Merchant Ship

Overview

Merchant Ship were introduced with the High Seas booster. NPC Humans sail Tokuno Ships while Gargoyles use their native Gargoyle Ships. The crew consists of 3-5 NPCs which always include a captain and usually a navigator and some deckhands. Each will have ranged weapons or bard/spell casting abilities(including Chivalry, a first for NPC's).

Tactics

Merchant ships must be damaged with cannonballs to the point of being scuttled before they maybe be boarded or have summon spells cast upon them. The crew may be attacked at any time and popular tactics include using Greater Explosion and Conflagration potions as well as ranged attacks with spells, Archery and Throwing.

Loot

Several resources can be plundered from the merchant ship, usually in stacks of 50 for items kept on the deck in Containers, totalling up to around 2,300. Common items from the Hold usually amount to 7-10 items each with 25-30 matches.

Hold Fuse Cords Matches Light or Heavy Cannonballs Light or Heavy Grapeshots Light or Heavy Powder Charges Swab Ramrod Light or Heavy Ship Cannon Deeds (uncommon) White Cloth Dye Tub (uncommon)

Containers Ingots (All types, can also spawn as Ores) Boards (Oak to Yew, Heartwood and Bloodwood as Logs) Leather (can also spawn as Hides) Liquor Smuggler's Cache

Perhaps controversially, there are no gold nor magic item drops in merchant ship loot except for what the NPC crew might be carrying. With the high outfitting and repair cost of galleons needed to intercept merchant ships and only the rewards that seemingly interest crafters, merchant ships seem to only attract players interested in crafting or vendoring the loot.