Ok, for those believing BB can't be solo.

[mongo]

I didn't think it couldn't be done but all of these pictures show that it is a very close thing doing it solo. There's not much margin for error. Even adding just a second person I think would make things more feasible. Which part gives the most damage to the pearl? The 4 frigates or the bridges?

But congratulations on completing the battle.

[MarsHarmony]

WOW! GREAT JOB.

[Edward Edgemenace]

Originally Posted by mongo

I didn't think it couldn't be done but all of these pictures show that it is a very close thing doing it solo. There's not much margin for error. Even adding just a second person I think would make things more feasible. Which part gives the most damage to the pearl? The 4 frigates or the bridges?

But congratulations on completing the battle.

Thank you.

With a second person, everything is easy, in comparison. The first time I did it with just two people, I was shocked that we could do it. That started me down the path of creating a new pirate just so I could try to do the boss battle alone.

But sailing a boss battle alone is as different from sailing with a crew, as sailing a boss battle is different from normal (NPC or SvS) sailing.

I took notes from my last 50 or so attempts. I had a chart so I could compare the effectiveness of different ammo types (thunder was best for everything.) I tried using explosive on the right and middle bridges (bad) because I had seen that work with crew - solo it was no good at all.

On that last run, when I beat it, the frigates did 10% damage to the Black Pearl, but they only did so much because I kept missing the port side REAR frigate (so ashamed!)

After I did the right bridge, the left bridge and the middle bridge, I had about 52% hull left on the Black Pearl. I hit bridge 4 perfectly, so after 4 and 5, the Black Pearl sill had 50%.

I ran out of ammo entirely on bridges 6 and 7. (According to my notes, it was the first time of all my solo attempts, that I forgot to ammo up.) In shock and dismay, I switched to round shot and had only 20% hull left on the Black Pearl.

Ramming speed, aimed JUST SO, turn hard left, stuck vibrating press ESC get on manual cannon - six volleys (18 cannonballs) for each bridge 8 & 9.

Stunned silence for a minute after that, when I realized I was all but done. Did Goliath one last time (and for once, it was an actual sea battle - FUN!)

I'm told the whole boss battle is much easier now. I would have liked to try a few more things, to see what caused the bridges to use firebrand or round shot or invisible shot. There was no rhyme or reason; I think it may have been completely random - not based on what ammo you used on the frigates, nor what weapons you used on officers, nor what server it plopped you on, etc. I always found the invisible shots from the bridges to be worse than the firebrand. I could see the puffs of smoke from the bridges when they fired, but the cannonballs themselves were invisible, on about 20% of those boss battles.

Thanks again, and good luck!

Originally Posted by Poison elf

I heard it was changed again for svs, made a bit easier. Without having full effect of barrage on the character until you reach 40, canon wouldn't of been near good enough to destroy bridges and ships fast enough.

Couple of characters I did before did it at low levels, before they upgraded the quest. With the rediculous game play now, lag, crashes, cuts, its not worth testing another character on this.

And yet, I did it at level 35. I've seen someone else mention the barrage thing before, but don't see how that is even important. Mine was at rank three - 15%. Even if it was 25%, I don't get why you would think it is related to level 40, magically. All notoriety level increases, cause cannonballs to do more damage. The difference from 35 to 40 is only nominal, evidently.

On one hand, I do wonder why more people don't do it on their own. On the other hand, I agree that it doesn't seem worth it, to create a new pirate and go through it all AGAIN.

Fair winds!