For Skull and bones, this ship build I want to show you is ideal for effortless fort plundering. You can effortlessly solo plunder any fort that is Level 14 or lower and claim all the Helm Materials as your reward! Utilize these Helm Materials to craft gold, skull rum, and more, then sell them for substantial amounts of silver!
Solo plundering any fort at Level 12 or below becomes a breeze with this plunder build. However, only 2 forts on the entire map pose a challenge: Megafort Oosten and Fort Premie. It's essential to easily vanquish these forts to obtain the significant Helm resources they offer.
Ship For Plundering
Firstly, we are using the Padewakang for its Detonate perk, which has 50% extra damage to structures, meaning the forts, and then an increased weapon damage radius by 12%, which is really good for destroying those reinforcing ships when they're grouped up. The cherry on top is the chance to trigger a bonus explosion that deals another 1,000 damage to all ships within 125m of the blast.
Weapons
Up front, I'm using the Twin-winch Ballista. It may seem like an odd decision, but it does really high damage to the fort's weak points, and you can usually hit the weak points from so far away that the fort can't even shoot back at you. Always use the Twin-winch Ballista first to destroy all parts of the fort, especially the mortar towers first.
On the sides, I'm using the Fire Bombard III. These are to kill enemy ships at longer distances, but not for the forts themselves. The Fire Bombards do significant damage, but we also use them to build the ablaze effect on the ships to always trigger the detonate perk explosion to hit all reinforcing ships with that extra 1,000 damage.
On the back, I'm using the Dardanelles Gun for that high explosive damage that also helps to trigger the Detonate perk on the Padewakang. These are mainly to be used on enemy ships, but they can be used on the fort if you're in a tricky situation. In the auxiliary position, I use the Leopold 3. This is great to deal with reinforcing ships.
Armor
For the hull armor, I'm using the Ouroboros. This is to repair any severe damage if any of the fort or ship mortars manage to do flooding damage to us. As you need as much health as possible to survive during these plunders, the little amount of healing you receive while bracing keeps me fighting for much longer.
Furniture
In the first slot, I use the major piece Scoping Station. This allows our Twin-winch Ballista to do such high weak spot damage. In the second furniture slot is the Front Powder Kegs to boost the Twin-winch damage by another 10%, which is always very helpful.
In the third slot is the Gunpowder Bench, which increases damage to enemy ships with the ablaze effect by another 10%. In the final slot is the Port Powder Keg for a 10% increased damage to the port weapons. This just gives us more power to our Fire Bombards.
Plundering Strategies
With the build out of the way, I'll show you the best way to use it so you survive the plunder. Sail up to the fort while staying about 800m away to safely destroy its defenses without triggering reinforcements. Remain at this distance until all defenses are destroyed. Once defenses are down or you're comfortable with what's left, sail closer to trigger the plunder.
Keep your ship at medium speed to make it harder for enemies to hit you. Avoid sitting still to prevent getting hit by long-distance cannons and mortars. Keep moving at a medium pace and aim to set enemy ships Ablaze to trigger your Detonate perk for explosive hits.
