We will keep this updated as much as possible. Keep in mind that many updates, changes in the game, and unannounced implementations can occur at any time. We will ensure that our information is accurate to the best of our abilities. Please rate us too! Helps motivate us to keep adding to our Guide.

When you first enter the game, check your server region.

ONE SERVER, ONE CHARACTER, NO CHANGES OR MOVES.
IT'S A SALES MODEL THING.
Many people went bananas who played the Beta, days before the Early Access full release.
Only one server, the EU, was running, and you were auto-placed there.
Sadly, on launch day, your EU character did not get migrated over to the NA server if you are a NA-located player. To my shegrin, no bueno, no good, start over, piss off.

Also, to our disappointment, any purchases made on one server do not carry over to other servers, but the gold used to purchase those items does. Weird.

This will be updated, as we await information from the developers.
The list below, is of all game ports, directly from their public CSV files provided by the developers.

Challenge; More explicit clarification on which ports can build specific ships.

Solution;
Hovering was discovered late, near the 10th hour of game time. We will simplify here. Check often.

KEEP IN MIND... TIERS GO FROM 7 down to 1
Example Tier 5 port allows ship building... this is higher than tier 6 and 7. Only ships that are V, VI, and VII can be built at that port. If you want a tier 4 ship you would need a port that builds tier 3 and lower. It can be confusing... remember to visit here.

To make things easier, as suggested, I am putting the best ship number beside each port, so you know that any number higher can be built. Higher is NOT better; the lower the number, the better the tier.

Cursed City; III (3)
Nisogora; III (3)
Oneg; II (2)
Gelbion; III (3)
San Cristobel; IV (4)
Pirate City; IV (4)
Everston; II (2)
Aruba; II (2)
San Martinas; V (5)
Aldansk; IV (4)
South Bastion; V (5)
Gray Island: V (5)
St. John: V (5)
Fiji: VI (6)
Severoangelsk; IV (4)
North Bastion; V (5)
Los Catuano; VI (6)
Brandport: VI (6)
Santa Maria: VI (6)
Northside; V (5)
Puerto Salada; VI (6)
Freebooter Bay: VI (6)
Freedom Bay: VI (6)

How to make money easily and quickly, especially if caught exploiting a community server by a big clan of seasoned players, making you pay an arm and a leg. (That is why there are so many one-legged pirates on the seas!) :=)Solution; Three main ways of achieving this.
• First is kill ships, the obvious, but if like we were, losing more than winning to start, this was NOT a fast option, but it still is an option.
  
• Second is to *trade manually. Not exciting, time-consuming, but still pays well if you keep doing the peaceful trade of buying and selling.
  
• Third is to do missions. The most lucrative, because you can do peaceful, combat, or *trade routes.
  Peaceful missions, you go pick up X and deliver Y. Get your sailing experience, and much more.
  Combat missions are also a no-brainer. Kill and loot, return. Risk and reward.
  Trade Lanes Missions: You will be chased, NPS will hunt you, and you will find the game version of trade more exciting and riskier.
  
  (* You can do trade routes manually for less, without the danger, or get extra doing them thru the game system, where you must fly the semi peace flag, which means NPC or in this game known as NPS-Non-Playter Ships)
  
  The best way we have made some wealth:
  While playing, we began making rare items that take time to craft. We receive enough requests for items, such as bulkheads or canvas, which can be manufactured in the factory.
  Selling it on the open auction market and fulfilling orders.
  Always in demand, pays really well, and all you have to do is sink NPS(NPC) ships, take the wood and iron, smelt the iron ore if not in bars, and make bulkheads for everyone wanting to make any ship.

Here is a list of basic cannonballs and use situations:
(We will enlarge the list as we explore the game)

• Regular Heavy Cannonball - Always for every ship that has no armor and is not large.
  Structure damage and port seizing mainly, but if armored well, you going to need extra or a ton of these. Your staple when you have nothing else.
  
  
• Burning ball – For burning anything, literally. Port or ships. Damage over time. Hit the ship or water it travels on.
  
  
• Chain and Balls – Used for slowing fast ships, must hit sails, if they pull their sails down when you arm (NPS DO THIS AUTO), and you shoot, you hit nothing. Until they make the NPS, not KEY STROKE reactive, only *“burn and bullet” is what we coined the term early game.
  
  
• “BIRD SHOT” BALLS – For taking out crew, must be shot close range, before boarding only.
  
  
• Flaming Kegs – The Early day of “Depth Charge” that floats.
  Toss them off the back of the ship, for would-be pursuers. Short delay and poof. Great for anyone who wishes to go around chasing and harassing sailors. Keep away from children.
  
  
  The IcewaterCreek® team coined "BURN AND BULLET" which translates to Burn em to Half health then bullet "Bird Shot" them, and board them.

When going from region to region, the depths that are not stated at any point in the game thus far, at the time of our guide creation, come into play when you get into tier 5 ships.

If you go into deep water, you will not know it until you wish to return to Fiji for example, you can't.
Larger ships, shallow water, deep hull.

Could you keep one SMALL SHIP FOR THE LATER GAME TO GO BACK AND GET YOUR THINGS FROM THE STARTER PORT OR WHEREVER YOU STOCKPILED, AS MOST PORTS ARE ALL IN SHALLOW WATERS, and the LIGHTHOUSE perk you can't get to either with a large hull ship.

20 hours in, found out the hard way, and took another 20 hours to get enough to build a small ship or buy, with nearly 24 runs to collect our RSS (Resources) from Fiji while paying absurd port fees totaling 24,000.
Now you can pay coin to have things moved, you do get one free one, and then its 549 or around there for each move. Costly, and it only moves what is in your ships HOLD then to your targeted port, but the good news is you can put 900 TONS of items in the per move. Nice!

Speed and a small ship do not always guarantee success, because it is a ton of work, and mortars can one-shot you, not to mention random PVP protections are removed without any markers, only playing gets you to know where... however.. There is a pop-up that says turn back or we have a meet and greet with Mr. Jones in 20 seconds.

If you open your large map ("M" Key), you will see that a scribbled wall surrounds all ports and areas of shallow water, once you have explored enough to move the fog of war.
You will only be able to sail tier VII(7) and VI(6) ships in these shallows, with the exception of higher-tier fast-moving small cutters.

Oh, how BOARD am I... well, not for long.

The biggest request from everyone in the early game. Why can’t I board! Is it a bug! I am sinking them always! Someone keeps sinking what I am trying to board!

Let us assure you we feel your pain, but the mechanics need work. BUT... here is how you board, and you MUST be alert and wide-eyed, not on a 10-hour bender.

Go to an area with few players. Find a small ship, yes.. Start small.

Burn and Bullet® our coined phrase

Attack it with a burn to half.

You can just move in and watch your health to pull along side.

Bird shot balls to lower the crew number, and after a few of those, use a chain to immobilize.
You will then see a prompt... [SPACEBAR TO BOARD] and it is so hard to see with everything going on, so when you are alongside the enemy, just hit your spacebar until you see swords come up. It auto-fights in five seconds, the ship with the most crew wins. Quick, and then you choose, loot, take hostage crew, or capture. Take it back to a port as soon as possible, repair, and use.
BE SURE TO HOLD DOWN "Z" KEY... and choose FOLLOW ME! That is how you control NPC ships.

NOTE: You can’t use your other ships in your inventory to create a fleet to sail and hunt with; you must use captured and repaired ships only for a fleet or sail with people who are friends or in a clan in their solo ships.

Upgrades for your ship to start are beneficial at grade 2, not stock.

If you can’t upgrade your ship upgrades to max level, you won't benefit.

Example: +1000 Large Cellars and prevents food spoilage.
True if grade 2, not if grade 1. Grade one is the storage, but the game does not define this.

Our suggestions for NEW SHIP AND PLAYERS:

Crow's Nest
Large Cellars
Copper Plating
Extra Sails
and in slot 6 (Unlocked with Experience Capt. Points)... Anything that helps vision distance

Later in the game, you can choose from more beneficial fighting items that get unlocked as you get past level 20. Early game, please be sure to not confuse yourself, as enough is going on in the seas to confuse anyone.

As a new player, you need to see further NPS to avoid NPS if not prepared for combat. Also, it helps if you are doing combat to see the fleet of some NPS.

Sadly, the game does not explain this at all.

Let's start with what you can use for food....
Anything you can eat if you were a real pirate at sea.
Beer, Grog, Fish, Rations, Ale, Wine, Meat... anything that is edible.

OK... I have that in my hold, but they never eat it!
Relax.

Here is where the game needs major work that will never come.
It has been requested for 2 years in Beta.

You must select one item WHEN YOU ARE OUT TO SEA.. and there will be a little window to the right that shows CONSUME and has a slider to how much can be used for auto feeding and you need to check the box on that item.

You can do it for any item in your hold that is food, intended for the crew, until you turn it off.

Some people were recently SCREAMING in chat... this game is BUGGED... WHERE DID ALL MY FISH GO??? I WAS WHALING AND FISHING FOR HOURS, AND MY INVENTORY IS GONE!! SCREW THIS... just to get hammered with replies saying check your food for crew settings.
Rage... rage... against the dying of the light.

In the end, they said Oh wow, they forgot since the beginning.

The problem is... they forgot to turn off fish use for the crew, from early game play, and now the crew eats it in a large ship as fast as they catch it.

In closing, we recommend two items that you will always use with ease, and never use any other item that could compromise the ship's workings.

(NO, IT IS NOT Beer and Grog, which will slow sails, speed, firing... they all have negatives as you would imagine)

Use PROVISIONS.
PROVISIONS can be made from FISH AND MEAT.
You will ALWAYS need FISH AND MEAT forever.
Especially as the crew size increases and multiple ships are involved.

Meat can be bought in your starting port, and it weighs a considerable amount.
Fish can be caught everywhere if you have tackle on your ship and it is well-equipped.
TACKLE is made from cloth and features some wooden pieces from ship fragments.

All this is done in the port in the Manufacturing tab.

Provisions are.....

Easy
Sustainable
No adverse effects
Lightweight

You must activate the PROVISION when you are out just sailing, open your inventory "T", find PROVISIONS IN YOUR HOLD, click it, mark it on the right as ALWAYS FOOD SOURCE.
You are set forever on all ships.

The only time you will use PROVISIONS otherwise is for your factories, such as mines, rum, or the like... that you can leave rations for the workers at the factory site, to boost the numbers.

Do not mistake PROVISIONS for FIXED RATIONS.
Fixed can also be manufactured. IT is not RATIONS for feeding the crew.
It's an activated resource, unlike PROVISIONS, which you keep in your hold that the crew can get to.
The difference is that this is an activated item you can carry. It can be one of the three activated upgrades you have for repairs or sails, accessed using the C, X, and V keys.
You can also make a FIXED RATION, which is an emergency crew boost. Costly to produce, but in a pinch, it maximizes reloading, speed, and maneuverability for a time.

It is, like all activated provisions, such as repairs, that will always be hidden in the port. Used across all ships you take out.
We would only use and have mixed rations preparing for the PvP event or the FORT takeover. Not really something to feed the crew with.

We'd like to repeat,
FIXED RATIONS ARE NOT SOMETHING YOU CARRY IN YOUR HOLD. It is activated.
PROVISIONS, however, are a food source that will show up as a white bundle in your hold, which must be in the hold of the ship to use at sea and marked only when you are out on the sea, as your crew's food source.

Hope this helps... it stinks that the game, by default, does not mark something to feed your crew, but in that decision, it is better to bring the players' attention to it through us, than redo their terrible tutorial. Be sure to rate us!

Factories at sea can be seen on the large map ("M" key) with a pickaxe icon.
Rum, Wood, Ore, Animals, Resin, etc. are all various factories that produce goods for you to trade when online or offline.

Level them up high enough, and they will continue to work even when your stock resources run out.

To level them up, you need Gold, Bulkheads, and Plates for many.
Some require additional items, but for maximum efficiency, plan to bring provisions for the bonus.

Many factors come into play.

Have you used the ship you are in enough to get experience to unlock the next ship in that row?
Do you have enough resources?
Does the Port you are currently docked at allow the ship you want to build to be crafted there?

So we have this checklist always when wishing to build anything.

First, check the port. Hover over the port you are at, and it will indicate the ship tier that is built there.
Anything below that ship tier, if it says 'TIER VI (6)', then that means only Tiers 6 and 7 can be built there.
Second, go into the shipbuilder tab in the port, select the ship you want by hovering it to see the experience, and if green, you are good to go to the next step.
Now click on that ship. The window opens, displaying the resources required.
Do you have these resources?
Not on the ship hold that you are currently using, but in the port storage?

If your resources are in your ship's hold, move them to the port.
If you have enough, then you are good to go. If not, get them and return here when you have them.
If there is no BUILD button, and only TRACK AND PREVIEW, you are missing any one of the above.

Once you have met the experience requirement for the lower ship in that line, have the necessary materials, and the port you are at is capable of manufacturing your level of ship, the BUILD button should appear.

This is a very complicated subject.

Guilds, since the 24 hours before Early Access, showed seasoned players just being bullies on many levels.
Exploiting port FIJI, the group attacks new players for experience and loot.
Then other clans took foothold on others and upping it up to nearly 1k to port.
After they made millions, it settled about four days in now, still steep, but not as bad.

Only accepting new players in guilds to get your game name and target you, knowing you do not know how to defend yourself, is a risk you take. It happened to us the moment we asked a question that exposed we were completely new.

A few things that made guilds toxic and untrustworthy: players who played BETA for 2 years, became friends, and found a reason to exploit the community. Now they are rich and have not even been in for a week; they have tier 3 or tier 2 ships. Shocking in one week.

They had numbers upon login after the Early Access launch that showed:

Russian servers averaged 549 players over 24 hours.
The EU server had an average of 1100 players
NA servers had an average of 447 players.

Developers noted the extremely low numbers, so they changed it today to pictures of sailors, to mask how depleted the behavior stated above discouraged many on the Early Access launch day two days ago. To us, this is a sign of trouble. Be honest, changing numbers to pictures to mask is just like lying.

In their own posting, the development team posted that upgrades to the game, and at what speed, would depend entirely on money.

You can check on the internet for their current server numbers on Steam here: https://steamdb.info/app/2948190/

At the time of our guide, only 2276 players were online. FAR from the 24-hour BETA pre-release. Why?? Exploitation, toxic abuse, and discouragement of the new player base.

If they had not allowed such nonsense—Guild abuse toward new players and atrocious behavior in chat —perhaps this would be different. We experienced this firsthand when we asked for a guide or help. So we decided to make this one.

They still have time to fix the behavior issues and save the game, but Guilds are for the pay and strong, and the new and weak must make their own to be targets for the big. You'll be able to join a guild with caution until time sorts this all out.

If you do join one, be silent, read or listen if in Discord, and risk nothing by asking questions. Come here and we will find out for you.