Windrose is an excellent new pirate game, now in Early Access on Steam

The Game Room
41

It’s soulslike in the sense that there are weapons with different move-sets, the ability to guard, and you can learn monster attack patterns, but it’s not at all boss-heavy. I’ve only faced one boss so far and defeated him the first try.

Here’s what their link says about soulslike:

Hack, slash, batter, and shoot your way forward. Parry and dodge, chain strikes, and master a wide arsenal of melee weapons and firearms.

I would say it’s souls-lite. I haven’t done any grinding. Also you can adjust the difficulty level as well. I chose the lowest – Explorer IIRC.

42

I read that clay takes 3 game days to respawn and that it might not respawn if there is something built on it.

On your server, I noticed that the clay patches I harvested have respawned. I even had a torch on one of them so maybe that’s not an issue anymore.

43

If you’re not already, make sure you eat two meals to get the health boost. If you have an elixir, use that too.

Also, I put all of my character points into health and stamina for many levels. Whenever I got into trouble, I would run away, drink a potion and/or bandage.

I do sort of remember the first couple of levels were a bit hairy until I did these things.

44

I was thinking my banana trees were too close so I removed them. We’ll see.

45

Cruelty elixir is really helpful and easy to make. Recipe is boar teeth and pearls. Spend some time hunting boars, even the charging and savages. You’ll develop attack and retreat combos that help with harder opponents. You’ll also get lots of hides and teeth useful for weapon and armor upgrades and making cruelty elixirs. Don’t forget to upgrade all your clothing and weapons.

46

I’ve created a Discord channel for Windrose. Link to join is here:

47

Some new tips I learned:

  • You can go to a fast travel bell from the helm of your ship or boat. This is key for avoiding combat on quests a long way away.
  • Need wood and didn’t pack an axe? You can park your ship next to a grove of trees and blast them to hell with your guns. Probably doesn’t save time, but it’s sure fun!
48

@CaveMike was it you that built those towers and bell on that tiny island in the south with tons of wolves? Very cool! Wolves destroyed me several times, but luckily I got away with my post mortem caches. I’m at Level 6 now, but soon I look forward to exploring that island further.

49

Also if you fast travel from your ship/boat, the boat goes with you. Saves having to call it up separately.

I’m definitely going to try this. I wasn’t sure if the guns could affect the land.

Yep, there is an iron mine by the standalone torch and a sulfur deposit near the fast travel bell and another torch.

I have been struggling to beat the ship quest over there. I got frustrated and built the stone tower with the junk from the iron mine.

I couldn’t figure out how to upgrade ships components. You have to have them in your player inventory when you go to the ships workshop.

Also it wasn’t obvious to me, but you can build other types of ships when you collect plans. I didn’t notice for a while, but you can see your plans at the wharf.

Then I go on land and get eaten by wolves and slammed by goats.

50

Lol, that’s awesome. Does the destruction depend on the kind of shot you’re firing? Reminds me of this tank clearing trees with a shotgun shell

51

I feel like chain shot would be particularly effective at cutting down trees, as it was used to chop up ship masts in real life.

52

Yes, I tried both and chain shot works better. Before I discovered that bells work from the helm I found myself on a distant island without an axe and didn’t feel like beach combing at night so I started shooting and noticed trees falling.

53

A little more on this - if you get sunk in ship to ship combat you can summon your boat while the ship sinks. The enemy will keep firing at your boat, but it doesn’t seem to do any damage (or I got really lucky). Sail to the nearest land and run to the opposite side so you are no longer in combat mode. Summon your boat again and use fast travel to get back to your wharf to restore your ship. I played a little before work today and got swarmed with level 5 gunboats and raiders. This move saved my bacon.

54

I have a theory that if the clay patch is in your bonfire area it won’t respawn. The one in my camp still hasn’t respawned but all of the other ones I’ve used have.

55

Chain shot was actually good at cutting rigging and destroying sails, not severing masts, which were pretty sturdy. But if you cut enough rigging, including the stays which acted as guy wires, the masts are no longer supported and are more likely to come down on their own as the ship maneuvered. I’d be surprised if chain shot could actually cut down a tree more than 3-4" in diameter.

56

Yeah, they’d probably have to be relatively thin trees. There really isn’t a projectile that is good at “cutting down trees”.

Interestingly, there is a “bolo shot” ammunition for a shotgun that operates on the same principle as a chain shot (it’s basically a pair of slugs connected by a wire). In theory it can sever a limb or decapitate someone (and was designed to do so), and it is illegal in some states because of it. In practice it doesn’t actually have nearly enough force to come close to doing so, and is largely ineffective. (Buckshot would really be more effective.)

On a similar note, grapeshot is a type of cannon ammunition that was very similar to buckshot, and was used on sailing ships. It was more of an anti-personnel ammo though, and I doubt it would work on trees very well.

57

In actual practice, grapeshot was usually loaded in a canister and used in much the same way as buckshot. However it is also high maintenance, and at sea many captains improvised and loaded everything from nails to silverware to cut down personnel, much like a claymore mine or modern IED.

58

Here’s my story, with an embedded combat tip:

The pirates lounged in the Caribbean heat, guarding their caged captives. One of them nudged the other. “What’s that devil doing over there?” He gestured to a lone figure, well-fed and well-rested, setting up a tent some thirty meters from their encampment.

“Let’s go, lads!” The pirate shouted, drawing his sword and rushing the stranger.

The stranger drew her cutlass, but she was clearly a novice: she swung it wildly and without finesse. One of the pirates took a few hits, but the stranger was soon surrounded and cut down. The pirates turned their backs and headed to their camp.

Behind them, the stranger staggered forth from her tent. Now gaunt with hunger and shaking with fatigue, she stumbled forward, and stabbed one of the pirates in the back. Again, she was cut down within seconds…

But again she reappeared in her tent, staggered forth, and swung her sword wildly. Over and over she emerged, and her wild swings began to take a toll. For every nick on a pirate, the stranger would pay with her life; but her life seemed endless. First one pirate succumbed to the injuries, then another, then another, until the camp was littered with pirate corpses.

The stranger stopped amid the carnage, reached into her bag, and pulled out two meals to eat.

My character is called Callow Mary, but I think the dark legends of this tent-based revenant have spread among Blackbeard’s crew, and they whisper in horror of Sleepy Mary.

Tip: build a tent near a big battle. You respawn after three seconds, and can wear them down through attrition.

59

Bravo, quite a swashbuckling tale of Sleepy Mary! But one has to wonder if the pirates began to suspect their NPC status.