Skull and Bones, coming to Xbox Series X|S on November 8, lets gamers discover a fictionalized model of the Indian Ocean in the course of the Golden Age of Piracy — however piracy didn’t simply spring up from nowhere. It fed off a wealthy commerce in spices, silks, and different scorching commodities for Seventeenth-century Europeans. These profitable pickings led pirates to a brand new enterprise alternative: their very own secret smuggling networks.
During Ubisoft Forward, the Skull and Bones group revealed a bit extra about these networks, that are solely revealed to you when you’ve earned the suitable to know. To obtain that, you’ll need to develop your Infamy and ultimately unlock your individual pirate lair — generally known as The Helm — which turns into the bottom of your smuggling operations. This is the place you’ll be capable of manufacture high-value items, like Rum and Opium, earlier than promoting them to whoever’s acquired the deepest pockets. From right here, you’ll even have extra leeway to decide on your individual contracts, moderately than be on the mercy of different pirate Kingpins.
The Ubisoft Forward presentation additionally revealed extra about the way you’ll be capable of construct and customise your ships. Each ship sort is geared towards totally different sorts of playstyles, whether or not you’re on the lookout for maneuverability, energy, or cargo capability, however every additionally comes with sure perks; for instance, the Sambuk offers a bonus to gamers utilizing hearth weapons, whereas the Brig — already a heavy hitter — can deal much more harm when it’s anchored. And that’s simply the beginning — every ship can then be fitted with totally different weapons, ammo, armor, furnishings, and beauty objects, letting gamers tailor them to particular duties and make them uniquely their very own.
Arming your ship is about extra than simply stockpiling cannonballs; you’ll want to contemplate what you need to accomplish. Do you like to sink enemy vessels and plunder their watery stays? Then you’ll need piercing ammo, which punches by way of armor and lets the water rush in, or hearth ammo, which may wreak all types of havoc on an enormous picket construction. If you need to disable ships for straightforward boarding, nonetheless, tearing ammo will make brief work of their sails. And there’s an enormous number of weapons to select from, with totally different cannons, ballistae, mortars, rocket launchers, and even torpedoes, every with distinctive harm sorts to maintain your enemies guessing.
That stated, every weapon additionally has an armor sort that may counter it; you wouldn’t need to use a flamethrower in opposition to a ship clad in leather-based panels, for instance, as leather-based is robust in opposition to hearth harm. Learning to acknowledge what your enemies are utilizing to guard themselves, and responding with a weapon that may fully destroy it, is one in every of some ways to outlive at sea.
As a totally on-line recreation, Skull and Bones would require an Xbox account and Xbox Live Gold subscription to play. Do you’ve got what it takes to outlive and change into a pirate Kingpin on the excessive seas? Find out on November 8, when Skull and Bones launches for Xbox Series X|S.
