Sink Vs. Slash - Skyway Schematics 103

Now that you've successfully sailed your ship away from the windlane, it's time to battle! You can't wait to test out your new cannons, it's as if they're glimmering in the pixelized light, just begging for you to set them off. Billowing in the westward wind are your new sails - no patches, rips, tears or holes in 'em, and you're feeling proud. You've made the decision to put your new supplies to the test by trying to sink the opponent.

At first, things are going very smoothly. Your cannons fire without a miss, and your timers are all counting down so you'll be able to heal yourself back up at the perfect moment. The opponent's shots aren't doing a thing - yippee! Of course, you're busy hooting and hollering when you take a celebratory dance break. Turning in a circle, your eyes widen. There is something HUGE behind your ship, and it's starting to glow. Before you realize what's going on and increase your defenses, you hear your stern splitting - you're going down!

The opponent's ship parallel-lands right next to yours, throwing a wooden plank between the decks. You rush to the deck with your crew, and you all scream in pain - either you've stepped on caltrops, or you're starting to burn! Now that you have traps all over your ship with no way to move, you think back to your battle - should have sunk, or slashed?



I'm going to guess that you're thinking one of two things. One possible answer is that you're about to click away from this post - not ANOTHER Sink Vs. Slash post! Otherwise, I hope that you're elated, jumping up and down in your seat in anticipation for the post! Indeed, it's been a long time since SvS, but as I wrote my previous informational post, I got an idea. I've discussed tokens, but tokens contain traps and obstacles!

As I said in my obstacle post, traps are normally set from ship tokens, and can range from fire and ice to exploding barrels and physical traps (like caltrops). When stepped on or around, fire, ice and physical traps will affect your gameplay very harshly. Ice immobilizes anyone who steps around it, and fire deals small amounts of damage, which I think get smaller as you go. Physical traps (as I like to call them) are activated when one trods over or steps on one. From ships, I haven't seen any physical traps past caltrops, but I suspect there is more as I progress further.

There will come a point, and I assure you it will come, when you are surrounded by traps and obstacles to the point of no survival - if you step away, you step into caltrops and next to fire, and you're immobilized as well. This is when you have to choose very carefully who moves and who runs after - if you're lucky, you'll have a buccaneer to pave the way out of the caltrops, while the others hit the obstacles and get them out of the way. However, that wastes valuable attack time, and if you don't have the advantage of ranged shots, you'll be hit and fired at more than you'll be able to take. A good idea is to sink the ship - avoid the mess, avoid the tokens. However, I've found that if you're collecting items from ships, you'll need to board them, for if you board the ships, Boochbeard and Gandry claim that you'll more easily find what you're looking for! There is still the factor of you being stuck in the traps, however. This, I think, is to reinforce fighting as a team, to take care of both problems. However, Cool Ranch (for me) is a very lonely place, with hardly any other players there. For now, I think it's the Mooshu world of P101 - either people have passed through it and are overwith the storyline, or are still in the beginning worlds. Players are few and far between in these parts, sometimes, however, I can find a person or two running through Cooper's Roost or Junction. However, they normally aren't up for voluntarily clearing my tokens, nor are we on the same quest in most instances.

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As I start to wind down the facts here, I think we can finally come to a conclusion, and it's been expected: SINK. In most instances, sinking an opponent's ship will render you safe from tokens and traps. However, if you have just started playing or have no cannons on your ship, do you have a choice? When it comes to your ship, you should try to have money for cannons right away so you can start hitting, as well as a nice wheel for healing. If you can't avoid the traps, then just brave your way through them! However, since sinking a ship takes less than half of the time needed to fight through one, it won't make so much of a difference if you don't get your drop - really, you could be done in the same time!

Now that I personally have come to a conclusion, it's your turn! Read through my SvS posts, and make your decision.

Sink or Slash?

KT
DSD