The Power of Sloops

When you are off sailing in the Sea of Thieves, what would you think is the best ship to use? Surely the galleon, with its impressive size and cannons, right? Or what about the brig, with its sleeker body and less levels to repair? Nope, not at all. The best ship in the Sea of Thieves is the humble sloop. By quite a lot.

But why is the sloop so powerful? Oh, there are many reasons. Some of which are quite surprising.

Speed and movement are everything

Sloops are small ships, but they can really travel. Their smaller, sleeker bodies means a sloop can get a lot closer to a shore or a fort, and they can slip past other ships with ease. Being a smaller ship, they are also a tad harder to hit, and waves can get in the way of your cannonball fire.

More importantly though, everything is easy access. You have a cannonball barrel right next to your cannons, the map table area counts as a second level and is easy to bucket, and because the ship is smaller, that means it has less holes to repair. The mast is also almost too powerful, as it takes 2 chain-shots to bring down the mast instead of one like the other ships. And even then, because everything is close together, you can fix the mast with ease.

Basically, everything is easier and quicker to fix, and it’s all more compact, meaning you can focus more, without having to run down to the lower level constantly. So your captain can steer the ship and you have more time to fire cannonballs. Sure, there is only one cannon on each side, but that doesn’t matter because you can have a full time cannon guy.

Other little quirks

But there are smaller, deeper things under the surface that add further to the sloop. For example, the brig (the jail cell) is against one wall in the sloop, when it’s in the centre of the ship for the others. This means the sloop had a small area of invulnerability where you don’t take damage. And when it comes to navigation, the map table is pretty much visible on the second level, behind the wheel and the anchor, and you can just peer down below to see it, rather than having to run inside on the other ships. The only real downside is that the captain’s bed is pretty small and ugly, but it makes for a great hiding spot for chests and loot.

Thing is though, there aren’t that many downsides at all. The two-pirate restriction stops the sloop from being completely overpowered, but you can happily play on a sloop on your own! Sailing a sloop solo is perfectly doable with some practice! Because managing everything from holes to ammo is just so much easier on a smaller, nippier boat.

Simply put, sloops are quick and convenient, and require two chain-shots to break their masts. And that is why they are so strong. Perhaps even too strong…