Cleaver is an unique ship that has two very strong builds. It is very good gold investment as you get two playstyles for a price of one! Like all orc ships it's strengths are great turn rate and high close range damage. Weaknesses are vulnerability to sail damage, weak armor/hull, close range.

Cleaver's basic passive is Shrapnel: you get increased crit chance the closer to the enemy you are. This lets you to output insane damage to armor and crew up close.

Cleaver's level X passive is Scavenger: you get healed a little when you pick up gold. You can stay more healthy after a fight or lurk around for gold chests to repair faster.

As of April 26, 2018 boarding has been nerfed so it is less ridiculous. It is still viable but less reliable option.

Splint Depthbringer
Grants short duration speed buff.
Cooldown: 30 s.
+ Extra ramming damage
+ Escape tool
+ Surprise effect
- If your sails are down it won't help you escape
Best option for a cannon build.

Fade Marrowtooth
Puts a zone that slows enemy speed and turning.
Cooldown: 35 s.
+ Crowd control
+ Long duration and decent area
+ Can be used defensively and offensively
- Soft CC. Does not stop enemy from killing you. Turning is not affected that much
- Low surprise effect
Use her if you play cannon build and don't have captain Splint.

Grinner Blackmaw
Temporarily increases crew strength and crew damage resistance.
Cooldown: 30 s.
+ Boarding damage becomes insane
- You have no escape or engage tool
- Useless if you can not properly board
Mandatory for boarding build

+ High cannon damage due to fast reload time and crit.
+ Escape ability
+ Do not relies on abilities to kill enemies
+ Good in skirmishes
- Weak to boarding

Cannons: Sawtooth for reduced reload time, crit and crit damage.
Utility: Whiplash Rudder for turn rate.
Defense: could be either one Raider Cabins to protect yourself from boarders or Prow Armor for extra armor on fore.
Offense: Skullrattle Gunports for cannon reload time.

This set I use focuses on cannon reload time and turn rate. I choose to protect from boarders. Fore armor is good in ramming contests. But your fore is too narrow and get damaged last in cannon warfare so extra fore armor is useless there.

Captain
Splint Depthbringer's dash ability is great for this build as it offers good mobility for all the tricky situations you get into.

Crew
Those are mates are to go with for this build. Other one that may be considered is the navigator (speed and acceleration). But he can be compensated by captain's ability and boons.

Your DPS is insane! Your cannon reload time very low (6 seconds). General rotation would be: shoot side A cannons, fore, side B, turn back, half charged fore cannons, fully charged side A and repeat. That rotation takes 6-7 seconds. Combined with some ramming damage this is death for most ships.

Use boarding hooks wisely. Try to utilize them to stay at enemy's blind spot or to keep your side facing their weakened armor. You have more cannons at the sides. During boarding duration you can shoot one side at full charge around 2 times.

With such squishy ship as Cleaver you need to be sure that you are the attacker. You only deal damage in close range. Don't engage 1v1's on open water. If the enemy have 1st shot on you, you are at disadvantage. Lurk around, wait till people start fighting, weaken both of them and sink them. Use fog to ambush your targets.

Cinder
Cinder players will try shoot your sails from afar or engage you when you fight. If you see an opening while they are not being careful ram them, shoot fore and side, hook and shoot more if needed. That will be their end.
Otherwise meet them at the end game in a narrow passage. You can try to hook them as they are passing by or use the tactic above.
Hiding in the fog does not work because they can see you with level X ability.

Ashborne
Fearsome enemy in an open waters. You die in 1-2 well placed volleys. Do not engage them openly. Wait until they will be distracted by something like a boon boat and charge in with your dash ability to their aft or side. Use hooks to not let them turn. Their armor is very weak you probably can kill them before they finish you. Fed Ashborne can melt you in one volley.

Fury's Hold
Same tactic as with Asborne. Their damage is harder to land and their sides have more armor.

Cleaver
Boarding builds are very dangerous. They deal damage to your crew faster than you damage their armor/hull. Consider using Raider Cabins if there is a lot of boarders in queue.
In general. Don't shoot their sails you have no time, do damage to armor, board and finish them off. Be the attacker. Otherwise escape with dash.

Bloodfin
Their sails are very weak. You can start by shooting them off. Their aft armor is weak. Stick to it or to the side and do your rotation. Don't let them ram you unless you are fed. Be the attacker. Escape with dash before they start to shoot your sails.

Gorger
Shoot their sails, stick to their weak aft. You can even drill through their side with your damage before they kill you. But don't get caught by others while killing them.
I don't respect this ship.

Tidebreaker
Maneuverable little ship. Tough opponent. They will try to shoot your sails and kite you. Run away before that happen. They can also nearly oneshot you with torpedo-ram combo. Beware! Charge in to ram, shoot, hook and finish. They can surprise you with shields.

Thunderhead
Toughest opponent. High damage, good armor, good ramming damage. Very hard to 1v1. Try to damage their fore or aft and stick to it. You will lose in a prolonged fight. Prioritize them when they are fighting.

Stormanchor
High armor, weaker on fore and aft. You need to decide if you want to kill them through armor or by killing their crew. Changing your plan mid fight may be too late. In a late game crew option is advised unless they are weak already. In early they are pretty weak, shoot their armor while they are fighting, but kill the other guy first, then finish them.

As of April 26, 2018 boarding has been nerfed so it is less ridiculous. It is still viable but less reliable option.

+ Ignores armor
+ Kills some ships really fast
+ Good in 1v1
+ Cheesy
- No escape ability
- Relies on boarding/captain ability cooldown to kill someone
- Bad in skirmishes

Cannons: Chomper for crew and sail damage or Sawtooth for faster reload.
Utility: Chomper Sails for max speed but Whiplash Rudder is a viable option if you want more maneuverability.
Defense: Raider Cabins to protect yourself from other boarders and people who want to kill your crew to deny boarding.
Offense: Raider Deck for boarding, yes.

When choosing equipment the goal is to maximize your boarding capabilities and crew damage. I try to compensate speed loss from not having proper captain ability by using Chomper Sails.

Update: now I use mostly Sawtooth cannons for faster reload and better crit chance.

Captain
Grinner Blackmaw is your captain of choice for this build. Amount of hull and crew damage he produces is insane. Once enemy crew goes to 0 they die on a next damage tick.

Crew
Surgeon with +2 Crewman Strength and Quartermaster with high Boarding Crew Size are mandatory for this build. Third one may vary. I prefer Lookout for crit chance because you need those crits on crew to win some match-ups. A navigator for Max Speed and Acceleration may be a solid choice.

Basic strategy: weaken their crew with cannons, board, use buff, poof!

You don't have any escape abilities and anchor yourself in place when boarding. Boarding someone in between full blown skirmish is a death sentence for you. Look for 1v1's. With experience you will know at what enemy crew HP you can start boarding to finish them in one go. Do not board when you can not finish them.

Do not use your buff when you are boarded, unless you die if you don't. When someone boarding you at your >60% crew they wont kill you, but their crew will get damaged, usually you can board back right after, use buff and kill them. Recognize boarding builds and what it takes to get them down. If ships crew below white line on a bar it can not board. Use it to your advantage and watch for your own crew health.

Boarding hooks can break if ships get too far from each other. Also if ships separate a bit, boarding damage will stop. In general do not board on streams or maelstrom.

Use fog to ambush unsuspecting light ships.

Cinder
Pesky little ship will try to shoot your sails and then finish you from range. Catching him might be a problem. Should they make a mistake getting close to you, hook them right away, do one volley on crew and thats it.
Watch for captain Flint's Balefire Blast ability. It will instantly break boarding and make you waste your cooldowns. Try to bait it by ramming or by boarding without using your captain's ability.
Hiding in the fog does not work because they can see you with level X ability.

Ashborne
Do not engage them in open. Very weak to boarding. 2 volleys on crew and you can finish them. Unless they finish you in 2 volleys. Beware of Balefire Blast. You can hide behind their aft or fore to avoid it.

Fury's Hold
Same tactic as with Asborne. But they are less threatening and more slow.

Cleaver
You can recognize their build by their crew HP or by checking their captain by pressing Tab.
Versus cannon build you can board them right away and add 1-2 grape shot in process.
Versus boarding build start shooting their crew right away, don't board first unless you can finish them, consider that they can use their ability to counteract your boarding damage. Watch your own crew HP.

Bloodfin
Very explosive match-up. They kill you fast. But you kill them faster. Don't shoot their sails, shoot crew right away. If your armor is full, take a ramming contest, shoot fore, side and board, shoot half charge in process. If your side armor is fine at this moment, nothing they can do.

Gorger
Take your time. Break their sails, decrew them and board. Don't get caught by others while doing that. I usually leave this ship for the end.

Tidebreaker
How many times were you bullied by this ship? Time to pay back! They have the weakest crew. Board them right away. They might have shields but they have to time it perfectly to survive. They can do damage if you give them time. If they desail you, you will never catch them.

Thunderhead
Weak crew. But they have knockback effect on their shots which can break your boarding. Try to bard from fore or aft to be pushed less or board right after they do a shot. 2 volleys and you are ready to board them.

Stormanchor
They have tough crew, a lot of hull points and shields. That may cause a problem. Decrew them to 0 then board.

April 26, 2018
Boarding nerf:
- 0 crew havoc damage reduced;
- Captain Grinner's Chow Time ability crew and havoc bonus reduced from 100% to 50%;
- Ships below minimum crew suffer reload and accuracy penalty up to 50% at 0 crew (a buff).
Does not mean that boarding no longer works. It still does. You just need to lower crew with grape-shots a bit more. On a bright side reload and accuracy debuff at low crew makes us feel safer in the process.
For cannon build it means that you can switch Raider Cabins to Prow Armor as boarding builds will loose it's popularity.

Sawtooth cannon reload time increased from 6 to 7 seconds.
This change barely affects cannon build. Our damage output is still ridiculously high.

Sorry if bad englando or a lot of typos. Point them out.