Guides

Captain’s Guides

The game’s own tips, gathered in one place and ordered by when ye meet them.

Yer first voyage Tier 1 · Castaway Raft

Fire!

Tap anywhere to fire yer cannon at her. Sink her for gold — bigger ships, bigger plunder.

Overdrive

Every shot heats the gun. Fill the meter for OVERDRIVE — a burst of heavy damage. Keep tapping while she's white-hot.

Upgrade

Spend yer gold here to hit harder and sink faster. A glowing button means ye can afford it.

Fair winds, Captain!

That's the lay of it. Retake this tour any time from Captain's Quarters → Settings.

Gold while ye’re away

While ye're away…

Yer gun crew and mateys keep fighting without ye. Leave the Idle Station on Auto and they push the voyage forward, ship by ship, until a hull's too tough for them — then they hold there. Park it on an earlier ship instead and they'll just farm that one for gold. Find the Idle Station in Captain's Quarters.

The Broadside Tier 2 · Lashed Skiff

The Broadside

A charged volley builds as ye tap. Unlock it in the Ship's Manifest under Gunnery, then watch for the glowing button once she's primed — fire it for a heavy hit.

Recruit a Matey Tier 3 · Smuggler's Longboat

Recruit a Matey

A matey fires alongside yer cannon for free — no tapping needed. Recruit one in the Ship's Manifest under Crew, now that ye've a slot open.

Woodrot Tier 5 · Navy Corvette

Woodrot

Woodrot Shot gives yer cannon a chance to infect the hull — the rot chews away at her HP every second 'til it wears off. Unlock and upgrade it in the Manifest under Powder.

Enemy Shields Tier 6 · Frigate

Enemy Shields

From here on, hulls carry a shield that blocks a big share of every hit — up to 70% of the damage ye deal, absorbed before it lands.

Shield Piercer

Shield Piercer chips that block down for good. Find it in the Manifest under Gunnery, and stack it with the matching Black Market and Pirate's Pact lines to whittle a shield down.

Enemies fire back Tier 11 · Revenant Caravel

Enemies fire back

From the Revenant Caravel on, enemy ships fire back — watch yer Hull bar. Buy Hull Integrity and Armour Plating in the Ship's Manifest, under Defence, before ye sail further. Losing all yer Hull just costs ye the fight, not yer gold — regroup and try again.

Ironclad hulls Tier 12 · Ironclad Marauder

Ironclad hulls

Iron plates turn aside three shots in four — cannon, crew, matey and rot alike — until a Broadside cracks one. Unlock the Broadside under Gunnery, keep tapping to prime it, then fire it to shatter a plate (the flagship carries three). Quick Fuse and the Black Market fuses prime it faster.

The Kraken's Broadside Tier 14 · The Kraken

The Kraken's Broadside

Every twentieth shot the Kraken looses a Broadside — ten times a normal shot, and ten more every tier after (the 💥 count above her shows how long ye have, and what it'll hit for). Reinforced Bulkheads in the Ship's Manifest, under Defence, shave a rank's worth off it before Armour. Vampire Bullets give every ball from yer own cannon a chance to drain a slice of yer hull back as it lands.

Dead Calm & Slow Time Tier 15 · The Becalmed

Dead Calm & Slow Time

Every eighteenth shot she fires the wind dies for four seconds — yer gun crew and mateys go silent (the 🌫 count above her shows how long ye have). Yer own cannon, Broadside and Overdrive still work, so keep tapping. Fight back with Slow Time: every ball ye fire — cannon, crew, matey — charges it, and when the ⏳ button glows, tap it to slow her guns for ten seconds. Unlock it in the Ship's Manifest under Defence.

Lightning & Vampire Support Tier 16 · Thunderhead Galleon

Lightning & Vampire Support

Every twelfth shot the Thunderhead calls down Lightning — as much as a normal shot, but TRUE damage: Armour and Bulkheads can't stop it (the ⚡ count above her shows how long ye have), though a Blinded ship can miss. Only Lightning Rods, in the Ship's Manifest under Defence, take a slice off it when it lands. Vampire Support gives every ball from yer gun crew and mateys a chance to drain a little hull back — though not while a Dead Calm has them silenced.

Siege Pressure & Fortify Tier 17 · Abyssal Dreadnought

Siege Pressure & Fortify

The Abyssal Dreadnought grinds ye down: every tenth shot her guns hit 5% harder for the rest of the fight — Volleys, Broadsides and Lightning too. Two shots after each stack yer crew braces and Fortify adds 2% temporary Armour (up to 10%), so there's a brief danger window after every escalation (the 🔨 chip shows the climb and the shots till the next). Kill her quickly — the longer she lives, the worse it gets. Slow Time slows the climb.

Death's Door & Executioner's Mark Tier 18 · The Widow's Wake

Death's Door & Executioner's Mark

When the Widow's Wake drops under a fifth of her Hull she flings open Death's Door: her guns fire 50% faster, so Volleys, Broadsides, Lightning and Siege all come sooner (Slow Time still slows her) — and once it's open it stays open till she sinks. Answer in kind: buy the Executioner's Mark in the Ship's Manifest (Gunnery) and every cannon, crew, matey and Broadside hits harder for as long as she's in that last fifth — +5% a rank, up to +75% (more from the Black Market). It's a race: finish her before she finishes ye!

Ignite & Burn Tier 19 · Hellforge Man-o'-War

Ignite & Burn

The Hellforge Man-o'-War's shots can set yer ship ablaze: every shot of hers that lands has a 15% chance to Ignite ye, and a Burn eats 20% of her shot's damage each second for 6 seconds — true damage that Armour can't stop, worked out from a snapshot of her strength the moment it lit (Siege can't make it worse after). She can't re-light a burning ship, so fires never stack. Firebreak cuts the chance and Heat Shielding cuts the burn (Defence tab); Blind and Slow Time give her fewer shots to Ignite with. Sink her and the fire dies with her.

Locker's Judgment Tier 20 · The Locker's Judgment

Locker's Judgment

No new tricks now — only the eight ye've learned, at their fiercest. Each of the first 29 ships uses exactly TWO of them (Armour, Rapid Volley, Broadside, Lightning, Dead Calm, Siege Pressure, Death's Door, Burn), both in their Judgment strength, and the ⚖ chip names which. The 29th is a Final Warning. The 30th is the Locker himself: four phases, at 75%, 50% and 25% of his Hull — every phase resets his guns and changes his toolkit, but yer Broadside, Overdrive and Slow Time carry through. Armour, once broken, never comes back.

More: the Pirate’s Pact and Ascension.

Every number on this page comes straight from the game’s own data — Powder & Plunder 2.0.2, generated 2026-10-14. Play in your browser →