Skull and Bones builds its pirate fantasy focusing primarily on its different ship types. Although this translates to a limited amount of time we’ll spend on foot, it allows for a deeper approach to the different systems that fuel its nimble, spacious, or powerful vessels and the explosive combat encounters you’ll face.
Your humble beginnings as a pirate see you controlling a Dhow, a small ship that the developers describe as a light hunter-gatherer, suited to familiarize you with roaming the oceans, fending off wildlife, and other elements of the early game.
Skull and Bones Ship Types
As you gain more infamy and make your name known across the Indian Ocean, you unlock blueprints and designs that, given the proper resources, enable you to craft new, bigger Skull and Bones ships while also gaining access to different types of vessels.
At launch, Skull and Bones will feature 12 ships spread across three types. Cargo type ships are resistant but slower and not extremely maneuverable. They’re best suited for carrying high quantities of loot. You’ll know them by their rounded hulls, a smaller number of sails, and bulky appearance.
Navigation type ships are the fastest of the bunch but have less cargo space and hull hit points. They boast streamlined hulls, the highest number of sails, and a pointy appearance.
Firepower type ships come equipped with the most gun ports but are harder to maneuver. If the flurry of explosives headed your way doesn’t give them away, their blocky hulls, the average number of sails and squarish appearance might.
These three ship types offer a sense of the positives and negatives of each ship, but there’s more going into how they play, to the point where the developers claim that all 12 have their own gameplay styles.
Size is another important factor, which goes beyond just the visuals. A ship’s draught profile determines whether it can navigate rivers heading inland, approach the coast, or head onto the ocean.
As you probably expect, bigger ships won’t be your go-to choice for gathering resources from narrow rivers and lakes.
Weapon availability is another important aspect, as different ship types can equip different types of weapons. Generally speaking, the bigger vessels are able to equip more and/or bigger weapons, including the dreaded Giant Ballista or Greek Fire.
In addition, you’ll be able to customize your ship with cosmetic skins, accessories like cargo bags, which expand your carrying capacity, as well as different types of armor that protect against specific types of damage but are vulnerable to others.
Here are the 12 Skull and Bones ships available at launch, as spotted in the dev blog linked above. It’s worth keeping in mind that perks and other particularities might be different at launch.
- Dhow (first ship, light, hunter-gatherer)
- Hulk (Small, Cargo)
- Perks: Automatic harvesting; Improved harvesting;
- Draught: River, Coastal, Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 4
- Sloop (Small, Firepower)
- Perks: Improved brace efficiency; More broadside weapon damage
- Draught: River, Coastal, Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 2
- Bedar (Small, Navigation)
- Perks: Better defence at half sails; Improved sails break ability
- Draught: River, Coastal, Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 2
- Padewakang (Medium, Cargo)
- Perks: Improved cargo capacity; Sails and fire resistance
- Draught: Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 5
- Snow (Medium, Cargo)
- Perks: Improved brace efficiency; Improved hull hitpoints
- Draught: Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 5
- Brig (Medium, Firepower)
- Perks: Improved defenses on anchor; Improved damage on anchor
- Draught: Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 3
- Sambuk (Medium, Firepower)
- Perks: Improved fire efficiency; More damage to burning ships
- Draught: Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 3
- Brigantine (Medium, Navigation)
- Perks: Improved repair kit duration; Improved repair weapons
- Draught: Coastal, Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 4
- Ghanjah (Medium, Navigation)
- Perks: Improved front weapon damage; Improved ramming damage
- Draught: Ocean
- Furniture Capacity: 3
- Cutter
- Corvette </ul>
Each ship also has its own perks that further define its playstyle. During the game's re-reveal in July 2022, Game Director Ryan Barnard did note that the team behind the game sees Skull and Bones' ship types as tools available to the player, rather than direct upgrades.
Given how the smaller ones shouldn't get automatically replaced as you unlock their bigger brethren, it might be possible that, given enough resources, you can actually have a fleet that you can freely choose from before heading out to sea.
Lastly, the furniture slots available for each Skull and Bones ship allow you to equip items that allow you to customize it even further.
They grant effects such as increased damage dealt from a specific quadrant, improved brace efficiency, or ship hitpoints. If combat isn't your goal, they can also automate processes like refining, fishing, ammo, or cooking.
For more help with Skull and Bones, here's what we know about its map alongside the animals and pets we'll encounter.
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