Officers in Ultimate Admiral:Age of Sail work slightly differently to those of Ultimate General:Civil War. This guide is an attempt to explain how they work and what their purpose is.
Note: As the game is still in development, the exact values of what stats do are still relatively unknown and are subject to change.
Naval:
- Each officer has six stats that represent their command value in a respected category.
- Intelligence(Efficiency): Increases the overall skill of the crew in other categories.
- Dexterity(Sailing): Represents how agile a ship can be.
- Strength(Boarding): How capable your crew is at boarding and melee.
- Perception(Gunnery): How effective your crew is at shooting cannons and guns.
- Willpower(Morale): How long your crew will continue to fight before wavering.
- Endurance(Stamina): How long it takes your crew to become exhausted.
- Intelligence(Efficiency): Increases the overall skill of the crew in other categories.
- Crew:
- All units have a base stat (at present 5,2,2,2,2,5 but subject to change).
- Stats are increased by three ways:
- Performing a task (shooting will increase gunnery for example).
- Reserve units (can only be gained by placing your own forces into the reserves. Currently does not increase stats).
- Officers (provide a bonus with sufficient command stat).
- Performing a task (shooting will increase gunnery for example).
- One side note is that some ships (especially larger ones) will have a complement of marines on them. Currently, you can only see this in a battle so it can be assumed the same stats are being used for them. What exactly the advantage is besides “they are better at boarding and close range shooting” isn’t really known. Finally, when they are deployed on land, they will show up as marines and presumably work the same as land marines.
- All units have a base stat (at present 5,2,2,2,2,5 but subject to change).
- Understanding Command Value:
- In general, the smaller the ship the less officers are needed to crew them. This means that the officer must perform more duties. This is represented by highlighting the necessary command skill for that position.
- In practice, for smaller ships, you want an officer that is broadly good at everything but not exceptional at any one thing. The reason for this is, on larger ships, you will have officers only performing one task and thus you want a specialized officer to perform this task.
- In general, the smaller the ship the less officers are needed to crew them. This means that the officer must perform more duties. This is represented by highlighting the necessary command skill for that position.
- How Officers Affect Crew Stats:
- In the picture above, there are four colors of note that are quite important.
- The light blue is representing the crews actual stat.
- The dark blue is representing the bonus that the officer is providing. A more competent officer will result in a larger bonus. Despite efficiency increasing these values, this is not represented.
- The gold bar represents the command value of the officer.
- The black bar represents a penalty to the crew stats that is being suffered when there is an officer with an insufficient command value.
- In the picture above, there are four colors of note that are quite important.
Army:
- Army officer will be found as commanders of land units which are located on a troop transport. Note that the troop transport still needs a crew and naval officer to command them. Finally, there are several types of troop transports such as the 7th rate brig (2 slots), 5th rate Diana (3 slots), and unrated merchantmen (4 slots). These ships can also be equipped with canons in exchange for weight however, I do not recommend that.
- Similarly to naval officers, army officers have the same six basic stats that represents their command value. However, land units use different stats:
- Instead of sailing, land units use discipline. I’m not entirely sure what this means but I will give my best guess. I’d imagine that it means how fast a unit can go, how tight their formation is, and how they shoot when wavering. It is important to note that even though the tooltip states it as efficiency, this is a clear placeholder from UG:CW and is most likely incorrect.
- Instead of gunnery, land units use firearms. However, the stat does the exact same thing and represents how good units are at shooting and killing. Like with most stats, the exact effect is unknown however, it is probably similar to UG:CW and gives an accuracy and reload bonus.
- Land Units
- Like with the naval portion of the game, the selection of weapons is crucial however, that will be explained in another thread.
- Stats are increased in the same way as they are for naval crews
- The base stats of all units have been nerfed in recent patches to all 5’s (remember, this is subject to change).
- There are four different types of infantry:
- For the British, fusiliers are the earliest unit that you have access to and are the backbone of any army. Americans must unlock through technology.
- Marines are units that can be unlocked through technology. Their exact bonuses are unknown however, it is hinted that they have a discipline bonus and are most likely better in boarding actions.
- Grenadiers are an elite unit that are undeniably more powerful than fusiliers and can easily win a 2v1 against them. However, I do not know the exact advantages but it probably is related to melee and morale stats. These units are only accessible by the British. They are also unlocked through technology.
- Militia are an unprofessional unit that is inferior to that of fusiliers and will make up the early forces for the American campaign. The exact disadvantages are unknown. Only the Americans have access to this unit.
- For the British, fusiliers are the earliest unit that you have access to and are the backbone of any army. Americans must unlock through technology.
- Skirmishers are significantly faster than infantry, have excellent stealth, and stay in a loose formation. The latter of which often results in poor shooting performance as the volley isn’t coordinated. However, a unit of these will be very helpful as the ai has skirmishers on most maps and this unit is an excellent counter to them. A lot of maps will often have artillery and having a good scout unit is very helpful for counter battery maneuvers. This unit is unlocked with technology.
- Supplies are a complete waste of a unit as the majority of maps will have a supply point and unit supply is plenty to begin with. They also take up quite a bit of weight on your troop transport and the slow moving nature makes them unwanted and unneeded.
- There are two different artillery units:
- Mortars are by far the weakest unit in the game. They are incredibly slow moving and have a range that is barely larger than that of the infantry. They do not work well with the current meta (explained in another thread) and are an inconvenience for off meta strategies. As these are unlocked with technology, hopefully better mortars will be released making them somewhat worthwhile. They also take up quite a bit of space.
- Artillery can be incredibly effective in close range and are extremely helpful in counter battery which will save you a lot of casualties. However, they are slow moving and take up a lot of weight. This coupled with the abundance of artillery in battles makes this unit somewhat unneeded as captured artillery will work far more effectively.
- Mortars are by far the weakest unit in the game. They are incredibly slow moving and have a range that is barely larger than that of the infantry. They do not work well with the current meta (explained in another thread) and are an inconvenience for off meta strategies. As these are unlocked with technology, hopefully better mortars will be released making them somewhat worthwhile. They also take up quite a bit of space.
- Officers work and interact with land units much in the same way as naval officers interact with crews. The only real thing to note is that there will only ever be one officer per unit and thusly all command values will be used. This means that officers with one great skill but mediocre everything else will be worse off then a well balanced officer. Finally, the command skills will not be highlighted as all of the will be used.