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A Big Disappointment

AuthorMessage
Ensign
Dec 03, 2008
6
I recently got a subscription to Pirate101 and I have to say that I was enjoying it very much right up until I hit Cool Ranch.
No offence,but it seems like the general quality of this world is somewhat not up to the standard I have come to expect from KingsIsle.

For some reason as soon as you enter this new world the difficulty spikes dramatically and the game turns from a casual, story-driven adventure into a hardcore game filled with meaningless Companions and boatloads of really uninteresting and prolonged quests.

Phew...

Ensign
Dec 03, 2008
6
Sorry about that....
I recently completed Brother Owl's quest and things have lightened up considerably. I groaned aloud when I saw that I had to beat even more Black Storm Raiders (seriously, that's overdone) but the world in general isn't as bad as I made it sound.

I do have some specific problems to point out, though.
1. I'm pretty sure Bison Scout Spirit's first epic talent (Return Fire) cannot be used by it on account of it not being able to stop ranged attacks from hitting it. I've had it for a few weeks now and it has not used it even once.
2. Witch Hunter is completely useless! I wasn't sure what it did so I looked it up and got mixed reponses, No-one seemed to be exactly sure about its effect. I have never seen it activate either.
3. I have noticed some serious problems with ship-to-ship combat, not just in Cool Ranch but in the other worlds as well. It seems that the ships you face are all so much stronger than you that it is pretty much impossible to sink one with cannons alone unless you gang up on them. In some cases, you'll be lucky if you can get their health down low enough to board them. These problems turn Broadside Combat from a fun distraction into a gimmick that really detracts from the overall fun factor of the game. Please either fix these problems or at least lower the goals on the ship fighting quests.

Ensign
May 17, 2011
49
Agreed. I wish that cool ranch was less of a boring hardcore grindfest and more of the glorious fun that we've often enjoyed in pirate101.

Bosun
Sep 08, 2008
388
Hey Jdyer199.

I went through that little difficulty spike, but, I honestly did not think it was that hard. The only pain in the rear thing about Cool Ranch was that 90% of all monsters seemed to be shooters.

Now, I am the first person in the whole gaming universe to probably complain about difficulty and what not, but quite honestly, this game kind of allows you to make it all easier for you.

First off, train your companions, and grind a bit. Even if you are not into grinding, grind maybe one extra level, or push yourself to train your companions one extra level. Go back and do the side quests, especially if you don't like grinding. If you are having a hard time fighting ships, save up the gold to get yourself a bigger/better ship. Like the Cool Ranch frigate. Or the frigate for an even easier time fighting ships.

Since this is tactics, this is already a bit more 'hairier' than basic turn based one vs one. You can read Pirate101's post "Tactics, Tips, Tricks, and Strategy" and maybe read some suggestions/thoughts on there from the community.

As for aesthetics, I love Cool Ranch. I rather fly around in the Cool Ranch skyways than go anywhere near Monquista, the world I did not like whatsoever. Every time I see a monkey, I suffer an involuntary spout of trauma.

One thing I had noticed in general was that players like to do quests, and move on, and they don't do anything extra, to play as 'fast' as possible. The quicker you try to play through worlds, the harder things tend to get for lower level pirates and their companions. Take a good deep breath, and say "Alright game, I am going to train extra levels, and then I will kick you in the rear!"

If a person like me can hit a new world and start it with relative ease, then I am sure every person in the universe can do it too, because I am a wuss and the first one to complain about spiked up difficulty and challenges.

Community Leader
I noticed a difficulty spike when I hit Cool Ranch as well, but it was because I was trying to do the sidequests along with the mainquests. I found that if you just gain a few levels from the main storyline, it's all still perfectly balanced and you can go back and finish the sidequests when you are a little bit higher in level.

Host of the Talkin' the Plank Podcast, where we talk about Pirate 101 every Friday!
Community Leader
Cool Ranch being a new world, naturally steps up the difficulty level somewhat when we arrive. However its not all that bad. I was bringing my Buccaneer up through the ranks, and had been experimenting with my companions. I had not trained a companion since level 8 upon arriving at Cool Ranch. I even tripped through a bit of Cool Ranch before I finally trained my companions up to within 3 levels of my pirate, and most battles went smoothly from that point on.

The never ending ship battles can be a bit frustrating. But they are not as hard as one thinks if we take the time to upgrade our ships, and ship equipment. Cool Ranch is where I am usually buying my first ship, as the monquistan skiff we are given starts to fall a bit short. A bison frigate equipped with Blackstorm raider drops is a force as you get to the higher level ship battles in Cool Ranch, and there is nothing that a Bison Galleon cant handle well on its own if equipped with decent gear.
If anything many of the comments I read about ship battles prove one thing to me, there are definately different perspectives in play. Ship battles is one the things my friends like to do the most. They are a lot of fun when you gang up on them, and the nautical xp, gold, and gear drops flow readily.

For those having a hard time in Cool Ranch with ship battles I have basically 2 recommendations. Get friends, and upgrade your ships!!!

Dr Zeppers (aka Silent Sam Stern)
Piratey parodies I like to make.
I be a crazy pirate for goodness sake!
Artist & Admin of Skull Island TV
Bosun
Sep 08, 2008
388
Also, as for ship battles, upgrade your ship as they are being made available to you. They are a very important upgrade, and make the ship to ship battles a lot easier.

I always saved up gold and bought the next upgraded ship, and I never ever had a problem fighting ships. Unless I got surrounded, of course. It also helps if you work up your nautical level a bit in each world. I always had an above average nautical level, due to fighting ships, and never ever had issues fighting ships in Cool Ranch.

Captain
Jan 17, 2012
672
I'm in Cool Ranch myself, and while some of what you say is true, I have to disagree with other parts.

The El Toro [trumpet fanfare] arc is wonderfully entertaining and those who are older and know a lot about westerns will get most of the horrific puns in this section.

One big hint: Get a better ship. The skiff sold in Cooper's Roost along with the addons in the same location, will make ship-to-ship battles much easier.

Bosun
Apr 26, 2009
303
I also thought cool ranch was very ridiculous. Especially near the end we have to fight about 36 ships in 2 areas. Honestly thats ridiculous. I didn't enjoy cool ranch simply because of the ship duels.ever. I feel cool ranch is like a big swamp to get to mooshu, its not fun, its slow, and you wanna get out of it asap. Another aspect is the boring landscape, as much as i like chickens and the west, its just a bit too much. You go into cool ranch at about level 15 and leave at level 35. That's way too much for a boring world. Don't worry, mooshu was actually "A Big Surprise" to me. Much improved from cool ranch. I wish you luck cool ranch runners.

Dead-eye Luke, Level 50
Cunning Luke Sharp, Level 44

Ensign
Dec 10, 2008
16
I found that I actually enjoyed Cool Ranch. There were only a few truly difficult battles, and those were solved with a little creative planning.

Of course, I'm 8 levels over the normal player for the quests I'm on... Farming a witchdoctor outfit is apparently an exercise in futility.

Petty Officer
Dec 22, 2010
50
I absolutely love Cool Ranch. Great stories (Magnificent Seven, El Toro, Death and the poker game).

Thanks KI for such a creative and enjoyable game.

Ensign
Dec 03, 2008
6
Petty Officer
Dec 16, 2010
74
Cool Ranch is difficult but not impossible. Like Lukeowen mentioned, it's absolutely ridiculous fighting 36 ships in 2 skyways. The Haunted Ghost ships are annoying and irritating in the Haunted Skyway. You have to fight them in the beginning of the quest to defeating Deacon and at the end.

CR is the longest world you'll probably come upon. It has so many places and quests to complete. They all basically have the same concept. But I did realize that CR has so many nautical quests. If you get all the ship quests you could easily do 2 quests at one time. Almost all the people ask something from the same ship.

Also Witchhunter is used when you are using a witchdoctory spell when a Bison Shaman is near you. I learned this when I was doing the Bison Burial Ground quest. I often use the Mojo Blast I got from a ring and a Ghost Bison Shaman attacked me before I used it.

I hope the witchhunter makes a little sense now.

Ensign
May 13, 2011
21
jdyer199 on Nov 24, 2012 wrote:
Sorry about that....
I recently completed Brother Owl's quest and things have lightened up considerably. I groaned aloud when I saw that I had to beat even more Black Storm Raiders (seriously, that's overdone) but the world in general isn't as bad as I made it sound.

I do have some specific problems to point out, though.
1. I'm pretty sure Bison Scout Spirit's first epic talent (Return Fire) cannot be used by it on account of it not being able to stop ranged attacks from hitting it. I've had it for a few weeks now and it has not used it even once.
2. Witch Hunter is completely useless! I wasn't sure what it did so I looked it up and got mixed reponses, No-one seemed to be exactly sure about its effect. I have never seen it activate either.
3. I have noticed some serious problems with ship-to-ship combat, not just in Cool Ranch but in the other worlds as well. It seems that the ships you face are all so much stronger than you that it is pretty much impossible to sink one with cannons alone unless you gang up on them. In some cases, you'll be lucky if you can get their health down low enough to board them. These problems turn Broadside Combat from a fun distraction into a gimmick that really detracts from the overall fun factor of the game. Please either fix these problems or at least lower the goals on the ship fighting quests.
I THINK Witch Hunter is the Vengeance strike of Witchdoctors.

My Batacuda is now lvl 26! Funny Blake Barclay, lvl 26 Witchdoctor.