Corsair Cove: How To Win Naval Battles

In Corsair Cove, the lion's share of what you will do will take place on your island. Setting up production lines, managing drifters, and fine-tuning connection routes will be your bread and butter. But to truly make progress, you'll need to take to the high seas. 

Corsair Cove has the player partake in a wide variety of missions, events, and quests across the Seven Seas that usually culminate in a tussle with the Crown and an intense, tactical naval battle. This plays out in-game as a turn-based card game of sorts, where you'll need to play smart, manage your resources, and prepare in advance for the opponent you face. All of which we will teach you in this handy guide. 

How To Play Naval Battles in Corsair Cove

This card game format is simple to understand, but can prove difficult to master, especially against tougher, high-level enemies. 

Each game places you in several scenarios with a bar to fill. Whether that be a distance in meters to travel, a percentage of damage to deal, or a certain number of hints to find. A bar you can fill with cards in your hand. 

These cards cost a certain number of supplies, ranging from 1-5, and depending on your ship, you'll have a finite amount of supplies to complete your goal. 

These can be refilled with support actions, but they come with a trade-off: you usually have to sacrifice crew members or treasure and take damage to your ship. However, this can sometimes be a better option than trying to remain on the offense. 

You and your opponent will each play a card, and you will know your opponent's action before you play. But both actions will occur simultaneously. So the key is to look at their action, and use the cards in your arsenal to counter theirs. Sometimes this will be a preventative measure, or a gung-ho attack. 

Then, finally, you also have the small matter of dice rolls, which govern how successful your card is, since they all operate within a possible range of success. A high roll means your card will work at maximum power. Whereas a low roll will give your opponent the edge. You can gain more dice either by using special captain skills or by using cards in your hand.

Tips For Winning Consistently 

Now that you understand the basic rules of naval battle in Corsair Cove, we can discuss how to turn the tide in your favor and tame the seas. There are several tactics you can employ to win consistently. Here is a rundown of what you should be doing when out at sea. 

Build A Fine Vessel 

Firstly, you'll want to build a ship capable of winning fights, and in the beginning, you'll only be able to build one capable of exploring and little else. However, as you complete deeds, you'll unlock level-two ships that pack a punch. 

You'll want to look at the ship's stats, such as gun damage, boarding damage, maneuverability, and so on. Then compare them against the ship, quest, or event requirements you intend to sail out to. If those numbers are in green, you should be in a good position to complete that event. 

Choose Your Captain Wisely 

Every captain you acquire throughout the game comes with a unique ability and a signature set of stat buffs, allowing you to choose the right captain for the right occasion.

For example, Teach will offer a buff to your overall ship health and gun damage, whereas Honorata will offer a buff to Speed and Maneuverability. It's all about checking the opponent's stats and putting the right captain at the helm.

But you also need to keep their special ability in mind, as each captain has a skill dictated by a dice roll that can turn the tide in your favor if the dice are kind.

Enlist A Handy Crew 

A captain is only as good as the crew they command, and you have the power, before every time you sail out, to choose basic or specialist pirates, each unique to the type of ship you have built.

These might be Bambadiers, Mauraders, Scallywags, or Navigators to name a few, and the more of these you have instead of standard Swabbies, the better your ship's stats will be.

The downside is that these specialist pirates tend to demand rarer upkeep resources, so you will need to accommodate them before committing them to your crew. But, if you have the means, you should make use of them.

ABC: Always Be Countering 

The ideal move when in the heat of battle is to chip away at the bar you need to fill, without losing any of your resources in the process. You will almost always lose supplies, but if that's all you expend, that's a pretty successful turn.

For example, let's say your opponent plays a card that deals 8-11 damage to your health. The ideal move for you would be to play a card that pushes your goal forward while also preventing damage equal to or above what they intend to do.

This won't always be possible, but you should always be looking for the outcome that offers the maximum offense while also offering equally optimal defense. It's a balancing act, and recklessness will almost always lead to a sinking ship.

Treasure, But Not For Pleasure

When you are using support actions to gain supplies, you'll usually be forced to sacrifice your health or crew to make that happen. Something that can give your foe an edge.

But, if you've been pocketing treasure in the turns prior, you'll be able to use that treasure to regain supplies without taking a hit.

You'll need at least 20+ treasure to make that happen, and you will lose the gold that comes from stockpiling gold at the end of the battle. However, the trade-off could mean you get out of there alive.

The best time to accrue treasure is during rounds where you can tank a hit, or use a secondary card effect to prevent the opponent's effect. Or alternatively, you can stack treasure when your opponent intends to boost their dice count.

Get Your Sea Legs 

A little ways into the game, once you've gained a few Seafaring Principle Points, you'll unlock the Shrine of the Sea. A building that applies a buff to ships at sea.

This can be earned by completing any naval battle, and it is applied to your ship after the fight. Or, you can pay a flat fee when the building is selected to apply this buff to all ships in your fleet. This flat fee is 300x Gold.

This buff will boost one random stat. For example, 'health sea legs' will apply a 7% buff to your ship's health.