Advice #6 - Pirate Strategy!

I will fulfill my promise by giving you...war strategy
Pirate Strategy will be Part 2 of a 3 part Strategy Pack [yes this is a tag too].

Battle Strategy, Pirate Strategy, and War Strategy

Piracy is such an important part of playing, but yet, some people overlook it, or take it too seriously, and don't attack others, which yes, this is fine, some people are there and they help. We love these guys. But there aren't a lot, and you gotta learn how to pirate and live out in the rough world.

|--==Piracy==--|

This page does have some Ika-slang, which will be highlighted as blue words (except in circular message), and the term meaning will be given at the bottom.

You've been attacked before (probably) and you've lost resources, sometimes a lot, sometimes not so much. Do you know why? Some guy saw your town, saw your score, and saw a juicy looking town. He spied on you, and viola, found magical [not to be taken seriously, the only "magical" resource is ambrosia] resources that weren't being used! So he decided to pillage you. Then you complain to the alliance. But you only saw your perspective on it, but now, we flip the perspective, and show you the world of "dog eat dog" world. Welcome to the world of Pirates.

=1=Pillage Classes=1=

The people who stock up (stockpile) on resources, the stockpilers, are like the vegetables, they are at the bottom of the Ikariam Chain. They just sit there and don't spend, or do so slowly. Normally they'll have over 20,000 of at least two different resources. People pillage the crap out of these whiners, yet for some reason this race of "people" is not extinct. Sometimes they may pillage other players and noob pirates, but generally, they don't pillage. You should hunt these players down and hound them until there isn't anything left or you have pillaged them six times (Bashing rule, see http://ikariam.com/rules.php) within 24 hours.

tip: The whining of the victims of your pillages is the most hilarious form of sadistic comedy within Ikariam.

Next is "other players". They can be fairly easy, not as juicy, and you may get a bigger fight from them, but not too much hassle. Then comes noob pirates. They channel resources from other farms so that they have resources. But oh, you come along and take it from them! Mwahaha! Noob farms are great for less work for you too, so if you spy correctly, you can find your local noob farm.

Up the ladder is the next thing -Oh joy, this isn't next in the ladder, but is scattered all over. Guardian players, policers, etc. You may have hit the wrong guy, and this guy is out to get you. You gotta show these players that you got the skills to smash them back down into the ground, that this is your turf, and that no one will tell them who and who not to pillage. Attack them too, pillage them, and farm them. Make them pay forever for the act they committed, until someone you can't beat around comes in to teach you a lesson, one way or another.

So back to the ladder, the next thing is other pirates. You may never meet head on, but you may find other large players who seem to have good armies but "stockpile". They may be a hardcore stockpiler, OR another pirate. If you pillage them, you may risk a large conflict, a pirate conflict, that like always, will lead to each other beating the crap out of one another. Think about risks.

Next up are the Warriors. These guys are always fighting, not just people without armies, but people with armies. They are powerhouses to be afraid of.

=2=Pirating Skills=2=

1. Pirate defense!

Defending yourself against pirates is a must. There are three things to do:

A. Upgrade your hideout alot, so that it is harder to spy on that town.

B. Build a navy, this way you can block incoming attack fleets.

C. Don't stockpile! Make sure your town doesn't look juicy, so people won't pillage it! SPEND SPEND SPEND!

Tips for piracy:

A. Espionage -

Spying is a vital part of pirating, the more in depth, the better. The main concept is to spy on how much resources they have. If they have alot, you ca'tn afford to wait. Pillage soon. If not, and you aren't on their island, here is a good strategy. Spy if they are online. If they are, the plan may not come out as accurate, due to spending and resource movement. But anyways, spy how much they have at one point, and then spy on how much they have an hour later. You will know how much they make per hour, and can calculate how much they will have in a given amount of time. You can also spy on fleet movement from their largest city or sulfur town, because one of these two towns is probably their main attack center. You may be able to see if they pillage a lot. If they grow fairly steadily, you should try to pillage them, since they can be some of the best targets.

B. Careful Ship Numbers

Once you've spied on their resources, look at their town. Check out the level of the warehouse, and multiply that number by 80 (this calculation will change in 3.3). If it was a level 10 warehouse, it would store 800 resources. So if they had 2467 total wood, they would only have 1667 wood available to pillage. That would mean you should take 3 ships. You then should calculate troop space. You may have enough leftover space to carry that 167 wood, just have to do the calculations so that the exact number of necessary ships is sent. Remember that little section in Tip #5?

C. Check out the Trade Post

The trade post doesn't protect resources. That means if "Player A" has 10,000 marble at the trading post, he's got 10,000 wood up for a pillage!

=3=Benefits=3=

Resources! The great benefit of the sea (the channel which you get these resources)! This is one of the easiest, cheapest ways of getting resources, and definitely the most fun!

==Ika-Slang==

Pirates - A player who is well seasoned in the art of piracy, and is well known in their area or globally for their pirating. The true term though, would be one who pillages on a regular basis.

Stockpilers - they spend from zero to slow, and have lots of resources that you pillage easily. One who stockpiles

Stockpile - The act of having lots of resources, and never spending them. Normally results in a barrage of pillages.

Whiner - One who always complains to the alliance, normally about not having resources, or being attacked (the attack normally provoked by the act of stockpiling), but never does anything for themselves or the alliance. Normally they grow about 100 points a month. Normally you wonder why there are training alliance leaders who can stand their antics.

Other Player - These people grow at normal lengths of time, checking in and out, but manage not to stockpile.

Noob Pirate - a player that is a noob but pirates other, smaller noobs too. Sometimes, if he is successful enough/not active enough, he can fall into the "Stockpiler" category and be sucked into the vicious vacuum of constant strife from pillaging.

Farm - Any source of outside resources in which the resources are obtained by pillaging. Normally these players don't donate, are annoying, or stockpile, but Farm's are not restricted to the latter three examples.