Things You Shouldn’t Do When Approaching A Rank 5 Reaper Galleon
A rank 5 Reaper Galleon is probably one of the scarier things you can come across while sailing. Being rank 5 with the Reaper’s Bones emissary, they can see every other emissary on the map, and have plenty of reasons to attack other players, while having the manpower to do so. You definitely can take down a rank 5 Reaper Galleon, and they’re not perfect players, but with 4 people on board, lots of cannon balls, three masts that need to be broken to immobilize them and the ability to ignore a lot of top level damage. So, if you’re just a little sloop, then avoiding a rank 5 Reaper Galleon is probably a good idea.
There’s also a few other things you should avoid doing.
Don’t attack them if you don’t want to fight
A rank 5 Reaper Galleon’s crew can be a funny lot, so you don’t really want to intentionally piss them off. But if you attack them, they’ll either do one of two things: leave, or rain hellfire on you. They have 4 cannons on each side of their ship and plenty of people. They WILL try to murder you if you try to hurt them. So if you don’t want to fight, just stay away. The Sea of Thieves is a large place, there are plenty of other places to go.
If you REALLY want to fight, make sure you have a plan and some cursed cannon balls. A ballast ball will make a Galleon take on more water, but an anchor ball or rigging ball will also do wonders as well. However, a good Galleon crew is still dangerous even if you immobilize them, and they’ll just keep on rotating their ship to face you. What you need to do is kill the crew so they can’t repair, because most Galleons will neglect second-level holes and once the water gets to there, they’ll sink fast.
Don’t form an alliance and then leave after five minutes
If you want to form an alliance with a rank 5 Reaper Galleon, that’s probably a really good thing. Okay, sure, they can see where you are on the map thanks to the alliance flag, but they could probably do that anyway if you are running an emissary flag. But forming an alliance is great news! A rank 5 Reaper Galleon will probably have loads of loot on them, and, with you being allied with them, you get a cut of their loot.
The only problem is, you need to be patient. Being a Reaper, they have to go to the Reaper’s Hideout in order to sell anything. And this can take a while. So if you DO join an alliance with them, wait a bit and you will be rewarded.
Do not approach them in an obvious attack position if you don’t want to attack
Really, this applies to any ship, but there are definitely ways you should NOT approach a rank 5 Reaper Galleon. They’ll happily attack you if you see them as a threat. One of the more obviously threatening things you can do is approach the side of a Galleon with a sail raised (on a Brig or Galleon), which indicates that you are slowing down, ready to open fire.
To be fair, approaching from any angle can spook some Reapers, but luckily, we have this nice thing in-game called communication. If you clearly state your intentions, then you’ll be fine.
Definitely do not try to form an alliance then immediately attack the rank 5 Reaper Galleon you just invited into your alliance with a keg.
As I mentioned before, joining an alliance with a rank 5 Reaper Galleon is a good idea, you could make lots of gold out of it. But you don’t become a rank 5 Reaper Galleon with lots of gold on it by being stupid. So if you join an alliance with one, try not to attack them. And definitely do not do so with a keg. Galleons are sturdy ships and it takes a lot of damage to sink one. On top of that, larger crews will often leave a lookout if they are spending a lot of time on an island, so they are more likely to see you coming. But also, if you’re planning to attack someone you’re allied with, THEY CAN SEE YOU ON THE MAP. You’re marked to them!
It’s also just a stupid thing to do. You could have made tons of money, but now you’re dead.
So yeah, those are some things you shouldn’t do when there’s a rank 5 Reaper Galleon wandering around.