During Skull & Bones‘ global gameplay reveal, Ubisoft Singapore revealed a lot of details. On November 8th, it will be available for $60 on PC and $70 on consoles, with post-launch DLC available for free. Additionally, a gameplay video with senior game director Ryan Barnard was made available. More ship battles, progress, and ship customization are highlighted. The video is below.
Despite having 12 playable ships at launch, players start with the Dhow, which is the smallest. It instructs you on how to gather resources and hunt animals and is categorized as a hunter-gatherer ship. You’ll eventually start to create more effective ships, as well as brand-new armor and armaments. Of course, fighting other players in PvP servers is still very much doable even with a Dhow, even if it just involves “small spear fights.”
Ships may be upgraded very quickly, and you’ll ultimately come across many sorts that each has their own specific functions. “We want the ships to have specialties, which we refer to as sort of player tools. Therefore, upgrading to a certain ship and sticking with it for the duration of the game is not always necessary.
“No, I’m convinced that players will develop a preference for certain particular playstyles and ships. However, there will always be the correct tool for the job, as well as perhaps another ship that they wish to create and modify for their loadout in order to engage in particular activities and a particular kind of piracy in the game, according to Barnard.
For instance, using a cargo ship will make it simpler to complete a mission that involves smuggling huge quantities of stolen items, which is one of the light quests. There will always be the “best pick for what you’re attempting to do,” even though players can use anything for the majority of tasks.
Combat is described as having some depth and being “extremely fast-paced.” You can choose from a variety of weaponry as well as “Fury,” which is produced by your team. The only way to get all of the riches is through crew-to-crew attacks and boarding attacks. Additionally, ships contain “big defined red targets” or weak places that, when destroyed, cause significant harm and have other negative repercussions (like a fire breaking out).
One example of a weapon type is a blunt object that can shred sails and cause floods. You may deal standard damage, additional damage against a particular enemy type, or even less damage depending on your loadout. Again, while engaging any target with any loadout is viable, depending on the circumstance, you’ll have “better, more effective loadouts.”
You can always flee to a safe region if the battle isn’t going your way, though it will be more difficult to avoid other players. Plundering is one activity that truly emphasizes escape. “In some of our plundering operations, the main objective may be to simply seize and grab. Get everything you can while you can, then. If one’s ship is sunk, there will be a wreck with some of your materials in it. Then you can return these to a den or outpost.
You can, however, “essentially get all of your supplies back and it’ll just have cost you a little bit of time,” if you’re courageous enough to go out to the accident. You continue while refitting your ship. Additionally, no progress is lost if you decide to go from a PvP-only server to a PvE-only server. You can switch between them without any problems. It’s interesting that the “benefits” of using the riskier PvP-only servers weren’t specified.
Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, Google Stadia, and Amazon Luna all have Skull and Bones available now.