Test Server Update – New Ocean Fleets, Targeted Loot & Balance Changes

[h3]New Ocean Fleets[/h3]

[p]Added new Dutch Ocean Fleets patrolling the Deep Waters between La Mona and Curacao (Benedenwinds region on the map).[/p]
[p]The fleets do not attack players for now (unlike the patrolling NPCs on Trincomalee ships).[/p]
[p]It is impossible to join a battle on the side of the Ocean Fleet, and the same applies to initial pulling into the battle — this prevents players from disrupting others’ engagements.[/p]
[p]On Live Servers, these fleets will sail at full strength with 20–25 NPC ships.[/p]
[p]On the Test Server, fleet size is limited to 3 NPC ships for more comfortable small-group testing.[/p]
[p]Sinking these ships provides a chance to loot rare offensive modules (e.g. gun reloading, boarding modules) and rare books for collections, with an increased drop rate.[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]Targeted Loot Distribution[/h3][p]We are gradually introducing activity-specific loot targeting.
This means different activities now yield different loot types.[/p][p]Current implementation:[/p]

[p]Ocean Fleets → Rare offensive modules (blue to gold) and rare books for collections.[/p]
- [p]For example: Gun Sights, Marines, Gunners, etc.[/p]
[p]Raiders Port Battles → Rare defensive modules (blue to gold) and rare books for collections.[/p]
- [p]For example: Planking, Reinforced Sails, Reinforced Masts, etc.[/p]

[p]We believe this approach will help players determine which activity to focus on in order to collect a desired module or book.[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Double Shot Effectiveness[/h3][p]The effectiveness of double shot has been significantly reduced at long ranges:[/p]

[p]Damage now starts to gradually fall off from 250m to 500m.[/p]
[p]Beyond 500m, double shot becomes completely ineffective.[/p]

[p]Double shot is now exclusively a close-range ammunition.[/p][hr][/hr][h3]Other Changes[/h3]

[p]Update on NPC decision-making regarding when to switch broadsides.[/p]
[p]Open World Patrol Trincomalee NPCs are now Dutch, same as the Ocean Fleets.[/p]
[p]Updated localization (conquest missions).[/p]

[hr][/hr][h3]Known Issues[/h3][p]It is currently impossible to teleport from/to outposts, create new buildings, or craft in existing buildings in the following Free Towns:[/p]

[p]Nassau[/p]
[p]La Tortue[/p]
[p]La Mona[/p]
[p]Aves[/p]
[p]Guayaguayare[/p]
[p]Dariena[/p]
[p]Great Corn[/p]
[p]Tumbado[/p]

[p]This issue will be resolved in the next hotfix.[/p][p]UPDATE – The issue was fixed on September 27 and Free Town functionality has been fully restored[/p][hr][/hr][p]Spotlight image by Revard, from the January 2022 screenshot competition.[/p]