Republic of Pirates is a popular city builder combined with real-time strategy aspects to create an enjoyable experience for any RTS or Strategy fan. While you might feel the mechanics are similar to popular titles like Anno, the overall gameplay is quite unique.
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During your playthrough, having difficulty conquering the seas filled with other pirates and fleets of Galeons and Man-of-Wars is common. To help you get past these challenges, and build up your fleet, here’s a complete beginner’s guide for Republic of Pirates with all the tips and tricks that you should know.
Learn About The Island Bonuses
Unlike other city-builders, you don’t get a fixed area in the Republic of Pirates. Rather, you get to build buildings on islands, each of which has various properties and conditions. You can also expand your reach by conquering new and uncharted islands on the map.
Learning about your island’s properties can help you capitalize on their strengths while avoiding building industries that have negative or no bonus on that island. For example, if you try creating a wood farm on an island with a -100% Bonus for wood production, you will never get any wood yield, and instead, your workers will be wasted.
You can always check your or any islands’ bonuses by clicking on their name on the top of the screen. You can then start buildling accordingly.NOTE
Recruit Pirate Captains Carefully
When you’re trying to create your own fleet, you will have to recruit ‘Pirate Captains’ to sail your ships. You will first need to have a Captain’s Inn, from which you can hire the pirates with in-game currency called Doubloons.
Captain’s Inns can only be built on Islands that already had them. If you claim an island that didn’t have one, you won’t be able to build one there. NOTE
To get the most value, prioritize recruiting captains who have a level 20 bonus that aligns with your fleet. In the early game, these are mostly pirates who have increased performance when assigned on the cog, ketch, or barque ships.
During your playthrough, you will lose a lot of Pirate Captains. So, don’t worry if you recruit a wrong captain by mistake. NOTE
Learn How To Manuveur In Combat
Ship combat is by far the most exhilarating and fun experience in Republic of Pirates. Knowing which ship to engage, and maneuvering your fleet accordingly is very important to claim a victory.
In general, you can fight and win against ships that are one or two tiers above your fleet’s average tier. But any ship above that will more often than not sink your fleet with ease. So, try not to engage ships that you can’t win against.
Using your ship’s abilities optimally and coordinating your fleet can allow you to take down significantly stronger opponents. For example, commanding a fleet of three ketch ships and two cogs can take down even a Brig, if you use the ketch’s smokescreen properly.
Know Which Ships To Build
While commanding a ship is fun, knowing which ships to build is even more important. While you might think that building the best ship you can is the right thing to do, it is not quite so when fighting in large-scale combat scenarios or raiding islands.
Every ship has a class and a unique ability, some of these abilities can be used offensively while others might also be for support. Creating a fleet with a mixture of classes is the optimal way of making a strong fleet.
Having multiple ketch ships is great for the early game, but running a mixed fleet of Galeons, Man-of-Wars, and Frigates takes precedence in the mid to late game. If you want to expand your fleet progressively, the best way to do that is by raiding sailing routes and targeting ships that are at least two tiers higher than your fleet.
Island Economics Are Important
Building all those ships requires a lot of Doubloons as well. So, having a good grip on your island’s economy is also important. While the economics isn’t as complicated as titles like Anno or Europa, but it isn’t that simple either.
Generally, the best way to get tons of income generation is by having more huts than utility buildings. Utility buildings require lots of Upkeep while Huts only generate income for you. Having a good amount of idle workers won’t harm the economy, and instead generates extra income.
Also, every building requires a specific kind of worker, which ranges from Laborers, who are the cheapest and easiest to get, to Artisans, who require a lot of resources to unlock and are used for late-game production.
Make Good Use Of The Tactical Map
The tactical map is one of the most useful resources you can use in Republic of Pirates. As a beginner, this would not only allow you to be on the lookout for new islands but also help you monitor ship routes and the fleets that are passing by.
You can use this to scout enemy fleets, plan raids on islands, and switch between your bases quickly. Making good use of this map can make your life as a pirate leader, much easier. Even if there’s an enemy fleet approaching your islands, you can check that using this map.
Certain quests require you to sink various affliated ships. You can use this map to check every ships’ affliation and target them accordingly. NOTE
Plan Your City In The Right Way
Rather than economics, the city-building aspect is much more important. If you don’t build your city right, neither will your homes upgrade, nor can you produce resources optimally. Various buildings can only be built on the shoreline, so having space left for them is also important.
But, having at least six to eight turrets on your shoreline is a must to deter unwanted ships and raiding fleets. Your fleet cannot protect all fronts at once, so having onshore defenses ready is essential to surviving since you will get raided by enemies occasionally.
Apart from that, try to have your Artisian and Smith homes at your city’s center or closer to the dock, and have Labourer homes on the outskirts. The former requires a lot of resources to be happy and produce income while the latter doesn’t require much utilities at all.
Choices Matter A Lot In Republic of Pirates
You will meet multiple new characters occasionally. Most of them would be friendly and provide your quests while others will be hostile towards you. Apart from that, these characters will also give you certain choices that will impact your playthrough.
Choosing these choices carefully while knowing their outcome is essential if you don’t want to get wiped out. Some choices might reduce your income temporarily while others can increase your opponent’s difficulty.
The impact of these choices becomes much more noticeable in higher difficulty levels when one wrong choice can mean getting raided by a fleet of Frigates. So, read and choose these very thoughtfully.
