5.3 Refits & Equipment

A hull is a starting point. What you install on it decides how it sails, how it survives, how it shoots, and what it can carry. Fitting happens in port through the ship’s Equipment and Equipped tabs, and the effects follow the ship into both the open world and battle.

5.3.1 Slots and Equipment Class

Two limits govern what a ship can take. The first is simply how many equipment slots it has. The second is Equipment Class, shown on the ship’s Stats tab, which determines the grade of equipment the hull will accept. A larger hull is not automatically able to mount everything; class is a separate gate from slot count.

Cargo capacity is governed separately again, and it is split by purpose. Ships carry a count of military cargo slots and a count of economic cargo slots, and the game treats these as distinct resources rather than one pooled hold. A hull generous in one is not necessarily generous in the other, which is part of what separates a warship from a trader beyond its guns.

5.3.2 What refits can change

The available modifiers cover far more of the ship than protection and speed. Grouping them by the problem they solve makes the range clearer:

Three observations are worth drawing out of that table.

First, fire is a system with four separate levers, not a single hazard. Resisting ignition, putting a fire out, protecting canvas specifically, and controlling how fast a deck fire develops are distinct problems with distinct equipment.

Second, boarding and muskets are modelled. Crew capacity, attack, defence, musket damage, and musket range are all things equipment addresses, which tells you close action is a real branch of combat rather than an afterthought.

Third, gunnery splits into aiming and ballistics. Slew angle and dispersion govern where your guns can point and how tightly they group; damage, penetration, and velocity govern what the shot does when it arrives. Improving one does not improve the other.

5.3.3 Reading modifier names carefully

Some names describe the ship and some describe the improvement, and mixing them up will cost you.

Thickness as a ship statistic is a penetration angle where lower is better — see Reading a Ship’s Stats. A Thickness modifier is an improvement to that protection. Likewise Draft Reduction, Heel Reduction, Rudder Break Reduction, and Sail Fire Resist all name the thing being reduced or resisted, so a larger value on the item is a better outcome for you.

Rudder Time Upgrade is the clearest trap: rudder traverse time is a delay you want small, so an upgrade to it should shorten the delay. Confirm the direction on the ship’s Stats tab rather than assuming from the label.

5.3.4 Previewing a fit with ghosts

The fitting interface supports adding an item as a Ghost: a preview that shows what the ship’s statistics would become without installing anything. The panel then displays your current statistics alongside the ghosted result. Use it to answer “what would this actually do” before committing resources.

Ghosts do not affect the ship. If you attempt to undock with ghosts still present, the client warns you that the active ship contains previews rather than real items. Clear them or install them properly — sailing on a previewed fit means sailing on the fit you had before.

5.3.5 Build for a job, not for a stat sheet

The breadth of available modifiers makes it easy to assemble a ship that is slightly better at everything and good at nothing. A more productive approach is to decide the ship’s work first, then fit for it.

1. Name the job. Line combat, cruising, escort, trade, or practice.
2. Identify the limit. What actually ends your voyages — being caught, being penetrated, losing rigging, failing to bring guns to bear, running out of hold?
3. Fit against that limit rather than against the largest available number.
4. Ghost the change and read which figures move.
5. Test on the water. Turn, tack, stop, and fire before risking cargo or an expensive fit.
6. Change one thing at a time so you can attribute the difference.

A coherent ship built for one job usually beats a collection of individually attractive bonuses. Materials interact with all of this too — see Hull Materials.