The Obstinate class “greatly” reduces TW so there’s a strong argument it’s better for piracy.
But yeah, Nyx suits me better. Zubmersible gives good tools for TW, and I am a sucker for Shadowy bonus. This puts me at +100!
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Ah, gotcha.
Not that it makes the choice any easier…
I got the fast one. If it saves one action going from the tigers back to london that’s the only actual benefit I could get out of any ship, I don’t really do that much zailing and when I do I’ve never had issues with TW.
I’ve always had the zub and far prefer it to the other options thematically (and for the cool underwater choices it affords on some cards) but I have been taking the Cruizer out for a spin and it is rather nice to be able to make the Khanate to London run the short way along currents without getting down to the wire on TW. I usually take that route and probably at least a quarter of the time have to carefully choose my last action to not trip 8 just before dock. With the cruizer, no problem thus far. Since I’m working my vanities these days, notably piracy, I suspect I’ll keep the thing for a year and then switch back next Festival (one does trust that’ll be an option!).
Has anyone run with the TR reducing item plus non-cruizer and compared it to runs with the cruizer? I presume the reduction is more pronounced with the ship, but if they were about the same, I might consider switching back to zub and relying on that, though switching outfits etc. is somewhat annoying. I guess I could donate a zeefaring slot given I think we just got another zeefaring item during the festival.
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I changed my Destiny from Gloomy (+Shadowy) to The Revelation (+Watchful), and changed my ship from the Clipper to the new Zub (+Shadowy).
So, all in all, I got a net gain of +5 Watchful. And I can change my Destiny again at the next festival, if I choose to.
I kind of miss the fast travel with the Clipper.
There is also the option of going to Irem now and getting a Promissory Note… maybe I should do that?
I picked Zub over TW reduction one because:
- Shadowy is my weakest stat, so I woll feel improvement in Heart’s Game and maybe other activities.
- The way how diminishing return is implemented on menace reducing items. +2 TW reduction is big when you have 0 to boot, but with 1 (which we got from the same festival) it’s weak, and if we ever get another one it will be almost unnoticeable.
I was riding a yacht for years and was not impressed at all by her card options, main appeal was the edge in BDR, but now it’s gone. “Fast” ship is not fast enough to make a difference.
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RNG can play with you and end up with only bad cards. This has happened a few times in the past, but I still not 100% sure about cruiser vs zub. I mean… we are talking about gunpowder smell vs an amazing technology!
Bruno said that “greatly” will be for everything for 10%+ and the ship is at 15%. But next week they will tweak how menace items work. I think I will hold until we get more insight.
I perfectly agree on this one. Yacht feels useless when comparing to the new ships. 
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For now I’ve picked the Cruiser. Even as an original yacht owner, it didn’t make sense to take the newer one. Unless they add more options for the Luxurious stat, its pointless now with the BDR now balanced.
It was a hard choice even knowing I had Favor to spare. The new zub sounds like a great option, but as a Corsair, I’m always gaining TW. A chance to reduce that guaranteed gain is very helpful, and has triggered more times for me (so far…) than any of the cards that have a zub option.
As a zub-owning Corsair, I had no hesitation upgrading my Zub to another, better one! I only occasionally had issues with TW, but the new hat will help with that, combined with another Zeefaring item to balance the loss of that one point.
I’ve gone with the new yacht, which is mechanically almost certainly the wrong move now that BDR exclusivity is gone (the only benefit from 5 more Persuasive seems to be slightly easier checks to buy fake fancy bones; the dial on that one Nadir check is still stuck at 20%).
But, I’m here for the aesthetic.
I liked the festival over all, although if I had one critique I feel like during week-1 more of our actions should have been spent diving. I’m glad preparations were passably profitable, but they weren’t exactly fun after the first run through. Acknowledging that a rough sketch is a lot easier than actually implementing such a thing, my dream variation would be: (1) devotions only happen the first time; (2) At every dive level, you draw Cards and pick an option that could be either economy items or zee treasure/coral, but then instead of being kicked out you’re automatically sent to the next level (assuming you passed the check); (3) Instead of the “dive deeper” option, every Card would have the option to escape with your accrued loot; (4) If you push your luck and fail the “run out of breath” check you wash up on shore and lose ~30% of your treasure from that trip; something punishing, but you don’t feel like it was “for nothing”; (5) Presumably for this whole thing to feel right, there would be more than 5 “levels” and air would run out a bit slower.
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It might be worth it if they add a few yacht-exclusive options during sailing.
Also, I’ve always wondered what is at the level 6 of diving. Supplication level 11 = 90% chance to dive down to level 6, even though that option was greyed out as level 5 is the bottom level.
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While a second TW-reducing item might make the effect of the ship unnoticeable, it would almost certainly require giving up another slot currently dedicated to zeefaring items, which would reduce most current Piracy checks where TW matters in Salt Steppes to 90%. The only reason I’d consider running with the new TW item slotted now is because we just got an extra slot option (now almost all of my slots have zf items and I’m guessing the Pirate Poet won’t be marriageable anytime soon), which keeps me at 100% for zf checks while going to Khanate. With the cruiser and all zf items, the Pillared Sea zf checks are also 100%, but only 90% if I’ve given up the hat slot. So to me the question reduces to whether I want the freedom to sail directly to London using currents from Khanate or not without a bunch of fiddly slot switching.
Actually, having sailed through the Snares once, I think the only real mechanical advantage to the Cruiser is in Snares. You can at most get to 90% zf checks there, so the Cruiser mitigates the occasional 10% failure, and slot switching won’t help for that. Outside of the Snares, the Cruiser is just easier to manage in terms of not needing to fiddle slots in rare cases where you need to take on TW, especially say the Khanate or Pillars when doing a Shadowy or Persuasive check, where I’m generally running 90% checks on those attributes.
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What I think people are missing is that if you’re sailing with Corsair Colors those ZF checks still give TW even on success. So for me the Cruiser means I can focus more on pursuing my target without needing to choose options to lower TW.
Another thing that I think is being missed, and I know I had it wrong too, is that its not a constant and direct reduction of TW CP gain. Its a chance to reduce the TW CP gain. From what I see, the results will mention when an item has reduced it. Otherwise, it has the same old CP gain message. Please correct me if I’m wrong again as I’ve never used the new menace reducing gear until now.
Edit: Lastly, it is possible to get enough ZF to 100% the checks in the Snares. It does require Fate though. ‘Surplus’ Captain’s Hat+Polythremean Peacoat+Keelgraspers+Flexile Sabre+Moray Heels+The Chariot+The Crew of the HMS Ramillies+Weeping Litter-Cyst+Amber Vision of the Sea of Spines gives 9, The Pirate-Poet, Inscribed Anew which costs Fate adds 2 more for a total of 18 ZF with the base stat maxed.
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Indeed, there are two situations to distinguish:
- checks that give TW on sucess
- and those that don’t
If you’re not able to reach 100% success rate in either of these situations, then an extra Zeefaring point will be better than TW reduction by improving your chances to get the rewards, and reducing the risk to get the penalties for failure.
If you have 100% success rate, then TW reduction items are better for situation 1, and inconsequential for situation 2.
So for doing corsairs activities, TW reduction items will be great on most of the map except the higher difficulty places where you might be tempted to switch to optimised Zeefaring gear, which means changing your outfit, which is a pain IMO.
Even the Zeefaring 18 captain will face this situation in the Snares, since as you pointed out, they just reach 100% success with their 18th point of Zeefaring.
What’s great with the cruiser, is that it offers this TW reduction on a slot you CANNOT change! So it’s permanent passive TW red, and you can still wear a better Zeefaring hat.
With the zub, you’ll need to wear the new TW hat (so - 1 Zeefaring vs the cruiser), which will be inconsequential except in perilous waters. But you’ll get some bonus plunder on other cards, an extra option to reduce TW on the killing wind card (active TW reduction).
Overall, I think the cruiser will be better for dedicated corsairs, and the zub enough for occasional bout of piracy.
I mean, I never felt TW to be that much of a bother (except at the beginning, but now with the +16 Zeefaring minimum…).
Sorry for the long rumbling, and happy zailing :)
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All good arguments to be considered, but one must not forget the matter of aesthetics. The Nyx-class looks sleek.
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I thought of buying the Nyx. Several times. At least for a test drive. But the idea of a cruiser that limits Troubled Waters build up was too good to resist, especially as I engage in quite a bit of piracy.
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For me, Troubled Waters is less of an issue since I am a Monster Hunter and certain cards at the Zee are helpful to mitigate that.
I still miss the Clipper’s faster travel speed though. But the improved stats given by the Nyx are very welcome indeed.
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I believe there is no more reason to stay at Mutton Island if you have obtained all the reward items, unless you wish to farm for more Zee-related economy items.
I am stocking up on a bit of Final Breaths. Once I’m satisfied, I’ll say goodbye to Mutton Island.
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Indeed, I left the island some time ago. I’ve been wondering if anything else is going to happen there, whether it is worth a trip back. Does anybody have any inkling? Seems a little odd the way the festival has quietly tailed off like this in the second week.