2.1 Keyboard & Controls

Letters of Marque divides its controls into a few jobs: steering the ship, setting and trimming sail, moving the camera, and working the guns. Learn the basic helm and gunnery inputs first. The more specialized commands make much more sense once you have sailed a battle or two.

2.1.1 Keyboard and mouse at a glance

The build ships 75 bindings. These are the ones you need to sail and fight; the rest cover camera work and interface shortcuts.

The number keys are general-purpose menu selections rather than dedicated commands, which is why the same 1 that chooses a hull repair does something else in another panel. Read the bracketed number the interface shows you rather than memorising the key on its own. There is also a controller binding for opening repairs, so the menu is reachable without the keyboard.

Yard control is split fore and aft, not into two arbitrary groups. Q/E work the forward mast and Z/C the after mast, which is what makes it possible to brace one end against the other — the basis of box-hauling and of backing a ship out of trouble.

2.1.2 Handling the ship

The left and right helm inputs set the rudder rather than turning the ship instantly. The hull continues to answer according to its speed, momentum, sail plan, and relationship to the wind. Begin a turn early and ease the rudder as the bow approaches the desired heading.

Sail up and sail down control how much canvas is carried. More sail usually produces more drive, but it can also increase heel and make the ship harder to settle for a shot. Reducing sail can tighten your control of an approach, help avoid an overshoot, and give the guns a steadier platform.

Automatic yards are the useful starting point: the game rotates the yards for you as the heading changes. Manual yard controls let an experienced captain adjust the forward and after sail groups independently. They are most valuable near difficult wind angles, while tacking, or when trying to extract the last of the ship’s turning or reversing ability. See Manual Sailing for the technique.

2.1.3 Aiming and firing

Select the battery on the side you intend to use with [ or ], then move the camera to set elevation and lead. A ranging shot lets one gun test the solution before you commit the battery. Watch the flight and splash, correct the error, and fire the larger group only when the aim is convincing.

Firing mode is on V. Convergence has default gamepad bindings but no obvious default keyboard key in the build examined, so check the controls menu and bind it yourself if you sail on keyboard and mouse.

Convergence controls the distance at which guns distributed along the hull are directed toward the same region. It is not automatic ballistic correction: you must still account for the target’s motion, your own turn and heel, wave movement, and the shot’s time of flight. The aiming system corrects the difference between camera and gun position according to the chosen convergence, so an unsuitable setting can make a broadside spread around the point you meant to hit.

For the full shooting method, continue to Gunnery & Aiming.

2.1.4 Remapping controls

Bindings can be changed in the game’s controls settings. Remapping is still a developing feature: the developer has noted limitations when several keys are held together, and a few interactive controls may not follow a changed binding cleanly. Change a small group at a time and test steering, sail adjustment, aiming, firing, and camera movement before entering a serious fight.

Keyboard, mouse, and controller input are designed to work together. This makes extra controller buttons, rudder pedals, or a mixed control scheme possible, although unusual hardware may need experimentation. Keep a known keyboard command available for any action that proves unreliable on another device.

2.1.5 Experimental controller layout

Controller support is an experimental battle control scheme and may change as testing continues. It is intentionally unconventional: the shoulder controls work the sails while the sticks divide helm and camera duties.

The shipped bindings confirm how thorough this support is: gamepad axes are bound for the helm, for looking around, and for the forward and after yard controls, with buttons for firing, tagging, firing mode, automatic yards, staysails, zoom, third-person view, and convergence. A controller is a genuine alternative to keyboard and mouse here, not a partial afterthought.

2.1.6 Build muscle memory in layers

1. Learn rudder, sail up and sail down until you can hold a course without looking at the keys.
2. Add aiming, a ranging shot, and firing the selected battery.
3. Practice changing convergence as the range opens and closes.
4. Leave automatic yards engaged until ordinary steering and gunnery feel comfortable.
5. Add manual yards, ammunition selection, camera shortcuts, and other specialized bindings one group at a time.

The controls menu in the current build remains the final authority. The keyboard and mouse defaults above were read from the shipped build; the controller layout still rests on the developer’s description and would benefit from a hands-on audit.