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« on: August 08, 2013, 06:46:10 am »
Generally flying a Galleon is more of a strategic game then a tactical one. Once you figure out the "sweet spot", lining up a broadside isnt that hard.
The actual challenge being: You need to be where the engagement will happen -before- it happens, you are too slow to fly reactively, you must dictate where the fight happens. All too often I see Galleons lagging behind the fight, being too slow to provide any meaningfull help. The Galleon is perhaps the ship where communication with the other captains is the most important.
Look at your map, look at where your team and your opponents are, tell your teammates where you are headed or ask where they will be and make sure you get there before the enemy does.
Failing that, due to respawns or the like: Remember you can take quite a pounding, do not be afraid to fly straight into a gunline if no other options are available. Provide a screen for your allies. You are a big juicy target, play the bulletsponge and let your allies get into the fight so they can do the damage and worry less about repairs.
Most important thing to remember: Although you bring impressive firepower, the Galleon is most valuable in a support role. Draw enemy fire, disable components with your manticore volleys, supress the enemy with any other weapon of choice, screen your allies and generally keep the enemy tied up so your allies can do the killing.
Bonus tip: Have your engineer buff the engines and bring kerosine or even moonshine. The Galleon may be slow, but it has rather good acceleration, combine the buff with the kerosine/moonshine and it can pull off quite an impressive short-distance-sprint. Use this to close the final distance when engaging.
EDIT: A word on weapons:
The Galleon is a very versatile ship and can be fitted to suit long sniping support, medium support or short range brawler roles.
You mention you wanted to brawl, the weapons you chose are an excellent fit: The manticore/carronade combo is absolutely lethal up close... You just need to get there.
Brawling in a Galleon is hard to do, you need to make absolutely sure you get the first volley: If your enemy is allowed to circle you with it's weapons still up (and remember, any other ship in the game can fly circles around you), you'd better prepare to go into panic mode.
If you do manage to land the first volley though, anything other then another Galleon is as good as toast.
I might recommend you try for a medium range support Galleon first. This lets you get a feel for the ship better, gives your engineers a little breathing room and still gets you close to the action.
Replace the carronades with heavy flak, retain the manticores and try and circle the fight counterclockwise. You should still get close enough for your manticores to be effective though.
Beauty of the heavy flak is that unlike the other heavy weapons, it does not lose effectiveness due to range (unless you are beyond max range offcourse), great for keeping up consistant damage in a wide variaty of situations.
The light turrets are up to personal preferrance, but I recommend a gatling on the middle deck for additional armor-stripping utility and a light carronade on the upper deck aft to pop the balloons of those pesky squids trying to get at you from behind.
Welcome to the I-luv-big-boats club and good luck!
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