Skull And Bones - How Does Ship Combat And Customization Work?

Skull and Bones is a unique naval-combat-themed action adventure created by Ubisoft and is set to release on 8th November 2022. From what we've seen of the game so far, it's gearing up to be an action-packed title with many features and gameplay elements in a brutal pirate-themed world. 

If you're keen on finding out more about how the game will work and the features it has in store, then look no further. As we walk you through what most players spend most of their time doing in the game, partaking in Ship combat, and check out how Ship customization works in Skull and Bones. 

Skull And Bones - How Does Ship Combat And Customization Work?

Skull and Bones is a naval-combat style pirating adventure game that sees you take the reigns as a new pirate on the Indian Ocean, starting with a small ship called a Dhow and a small crew.

From here your adventure begins as you take on quests, upgrade your ship, and battle other pirates in either PVE (Player versus Everything) or on a PVEP (Player versus Everything and Player) servers. 

So let's look at what the combat looks like in Skull and Bones, and afterward well check out the customization options available to all players as they progress through the game. 

Skull and Bones Ship Combat

After upgrading from the Dhow (though players can fight using this small ship as well, albeit with spears and throwing weapons) players will be able to use their news ships to engage in combat with other pirates and players on the seas.

This works by firing cannons, and projectiles, and boarding other ships with the intention of either sinking them or plundering them for their loot. 

Each player will have access to twelve playable ships that they can unlock in Skull and Bones, called the Captains Fleet.

Players can decide how they wish to upgrade each ship and use them for different combat scenarios that the ship is best suited for, such as some ships using heavy cannons, spear projectiles, or even flamethrowers. 

• Skull and Bones Insider Program - How To Join, Platforms, Get Invite
• Skull And Bones - Can You Play Solo Campaign Mode?
• Skull And Bones Live Tests Beta - How To Join, Dates, More
• Forspoken - release date, pre-order, story, gameplay and more

This highlights the combat system that the game employs, where each ship's weapons are called elements, so some weapons could be blunt force elements or cause tearing of sails, flooding elements, etc.

This means if you use these weapons against a ship that's weak to the element of your weapon, you'll be able to deal massive amounts of damage, meaning this rock-paper-scissor mechanic will play a massive role in who gets the upper hand in battle. 

You can deal damage to enemies' sails to slow them down or cause flooding to weaken their defenses, but you'll always be dealing either extra damage or just neutral damage depending on your load-out.

You can also target the "Weak points" of certain enemy ships, which is an outlined red area that can cause massive damage when struck, causing fires or other heavily damaging effects. 

Last but not least, as you battle other ships, your crew will enter what is called a "ferver", or a "fury" where they will initiate a boarding attack, and wipe out the crew of an opposing ship, allowing you to take the loot for yourself. The loot can be used to upgrade your ship and purchase useful items and abilities, so let's take a loot at ship customization next. 

Skull and Bones Ship Customization

As mentioned previously, each ship can be outfitted with different forms of artillery that range from ballista cannons, rockets, mortars, and even flamethrowers. And for defense, you can reinforce your ship with different materials from weaker wood to the more sturdy stone or clay, which is called "terracotta" in the game. 

Aside from combat, you can also upgrade your ship's sails to adjust the movement stats of the ship, and the general look of the ship with cosmetics that you want for each ship in your Captains fleet. These changes can be applied to any ship in your fleet, allowing you to create different ships with different load-outs for any situation. 

This all means you can create any ship they choose of the base type of this they are working with. So players can create a Brigantine ship that uses a flame thrower and mortars that move swiftly or a Brigantine that has heavy cannons and rockets that is perhaps more slow-moving to give you more stability when firing. 

The choice is ultimately left to you in terms of how you want to play Skull and Bones and with all these options available for customization and gameplay, we are hyped for the game's release on 8th November 2022. 

For more on the game, check out our section dedicated to Skull and Bones news, guides, features, and more.

Featured image courtesy of Ubisoft.