Idea for a re-buff to Copperhead Explosive %

Deacon

Deacon

Sea Legs
The copperhead is really slow, like a slug. It is hard, like a turtle. And it shoots, like a sometimes. :>

I don't like it when my broadsides do nothing. Duds, I tell you! When the explosive round hits, its pretty nice. I have a Storm Chaser maxed as well, when the thunderbolts hit, its pretty nice too. Difference is my storm chaser can sail circles around any Copperhead. Keep in mind im talking about PvE, so I don't mean literally sail circles around a copperhead, because I feel that implies I'm talking about PvP, and I'm not. Honestly, when doing a Mat run, if the explosive round doesnt land or doesnt fire at all, I feel you could just get rid of the regular shots, and it would feel the same impactful. Not really, but seriously its a bummer only getting one explosive hitting the enemy ship only some of the time. Here's a potential fix for the Copperheads I thought up because I'm more smarter:

Level 4 Copperhead - 1 Cannon/broadside 50% Explosive Round
Level 5 Copperhead - 2 Cannon/broadside 50% Explosive Round
Level 6 Copperhead - 3 Cannon/broadside 50% Explosive Round

So essentially, a maxed Copperhead has the potential to fire 3 explosive rounds, a 12.5% chance exactly. So a pretty low chance, and it has that same chance to fire 0 explosive rounds as well. You'd see a lot of 2 explosive shot broadsides with this one. Personally, I think this could be a good option. I also actually like the idea theres still a little "RNG", with this option. I would prefer this over just increasing the maximum explosive rounds fired to two per broadside.

Okay, so anyway, this is my super duper awesome idea. I hope it doesn't suck too much, but yeah, tell me what you think! :>
 
Copperheads are already a formidable force, and once they're maxed out they're definitely one of the most formidable opponents on water. I think as of now the Copperhead upgrade is fine, if you really want a guarantee for an explosive round you should take the War Brig/Frigate/Galleon out for some upgrades.
 
hello, RedDeveloper!
I currently have a maxed Copperhead War Frigate!

I think the copperhead needs a re-buff. I understand that may not happen. Its as simple as, if the Copperhead doesnt get some sort of rework, I wont be sailing on it, I'll be using a different, better ship class. I think anyone else with a brain will do the same.

Again, RedDeveloper, you said a formidable "opponent". I did everything in my power to make sure everyone knew I was talking purely SvE, and not SvS or PvP.
 
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I wasn't talking about SvS I was just talking about the ship in a 2nd person perspective, sorry if that was confusing. As for your opinion I think your point is understandable, but I disagree with it.
 
A copperhead war frigate has the ability to one shot every AI ship it broadsides that is not a hunter.
A storm - more often than the copper - will fail to one shot ai war ships with its broadsides.

As a low level pirate without thunder unlocked on your cannons, storm will do little damage is NOT the ship to use to level up sailing.
As a low level pirate without explosive unlocked on your cannons, Copperhead ships will STILL one shot enemy ai ships.

As of right now, Copperheads are one of the most powerful in SVS, and they ARE the most powerful in PVE
>with the most armor of any ship
>With the most consistent ability to one shot enemy ai ships at any level.

In conclusion: if anythings going to be changed about the copper again, revert the 5% turning buff to re-balance the viability of Skull and bones War frigate in SVS, as it has become obsolete compared the the copperhead.
 
Like I've stated on original posts regarding the tweaks to Copperhead ships (I am in no intent disregarding your idea, I get where you're coming from), I still think (and have further tested on all four classes of warships as Copperhead) that Copperhead's performance is formidable.

You take a gamble with your broadsides when you fire from a Copperhead, assuming that they act properly you will typically land a single devastating hit that decimates any non-Bounty Hunter in SvE. If it doesn't, you'll typically won't hit your target whatsoever, and that is nothing to do with Copperheads themselves, but moreso how Broadside tracking performs right now. (News Flash, it doesn't work very smoothly currently.)

With that being said, I think a key factor that is being forgotten in posts similar to yours is just how much damage Copperhead's explosive round does.

A single shot of Explosives are equal to the typical 6-7 shots of Thunderbolt lobbed by a Stormchaser, and then some! This isn't accounting for the fact that you still have a broadside of anywhere from 7-11 additional hits of standard Round Shot, which totals a decently high average to Stormchaser.

The issue is (as Developers have stated before) is simply that the values of Explosives damage cannot be changed without affecting many other things that are in similar capacity to Explosive shots, such as cannons, enemy guns, broadsides, etc.

Two explosive shots is just too much, anything above one really. Just remember that you're welcome to play the game as you wish, nobody is asking you to play a certain kind of ship. It's all down to preference at the end of the day, and I can say boldly that I enjoy the current form of Copperhead, as much if not more than the unnerfed version.

Fair Seas,
Misha
 
I think a lot of people are assuming us "anti-copperhead nerf" (I 100% know the copperhead needed a nerf) think the copperhead in its current state is totally broken. Thats not the case. However, I think the copperhead is significantly lesser to all other ship classes right now. The problem is the ship is just so darn slow. This idea the copperhead is supposed to be the hardest to sink is totally wrong- its the easiest to sink. The survivability of ships isn't just determined by the ships armor- speed, acceleration and maneuverability all play an equally important roll in defending against enemy ships. This in combination with the facts that one; the copperhead is significantly harder to upgrade than the other ships, and two; the copperhead is just in a very poorly designed state right now that makes it unfun to use. Theres not an ounce of excitement while sailing the copperhead. When I'm on my stormchaser I can see all the little glowing balls of lightning and a little part of me gets excited when I see 10 of those fly out of my ship. That doesnt exist with the copperhead. Also I am glad that you mentioned the copperhead's explosive broadside is equivalent to an above average storm chaser broadside. That statement right there PROVES the Copperhead is a SIGNIFICANTLY less viable ship than the Storm Chaser, given everything else about both ships.

Regardless of the Copperhead situation, I am still very much enjoying the game, and I thank you for your post.
 
Leon Hexmalley said:
A copperhead war frigate has the ability to one shot every AI ship it broadsides that is not a hunter.
A storm - more often than the copper - will fail to one shot ai war ships with its broadsides.

As a low level pirate without thunder unlocked on your cannons, storm will do little damage is NOT the ship to use to level up sailing.
As a low level pirate without explosive unlocked on your cannons, Copperhead ships will STILL one shot enemy ai ships.

As of right now, Copperheads are one of the most powerful in SVS, and they ARE the most powerful in PVE
>with the most armor of any ship
>With the most consistent ability to one shot enemy ai ships at any level.

In conclusion: if anythings going to be changed about the copper again, revert the 5% turning buff to re-balance the viability of Skull and bones War frigate in SVS, as it has become obsolete compared the the copperhead.
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First off, this isnt a discussion involving SvS. Secondly, you're wrong my man, on almost all accounts. The Copperhead is not the easiest to one shot enemy AI ships. Don't believe me? Try it out for yourself, you'll find the broadsides from a maxed storm chaser are equally powerful, if not superior. Secondly, I dont get why you mentioned low level pirates at all? We are talking about fully upgraded ship classes, something that takes a significant amount of time to acquire- you will no longer be a low level pirate by the time you do. and either way, the storm chaser, IS BY FAR the fastest to level sailing as it has the the highest ratio of speed and consistency to one shot enemy ships. Copperheads aren't the most powerful ships in PvE haha, do you own a Copperhead?
 
Deacon said:
the storm chaser, IS BY FAR the fastest to level sailing as it has the the highest ratio of speed and consistency to one shot enemy ships. Copperheads aren't the most powerful ships in PvE haha, do you own a Copperhead?
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I sail a Storm Chaser War Brig and a Copperhead War frigate against AI ships, and have mastered a pirate to level 50 ONLY through sailing. With that being said, i have indeed "Tried it out for myself".
Voyager50.png

While Stormchaser is arguably the strongest for a high level pirate, it is arguably the weakest for a pirate leveling up their sailing.
Copperhead remains a strong choice for any level, and does the most damage out of any ship broadside for a pirate with level 1 cannon.

Finally if speed be such an issue, Allow me to once again suggest ship speed to be lowered by 3 knots to accurately reflect how it was in POTCO.
 
I don’t want more tweeks of the Copperhead, I want it put back the way it was in potco, this means reverting and going back to sailing mechanics in a more general sense for the fix. I feel that the developers took the quick and cheap course on this and that it was and is still very wrong.
 
Eric Sailcutter said:
I don’t want more tweeks of the Copperhead, I want it put back the way it was in potco, this means reverting and going back to sailing mechanics in a more general sense for the fix. I feel that the developers took the quick and cheap course on this and that it was and is still very wrong.
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I 100% agree with you, I read your post. But to be honest, from the looks of it, I don't think we can count on that being a possibility. However, I'm getting a little frustrated with everyone thinking the Copperhead is still the most powerful ship right now when it simply isn't, and it should be. I made this suggestion to try to take an approach that includes a few important aspects, one of which you included in your post. The POTCO Copperhead, although much weaker than the TLOPO's pre-patch, if im not mistaken, still did more damage on average than the Copperhead does in its current state; I don't want it to go back to how it was pre-patch either. Second (and one you mentioned that I agree with fully), the rng aspect is missing currently with its broadsides, and I thought of the system with that problem in mind. You need to remember that the developers are doing this for free, so saying they took the "cheap" course is totally unfair and frankly a bit unappreciative. This also brings me to the last aspect, its a simple tweak that doesn't involve changing the code for explosives and trying to rebalance everything else along the way if it gets implemented. We have to be conscious about how much we ask for, and hope its within reason for them to add it to their list of things to do.
 
I do appreciate that the game is back and that the developers are doing it for free very much indeed. I do not appreciate the way they have modified the Copperhead at all. So, yes, it was meant to sound unappreciative in terms of this particular subject but not at all in terms of their overall effort. I stand by my post in that I wish for the nerf to be reverted and the developers to take a different approach that would restore the Copperhead to potco performance. I realize that this is likely to take much longer than the current, and horrible, patch. That is why I say that they took the cheap route. I also think that much of the complaining about the Copperhead in SvS was by players that have no understanding of how to deal with Copperheads.
 
Thanks for the suggestions Deacon, just wanted to clarify something real quick:

Deacon said:
Level 4 Copperhead - 1 Cannon/broadside 50% Explosive Round
Level 5 Copperhead - 2 Cannon/broadside 50% Explosive Round
Level 6 Copperhead - 3 Cannon/broadside 50% Explosive Round

So essentially, a maxed Copperhead has the potential to fire 3 explosive rounds, a 12.5% chance exactly.
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This is not a 12.5% chance to fire 3. This means each cannon has a 50% chance to fire an explosive round.

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Regardless, we are currently pleased with the state of Copperhead and have no intentions of changing it at this time. The majority feedback we receive from both SvE and SvS players is positive now that people have had time to adjust, so it will likely remain this way. If something is added or changed in the future that unbalances Copperhead again, we'll be sure to take a second look at it.
 
I’d just like to put it out there that ever since copperhead was nerfed I don’t have nearly as much fun sailing around. Getting mats is tedious enough as it is; what made it worth it for me was the effectiveness of copperhead ships. ;( If it were up to me, I would buff copperhead closer to as it was - I like the proposals on this thread. I also think sailing in TLOPO needs to be revitalized in other ways. Here are some ideas:

Keep copperhead nerfed for SvS. Add a copperhead "skill" that increases your percentage of explosives for a short time. Skill recharged over time and recharged faster when you sink ships.
Boss ships that drop more gold/mats
Legendary items that can only be dropped at sea
Higher level enemies/bigger rewards/incentives for boarding ships. I can’t remember the last time I boarded an enemy ship.
New cannonball types and their respective ship upgrades
 
This may be a little off topic but was it really so hard for SvSers to avoid a Copperhead in its original form, to me it seemed useless as an SvS ship yet everyone seems to say it was op, what gives? I’d have expected that Copperheads being so slow would get picked to pieces and would be helpless against any other ship as they all could maintain distance and out range it.
 
Eric Sailcutter said:
This may be a little off topic but was it really so hard for SvSers to avoid a Copperhead in its original form, to me it seemed useless as an SvS ship yet everyone seems to say it was op, what gives? I’d have expected that Copperheads being so slow would get picked to pieces and would be helpless against any other ship as they all could maintain distance and out range it.
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True. Copperheads really didn’t stand a chance against a storm chaser with a good crew. Now they’re completely invalid.
 
Leon Hexmalley said:
A copperhead war frigate has the ability to one shot every AI ship it broadsides that is not a hunter.
A storm - more often than the copper - will fail to one shot ai war ships with its broadsides.

As a low level pirate without thunder unlocked on your cannons, storm will do little damage is NOT the ship to use to level up sailing.
As a low level pirate without explosive unlocked on your cannons, Copperhead ships will STILL one shot enemy ai ships.

As of right now, Copperheads are one of the most powerful in SVS, and they ARE the most powerful in PVE
>with the most armor of any ship
>With the most consistent ability to one shot enemy ai ships at any level.

In conclusion: if anythings going to be changed about the copper again, revert the 5% turning buff to re-balance the viability of Skull and bones War frigate in SVS, as it has become obsolete compared the the copperhead.
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So, after seeing your eye roll, I'm wondering what is you explanation of how a ship that technically should never be able to get in range of any and all other ships has come to be labeled op and designated in need of nerfing?
 
Also, we can’t act like any noobie pirate can get their hands on a copperhead ship. It takes a lot of work to rank up to copperhead. IMO a proper nerf of the original copperhead is to make it a tad bit slower, so sloop hunters could sail around it
 
Eric Sailcutter said:
So, after seeing your eye roll, I'm wondering what is you explanation of how a ship that technically should never be able to get in range of any and all other ships has come to be labeled op and designated in need of nerfing?
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I’d love if you two came and engaged in SVS as much as you talked about it on the forums... maybe it wouldn’t be so dead! I encourage you both to join us Saturday for the 6th community svs event.
“A ship that should technically never be able to get in range of any and all other ships”... please come play svs instead of just talking about it. Copperheads aren’t stationary oil rigs... they have sails, can move and they can absolutely... “get in range if any and all other ships”... if you see other ships out maneuvering them to be such an issue then I suggest you join the camp that wishes Windcacher fixed, slowing all ships by 3 knots as it was in potco.
Right now every ship in SVS is considerably balanced with the exception of the underpowered Firestorm.
Don’t worry though. Those who actually engage in the game mode already know this, and those who do not still continue to believe copper isn’t worth it.
I’ll leave you with this: the most powerful ships for solo svs rn are: copperhead war frigate, copperhead sloop, storm chaser war brig.
If you’ve got a crew... launch your SB war sloop and go wild though ;)
 
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