Proper Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance!!

Driving - The Control and Operation of a Vehicle

By:Robyn Piatt

a/k/a Robyn_P

Time and time again I see the following in comms during a raid:  "I can auto the 30s but my fleet takes too much damage in a 50 and dies instantly in a 70!!". This is usually followed by "F*** this raid I'm outta here", and the pirate is not to be seen again until Monday night when it's then "Raid was impossible!! - I wasted XXX weeks building a fleet of XXX and they couldn't do crap. I'm sick of this damn game!".

I recently had a conversation with one of these particular type of pirates and asked them if they had practiced driving their fleets before the raid or in lower targets before diving in and hitting the 70's targets. Cue crickets.

When you are not familiar with your fleet and its abilities it does NOT matter how 'good' your fleet is. You can have tactical nukes, flames down the side, twin cam door handles and dice hanging from the bridge mirrors. If you can't aim them you could hit India instead of China. It all means naught if you don't know your fleet and the target.  Yes, certain fleets do better in certain targets but no fleet is going to work well in ANY target if you don't know how to drive them.

We have some great pirates that take the time to post videos on pathing for the raid targets.  These pirates don't magically make a video of the first time they hit a target. Okay, maybe some do, but we cannot all be driving Gods.  The fact is these successful players all know their fleets, they learn the target, they look at what they are driving and then plan the attack based on what they find.

Become ONE with your fleet BEFORE the raid. I cannot stress this enough!!!

I see people that hatch a ship, post a salv on mains coms stating "Lookie here at my new toy!". They then hit the salv with their new ship, making sure people are watching (we all do it 😝) and then park the ship till the VXP weekend.  Then, after it's skulled and refit, said ship/fleet sits in the shipyard until raid day.  On raid day, these pirates come out all pumped up with excitement, they grab their shiny new fleet and charge in to a target and... this usually ends in naughty words, a broken mouse or two and the odd cat being kicked.

If you are going to be sporting a new fleet for the next raid. Get to know your fleet before the raid. If you are able to use the VXP weekend to get them skulled thats great (and HIGHLY recommended). That said- you still need to know how to drive the buggers. Take them out in salvs and practice driving. Hit targets that will damage you.  Yes it can be mind numbing, but it serves a purpose. Every fleet behaves differently, it takes time to get used to a new fleet. See how they fire and get used to how they respond to commands for turning and running. Take your ship into a really low level Drac Mine or FM target and do the same. Practice kiting the FM turrets. Being able to simultaneously drive,  hit turrets, and maintain max range is KEY to limiting damage in the current raid.

It's well worth some time and damage practicing just to see how the fleet behaves. With respect to the Cannoneers, the more Cannoneers you have, the faster they go. If you had 3 last time and you will have 5 this time, they will behave differently. It does not matter what you hit, just DRIVE them till ya can do figure eights on the ocean backwards while blindfolded.

Come raid time, take them out in the 30s or 50s and get used to those targets. Practice kiting the turrets. Learn the range of the turrets.  Turret behavior is similar in all the targets with respect to range and response, the only difference is how much it takes to kill them and how much damage output. Keep your fleet at max range as shown above. Sure, you can decimate a turret in 30 with your shiny new canoe but a turret in a 70 gives waaaay more damage and takes longer to kill. Trust me on this, if you get nailed by a Blunderbuss in a 70 or a 100 you are going to know ALL about it.

Get used to the target turret ranges and how quick they are to fire in the lower targets first. In the current raid cycle, some turrets can be charged and killed before they fire and some you have to sneak up on or hit them at the very edge of your range.  Drive circles round the turrets and the big launchers and get used to where your fleet starts firing when driving past them. Once you get comfortable with the ranges in the lower targets, then you can move up to the higher ones.

Andrew Hart has corralled all the builds and pathing videos in one spot on the website. There are ship builds and videos for multiple levels of targets. Take the time to watch the videos and see how they are being driven. Forsaken Council Raid Help Page

I see people say "I can't drive for shit", all the time and I call horsepuckey!!! ANYONE can learn to drive a fleet, its just like riding a bike or driving a car. It takes some practice.

Thank you to all that took the time to share their videos and tips!!

-Robyn