Complete Shipbuilding Guide

Welcome to my shipbuilding guide!

I cover all aspects of shipbuilding while still trying to keep it as simple as possible.

This guide is divided in 4 sections: shipbuilding basics, custom shipbuilding, fusion and resources.

If you are a complete newbie to shipbuilding please complete the shipbuilding basics before going to the custom or fusion section (And I mean actually going out there and building a ship yourself).

Check this guide if you need help with abbreviations.

Shipbuilding Basics (Shipbuilding 101)

You will learn how to build ships. This is what you need to know to start building ships:

• How to learn the Shipbuilding Skill
• How to grind Shipbuilding skill
• How to build a new Ship

How to learn the Shipbuilding Skill

To start shipbuilding, you will need the Shipbuilding skill (There is no consumable that replaces the shipbuilding skill).

Click here to learn more about the shipbuilding skill: Where to learn, jobs that favor it etc..

How to grind Shipbuilding skill

Please find here a dedicated article on how to grind shipbuilding.

How to build a new Ship

Most ships are built this way: no FS parts in the first build. 

Step 1: Get to any shipyard master

Note: Not all cities have a shipyard master

Step 2: Click "Custom Shipbuilding" button

Step 3: Click "Build Ship" and then "Next"

Step 4: Choose your ship (on the left) and click "Next"

Step 5: Choose a native panel for your ship (On the left) and click "Next"

Please note that panels affect ship speed and durability. And the panels are usually a trade-off between the two.

Popular panels for ships are: Iron-paneled (Most durability) and Teak (Fastest).

Step 6: Choose your hold capacity and click "next"

Worth Explaining:

Range is the total range of your hold capacity. In a nutshell less hold means more acceleration and more hold means more room for crew, cannons and cargo.

No penalty range: If you set your hold above or below this range you will get a heft penalty. Something like -25 sails and -5 turn. You may get a + or - turn speed if you set your to the minimum (41 in the picture) or maximum hold space (59 in the picture)

Current Capacity: Is the current setup as shown on the right. Nothing will change.

Cargo manipulation screen

Important concept: Shipbuilding skill influence

Once your shipbuilding skill gets higher your range and no penalty range is broaded as well.

I added a few ranks in my skill and both the range and the no penalty range were increased.

New range 37 ~ 62 and no penalty range 40 ~ 60

Step 7: Give a name to your ship click "Complete"

Yes it cannot be avoided. "She" needs a name.

Step 8: Wait outside port "sailing"

Listen to the SY master and wait outside.

Step 9: Congratulations! Your ship is ready.

Looking for popular ships to build for profit (or fun)? Check my guide.

Refitting your ship's Cargo, Guns and Cabin (Crew)

Refitting will rearrange your load space between its three components (Cargo, Guns and Cabin). 

You may have more cargo and less guns / room for your crew. Conversely, you may max you crew space and cannons while reducing your cargo space.

Just head to any shipwright and hit the refit button. Make sure you have the shipbuilding skill or be fleet with someone who does.

Custom Shipbuilding

If you have no experience in shipbuilding I recommend you stop here and complete the Shipbuilding basics first. Yes I mean you should get the shipbuilding skill and build your first ship BEFORE going further in this guide.

OK so now you know the basics of shipbuilding. I'll explain below some more details about:

• How to build specific (hidden) ships
• How to improve your ship (Modding by FS Parts), and its success rate
• How to add extra improvements slots to your ship
• What's so special about R20 shipbuilders?
• How to give skills to your ships (Optional and Original Skills)
• How to remove an optional ship skill
• How to upgrade your ships (Fusing Ships)

"Special" Shipbuilding

Some ship classes will require you to have a FS hull upfront. And will not even show up until you have the correct hull for it.

Check each ship's requirement below:

• Adventure Type
• Trade Type
• Battle type

Investment requirement

Also worth noting that some ships require you to invest in the port prior to being able to build a certain ship. 10m per port is more than enough (Double this number in case of territories,  if you intend to defect to other nation).

OK so if you have the correct FS Hull and the minimum investment in town, this is the screen that you should see (After the build ship button):

Ships that a little star (e.g. Felipe, Thermopylae and Victoria) are Special because they need a FS Hull upfront.

Note: Always make sure to have the correct hull in your inventory (or this kind of ship class will not show up in this list).

Ships that do not have this star (e.g. Barca and explorer barca) do not require a Hull upfront.

The steps are pretty much the same from here on. No FS Parts are needed at this point. You will have to wait a number of days until the ship is built.

The resulting ship will have 0 (zero) improvements. You will have to improve (mod) your ship to get better performance.

How to Mod your Ship

First, you do not need to add a specific combination of FS parts to add a specific ship skill.

Optional ship skills can now be added and removed ANYTIME you want.

Different ships will require a different shipbuilding rank. Usually higher levels ships will require higher ranks.

Step 1: Get to any shipyard master

Note: Not all cities have a shipyard master

Step 2: Click "Custom Shipbuilding" button

Step 3: Choose the ship you want to mod (Improve) and click next

Note that on the right you find 2 options: Reset ship skill(s) and Reset performance.

Reset ship skill(s) will remove your optional skills (should be free) and Reset performance will erase all your improvement/modding (should require a SSIR)

Step 4: Select Ship Improvements and click next

Step 5: Have your SSIPs and FS Parts ready and click next

Step 6: Choose your hold capacity and click "next"

Step 7: Give a name to your ship click "Complete"

Step 8: Wait outside port "sailing"

Step 9: Congratulations! Your ship is ready.

Overmodding Success Rate

• Overmodding, or going over your ship's improvement number, has a chance to fail. 
• If you use at least one premium FS parts you get 100% success rate.
• If your overmodding fails you will lose ducats, FS parts used but no SSIPs. And there is no downgrading (In case you are wondering).
• Pos-limit improvements or "Overmodding" does NOT increase your sailing levels required. However, if instead of overmodding you go to a colony and increase the number of mods, you will get a +5 minimum level to sail the ship (Applicable in the highest level required to sail the ship). More on that later.
• When you are within your allowable mod "slots" success rate is 100%. It decreases after each successful overmodding.
• The cost for each overmod increases a lot after a successful overmod and may go as high as 150m.
• Plan ahead for the lowest cost. Make sure to have the optimal balance between ducats, SSIPs, material (FS) and success rate. UST can help you there.

In my heavy trade ship I got:

• First overmodding: 70% (9/8)
• Second overmodding: 60% (10/8)
• Third overmodding: 50% (11/8)
• Fourth overmodding: 40% (12/8)
• Fifth overmodding: 30% (13/8)
• The lowest success rate is 1% and the maximum cost is 150m (per mod).

Extra improvements

You can add 2 additional improvements slots per ship. 

A 0/6 ship may become 0/8. A 5/5 may become 5/7.

Each additional improvement cost 1 SSIP and will raise the ship's highest level requirement by 5.

If you are interested in saving in overmodding, take your ship to a company colony that has a shipyard master (Extra Ship Improvements button).

Most people will agree this practice is no longer recommended.

Also, this option may not be available if your ship already has high level requirements (lvl 50+).

What's so special about R20 shipbuilding?

When you are building your ship, normal or special shipbuilding, it doesn't matter if you are R1 or R20 shipbuilder. So why would I want to be R20?

Well, R20 will allow you to change your ship's base load at greater rate (Before refitting). 

LOAD is the sum of your cargo, cannons and cabin space.

• If you are making a trade vessel you will want to have max cargo (Usually +25%)
• If you are making battleship, you should keep it a minimum (-25%)

So a R20 shipbuilder may increase your load by 25% while a R10 shipbuilder may just increase it by 12.5% (Just an example).

Note 1: Refitting will just rearrange your load space between its three components. You may have more cargo and less cabin room.
Note 2: There are a lot of rumors (beliefs) around modding fails and great successes. I cannot personally confirm or bust those myths in modding as SSIPs are bloody expensive. If you are a superstitious person, I guess it doesn't hurt to check my Fusion Success Myths and add the cargo oscillation theory.

How to add an optional ship skill

Ships may normally have up to 2 optional skills at the same time. Besides these 2 optional skills:

• 1 more may be added by fusion (Inheriting).
• 2 more may be added if you have the skill slot addition.

So, a ship with all the fusion bonus may have up to 5 optional skills.

You may change your optional ship skills at any given time, with the exception of the one "inherited"

Step 1: Get to any shipyard master

Note: Not all cities have a shipyard master

Step 2: Click "Custom Shipbuilding" button

Step 3: Choose the ship you want to add an optional skill

Step 4: Select "Add an optional ship skill", select the skill on the right and click next

Step 5: Have your FS Parts ready and click complete (No SSIP needed)

Step 6: Wait the required number of days and get your ship back in the Shipyard

How to remove an optional ship skill

So you got sick of your ship skills and want to try new ones? Yes, you can do it.

But there is a catch. You will lose all your optional skills, with the exception of your inherited skill (if any).

Step 1: Go to custom shipbuilding and choose your ship

Step 2: Click the reset ship skill button

Step 3: Confirm you want to reset ALL skills

This is after your ship lost the optional skills. Please note that the skill left is an original skill, not optional.

How to add an original ship skill

Step 1: Get to any shipyard master

Note: Not all cities have a shipyard master

Step 2: Click "Custom Shipbuilding" button

Step 3: Choose the ship you want to add an original skill

Step 4: Select "Add an optional ship skill", select the skill on the right and click next

Step 5: Have your an OSP, your FS Parts and click complete

Some skills may require more than one OSP. Follow the link to learn how to obtain these.

Step 6: Wait the required number of days and get your ship back in the Shipyard

Note: You can only have one original ship skill at a time. There are no exceptions.

Fusion (How to grade your ship)

Table of Contents

• What is Fusion?
• Fusion Benefits
• Grades
• Planning your fusion services
• Other Fusion Success Techniques
• Fusion Success MYTHS 
• Fusion Procedure
• G1 to G3
• G4 to G6
• G7 to G9
• Modding or grading? Where do I start?
• Exercise

What is fusion?

Fusion consists of two ships. One ship (known as "Base" ship) you want to improve (or "grade") and one you wish to sacrifice (known as the “Material” or “Mat” ship).

You will combine the two to make a new, improved base ship. Yes the mat ship will always be destroyed and yes there is a % of chance it will work (More on that later).

Fusion Benefits

Fusion can improve your ship's stats (durability, sails, rowing, turn, wave, armour, crew, cannons and cargo).

It slightly increases the cap (or max) for some stats. The amount depends on ship class (Galleons, La Morts, Clipper...), grade number (G1, G2, G3...) and ship form (Expedition, Cargo, Battle or its hybrids like high speed cargo ship etc...).

You may also (grade bonus - more details below):

• Add another broadside, bow and stern cannon, 
• Add a skill to a ship, in one of two ways (inheritance or skill slot addition). 
• Increase the acceleration of a ship (this skill can be used up to 3 times).

Grades

Fusion consists of 8 total grades (g1, g2, g3, etc...).

When a ship's grade goes up, it adds a small amount to the upper limit of some stats. Yes, you can now go beyond the previous upper limit.

Example: A ship that had 140 of horizontal sails may go up to 145. The actual numbers depend on the grade number, ship form and ship class.

Besides an increase in the upper limit, your ship will also have a permanent bonus to one ore more ship stats.

Grade bonus at g1, g3 and g6

At g1, g3, and g6, you are able to add stats or skills to your base ship. The stats type bonus do not raise the cap level.

The options are as follows:

• Durability Improvement

Adds about 80% of allowable dura (+200/+250 on a heavy ship). Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Vertical Sail Improvement

Adds vertical sail. Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Horizontal Sail Improvement

Adds horizontal sail. Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Row Power

Adds about 45% of your row limit. Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Turn Speed Improvement

Adds around 33% of turn limit. Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Wave Resist Improvement

Adds around 33% of wave resist limit. Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Armour Improvement

Adds around 45% of upper. Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Cabin Capacity Improvement

Adds around 75% of upper limit. Not a sound shipbuilding decision nowadays.

• Cargo Hold Capacity Improvement

Adds around 75% of upper limit. Common choice for aide/alt ships like the clermonts (Cheap extra cargo).

• Broadside addition

Adds an extra cannon slot on your ship. Cannot have more than 5 on a heavy, 4 on a standard, or 3 on a light ship.

• Bow/Stern Turret Additions

Adds a Bow/Stern slot, if your ship does not have one already.

• Skill Slot Addition 1

Allow the possibility to add a 3rd optional skill to the ship. Common choice for high end battle ships with lots of good skills to choose.

• Skill Slot Addition 2

Allow the possibility to add a 4th optional skill to the ship during the improve. Common choice for high end battle ships with lots of good skills to choose.

• Skill Inheritance

This will show up as a skill name with a star next to the icon.

Using this option allows you to inherit an optional skill that another ship currently has.

Note: This skill does not count toward your optional skill limit.

• Gunboat refit

5% damage increase for your cannon shots, and +5% damage taken from cannon fire. Also take more damage in melee battles. Counts toward your optional skill limit.

• Armoured Ship Refit

5% reduction in armour based damage, 5% reduction in turning/max speed. Counts toward your optional skill limit.

• Melee Battle Ship Refit

5% Increase in melee damage, 5% decrease in melee damage taken, +5% increase in cannon damage taken. Counts toward your optional skill limit.

• Exploration Ship Refit

Gives +10% exp for all discoveries made while sailing, Reduce dura damage taken from salvaging.

Increase raise rate of salvage. Counts toward your optional skill limit.

• Ship Speed Up 1/2/3

Most popular choice.

Adds acceleration only, not top speed. Unconfirmed bonus to acceleration:

• Ship Speed Up 1: +3%
• Ship Speed Up 2: +7%
• Ship Speed Up 3: +10%

Planning your fusion services

• If possible procure SRIs (+30%) or SRHs (+10%). 

They are well worth their money and usually pay themselves in the long run. 

SRHs are good up to g3 but won't get you much far. Choose SRIs if you wish to go for g6.

• Move to a place where you have high base success rates.

The best success rate is in cities where you are the mayor (+25%), followed by a R3 shipyard in a company colony (+20%), then a city with an active mayor (+10% if it is not you). All other cities, including capitals will give the lowest base success rate.

• Store all your non essential ships somewhere before you start fusing anything. 

Keep only your flagship so you have 4 open ship slots to work with. It's good to increase your productivity and to avoid silly mistakes (like using premium ships as mat ships).

Yes, your aide captain will lose trust when you demote him. But he will get used to it, don't worry!

Other Fusion Success Techniques

Same ship

If you use the EXACT same ship class, you get a success rate increase of about 20%. That's why we fuse LC X LC to create our mat ships (and not LC x BTC). 

Please note that "Large carrack" is a different ship class than "Modified Large carrack" and will not get fusion bonus %.

Using Blueprints and grade experience 

Adds up to 30% (In theory it's proportional to your ship's grade XP bar).

You can buy blueprints from other players. Most useful are Ultimate Ship Blueprint and the Large Ship Blueprint.

Maxing Ship Handling Proficiency (SHP)

Adds 4%.

Some company colonies have an arsenal. Pass your mat ship around your alts to get it fully maxed on SHP.

Bonus success only added if the ship's SGP is fully maxed. (200/205 is not fully maxed and will add nothing to your success rate!)

Number of ship mods (Improvements)

Adds 2% per improvement.

A 1/5 ship will add 2%. A 2/5 will add 4%.

Number of ship skills

Each skill on the mat ship adds +1%.

This applies to anything that is listed as an optional skill on the ship information screen, including refit options (Melee, exploration, etc...) and inherited skills. That's why you see a lot of "double refit" mat ships being advertised.

Original skills also add +1%, but Speedups (1/2/3) do not.

Premium (Cash) Ships

They do give a higher success rate when used as mats.

Fusion Success MYTHS 

These do NOT increase or decrease your chances at fusion.

• Shipbuilding rank (R20 or not)
• Aide on paymaster (Or surgeon) job
• Fully repaired equipment
• Magician Tarots
• College skills (Those that increase success for production or Item Improvement Techniques)
• Sitting at sea for the exact number of days
• Using ESBRs (Emergency Shipbuilding Requests)

Procedure

• Making mat ships.

1) Buy some ships from the shipyard master. For heavy ships LC (Large Carrack) is the cheapest choice. Note that the type of ship must match the ship you intend to grade (Light, standard or heavy)

The cheapest ship mats are:

Light (Expedition) - Explorer Barca
Light (Cargo) - Trading Barca
Light (Battle) - Battle Barca
Standard (Expedition) - Galley
Standard (Cargo) - Trading Galley
Standard (Battle) - Battle Galley
Heavy (Expedition) - Large Carrack
Heavy (Cargo) - Big Trading Carrack

2) Go to the Shipwright and click "Ship Rebuild".

3) Fuse 2 g0 LCs until you a g1 LC. Repeat the procedure until you have two g1 LCs

4) Fuse 2 g1 LCs until you a g2 LC. Repeat the procedure until you have two g2 LCs

5) Fuse 2 g2 LCs until you a g3 LC...

You should understand the pattern of making mat ships by now. 

The reason we do it is because the success rate of fusing the same ship (Large carrack to Large carrack) is much higher than fusing different ships (Large carrack to Modified Large carrack).

If you use SRIs you may use a g0 LC as mat to a g1 LC (To get a g2 LC). Success rate in this case should be around 50% which is considered acceptable (And also cost effective).

Check out some acceptable success rates with SRI:

(Improved LC): Base LC + Mat LC
(G1 LC): G0 LC + G0 LC  (88% success at Colony)
(G2 LC): G1 LC + G0 LC  (53% success at Colony)
(G3 LC): G2 LC + G2 LC  (75% success at Colony)
(G4 LC): G3 LC + G2 LC  (34% success at Colony)
(G5 LC): G4 LC + G4 LC  (67% success at Colony)
(G6 LC): G5 LC + G5 LC  (67% success at Colony) / 82% if you use a USB and full SHP.

Note: Any ship can get fiasco after g4 so g4 + g4 is usually a good idea or:

• Fusing your mat ships onto your base ship.

1) If your ship is a Windjammer g0, go to the Shipwright and click "Ship Rebuild". Select your Windjammer first as it is the base ship. 

2) Select your mat ship (LC g1)

3) Select your grade bonus for g1 and check if all info is correct. MAKE SURE THE SECOND SHIP IS THE MAT SHIP before hitting the fuse button.

4) Now fuse your LC g1 onto your Windjammer g0. 

If you succeed, your Windjammer will become g1. However, if it fails, it will gain grade experience but will still be g0. Regardless of the result the mat ship will be destroyed.

It's always a good idea to store your base ship on an alt while you are making mat ships.

You may also need to store high end mat ships on an alt (i.e. LC g3, LC g4, LC g5) while you are preparing another mat ship for fusion (i.e. LC g3 X LC g3, LC g4 X LC g4 and LC g5 X LC g5).

G1 to G3

You may create the mat ships in the following fashion:

(Improved LC): Base LC + Mat LC
(G1 LC): G0 LC + G0 LC  (88% success at Colony)
(G2 LC): G1 LC + G0 LC  (53% success at Colony)
(G3 LC): G2 LC + G2 LC  (75% success at Colony)

The above is only applicable to mat ships as they are cheaper and expected to have lots of fails. Even considering more fails making mat ships like this should still be cheaper as you should cut costs in half.

Note: When grading your main base ship always use a mat ship with (at least) one grade higher than the base ship.

Skill Inheritance

Skill inheritance should be done at g1 as it will have lower costs in case of failure.

It is also possible to inherit it at g6 if you manage to get 100% fusion success (Yes it is possible to get from g5 to g6 at 100% with SRI).

Here are some commonly ships used as mats thanks to their native optional skills:

• Refitted Heavy Carrack - APN (Attack Prevention Net) / RSM (Roaring Sea Mine) 
• Heavy Carrack - WMB (Welcome Melee Battle) / SSM (Special Sea Mine) 
• Heavy Explorer Carrack - EA (Emergency Acceleration) 
• Caoyun Ship (Korea) - NTP (Nanban Trade Preference)
• San Gabriel - Hauling Assistance / Paymaster Cabin
• Steam Engine (Material ship that came with the skill out of ticket)

The following ship skills cannot be inherited:

• Direct Hit Prevention (DHP)
• Rowing Assistance (RA)
• Evade Melee Battle (EMB)

A typical example is giving / inheriting NTP to a clermont. A clermont cannot have NTP by default, but it has huge cargo which makes it an ideal boat to have this ship skill.

Step 1 - First we give the NTP skill to an east asian ship, like the "Ningbo":

Step 2 - We get this Ningbo ship to g1 (or g2) by fusing big trading carracks (BTCs) to it (scroll up for details). The choice for BTCs is to keep the ship form as cargo (Better bonus for cargo than expedition).

Step 3 - Take this g1 Ningbo ship and use it as mat for your g0 clermont. During the skill bonus selection (On the right) you will scroll to the far bottom and select the NTP skill (Will have a star next to it):

As usual the mat ship will be destroyed after fusion. If your fusion was a success you will have g1 clermont with the NTP ship skill on it. If not, you will lose the mat ship and not have the skill on your clermont.

G4 to G6 Grading

(Improved LC): Base LC + Mat LC
(G1 LC): G0 LC + G0 LC  (88% success at Colony)
(G2 LC): G1 LC + G0 LC  (53% success at Colony)
(G3 LC): G2 LC + G2 LC  (75% success at Colony)
(G4 LC): G3 LC + G2 LC  (34% success at Colony)
(G5 LC): G4 LC + G4 LC  (67% success at Colony)
(G6 LC): G5 LC + G5 LC  (67% success at Colony)

Note: When grading your main base ship always use a mat ship with one grade higher than the base ship.

Whenever your fusion fails, there's a chance of you having a fiasco. A fiasco can ONLY retrograde g4+ ships.

If your ship was g4 and attempting to go to g5, it can become g3 if fusion fails (Retrograding).

If you use SRIs (+30%) you should not worry about fiascos, even though they could happen.

G6 to G7 (or G8) Grading

You need the premium consumable called "Ship Refitting Mastery" (A permit necessary to perform ship rebuild on a grade 6 ship at the shipyard in St.Petersburg.)

As it can only be done in St. Petersburg you get no additional bonus. No R3 SY from company Colony, No Mayor's bonus.

If you use a g6 premium ship with double refit and SRI you should get around 30% chance (yes considering SRI).

Your chances will improve if you use a full SHP ship and full grade experience (from blueprints or Ultimate Ship Blueprint).

Since you can get retrograde in case of a "fiasco", you should also use a "Ship Refitting Special Treatment Certificate".

Since the addition of the Ship Refitting Guide, G7 and G8 should now have a decent success rate.

Modding or grading? Where do I start?

I used to recommend modding first, as modding was limited and we could use the fixed grading bonus to our advantage. (Correcting the results using a different ship form to our advantage)

However, since the age of the prince update, this is no longer the case. Grading bonus is fixed (Per ship or ship form) but modding results are not. And we want to use the least amount of mods (cost) by adapting our plan as we build our ship.

So now I recommend you start with grading and only then start modding your ship. This advice only makes sense if you intend to max your stats (or some of it).

Exercice

I feel sad for people who give up fusion because they are traumatized by the silly mistakes they made on their first ship rebuilding.

I don't want that to happen to you too. So as part of your homework, you are requested to make a g3 barca. No SRIs or SRHs to be used.

Yes, barcas are dirty cheap (2000 ducats each) and you will experience grading without the usual time (or cost) pressure.

• Make a plan
• Watch the success rate
• Get familiar with the system
• Make mistakes
• Learn

Remember:

There is no substitute for experience.

Resources

Useful Tools

Shipbuilding is expensive. However, lack of planning is a lot more expensive. 

These are the tools that can help you select and improve your ship:

• Ultimate Shipbuilding Tool

Shipbuilding as a business: If you are in doubt of how much you should charge your client for your work, UST can help you too.

Older players may remember "UWO Tools" and "UWO Place" shipbuilding tools, but they don't exist anymore. It is sad, but it seems to be the destiny of all things that do not receive support by players.

Useful Consumables

• Ship Refitting Guide (Shipbuilding success rate increases by 50% for an hour)
• Ship Refitting Instruction (Shipbuilding success rate increases by 30% for an hour)
• Ship Refitting Handbook (The shipbuilding rebuild success rate increases for a fixed period of time (10% more for one hour).
• Ship Refitting Mastery (G6 to G7 or G8)
• Ultimate Ship Blueprint or Large Ship Blueprint (Increase grade experience)
• Ship Refitting Special Treatment Certificate (Prevent "fiasco")
• Ship Grade Reset (In case something goes terribly wrong and the ship ticket value is high)
• Special Shipbuilding Improvements Reset (In case the ship ticket is highly valuable and the previous owner made a terrible mess with it)
• Ship Inventory Expansion (Allows you to have more ship room, which will increase your grading speed)
• Emergency Shipbuilding Request (No waiting at sea. Specially useful when combined with the +3 temporary skill bonus below)

Skill Rank Bonus (+1 items)

• Shipwright Saw (Usually farmed at North Beirut with search skill). Weapon slot.
• Pirate Sword (Very rare shipwreck, probably around SE Asia). Weapon slot.
• Secrets of Shipbuilding (accessory with effect so will not lose durability at sea). Plunderable from some NPCs but very rare.
• Ruqun (From cash shop only). Body Slot.
• There are other premium +1 and +2 equipments but they are less common.

Skill Rank Bonus (Aides)

As you can have only one surgeon at a time, don't even think of getting 2 of these guys because of the shipbuilding skill.

• Igor (+1 at surgeon 55 traits and 10/10/21 levels) in Venice (Cash Shop)
• Chester (+1 at 65 surgeon traits and 13/16/30 levels) in Zanzibar (Most popular for shipbuilders)
• Meng Meng (+1 at 55 surgeon traits and 20/20/30 levels) in Hangzhou (Cash Shop)
• Nazario (+1 at 80 surgeon traits and 25/28/40 levels) in Rio de Janeiro
• Victor (+1 at 85 surgeon traits and 25/25/41 levels) in Seville
• Vallerie (+1 at 75 surgeon traits and 20/28/42 levels) in Lisbon/Marseilles (Cash Shop)

Skill Rank Bonus (North America Colony)

If you find a colony that has a shipyard and a manufacturing building, you will get an additional +1 shipbuilding rank. The max you can have is always R20.

Temporary Skill Bonus

• Expert Shipbuilding Skills Instruction (+3 for 1 day)
• Expert Shipbuilding Skills Manual (+3 for 1 hour)
• Expert Shipbuilding Skills Tutorial (+3 for 1 minute)

Oxford Skill

• Efficient Ship Construction

Boston Skill

• Shipwright's Influence 2

Thanks to...

This guide was made thanks to players like you. 

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