Beginning Shipbuilding

This page is a work in progress and additional information is being added.

Basic Information
Shipbuilding is the crafting skill which allows you to build customized ships at a fraction of the cost of NPC ships. Shipbuilding must be done at an NPC, rather than anywhere using a book, like other crafting skills.

When constructing your own ship you can choose the material it will be made out of, as well as modify the ship's hold.

Once construction begins, you must leave the port and sail on the seas for a set number of days, after which your constructed ship will be available to pick up at any ship master.

How to acquire the skill
There are two methods to acquiring skills, and Shipbuilding is no exception.

The first method is to train the prerequisites, the second method is to change to a job which features Shipbuilding as a favored skill.

To meet the prerequisites, you must have a character Battle level of 7, and a skill Repair level of 3. Once you've met these two requirements the skill can be trained for 25,000 Dukats in one of three ports; Tunis in Western Europe, Istanbul in Turkey, and Calicut in India. The Maritime GM in each of these ports will train the skill.

There are 4 jobs that feature Shipbuilding as a favored skill; a trader Arms Dealer, a battle Shipwright, a battle Tactician, and a battle Guardian. By switching to one of these jobs you can train the skill at any Maritime GM.

How to Level
Of course, getting the shipwright or other shipbuilding job is essential. You will be spending ALOT of money building ships, halve that money by having it as a favored skill.

The best method to level is to build low level ships until r3 shipbuilding. It really doesn't matter what ship you build at this point, the skill points you gain are based on the ship's total level and construction duration.

At r3 (r1+2, r2+1, or flat r3) move on to Beirut (speaking Arabic is helpful.) Here you will be building dhows from r3 until r6. These are the most cost effective and highest skillups you can get until cutters.

At r6 (r4+2, r5+1, or flat r6) you can start building cutters. This method will not make any profit as most players will not buy cutters, but it is the fastest and most cost effective way of ranking up Shipbuilding until very late level sambuks (r13 and above). It has the advantage of being available for production in many European ports so you will not have to travel far to make one. Cutters can be built in Amsterdam, London, Lisbon, Seville, Marseille, Genoa, Naples, and Venice.

At r9 (r7+2, r8+1, or flat r9) you may start building sambuks. You need to sail to East Africa, Arabia or India to construct them, and a teak sambuk will sell for a decent price. This is the first ship you can really potentially make money on. Of course, dragging them back to Europe will take a long time. Some players may decide to make a few at a time and sell as they go, but keep in mind that at higher levels you will need to make many sambuks per rank.

Detailed Calculations
Shipbuilding is a very expensive and time consuming skill to level. Consider carefully before committing to it. Pure grind from rank 1 to rank 16 (Dhows at r1+2 and Cutters at r4+2), will cost nearly 250 million ducats and 37 thousand minutes.

Skill experience is gained upon construction start according to the following formula

EXP = (total ship sail requirement level + days of construction) x 8.5 / (Shipbuilding skill level + 1)

All decimals are truncated down to the closest integer.

Leveling from r1 to r3 can be done anywhere and just grinding on making Barcas. The following is the list for grinding from r3 (r1+2, r2+1, or flat r3) onward with Dhows, Cutters at r6, and/or Sambuks at r9. Each Dhow costs 216,000 Ducats to build, 180,000 Ducats to sell back to the NPC and takes 6 game days at sea.

Often, building the highest level ship you can for your rank isn't the most efficient way to level. Dhows at rank 3, cutters at rank 6 and sambuks at rank 9 are found to be the most cost effective and time efficient options for grinding the shipbuilding skill. Most of the other ships will incur much higher losses to grind on and provide no time advantage over dhows, cutters, and sambuks.

Skill points per minute (sp/m) comparison examples:

At r10, building a dhow gives 3.29 sp/m (6 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a cutter gives 3.88 sp/m (8 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a sambuk gives 3.92 sp/m (12 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building an arabian galley gives 3.18 sp/m (16 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat).

At r14, building a dhow gives 2.43 sp/m (6 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a cutter gives 2.89 sp/m (8 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a sambuk gives 2.85 sp/m (12 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a clipper gives only 2.19 sp/m (25 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat).

At r15, building a dhow gives 2.14 sp/m (6 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a cutter gives 2.67 sp/m (8 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a sambuk gives 2.69 sp/m(12 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a large galleon gives 2.28 sp/m (24 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a xebec gives 2.57 sp/m (20 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat); building a clipper gives 2.03 sp/m (25 minutes build time + 1 minute in port activity per boat).

Rank 1 to Rank 2
127 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 1 Dhow at a loss of 36K Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 2 Dhows at a loss of 72K Ducats.

Rank 2 to Rank 3
85 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 5 Dhows at a loss of 180K Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 10 Dhows at a loss of 360K Ducats.

Rank 3 to Rank 4
63 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 15 Dhows at a loss of 540K Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 29 Dhows at a loss of 1.04M Ducats.

Rank 4 to Rank 5
Starting at level 4 + 2, you can start constructing Cutters. They are only slightly more costly to grind on, but will allow you to level faster. Each cutter costs 360,000 Ducats to build, 300,000 Ducats to sell back to the NPC and takes 8 game days at sea.

51 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 32 Dhows at a loss of 1.15M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 63 Dhows at a loss of 2.27M Ducats.

Or

78 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 21 Cutters at a loss of 1.26M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 42 Cutters at a loss of 2.52M Ducats.

Rank 5 to Rank 6
42 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 60 Dhows at a loss of 2.16M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 120 Dhows at a loss of 4.32M Ducats.

Or

65 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 39 Cutters at a loss of 2.34M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 77 Cutters at a loss of 4.62M Ducats.

Rank 6 to Rank 7
36 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 100 Dhows at a loss of 3.60M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 200 Dhows at a loss of 7.20M Ducats.

Or

55 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 66 Cutters at a loss of 3.96M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 131 Cutters at a loss of 7.86M Ducats.

Rank 7 to Rank 8
Starting at level 7 + 2, you can start constructing Sambuks. They are a quite bit more costly to grind on, and will level you very slightly faster than cutters at later ranks. Each sambuk costs 600,000 Ducats to build, 500,000 Ducats to sell back to the NPC and takes 12 game days at sea.

31 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 159 Dhows at a loss of 5.72M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 317 Dhows at a loss of 11.41M Ducats.

Or

70 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 70 Sambuks at a loss of 7.00M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 140 Sambuks at a loss of 14.00M Ducats.

Or

48 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 103 Cutters at a loss of 6.18M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 205 Cutters at a loss of 12.30M Ducats.

Rank 8 to Rank 9
28 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 229 Dhows at a loss of 8.24M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 458 Dhows at a loss of 16.49M Ducats.

Or

62 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 104 Sambuks at a loss of 10.40M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 207 Sambuks at a loss of 20.70M Ducats.

Or

43 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 149 Cutters at a loss of 8.94M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 298 Cutters at a loss of 17.88M Ducats.

Rank 9 to Rank 10
25 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 324 Dhows at a loss of 11.66M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 648 Dhows at a loss of 23.33M Ducats.

Or

56 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 145 Sambuks at a loss of 14.50M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 290 Sambuks at a loss of 29.00M Ducats.

Or

39 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

To level as a Favored Skill you'll need to build 208 Cutters at a loss of 12.48M Ducats.

To level as a Normal Skill you'll need to build 416 Cutters at a loss of 24.96M Ducats.

Rank 10 to Rank 11
23 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

You'll need to build 435 Dhows at a loss of 15.66M Ducats.

Or

51 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

You'll need to build 197 Sambuks at a loss of 19.70M Ducats.

Or

35 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

You'll need to build 286 Cutters at a loss of 17.16M Ducats.

Rank 11 to Rank 12
21 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

You'll need to build 577 Dhows at a loss of 20.77M Ducats.

Or

46 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

You'll need to build 264 Sambuks at a loss of 26.40M Ducats.

Or

32 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

You'll need to build 379 Cutters at a loss of 22.74M Ducats.

Rank 12 to Rank 13
19 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

You'll need to build 758 Dhows at a loss of 27.29M Ducats.

Or

43 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

You'll need to build 335 Sambuks at a loss of 33.50M Ducats.

Or

30 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

You'll need to build 480 Cutters at a loss of 28.80M Ducats.

Rank 13 to Rank 14
18 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

You'll need to build 939 Dhows at a loss of 33.80M Ducats.

Or

40 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

You'll need to build 423 Sambuks at a loss of 42.30M Ducats.

Or

27 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

You'll need to build 626 Cutters at a loss of 37.56M Ducats.

Rank 14 to Rank 15
17 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

You'll need to build 1153 Dhows at a loss of 41.51M Ducats.

Or

37 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

You'll need to build 530 Sambuks at a loss of 53.00M Ducats.

Or

26 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

You'll need to build 754 Cutters at a loss of 45.24M Ducats.

Rank 15 to Rank 16
15 Skill experience gain per Dhow.

You'll need to build 1500 Dhows at a loss of 54.00M Ducats.

Or

35 Skill experience gain per Sambuk.

You'll need to build 643 Sambuks at a loss of 64.30M Ducats.

Or

24 Skill experience gain per Cutter.

You'll need to build 938 Cutters at a loss of 56.28M Ducats.

Beginning Shipbuilding
To build a ship, you must be in a port that has a Shipyard Master.

There are TWO constraints on which ships can be built. You can build ships that the character could not sail with. The constraints are your shipbuilding level, this constraint will be explained further below, and the size and nationality of the port, which will determine which ships would be available to be built.

Construction Details
Once you have found a port that handles the type of ship you want built, you can begin construction.

First Selection
The first screen is similar to that for purchasing a new ship from an NPC, except you will notice there is a construction time listed.

Second Selection
The second screen will allow you to choose which type of wood you wish to make the ship from, these are typically a compromise between speed, durability, and cost.

Third Selection
The third construction page will allow you to change the cargo capacity of the ship. Within the middle ranges, which are labeled as "Effective Range" a change from the minimum to maximum will only affect the cargo hold size. Once you leave the effective range, you will impact sail performance, turning speed, row power (if applicable) and wave resistance, as well as increase the cost of the ship.

Fourth Selection
Finally you can name the deed you are about to produce, you will see a summary page, and clicking complete will charge your account (you must have the money on you) and begin construction.

Construction
Keep in mind that days only pass while at sea, so if a ship requires 10 days, you must spend 10 days at sea before it will be complete. Once the construction period is finished, the ship deed can be picked up at any Shipyard Master, it doesn't have to be the one you originally placed the order with.

Shipbuilding Levels
The ships that are able to be built is based on the ships required levels combined. For instance, a ship that requires 0 adventure, 17 trade, and 10 battle, is just as hard to build as one that requires 8 adventure, 11 trade, 8 battle. (Buildable ship's total level =< (Shipbuilding level x 5) + 9))

Items with Shipbuilding skill bonus
+1 Shipwright Saw

+1 Secrets of Shipbuilding

Adjusting cannon chambers and cabins
You can redesign your ship by talking to the shipwright if your Shipbuilding Rank is 5 or higher and your level is high enough to use the ship of your choice. When you redesign your ship, you can adjust the ratio of cannon chambers, cabins, and storage within the total volume of the ship.

NPC Ship Part Locations

 * Purchase at the Craftsman NPC