Reload Times.

First - let me state that the purpose of this thread is to *politely* discuss and share information on " cannon reload times". This July is year 13 on Seafight for me , so I have learned a lot, but I always have questions that pop up.
My Observations:
(1) I have a PvP combat set-up and a Boarding set-up (Actually 2 boarding set-ups, but I'm just focusing on one of them). Both have exact same cannons, five Level 5 Chains of Speed and eight Level 6 Unobtainium Chains of Speed. (the chain types are the same, except the Unobtainium ones add harpoon advantages). I had three Level 3 Storm Lanterns on the combat set-up and yanked them and my reload time dropped by .01. It is currently 2.10. Now my boarding set-up only pulls some reinforced ribs and replaces it with four rowboats. Two are Level 4 and two are Level 5 rowboats. BUT - and this has always puzzled me - my reload time drops to 2.09! Why? I have noticed this for a long time and it makes no sense to me! As a player well-versed in mathematics, I hover my mouse over the Reload Calculation and (pending my taking the time to figure their math out), I need Albert Einstein to help me figure out their formulas! (Here, I give a nod to my veteran Moderator Nimitz, who once compiled an impressive Excel Spreadsheet regarding all the various cannon types, the various cannon damages, just one heck of an amazing effort on his part)!

(2) With Depth-Charge Ammo, my reload jumps to 3.78. So according to the Seafight Bible, we see this:

Depth Charge



Depth Charge is a special kind of ammunition that can efficiently counter the Atlantean technology.

Overview:

Damage: 250

Reload Time: +2 seconds (absolute) and +10%

Elite Points: +100%

(3) From February 2018 (so outdated information for now) we have this:

Reload Time

Below you shall find the fastest possible Reload Time.

Firestorm Cannon Level 6: 5.4
Cannon Loader Level 10: -2.6
50 Points in the Super Salvo Skill (-20.7%): -0.62
Powder Monkeys (-20%): -0.6
Steeled Chains of Speed Level 5 (-10%): -0.3

Total: 1.50

Note: The minimum reload time you can have is capped at 1.5 seconds. It is impossible to have lower than this value.

The above statement makes sense to me in that Repair cannons are the lowest reload time I have ever seen at 1.5.

Okay - so Powder Monkeys help lower the reload time, but Cabin Boys do not...hmmm.

Cabin Boys



Cabin boys are stronger than their size suggests. These boys will largely improve your survivability in battle and will help you to destroy your enemies!

This crew member is only on your ship for a limited amount of time

Overview:

-1.5s Harpoon Reload

+25 Weapon Slots

+3 Cannon Range

+1,000 Hitpoint Repair Value

Now we know Level 5 Bastion cannons have this: 6.0 Reload Time
This is the lowest reload of the heavy-hitting cannons.

Interestingly enough, I tried out putting only twenty-one Level 6 Firestorms on my ship, leaving the two types of speed chains as they are (note: I don't have as many chains as probably most players). Everything else remained. My new reload time was 1.54! I am guessing that a few more chains might touch 1.5. So to my fellow pirate Łé††éяš~öƒ~мåяqµé I ask: with 731 cannons *but* if all were Level 6 Firestorms, could you increase your speed completing the Rift Map without forfeiting a ton of firepower? I wonder.

 

Hey M8....you spend too much time trying to figure out the 'mechanics' of the Seafight system. Ha! I have been told by several players that using firestorms is the answer to quicker times in the rift, but I question, like you, the reduced firepower. I have watched several videos on youtube and the hits in the later waves are usually about two times more than what I get...even with the over 700 cannon I had the other morning. I hit from 300 to a llttle over 500 and I see hits in the 7 to 800 range. How is it possible? I can see with all the slots being opened that I could load up on ribs and chains to keep my defense level up while reducing my reload time, but whould that increase my hits? No. I think my settings were right on as far as gems, defense, and reload time....I cannot imagine how I could have reduced my time by 10 minutes or, more importantly, increased my hits by 50%. Using firestorms, obviously, would decrease the hits while reducing the reload times so that is not a viable answer to the issue either. Up until a few months ago, I was not able to finish the rift at all, but I finally discovered a few 'tricks' to get through the harder waves and have slowly reduced my times. Perhaps after awile, I will begin to get faster, but I really do not know how. As it is, with my ship without any buffs such as the genie or league, my rift time seems to be fixed at about 25-27 minutes. With the extra buffs, I can knock off 3 or 4 minutes. I am leaning towards believing the players who have said they can hit these low times without cheating...I would just like to know how! Thanks for taking the time to look into these mysteries in the SF programs...

 

Well, inherent in this game is the challenge of analyzing the different game parameters (buffs, etc.) to yield better decisions in gameplay, but it isn't easy for many reasons. (I remember long ago when there was some kind of cheat that apparently allowed players to have like 1,000 Admiral cannons on board). I guess the short answer is to have full Bastion Level 5s (which would cost a fortune), and so many chains of speed that you could add them until you reached the point that the reload speed hit rock bottom. That would probably work, until the next new cannon comes out (or Seafight dies). And it will eventually die, like all things.

P.S. Long ago, I remember watching a YouTube video (I think posted in this Forum) where a player showed how he did the Rift Map, mentioning that one needed to have a Minimum of 95% Damage Prevention. I found one just posted about a week ago and the guy is hitting around 700k+ (as you noted earlier). The link is below, but in case it gets removed, search the video's title. Maybe you can max out your Critical Hit Damage and Probabilities? I dunno!

SEAFIGHT | HOW TO MAKE 10 MIN TIME ON RIFT MAP
644 views
Mar 7, 2022

 

I watched a video yesterday of a guy hitting crits over 800k... My best in the later waves is, maybe, 350k. The new cannon is out already...check the 79 dollar package...(also look in the crafting section)...get ready to start over buying cannon! LoL Oh well M8...it is how the game is and how it is going to be. Yesterday I was in 20 map trying to do some quests (yes, I am still working on dogs of war) and here came a player that I have encountered many times recently. I had just run across a Freedom. He sunk me in two hits. I had my cap settings on so I switched to defense/fighting. I had about 100 percent damage prevention. I was shooting rift/marauder ammo with 634 cannon. I was hitting him at about 50-70k. He was hitting me, with flares, at 250-300k. I even got a screen shot of both hits at the same time. I have repeatedly complained to support about this player and some others using the same cheat. I was so pi***ed off that I included a string of 'other' language. Support simply told me that they were going to close my account if I continued using this language...but they do NOTHING about these latest program runners. It amazes me. I saw that video yesterday. I watched about ten different ones with times below 15 minutes to see if I could figure out what they were doing...all I can see is that they are faster and hit harder than I do. simple, right?

 

Thats an old video he was using the homing mine bug.

 

There is no such thing as cheats for a faster rift time. It all comes down to setup and your willingness to have the best cannons and use the best items.

The mine bug got fixed the day mines got disabled on rift map. Before you could make one if not several npcs not spawn on every wave.

 

see this one, it shows what hes using

 

I hear you precisely, mate. Yeah - I just read the Birthday Newsletter and saw this: "Now you can calm the storm or become it with the new Overlord cannon." My goodness: my recent post mentioning "until the next new cannon comes out" must mean I am psychic! I read that part and thought to myself: "You have to be kidding me"!!! We are just dogs chasing our own tails in this game.

 

And if you now know how to properly play rift and have a toptier ship you can do top10 easily. The difference between top10 and top 5 is basically just how many items you use and some fine tuning on your setups.

 

Thanks for the video. Hmmm...can anyone explain to me how at the 9:16 and 10:40 marks on the video - and I just picked those two spots - there are others, he clicked on a "Hailstorm" and completely refilled his Voodoo Shield?

 

You always get full HP and VP once a new wave starts

 

Sorry - duh - I forgot! (You can tell I don't do the Rift Map a whole lot). Thanks mate!

 

Thats the reason why players can go all out on every wave and use recklessness and such even tho it reduces dmg prevention by 50%. The best rift times are from the players that do it as extreme as possible. That and obviously the best cannons.

 

With only 621 cannons (and I did watch his use of the Bloodlust, Recklessness, Amulets, etc.), I do wonder if he has full Level 5 Bastion cannons or what? He is throwing a good bit of smoke out of those cannons!

 

I want to note that even someone with an unlimited budget should NOT be able to have full Overlord cannons within the next month. (There won't be enough of them - even if you bought every package offered within the next month - to accomplish that). I don't like being so skeptical, but there was a post long ago from a veteran player I know concerning a rich player placing an "order" for one (or more) boat(s) full of virtually everything from Bigpoint. Did it happen? Maybe or maybe not. But I am old enough and have been in the business world long enough to know that rules can be bent and exceptions made when the topic of money comes into play. Greed is a powerful motive.

 

At the time he did his video there were marauder days. If you look closely you can see that hes mostly using Marauder Ammo and only on "admirals" switches to rift ammunation for its higher hit% on rift map.

As of rightnow Overlord cannons will most likely not be an option for rift map since they only go up to level 3. Bastions and Worldbreakers are still better at higher levels. Even tho the reload time does come in handy it wont be enough to equal the missing damage. Once level 4-6 will be released they should easily outperform both.

 

I didn't know the Marauder ammo hit differently than the Rift Ammo in the Rift Map. The Seafight Bible shows the two ammo types as being exactly the same. Interesting.

 

It only does on Marauder days. But that goes for all NPCs not just the rift.

 

I probably should have known this, but I did not. (I'm usually using scrap ammo and fighting during this time). Thanks mate...I appreciate it!