The economy

Almost every ship, cannonball and fitting in the game was made by a player. This page explains how the pieces fit together. For the step-by-step of reading a recipe and following a chain, see Crafting and the economy.

Warehouses

A Warehouse is the first thing you build in any port. It is required before any other structure, you can have only one per port, and it gives you a large storage space in that port. Everything your structures produce in a port goes into your warehouse there.

Storage is local. Goods in one port’s warehouse are not available in another port until you carry them there by ship.

Structures and lots

A structure is a building you own: a logging camp, a saw mill, a shipyard. You buy its deed, supply the construction materials and gold, and wait for it to be built.

You have 10 lots in total, across all ports. Most structures use one lot. Bigger ones use more: a Medium Shipyard or a Careening Camp takes two, and a Large Shipyard takes three. Warehouses do not use a lot.

Some structures are reserved for certain careers. The Saw Mill, Finery Forge, Boilery and Carpenter’s Shop, for example, can only be built by a Freetrader or a Buccaneer. See Careers.

Port resources

Harvesting structures only work where nature allows. A Logging Camp for oak needs a port with oak, a Hunting Lodge needs game, and a Farm, Pasture or Plantation needs fertile soil. Every port page lists its natural resources and the structures you can build there, and every structure page lists the ports that qualify. Manufacturing structures such as a Furnace or Provisioner can go in any port where you have a warehouse.

Ports can change hands in port battles, so think about where you build. See Ports and nations.

Craft time

Every recipe takes time as well as materials. You load a structure with a queue of batches, it works through them on a real-world clock whether or not you are online, and you come back to collect. A free account can queue about 6 hours of work per structure, a subscriber about 48, and finished batches can be claimed while the rest are still in progress.

Time, not gold, is usually what limits how much you can make — so the trick is to keep every structure’s queue busy. The step-by-step is in the crafting guide.

Upkeep

Structures cost upkeep every two weeks: some gold, and for many structures a bundle of provisions too. If upkeep lapses the structure is shuttered. It cannot run recipes until you pay. Each structure page shows its upkeep.

Production is also taxed by the port. Freetraders, Buccaneers and Cutthroats can learn skills that reduce the tax they pay in enemy ports.

From raw material to ship

Production runs in chains. A typical one for shipbuilding:

• Harvest: a Logging Camp cuts oak logs. A Plantation, Pasture, Hunting Lodge or Fishing Lodge supplies food and hides.
• Refine: a Saw Mill turns logs into planks and frame timbers. A Furnace and Finery Forge handle iron. A Tar Distillery makes pitch, a Tanner makes leather, a Powder Mill makes black powder.
• Supply: a Provisioner bundles food, fuel and tools into provisions, which both ships and structures consume. A Cooper’s Shop makes the barrels and crates.
• Assemble: a Shipyard builds the hull and produces a ship deed. Small, Medium and Large Shipyards handle progressively bigger ships. An Outfitter makes ship fittings, and a Munitions Shop packs cannon shot by gun size.

To trace any chain, open an item’s page and follow its ingredients down. The full list is under Recipes.

The auction house

The auction house is where players buy and sell. You list goods for a price, pay a listing fee, and the listing expires if nobody buys it. Regional capitals give traders free auction storage.

Normally you can only browse listings in your own region. A Freetrader with Economic Specialist, or a Buccaneer with Crime Network, can browse and buy in distant regions too.

Hauling

Because storage is per port, somebody has to move the goods. Hauling means loading your hold and crossing the open sea, and the contested waters in the middle of the map are open to enemy players. Merchant hulls carry huge cargo but fight poorly. Compare cargo holds on the ship pages.

If you are caught, you can offer to surrender part of your cargo instead of losing the ship. See PvP.

Quick tips

• Start small: a warehouse and one or two harvesting structures in a safe home port.
• Pick a niche. With only 10 lots, buy what others make cheaply and sell what you make well.
• Never leave a structure idle. Top up its queue every time you are in port.
• Keep provisions in stock so upkeep never lapses.
• Check the Used for section of an item before you sell it. It may be worth more refined.