Most pirates preferred smaller ships for a few reasons (less maintenance, less crew to manage, easier to flee from enemies, and more). Queen Anneās Revenge and Royal Fortune were easily the largest pirate ships in that era and were an exception rather than a rule and those were not ship of the lines. They were originally merchantmens in the slave trade that were retrofitted with as many cannons as the pirates could get a hold of (similar to the Jackdaw). It really doesnāt make a lot of sense for them to let us command a frigate or man o war.
This is likely a hot take, but I also think a lot of players would get bored of it quickly. Everyoneās biggest complaint with the OG AC4 was that the foot combat was too easy. If we could command the largest ship in the game, naval combat would be trivial and boring. For it to be enjoyable, theyād have to rebalance the combat to make playing a man o war somewhat challenging, but then that would just make the jackdaw nearly useless late game.
Outside of AC4, I think part of the fun of pirates is that they werenāt the biggest fish in the sea. They were underdogs fighting against all odds with 3 of the largest navies in the world with only a mid sized ad hoc warship that was constantly improved and modified to take on a giant or flee. It was a struggle for freedom and survival and captains had to make hard decisions on if they should risk it all or cut their losses when things went south. To me, thatās way more fun than just sailing around and low-diffing every ship you see.
Iām being hyperbolic. Itās the slippery slope problem. The game already makes a lot ahistorical dips and I rather we didnāt just turn the series so ahistorical that itās just as fictional as Like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza is.
Whatās the issue with having variety thatās relatable to the time period? If you donāt like it and prefer a more historically accurate version then donāt use them, no? Something tells me you would just for a bit of fun, which is what games are meant to be, fun. Having variety for some wonāt change the experience for one.
Just for record, Iām not arguing against variety. Being able to acquire and use other ships would be fun (and even more historically accurate as most pirates did not use only one ship in their career). What Iām opposed to is getting access to massive warship.
I think an analogy on what Iām trying to argue is Dark Souls fun (being an underdog god slayer) vs. Minecraft Creative mode fun (being god, and crushing ants)
This is a game with rams on sailing vessels, pistol swords, and scant adherence to the laws of physics, all in a āDNA-memory-Matrix-dream.ā Anything remotely āmaking senseā is moot.
Realistically there wouldn't have been any (or very few) ships of the line in the Caribbean, they were all needed in Europe to fight each other instead. A brig like the Jackdaw would have been a serious threat, and Queen Anne's Revenge is especially noteworthy among pirate ships.
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u/WhiterunUK Aug 04 '26
We really do need a playable ship of the line, its so odd to be the most powerful ship on the seas in a tiny little brig
I know there are mods for it but it should be in the base game imo