War Sloop Downgrade from frigate?

[Steely Jim]

I don't think of my war sloop as just for hit and runs, although that is one of my favorite tactics. I also use my war sloop to move rapidly into a position and stop, so I also spend a lot of stationary time counting on Rank 4 Taskmaster to and Rank 4 Barrage (both will be Rank 5 in time) to add plenty of punch to my Rank 4 Broadsides (still deciding between 2 points in Windcatcher or upping both broadsides to Rank 5). For the biggest ships I may need to sail out in front a couple times, but I still often stop completely while the ships close on me (usually because they're moving slowly due to not having much sail left). I usually just rotate my ship around a little to fire on my next target; if all goes well, then I get a few ships before I have to move.

EDIT: As an example, for the recently added Cutlass quest, I I used my war galleon to quickly mop up the Sea Adders and Corvettes, then used the war sloop to hunt down the Barracuda and Marauders.

EDIT2:
I don't actually own a war frigate yet, but I have a frigate in the fleet. My ratings would be:

war sloop=tactical assault
war galleon="that's no moon...."
war frigate=floating cannon trainer for a small army

EDIT3:

In an example from my last sail, I took out almost all the sail points of a Predator on my port (in the Leeward Passage) and while it sailed into broadside range I ran to the starboard side and took out a Marauder with the cannon, all while parked.

[Altair]

****, look at all of you guys debating what ships to take. They are all garbage in my opinion. I have my Wind-Racer Runner Light Sloop, and thats all I need. My fury/thunder takes anything in this game.

That or maybe I have no money to buy anything bigger <___<

[League]

Slooping Lightly with a crew of high-powered cannoneers is cool, though I've never done it. With all the points possible dedicated to speed, it could be a very viable real world (as in, not PvP or CvC) strategm, in addition to being a fast one.

Then again, the Sloops all should be for lone sailors, or for sailors that love Artful Dodging.

[am1974]

I did all of John Smiths ship sinking quests on my own in my war sloop and it was fun. Sometimes when guild folks aren't on I use it to sink my quest ships. I'm not that patient and want to get the quests done lol. I also like the sloops because its easy to jump on a cannon pop off good rounds then jump back on the wheel.

[League]

Is the War Sloop faster than the Sloop? I've been aching and aiming for this knowledge but...

[Steely Jim]

I personally have neither owned, nor otherwise sailed the Sloop; however, the War Sloop is not quite as fast. The War Sloop has 1000 speed sail points, whereas the Sloop has 800 like the Light Sloop.


My progression was light frigate>galleon>war sloop>frigate>war galleon. The war sloop is still my easy favorite for a solo sail, but with a good crew its holds can fill up a little too quickly.

[Captain Windy]

I bought a war sloop and it can accualy pack a punch! If i have 4 other crewmembers on my ship on 4 left cannons(My best brodside) then we do the barricade menuever. The ship comes to us and if it isnt already dead i just dodge all the cannon fire (Easy on sloops) and almost never get hit opposed to the medium frigate. It is also the fastest ship you can buy so its easy for close and long range plundering. Also on top of the speed it has the same number of brodsides so it makes it very deadly. My favorite ship in the whole game.

[Lucy]

I got my war sloop last night and love it! worth every penny!

[myrandr]

Picked up a War Sloop a couple nights ago, and though a great ship was not nearly as "fast" as I expected. I have been fighting with Galleon and Frigate and had not used a Sloop since the light sloop I first had. Decent ship sinking capabilities, plundered nicely off Kingshead more than once just not as affective as a "hit & move" ship as I was expecting. Please note, ghost ships are still MUCH faster than you regardless of what you are sailing.

[Lucy]

Ghost ships arn't faster than me, and I can sink anything in the game in a regular sloop, the war sloop just has more cargo and more broadside for me to solo with.

[Steely Jim]

Offhand, I had two thoughts about why the war sloop might have proved less effective than expected. First, you may be altering course too frequently and not allowing enough straight-line travel to pick up full speed. Secondly, and more specifically, when you are "hitting & running" you may be getting closer than you should given your particular Tacking level. I currently have 4/5 Tacking, so I can get extremely close and still turn away in front of an enemy vessel; as long as you steer clear of frigates you should be able to consistently avoid damage. I also tend to use my Cannon skill in support of my Sailing (read that Broadsides).