Maelstrom: Getting Started

Guide created by: Lawless Cajones

Imported from steam

Starting Out
[I'm gonna start this guide off in the most interesting way possible: a disclaimer. This is not a comprehensive guide. It assumes you've done the tutorial, read some of the loading screen tips and tricks, looked at some of the in-game wiki entries, and know (or will figure out on your own) about boons, ship hardpoints, and the like. Some basic mechanics are explained in detail so you don't have to determine them by testing it yourself. The idea is to cover basic mechanics and aspects of the game, along with a few general strategies. I hope you find this useful and helpful to your understanding of the game.]

So you've done the tutorial and picked your first ship. Neato! If you're not happy with the ship you've chosen, it's quite easy to unlock others, so don't panic. We'll dive right into a few gameplay mechanics.

Cannons
Maelstrom has three types of ammunition: Iron shot, chain shot, and grape shot. If you know how to take advantage of them, you can better ensure your victory in the battlewaters.

Iron Shot is your standard cannonball. This is what hits hull and armor (white health bars). Once armor is depleted on a side, hitting that side will damage the hull. Once the hull reaches 0, the ship sinks.

Chain Shot affects sails (blue health bar), which affects a ship's top speed. It's worth noting that Dwarves don't have sails!

Grape Shot damages crew (red health bar). Crew is important for boarding, being boarded, and other utilities such as cannon reload and accuracy. More about crew to come.

Damaging Ships
BY CANNON... Yes, you can just shoot at them. As stated prior, armor must go down before you can damage the hull with iron shot.

BY RAM... Ramming is quite self-explanatory. The more speed you have, the more damage you'll do. You are able to upgrade ramming capabilities as well, and some ships are more suited to it than others!

BY BOARD... Boarding (right click) directly damages crew and hull. Crew protects the ship though, keeping hull damage to a minimum and killing the boarder's crew in defense. However, if a ship is below minimum effective crew, boarding will deal lethally high damage to the hull. This is maximized when the victim has no crew. Hence, boarding kills are a dangerous and subversive way of taking out targets, especially those with high armor.

Matchmaking
I know, I know, you're saying "but I wanna sink some ships right now!". Sit tight, as this'll clear some things up.

First things first, the size of the playerbase does not properly reflect how good the game is. That is, this game is underappreciated. Maelstrom matches will put as many players together as it can, then autofill the rest with bots. How can you tell a player apart from a bot? Aside from gameplay, if you see them in the pre-game lobby, they're a human player. You can also hit chat (T or Enter, by default) and type / to get a list of the players in the server that aren't you. Tab gives the scoreboard, and a list of all the ships in game (bots and players alike)--using it during the pre-game lobby will show all the human players. And by the way, don't let the matchmaking timer go past 180 seconds. There's a known glitch that will give you an infinite timer. With that out of the way, let's talk about how getting into a game works.

Maelstrom's matchmaking depends heavily on Power Rating (abbreviated as PR). This is a little blue number with a star at the bottom of your ship loadout on the right of the main screen. As you upgrade your ship and change its stats, PR changes so players with similar strength are placed in the same matches.

There are currently two game modes: Solo and Team. Solo is a free-for-all battle royale, where the last ship standing wins. Team puts players in groups of 3, and you can party up with friends this way. Solo matchmaking is faster than team matchmaking, because team has many more factors to consider with these kinds of parties. If you're going for quests or trying to get/upgrade ships quickly, go for solo. However, I first played this in teams with someone else and it was pretty fun. Take your pick freely.

The PR brackets shift and have nontrivial overlap, but to give you a rough idea, they go as follows: 1000-1500 1500-1800 1700-1999 (Most populated) 2000-2500 (2nd most populated) 2500-3000 (3rd most populated)

Keep in mind that these may not be fully accurate, but are a reflection of my personal observations and conversations with other players.

Upgrading your ship
Among other things, completing matches and quests gives you gold. Gold is the resource you use for upgrading your ship. You can use it to upgrade your ship directly by clicking the blue roman numeral, which will unlock new "hardpoints" that you can equip on your ship and boost certain stats. I highly recommend getting these before upgrading mates, as they provide great buffs without placing you in a high PR bracket.

Mates are received daily in the store, and by completing quests. If you're feeling particularly impatient, you can also purchase them using gold. These are critical in specializing your build, especially at higher PR.

Captains give special active abilities to your ship, which are extremely useful in battles. These mainly have to be purchased with gold.

Crew Explained
This is something not very well covered in tutorials, so many players have to find this out empirically by being killed. Hence, I'm covering it here.

Your ship comes with certain number of crew. Each crew member has an allotted amount of crew health. When your crew receives enough damage to kill a crew member (by boarding or grape shot), your crew goes down by 1. If your crew health bar falls below the white line (called minimum effective crew), you can no longer board, and take penalties to cannon reload and accuracy. With no crew, your ship can no longer be defended from boarding, and all the enemy's crew damage will be focused on your hull.

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This is the basic overview of what you do to play the game. You can go and figure the rest out on your own if you like--the main idea with this first section was to get out of the way some of the commonly asked general questions by new players. If you want a surface rundown of races and ships, stick around for the next sections.

Stats
This section is to remove confusion with the buffs in the mate section. Some of the stats sound similar. You can skip this section and come back to it at your will, as this is mostly a disambiguation. Repairs happen in "ticks", but have values based on the average points per tick. In-game you'll see chunkier values and time segments. 1 tick = about 3 seconds.

Hull/Armor
Hull Integrity: How many hull hit points you have. Fore, Aft, Port, Starboard Armor: The amount of armor hit points you have on the front, rear, left, or right of your ship, respectively (with the perspective of you sitting in the ship, looking to the fore). Hull Damage Resist: The percentage by which incoming damage will be reduced when inflicted to your hull. Armor Damage Resist: The percentage by which incoming damage will be reduced when inflicted to any armor quadrant. Hull Repair: Represents the number of hull hit points restored per second (on average) out of combat. Combat Hull Repair: Represents the number of hull hit points restored per second (on average) with combat flag. Armor Repair: Represents the number of armor hit points restored per second (per quadrant, on average) out of combat. Combat Armor Repair: Represents the number of armor hit points restored per second (per quadrant, on average) with combat flag. Ramming Damage Resist: The percentage by which incoming ram damage will be reduced. Knockback Resistance: Reduces the push caused by rams or certain attacks. Critical Damage Resist: The percentage by which critical damage will be reduced. Critical Chance Resist: Percentage that reduces the likelihood that an incoming cannonball hits critically.

Cannons
Number of cannons: The total number of cannons on the ship across all quadrants. Cannon Range: How far your cannons will go. Does not extend past line of sight. Hull/Armor Damage: Damage inflicted by each cannonball of iron shot. Sail Damage: Damage inflicted by each cannonball of chain shot. Crew Damage (Cannon): Damage inflicted by each cannonball of grape shot. Cannonball Spread: How far your cannonballs will deviate from their original firing line. Cannon Firing Delay: How long it takes for a volley to happen after firing. The higher the delay, the more time in between cannon shots. Cannon Reload: How long it takes for your cannons to go from empty to full. Cannonball Velocity: How fast your projectiles move. Critical Chance: The chance your cannonball will be a critical hit when it lands. Critical Damage: The percentage by which cannon damage is increased on a critical hit.

Crew
Number of Crew: Total number of crew members on your ship. Minimum Effective Crew: Number of crew required to prevent high penalties to boarding and cannons. Determines where the white line lies on your crew health bar. Crewman Health: Number of hit points for one crew member. Crewman Strength: Reflects damage done in boarding encounters. Crew Damage Resist: The percentage by which incoming damage to crew is reduced. Crew Heal: Reflects number of crew hit points regenerated per second (on average) out of combat. Combat Crew Heal: Reflects number of crew hit points regenerated per second (on average) with combat flag. Boarding Range: How far your grapple hooks (also used to nab loot) reach. Boarding Duration: How long a boarding encounter (one that you start) will last. Boarding Cooldown: How long you must wait after a board before boarding again. Boarding Duration Resist: The percent by which board time will decrease if you are boarded.

Mobility
Sail Health: Number of your ship's sail hit points. Sail Repair: Reflects number of sail hit points regenerated per second (on average) out of combat. Combat Sail Repair: Reflects number of sail hit points regenerated per second (on average) with combat flag. Max Speed: The top speed you will attain without boons or combat flag. Acceleration: How quickly your ship will change speed. Turn Rate: How fast your ship will turn. Turn Acceleration: How quickly your ship will get to your turn rate. Current Navigation: Increases speed boost from sailing with currents, and decreases speed penalty for sailing against currents. Ramming Damage: The amount of damage you inflict in a ram. Not a flat amount; scales with speed. Pickup Range: How far away from your ship you can pick up loot without grappling hooks. Sight Range: How far before a ship disappears.

Mates
Your ship comes with three empty mate slots. One is unlocked, and the other two must be purchased. They also come with levels from 1-5. You can level up mates using gold, and there's a small chance when you claim a contract from the store that it self-upgrades. Each mate comes with a pre-assigned level 5 passive trait, which will be active on your ship once the mate is level 5. You don't need to worry about it much when starting out though--focus more on getting the mates.

Mate Types
Alrighty. There are 11 types of mates: Bosun, Shipwright, Surgeon, Sail Master, Quartermaster, Powder Monkey, Master Gunner, Navigator, Helmsman, Cook, and Lookout. Each mate has variants, but you are only allowed one of a mate type on your ship. Let's take a deeper look.

Bosun:  Provides armor to a ship. Resist: Increase armor damage resistance and critical damage resistance. Bulk: Gives a boost to armor on all sides, along with smaller boosts to armor and critical damage resistances. Regen: Gives a smaller boost (2/3 of Bulk) to all sides, and increases armor repair both in and out of combat.

Shipwright: ​​​​​​​ Responsible for the ship's hull. Bulk: Increases hull integrity and ramming damage resist. Resist: Increases hull integrity and ramming damage resist by a much smaller amount, but includes hull damage resist. Regen: Gives a small increase to hull integrity, and increases hull repair rate both in and out of combat.

Surgeon:  Augments the crew and keep them strong. Strength: Gives the greatest increases to crewman strength and damage resistance, but has the lowest healing. Health: Gives an increase to crew health and damage resistance, with a medium amount of healing. Regen: Highest healing rate, with small increases to crew health and strength.

Sail Master:  Keeps sails well cared-for, and makes you go faster. Bulk: Increases sail health, sail damage resistance, and max speed. Regen: Increases sail health and max speed by a smaller amount, and increases sail repair in and out of combat.

Quartermaster:  Makes your ship more formidable in boarding situations. Resist: Biggest increase in boarding duration resist, and decreases reload time. Longboard: Increases boarding duration and decreases boarding cooldown, with an equal decrease in reload time. Backboard: Same boarding cooldown as above, but has a slightly weaker reload buff and includes boarding duration resist.

Powder Monkey:  Makes your cannons hit harder and faster. Crit: Increases critical damage by the most, with the biggest boost to cannonball velocity. Iron: Increases hull/armor damage and cannonball velocity. Pop: Increases hull/armor damage by a little less than above, and increases critical damage.

Master Gunner:  Good for making cannons more accurate, or increasing other damage types. Crippler: Increases chain and grape shot damage equally, with reduction in cannonball spread. Sail: Increases sail damage while decreasing cannon firing delay and spread. Crew: Increases sail damage while decreasing cannon firing delay and spread.

Navigator:  Helps your ship with speed and current navigation. Accel: Biggest increase in acceleration, with a small boost to max speed and a decent increase in current navigation. Speed: Highest boost to max speed, with a smaller increase in acceleration. Current: Biggest increase in current navigation, with an equal increase max speed as above.

Helmsman:  Increases ship maneuverability and ramming competence. Turn: Increases turn rate and turn acceleration the most. Chicken: Increase in ramming damage and turn acceleration. Bull: Equal increase in ramming damage, with smaller boosts to turn rate and turn acceleration

Cook:  Good food = good luck? Good with cooldowns and crits. Flag: Decreases combat flag duration by the most, reduces captain ability cooldown slightly, and reduces the chance you'll be hit by crits. Crit: Heaviest buffs to crit chance and crit chance resistance, with smaller decreases in combat flag duration and captain ability cooldown. Captain: Slightly increases your critical chance and your crit chance resistance, decreases captain ability cooldown the most, and decreases combat flag duration some.

Lookout:  Helps with aiming for range and damage, as well as loot retrieval. Range: Gives a large boost to cannon range, and a small boost to critical chance. Crit: Gives equal boosts to cannon range and critical chance. Pickup: Increases pickup radius and cannon range.

Legendary Mates
Occasionally, you will come across legendary mates. These mates have the same PR costs, but cost substantially more to upgrade. However, they have an additional, augmented, or swapped trait which can be perfect for specializing or strengthening your build. However, be cautious, as they also come with a debuff, which many times pertains to a weakness already present! There exist one or two legendary mates for each type in different races; keep your eye out for special quests or shop deals where you can get your hands on one!

This next section will talk about the various ship types available. There will be some basic strategies and mate choices for each, but mostly on a surface level. I hope to make an in-depth build guide for each sometime, but this should be good to get you started.

Overview
Humans are designed to hit hard and fast. They specialize in speed, range, and iron shot. A master of open seas, the idea is to simply punch again and again, plowing through armor and hull by brute force. They are effective at 1v1 encounters, but also make for some of the best opportunists, firing at those already engaged in combat.

Ships
Cinder

The Human sloop Cinder is the fastest ship in the game. With decent cannons and an extra speed boost when out of combat, she makes for deadly prey if she leads you on a chase. + Cannons pack a punch + Amazing speed + Maneuverable - Light on the armor - Low crew At risk of sounding repetitive, I'll again mention that Cinder is the fastest ship around. This is worth emphasizing because it's a core part of Cinder gameplay. Cinder is designed to not be caught. This of course means enemies will try to catch you, employing tactics such as chain shot, boarding, and cornering. Cinder players must find a balance between countering these weaknesses and building their strengths.
 * Cannons only on broadsides
 * Passive out of combat speed boost
 * Tier X: Oracle (can see anyone within sight radius, regardless of fog or obstacles)
 * Pros and cons:

Cinder does well out of combat. This has to do with its ability, Tail Wind Passive (speed boost out of combat), and the fact that Cinder has low health bars across the board (sails, armor, hull, crew). These may scare you to start, but the point is that the less health you have, the easier it is to regenerate it. Regeneration mates such as the Bosun, Shipwright, and Sail Master will make it so you if you're low on anything, you can simply sail away for a bit and make it all back. This is a particularly frustrating strategy for any slower ship trying to chase you. You can sail circles around them, taking seemingly no damage while tenderizing them with your cannons volley by volley. These out of combat perks can be capitalized on if you equip a Flag Cook. Once leveled, combat flag will last less than a couple seconds, meaning high regeneration and speed can be used during encounters, not just outside of them.

If Cinder is not the fastest ship in the waters, trouble ensues. Sails are one of its most valuable assets--if a Cinder ever loses them without a way to regenerate or a deus ex machina, their fate is sealed. Open waters are a Cinder's domain; stick to them! Orcs and Dwarves can and will better navigate tight spaces and have the advantage there. You want them to chase you to open waters, getting enough distance to shoot them and resume the chase. If their attention is diverted, punish them with a couple volleys to unguarded quadrants. On that note, Cinder is one of the best ships to take advantage of battles in progress. It simply sails around to an unguarded side and pumps cannonballs into it. As such, many players will divert their attention to a Cinder when one comes around, for they know they'll both end up dead if they fight each other instead of you. As a Cinder, keep in mind you are a high priority target, and they'll kill you first-- if they can catch you.

Suggested Mates: Sail Master (Regen), Bosun (Regen), Shipwright (Regen), Cook (Flag), Navigator, Powder Monkey, Quartermaster (Resist)

Ashborne

Ashborne, the Human frigate, has lethal firepower further rewarded by sequential volleys. She is a dangerous foe with good speed, but if enemies are given too much time, Ashborne can be in peril. + Punishingly powerful volleys (will deal with armor by simply removing it) + Decent speed - Poor fore and aft armor - Ramming and boarding builds can be dangerous Woe to the ship who faces an Ashborne's broadside. Its painfully powerful cannons will deal still more damage after a successful reload. This ship's strategy involves simple, sheer force. Once you can achieve a rhythm with reloading, evading, turning, and firing, few enemies stand a chance.
 * Cannons only on broadsides
 * Damage boost after full reload
 * Tier X: Incendiary Cannonballs (have a chance to light a ship on fire, dealing direct hull damage over time)
 * Pros and cons:

Prolonged encounters are not advised. Ashborne has abysmal fore and aft armor, which can only be further exploited when surrounded by multiple attackers. If possible, circle around to give yourself some space, and let them all have it. Boarding and ramming can be a scalpel to the throat, so put extra emphasis on evading those.

Ashborne is a broadside player. You want to make sure most of the business goes on there. If you get hit, try to ensure it's on a broadside which can take the hit rather than your fore or aft. Never intentionally let those take the blow until necessary; many hits will punch right through to your hull. With a combination of speed and power, command the engagement volley after volley until the enemy is sunk.

Suggested Mates: Powder Monkey, Bosun, Helmsman, Shipwright, Quartermaster, Sail Master

Fury's Hold

Fury's Hold is the battleship of the Humans. Rows of artillery will shred opponents from afar, provided she can manage the firing delay. Decent armor for a Human ship, but poor maneuverability make it difficult to fight in tight spots. + Good firepower which can punish at a distance (highest range of the game) + Cannons on all quadrants + Good armor - Best in open waters; poor with currents or enclosed water - Slow to accelerate and turn - High firing delay and projectile velocity require aiming tactics different from other ships Fury's Hold is a master of open waters, long distances, and fog banks. Its armor is good for a beating or two, which is good when an enemy inevitably closes the distance. When it comes to close-up battles, Fury's Hold can hold its own, but certainly is not in a position of advantage. Terrain, currents, and maelstroms are not ideal for either maneuvering or targeting. Open waters and distance are the optimal battle conditions; just beware of faster or closer ships stealing your kills and loot. If you can land a fog bank with sight of two fighting ships, that's gold. Set up your shot and surprise them with the gift of several downed armor quadrants.
 * Increased range, cannonball velocity, and firing delay. Damage increases with distance traveled.
 * Tier X: Marksmen Towers (snipers pick off crew of ships in range)
 * Pros and cons:

Fury can move at a good clip for a battleship once it gets going. However, changing direction or velocity can prove a challenge. At close range, you have to turn more in order to hit your target. Fury also has problems with crippling effects of chain shot (will turn you into a sitting duck) and grape shot (reload speed is a constant problem). If you're worried about this being a problem, you may want to equip mates to counteract this. Also, to properly meter your expectations, consider the fore and aft cannons as a little extra cream on top. They have less than half the cannons as the broadsides, which are your combat staple. Definitely take advantage of their easier aiming and to apply pressure while turning for a main volley, but make sure you're focusing on the deadly broadsides to get the job done.

When Fury's Hold is in the thick of a multi-ship brawl, keep in mind it's a defensive situation. You don't want to be in that kind of spot. She's much better suited to fight outside of that, shredding them from afar with a volley of death. Fury's cannonballs travel faster, but have a high firing delay; the aiming will require some finagling to figure it out. To avoid frequent misses (one of Fury's biggest problems), consider Helmsman for turning and Master Gunner to reduce firing delay. Widow's Powder [see below] is also very useful with this ship.

Suggested Mates: Bosun, Helmsman, Master Gunner, Shipwright, Sail Master, Surgeon, Powder Monkey, Navigator

More Human stuff...

Captains
Axton Harrowfel

Ability: Widow's Powder. Increases cannon damage and drastically reduces firing delay for a period of time. Highly dangerous if aimed properly. Cooldown: 50 seconds.

Flint Brinetide

Ability: Balefire Blast. Generates an explosion at either broadside which launches enemies away, inflicting crew damage. Great to stop rams and boards, or to shove ships into environmental hazards. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Morrigan Shale

Ability: Inferno's Wake. Morrigan's pet phoenix flies forward in a line of flame, burning ships in its path with direct hull and sail damage over time. You also get a speed boost by sailing in its wake, useful for quick escapes or pursuits. Cooldown: 35 seconds.

Tips and Tricks
Humans excel in open waters, and are designed to be on the attack. Humans aren't well-known for their armor, with the exception of Fury's Hold. Rather, their reputation lies in their sheer destructive power placed in iron shot. Couple this with high speeds, and you have the basis of what a Human ship is supposed to do.

That said, this is pretty much the only thing a Human is supposed to do. Their crew isn't the best, and ramming isn't great if you don't have the armor to back it up. Boarding is still effective with Humans but for a different reason; it's great to hold down ships and blast them with a volley or two. But watch your crew; if they go down, the reload penalty will cripple your moneymakers.

Overview
Orcs have overwhelming strength in numbers, unparalleled in crew. They have more crude ships, with a more head-on play style and weaker aft armor. Orc cannons are more inaccurate, but come with increased critical benefits. With excellent ramming and boarding capabilities, their fighting style is up close and personal. They often can be specialized, subverting the expectations of heavily armed and armored foes by crippling then striking at the throat.

Ships
Cleaver

If all crits across every game came together and decided to incarnate together as a ship, they would become the Orc sloop, Cleaver. Cleaver has decent speed and the best rudder in the game. She relies on critical hits and close encounters, but has weak armor and is quite vulnerable if caught. + Forward boarding hooks for more angle options + Great speed + Highly maneuverable - Deplorable armor - Cannons are weak if used at range or crits aren't capitalized on Cleaver has two main builds: Crit and Boarding.
 * Cannons on fore and broadsides
 * Critical chance increases the closer you are
 * Tier X: Scavenger (Picking up loot repairs hull and armor)
 * Pros and cons:

The Crit build capitalizes on what Cleaver does best. Crit Cleavers swoop in close and plow through armor. You'll want Sawtooth Cannons, Prow Armor, and mates that benefit crits (Powder Monkeys, Lookouts...). High reload speed allows for massive damage, especially in a boarding encounter where you can get multiple volleys in.

The Boarding Cleaver takes advantage of her often underestimated crew. She is already quite difficult to board kill, but install Chomper Cannons and Raider Decks with the right mates and she can take on a Gorger. Especially due to the close-up nature of boarding, Cleaver can thrive with this by taking advantage of critical hits to crew and sails. Boarding Cleavers are a rare find; one must be cautious to not prolong engagements. Other ships could come in, and your armor doesn't last long-term without enough kills.

Whatever you choose, Cleaver is designed to be close in. If you don't have the drop on the enemy, the exchange may cause quite a bit of suffering. Don't be afraid to run away from an encounter to stay alive; you may later be able to take advantage of them while they're in another battle. That said, if honor is your thing, Cleaver's probably not for you. You have to maintain a mentality of self-preservation due to the simple fact that you can easily be stepped on, which means abandoning a battle every now and then.

Timing is important for Cleaver. It's most effective in mid-game; early on it may not have the armor or speed necessary to handle some ships, and an endgame battle with a fully booned battleship is terrifying, no matter how many boons you have. Be selective and opportunistic in your battles, darting around the battlefield with speed and efficiency. Open waters spell trouble, but you can use your speed and quick turning to evade as you close the distance. Multiple attackers can be fended off by a Cleaver, provided it maneuvers enough to make them hit each other or they were fighting each other first and you're late to the party. However, if you get boarded in a multi-ship brawl, brace yourself. Board angles can be good 1 on 1 because of Cleaver's close-up crits and quick reloads, but you don't want to get caught between two ships that can board you. Best bet is to not get caught, opting for ambushes and crits to the aft armor.

Suggested Mates: Powder Monkey, Bosun, Shipwright, Surgeon, Master Gunner, Lookout, Quartermaster

Bloodfin

The Orc frigate Bloodfin is a quintessential rammer. Her play style is very much "push forward", with abilities that benefit from taking pain. + Great ramming + Good firepower to keep up the pressure + Good crew - Poor aft armor - Not the fastest, and sails are weak Bear Down, Bloodfin's passive, makes it easy to have the engagement on your terms. If someone's running away and they shoot at you, you get a speed boost. If you need to run and they fire at you, you get a speed boost. If they're sitting still to fire accurately at you while you approach, you get a speed boost (great for extra oomph on the ram). Close up, where you continually ram, proves to be a viable source of extra damage with Bloodfin.
 * Cannons on fore and broadsides
 * Temporary speed boost on receiving damage
 * Tier X: Vengeance (damage and reload speed increase after being hit)
 * Pros and cons:

Ramming builds are going to be the most common with this ship. Fore armor doesn't last forever though, and since you can't back up like Dwarves, you'll need to make sure you can do enough damage in other ways. Bloodfin has good cannons to keep up, so capitalize on them. The last thing you want is to be a sitting duck, because you can't ram, let alone move, when your weak sails are shot out. Sail master recommended for this reason.

There's also the option of going with boarding, since Bloodfin does have a pretty decent crew. Use whatever crew augments you'd put in place to get extra reload speed, and hit hard while you can. Bloodfin can't get Chomper Cannons though, so consider a Master Gunner for crippling purposes.

Suggested Mates: Helmsman, Sail Master, Powder Monkey, Bosun, Shipwright, Navigator, Master Gunner

Gorger

One boarding ship to rule them all, the battleship Gorger is stocked to the brim with crew, biting at the bit to tear a ship to shreds by hand. Her below-average speed makes open waters dangerous, but once she cripples her prey, they had better start praying. + Best crew in the game and superior boarding capability + Decent armor + Boarding hooks at the fore - Weak in the aft - Not terribly fast or maneuverable, but good for a battleship - Will be punished in open waters Gorger's signature playstyle is boarding, but there's also a ramming/damage build that's certainly worth talking about.
 * Cannons on fore and broadsides
 * Increased boarding range and decreased boarding cooldown. Cooldown cut in half if it misses.
 * Tier X: Rowdy Crew (Passive hull/armor, sail, and crew damage inflicted to every enemy within boarding range)
 * Pros and cons:

The boarding build ideally involves Chomper Cannons, a surgeon, a quartermaster, and another mate to increase either your lethality or your survivability (Master Gunner, Bosun/Shipwright...). Stockade Cabins may seem like the obvious choice for maximum boarding affinity, but you have to be much quicker in your board kills for it to be viable. Personally, I use Bolted Fore Armor in the defense hardpoint, which allows me to keep up with hard hitters and multiple attackers without being in great danger. Either case, boarding is your specialty here; equip Riphook Gunports to increase your boarding range, and do whatever you can to up crew damage as you'll be using grape shot a lot.

The other build involves a more brutish playstyle, going through armor instead of around it. This focuses on ramming and high cannon damage. Gorger is still amazing at boarding no matter what loadout it has, so you can still cripple ships while punching them to death, and go toe-to-toe with other boarding builds because of your good crew. Just remember what your specialty is; if a boarding build does approach you, don't try to beat them at their own game unless you have the loadout to do it.

Suggested Mates: Surgeon, Quartermaster (Re-board), Master Gunner (Crippler), Bosun, Shipwright, Sail Master, Navigator, Helmsman

Captains
Fade Marrowtooth

Ability: Tempest. Creates a purple tornado which drastically inhibits mobility of enemy ships, dealing hull/armor and sail damage as it does so. A well-rounded ability useful for crowd control, traps, and damage. Cooldown: 45 seconds.

Grinner Blackmaw

Ability: Chow Time. Riles up the crew, increasing their strength and damage resist for a time. Deadly on boarding builds. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Splint Depthbringer

Ability: Chomper's Charge. Splint's pet shark pulls the ship forward with a massive speed boost, excellent for escapes, rams, pursuits, and what have you. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Tips and Tricks
Orcs are close-up fighters with decent speed and excellent maneuverability. They make for great opportunists, and can cripple with high crew, sail, and critical damage, leaving enemies dead in the water. You want a build to mainly concentrate on their strengths.

Orc cannons get the most out of crits by default. They have high critical hit chance and critical damage. However, their crude fighting style comes with low cannon accuracy, so range is not a strong suit.

Orc carry the best crew in the game. High in number, health, and damage, they possess a significant boarding advantage. This makes them dangerous as boarding builds and against boarding builds. Also, two of the ships offer forward boarding hooks. Paired with quick reloads, orcs have a special tendency to take advantage of diagonal boarding angles with fore and broadside cannons.

Ramming comes naturally as a result of their forward-mobility playstyle. If you get boarded after a ram, fore cannons allow you to continue doing extra damage. Ramming options generally coincide greater speed, which have the added plus of being able to close distances or evade quickly. Open waters can spell death if not careful, and be wary of multiple attackers overwhelming you by shooting the aft, so mobility is certainly something to capitalize.

Orcs do have weaknesses worth addressing in your build. All of them have weak aft armor (armor isn't great overall), and their sails aren't the best. For the sake of defensive contingency, you may want to run some mates to counter this. Orcs can provide very rewarding gameplay if used properly.

Overview
Dwarves facilitate a more bulky gameplay with their steam ships, opting for cannons few in number but great in size.

Ships
Tidebreaker

Tidebreaker subverts the typical expectations for a Dwarf ship, opting to emphasize on Dwarves' mobility and evasion. The fastest of the Dwarves, Tidebreaker has a low profile and good armor. However, with low crew and weaker firepower, Tidebreaker can be vulnerable to a great deal of suffering--if you can catch her. + Good speed + Very maneuverable and good at dodging + Good armor - Mediocre cannons - Weakest crew--avoid boarding Tidebreaker is a bullet. While it's one of the most viable ships to use dodging to reduce incoming damage, it also has the best armor of all the sloops. Firepower has room to grow, but will pay off with consistent hits in tandem with captain's tricks and ramming. You'll need to adopt a rhythm of forward and reverse, turning and firing, dodging and ramming to maximize your damage. Fight with the whole ship to distribute damage across the armor quadrants, use all of your cannons, and evade enemies.
 * Cannons on all quadrants
 * Increased rate of changing direction (forward/reverse; not to be confused with pure acceleration)
 * Tier X: Techromatic Spooler (decreases captain ability cooldown by 25%)
 * Pros and cons:

Great danger comes from boarding builds. Tidebreaker has the lowest crew in the game; in higher PR brackets, Gorgers specialized for crew and boarding damage can kill Tidebreaker bots with three grape shot volleys and a board. There are several ways to counter this.

First, with your build. Running a surgeon may be valuable, but at the end of the day you're outnumbered. You may not be able to regenerate fast enough to get sufficient damage in if you've been successfully crewed, so don't let them get the drop on you. A quartermaster is very effective if you opt for board resistance, which may make the enemy ship have to wait so long between boards that you can cripple them and run (or if you're confident in your damage output, to take them on). Ledd Gravelbarr's "Batten Down" ability (see below) will drastically reduce incoming damage, stopping board damage altogether while active. If you're playing defensively, equip this with Tidebreaker's cooldown perks and you've got a decent counter to boarding builds.

Secondly, with your offensive capabilities. Boarding can take time if the target is ready for it. Time costs hull and armor. Make sure they know it. Ramming builds with torpedoes (see below) make for an excellent sucker punch out of the fog or around a corner. Or you can take a more brute force method, speccing into Bowbreaker cannons and powder monkey mates to reward consistent damage. Either case, while Tidebreaker's hull and armor are good for a sloop, they won't last. When designing your build, ensure you can either hit hard or take a beating (preferably both).

Suggested mates: Cook (Captain), Bosun (Regen), Shipwright (Regen), Helmsman, Surgeon, Quartermaster, Powder Monkey, Navigator

Thunderhead

Thunderhead delivers punishing blows, harder than any other Dwarf. The frigate has exemplary armor, able to take a beating as it plows through the enemy. However, faster ships can be difficult to chase, and crew is a lethal vulnerability. + Great armor + Great firepower - Slow; bad for chasing enemies - Mediocre range; stay away from open waters - Poor crew--the reduced reload speed alone could kill you Thunderhead is a beast of a frigate. Circling this ship will result in sure pain. Cannonballs with knockback and power enough to plow through armor quadrants give this ship a strong reputation. Consistent hits are a must to maximize efficiency. I recommend as soon as possible to get Slipshifter Gearing, a hardpoint that will double your acceleration. You won't have the added speed boost offered by Coiled Loader Engine, but you do get near-instant stops and reverses, which allow for superior maneuvers and dodges that rival those of Tidebreaker.
 * Cannons on all quadrants
 * Cannonballs knock ships back
 * Tier X: Return Fire (upon taking damage from an enemy, will fire a free cannonball directly at it)
 * Pros and cons:

However, speed and range are constant challenges, which makes open waters over long distances dangerous. Chasing ships usually won't work unless you've first shot out their sails. This makes Thunderhead more of a defensive ship; somewhat akin to a bear. One full broadside (they'll feel it even more if you decrease firing delay) is enough to worry many ships. The Tier X, Return Fire, provides some insight into Thunderhead's playstyle: one of its best aspects is its cannons; why not have more? This is why reload speed, firing delay, acceleration, and turn rate are (at least in my opinion) important for a successful build. You want to continue evading back and forth, turning to use all your cannons and beat the hull to a pulp.

Crew then becomes another hurdle to overcome on the path to becoming unsinkable. Thunderhead comes with 100 crew. Dwarves are thicc, and have good health, but the lack in number is a problem. If someone blasts you with grape shot, your reload speed and accuracy will be borked, removing your pulverization potential. Thunderhead can't as easily evade boards and such, so may well be worth it to run a Surgeon.

Suggested Mates: Helmsman, Bosun, Surgeon, Shipwright, Powder Monkey, Master Gunner

Stormanchor

Stormanchor is in many ways the pride of Dwarf craftsmanship; a floating tank with outstanding armor. While it may be slow and lack quick maneuverability, it's designed to just keep coming back. + Best armor in the game, can take quite a beating + Decent crew for a Dwarf ship + Amazing stats once specialized (slow to start, but don't let that turn you off) - Bad acceleration, and BAD turning - Mediocre damage output until specialized; engagements can be drawn out - Environment (currents, tight spaces) can overwhelm you if not careful Stormanchor is a quintessential tank. It carries some of the highest base stats of any ship, so it does well with boons. I'll analagously say that it has good bones--this makes the meat (specialization) a crucial part of Stormanchor's gameplay. Admittedly, it can be mediocre until specialized with mates and hardpoints. However, once you do, it opens up a myriad of possibilities. The ship is slow at first, but a navigator with the right hardpoints will allow you to have higher max speed than sloops. This gives one of the most powerful ramming builds around. Stormanchor has a lot of inertia, so try to use rocks or other ships to supplement your acceleration and ram with fore and aft.
 * Cannons on all quadrants.
 * Increased out of combat repair.
 * Tier X: Auto Shield (Upon taking damage, a shield will appear for a time, reducing incoming damage. No movement penalties induced from this [see Ledd Gravelbarr below].)
 * Pros and cons:

Stormanchor also has a lot of options to soak up damage, between the Tier X passive, Captain's tricks, increased repairs, and mate selection. This allows you to adopt combat strategies that may take more time, such as a ramming/crippling combo. You can also opt for full bulk, maxing out armor, repairs, and damage, however this usually comes at the cost of speed.

Suggested Mates: Helmsman, Navigator, Bosun, Shipwright, Powder Monkey, Surgeon, Cook (Flag)

Captains
Anvil Barhollow

Ability: Clockwork Torpedoes. Launches two torpedoes straight forward which will explode on impact with a ship or surface. Excellent range, but must be aimed properly. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Brick Saltspine

Ability: Keelbreaker Mines. Deploy two water mines which will arm a couple seconds. Any ship that passes by an armed mine will be locked on to, the mines chasing and exploding on the victim with area damage. Unparalled for taking advantage of the environment (currents, tight spaces, maelstroms, dead waters, etc.) Cooldown: 35 seconds.

Ledd Gravelbarr

Ability: Batten Down. Shuts down the ship and creates a forcefield around it, drastically reducing incoming damage and regenerating some hull/armor. Cannot board or turn while active, but can be activated during boarding. Limited forward/backward movement (sets you to 0 when you activate), and can still fire cannons. Useful in protecting against boarding attacks once crewed, a powerful incoming broadside volley, or a ram that would otherwise be painful. Not to be confused with Stormanchor's Tier X Unique hardpoint, Auto Shield. Cooldown: 30 seconds.

Tips and Tricks
Dwarf ships run off steam--that means no sails to be crippled! However, they have the lowest number of crew in the game. This means you have to hit hard against boarding builds, mainly in one of three ways: 1) Run a surgeon. 2) Crew the enemy before they can crew you. 3) Hit hard enough that you kill them before they get the chance.

With Dwarves, spacing is everything. You want them close enough that you can hit them, but keep them at a distance to avoid boarding so you can use all your cannons and protect crew. They have high armor and good acceleration, but some of the slowest ships without upgrades. They can suffer in open waters as a result; the armor will get you out alive, but weaker in your next encounter if you let a human snipe you.

All Dwarf ships have omnidirectional fire (cannons on all quadrants), and the ability to move in forward and reverse. They have three or four cannons on a broadside, and two each on the fore and aft. Spin it to win it! The cannons have high reload times, so turn and let them have it from all sides! Work on landing consistent, continuous hits, and you will win out.

Dwarves also boast the highest armor of any race. This is vital to their more defensive playstyle. Be a tank! You can choose to capitalize on this with Shipwrights and Bosuns, or take advantage of it to broaden your build's scope, opting for a bulky boarding build or a hefty ramming build.

While on that note, yes it is possible to have ramming and boarding builds for Dwarves. You have to make sure you have the right cannons and mates, but they can be rather lethal with alternate damage types (a build optimal for boarding). Ramming is also viable, because Dwarves can ram forward and backwards. Add to this their high capacity for hull/armor punishment, and you've got a lot of options. However, I highly recommend sticking with a more generic build before you go for board/ram ones. Get used to the game and get a feel for the ships first, then branch out into specialization.

Races: Undead
As of the time of this writing, the Undead ships are still being added to the game. Balances and patches are still being worked out, so I won't go much past their basic premises.

All Undead ships have cannons on broadsides and aft. While they have weak armor, the Undead all fire siphon cannonballs which restore armor upon dealing damage (prolonged engagements give them the advantage). They have a lot of crew, but crew health is very low. They are excellent at playing keep-away, and punishing you if you hit them. Stay wary, lest they force you to become one of them!

Godspeed!
I hope this is helpful for you as an overview/reference of Maelstrom's mechanics and basic ship strategies. Enjoy the game!