitality and Hull Degradation mechanics planned?
Answer: The second has already been cut, then we'll cut the first too. Same goes for a few other useless mechanics and skills.

Question: What about Charles de Maure's storyline? Epilogue, Mary?
Answer: We'll wrap things up this year with some final content. It's au revoir, Charles after that.

Question: Will unique ships get their own traits?
Answer: Unique ones — absolutely. Regular ships will get new traits too, especially warriors. We'll run a poll to ask for your ideas for new traits.

Question: Is a rework of the sound system planned?
Answer: Yes. Sound is half the game, in my opinion.

Question: Can we get rid of those situations where the story prevents you from searching the captain's cabin after boarding?
Answer: Yes. 1.6 brings a new weight and encumbrance system.

Question: Gamepad support?
Answer: Planned. Most likely at the very end — when we finalize mechanics and interface.

Question: Any plans to improve companions?
Answer: Great question. We'd love to enhance the whole "admiral" gameplay. Like being able to:

• Send companions out raiding on their own.
  
• Have them run trade routes.
  
• Complete quests for you.
  

It's a huge undertaking though. Not quite time for it yet, but it'll happen.

Question: Can we capture and manage colonies?
Answer: You can already capture them in sandbox mode. But real colony management would need city customizing, a rebuilt world map system, and an expanded threat system. That's endgame content, so it'll be a while. Might not happen at all — but we'd love to do it.

Question: Adding letters of marque?
Answer: Same deal as colonies.

Question: Will Isla Mona be added to sandbox mode?
Answer: We'll see next year. The quest was actually written with sandbox in mind from the start — all the dialogues for other heroes are made already.

Question: Are you going to integrate any community mods?
Answer: Quality of Pirate's Life and PerksReworked are getting the full treatment starting with 1.6.

Question: When can we stop having to start over with each patch?
Answer: So far, only 1.5 broke save files — and we warned about that almost a year ahead. The next one that definitely will require to start a new game is 2.0. Once you see what's in it, you'll get why.

Question: When's Helen coming back as a playable character?
Answer: It was my mistake, adding her in 1.3 just to take away from you in 1.4.

Getting the waifu back means:

• New animations for the updated controls.
  
• Brand new character model.
  
• Making sure hats, armor, lanterns, and muskets all work on her.
  

I am sorry, we just don't have resources for that right now.

Question: Can you add two-handed weapon animations and make them a separate category?
Answer: It's possible. But not happening.

Question: Will there be cats in the game?
Answer: As a cat person myself, I'd love that. We even had the feature planned and drafted. Maybe someday.

Question: Any info on the next Ship's Pack DLC?
Answer: Chapter four drops this year with one of the most requested ships in the game. You're gonna love it.

Question: How about a new Dutch hero?
Answer: Someone beat us to it. It's good.

Question: Visible hats on officers? More stealth gear?
Answer: No to the first, yes to the second starting in 1.6.

Question: When are we getting new graphics? New engine?
Answer: Now that would be telling. ːcharles_happyː

Question: Can we get cheaper ship storage?
Answer: We're tying the prices to player's Trading skill. Not to mention, you will be able to keep the crew on the stored ship, at least temporarily.

Question: How do you test new mechanics for balance?
Answer:

• We start with Excel spreadsheets and formulas. I hate this part. Kirill loves it though.
  
• Internal playtesting — see if the idea actually works and the math checks out.
  
• Closed alphas and open betas — gather feedback from community and fine-tune from there.
  

No other way to do it — the game's just too big and complex.

Question: Any plans to expand social perks and skills?
Answer: Starting in 1.6, going full social build isn't just viable — it actually helps in combat too.

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Summary:

• Patch 1.6 open beta drops September 26.
  
• Starting the new game is NOT required.
  
• New DLC announcement coming next week.
  
• Wazar, Мастер Течи and GunpowderHater win this Q&A and get free copies.
  
• Thank you all for your great questions. It was fun and we should do it more often.
  

That's it for today.
What we do — we do for you.
ːjollyrː