2.3 Port UI

Port is where a captain prepares for the next voyage. The docked interface brings together ship selection and fitting, cargo storage, markets, crafting, trade, and travel. It is one of the densest parts of Letters of Marque, but most tasks follow the same pattern: select an object, inspect its details, then move, buy, sell, fit, craft, or dispatch it.

2.3.1 Port menu overview

In port you work through five areas: Dock, Market, Crafting, Trading, and the Warehouse. Grouped by what they are for:

• Dock determines which ship you are preparing and what equipment it carries.
• Warehouse and ship inventory determine where goods, components, and cargo are stored.
• Market and Crafting let you acquire, sell, and manufacture items.
• Trading and port travel send goods or the captain between ports.

Leaving port is Undock, on E by default.

Always confirm the selected ship, port, and inventory before acting. Several panels can display similar items while applying the action to a different location or vessel.

2.3.2 Dock and ship selection

The dock menu is the starting point for working with ships in port. Select a hull to inspect it, make it the active ship where the interface permits, and open its equipment or inventory. Ship-management actions are tied to the selected hull, so recheck the ship name before moving valuable cargo or changing a fit.

New players may begin directly in dock rather than exposed in the open world. Before sailing for the first time, use the dock to inspect the active ship, confirm that its required equipment is present, and learn where the hold and statistics are displayed.

2.3.3 Ship statistics and equipment

The ship-management view displays the selected hull’s statistics and installed equipment across four tabs: Inventory, Equipment, Equipped, and Stats. A ship’s final performance is not determined by the hull alone: modules and the materials used to make them can alter its protection, durability, sailing behavior, and other characteristics. These changes apply in both the overworld and battle.

Use item details and the resulting ship-stat display to compare a proposed change with the present fit. Adding an item as a Ghost previews the result — the panel shows your current statistics against the ghosted outcome — without installing anything. Ghosts do not change the ship, and the client warns you if you try to undock with them still in place.

For what each field on the Stats tab means, see Reading a Ship’s Stats; for the fitting system itself, Refits & Equipment.

2.3.4 Ship inventory and warehouse

Ship inventories carry goods into the overworld and make captured or transported items available to that vessel. In port, transfer items between local storage and the selected ship by using the inventory controls shown by the current interface. Watch both available space and item stack size: the game uses stacks as units of cargo weight, so the number of item entries alone does not describe the load.

The port warehouse holds goods that are not currently aboard a ship. It is the natural staging area for resources, crafted components, market purchases, and cargo waiting for a trade. Check the destination of a transfer before confirming it; a good left in the warehouse cannot help a ship that has already sailed, while unnecessary cargo aboard the ship occupies carrying capacity and may be exposed to loss.

Search, item tooltips, and stack handling have been improved over the course of development. Use search and filtering when available instead of scanning a long inventory, and hover or select an item to inspect its properties before moving or consuming it.

2.3.5 Market and contracts

The market is organized around the available contracts rather than hiding supply behind a single headline price. This lets you see how much of an item is offered or wanted and at which prices. Read the list as a market depth display: an attractive price may cover only a small quantity, while a larger order may cross several contracts.

When buying, confirm the item, quantity, total price, and receiving inventory. When selling, confirm both the quantity and the order you are filling or creating. Do not assume that every port has the same stock or demand. Local markets and regional scarcity are part of the reason goods move between ports.

Prices are in Pounds. A transaction breaks down into price per unit, quantity, Sales Tax, Broker Fees, and a total — so the headline price is not what leaves your purse. Check the total before confirming, particularly on large orders where the fees are worth more than the margin you were chasing.

An order you place carries a Duration, chosen from Immediate, 1 Hour, 6 Hours, 1 Day, 3 Days, or 1 Week. Immediate takes what the market offers now; a longer duration leaves the order standing for others to fill, which suits a price you are willing to wait for. You can filter the list between all items and only your own orders.

Goods are organised into categories: Hulls, Equipment, Woods, Crafting, Ingredients, Products, Consumables, Rewards, and Misc. Whole hulls being a market category is worth noting: you can buy a ship outright rather than building one. Items also carry a rarity.

2.3.6 Crafting interface

The crafting interface uses a layout related to the market so that selecting, searching, and inspecting items works consistently across both systems. Choose the item or component to make, inspect its requirements and predicted result, then confirm that the necessary resources are available in the inventory from which the interface will draw them.

A recipe lists each ingredient’s name, the quantity Required, and how much you hold in the Warehouse, so a shortfall is visible before you commit. Alongside the recipe view there are Tree, Market, and Info views — the tree for seeing what a component itself is built from, the market view for buying what you are missing without leaving the panel.

Ships are assembled from a hull and fitted components rather than existing as a single unchangeable stat block. The primary material used in a component can affect the finished ship, and stacking several bonuses of the same kind may produce diminishing returns. Preview the resulting statistics when possible instead of judging a component from its name alone.

Crafting values shown during early development were placeholders, and the available recipes continue to be balance-sensitive. This page explains the interface relationship only; use Rates & Classes for the broad roles the resulting ships can fill.

2.3.7 Preparing a trade convoy

The trade interface lets goods travel between ports in a convoy rather than requiring the captain to carry every shipment personally. A convoy has a route, ships, cargo capacity, and room for military escorts. When a trade is open to others, participating players can place goods into its available capacity before departure.

Before publishing or joining a trade, check the origin, destination, departure conditions, available cargo space, and the ships committed to it. Goods loaded into a convoy are exposed to interception while it travels. If the convoy reaches its destination, the system distributes the delivered goods into the participating players’ warehouses.

Convoy sizes, escort ratios, battle ratings, protection periods, carrying capacity, and loss rules are balance values rather than permanent interface facts. Trust the current trade panel and its confirmation text over any old example.

2.3.8 Port-to-port travel

The port interface includes travel between eligible ports. Select the intended destination carefully and read what the transfer will move, what it will leave behind, and whether a cost or other condition applies. Travel controls were improved after early testing because an unclear teleport action could easily strand a player or separate them from the intended ship and goods.

Moving ports asks for confirmation before it happens. If you find yourself in port with no ship selected, having arrived from the map view is the usual explanation — the client says as much when it cannot find a ship to undock.

Do not treat teleportation and cargo shipment as the same action. A captain, an active ship, warehouse goods, and a trade convoy may each follow different movement rules. When in doubt, assume an item remains in its present port until the confirmation explicitly says otherwise.

2.3.9 A safe port routine

1. Confirm the current port and select the ship you intend to sail.
2. Inspect its equipment and resulting statistics.
3. Move required goods into the correct ship inventory and leave unnecessary cargo in the warehouse.
4. Complete market, crafting, and convoy work before preparing to depart.
5. Check the destination of every travel or trade action before confirming it.
6. Return to the dock view, verify the active ship once more, then enter the open world.

Continue with Open-World UI for the controls and information used after leaving port.