Meet the Fleet!
Ships are the mobile objectives, spawn platforms, artillery batteries, and boarding targets of Holdfast's naval modes. The Age of Sail update expanded this page's subject matter significantly: it added Naval Conquest, new naval maps, the 8-Gun Corvette, the Landing Schooner, ship resources, resource drops, ramming, capture contests, hull colours, ship-name overrides, spawn protection, force zones, and broad server-side controls for ship health, score, resources, and ramming.
Nations At War & Age of Sail Ships
The Age of Sail fleet uses wind, sails, broadside gunnery, ship resources, repairs, ramming, and boarding capture mechanics. Default HP is listed on each ship card where known.
50-Gun Frigate
Modelled after 'La Proserpine' The Frigate is the heaviest standard Age of Sail warship. It is the most durable listed vessel, carries the largest crew, and works best as a fleet anchor rather than a lone duelist.
- Firepower: 28x 18-pounder cannons (lower deck) & 22x 9-pounder cannons (top deck).
- Note: This is the only ship featuring Chase Guns (forward/rear firing).
- Max Range: ~625 meters
- Max Range (9-pdr): ~550 meters
- Sails & Rigging: 6 sets of sails (3 square). Maximum speed: 14 knots.
- Interaction: Press E (PC) or B/Circle (Console) to climb the three sets of rigging to reach the Fighting Tops for sharpshooting.
- Points: Sinking awards 300 points.
- Crew Spawns: 1 Captain, 12 Marine, 10 Sailor, 10 Midshipman, 1 Musician, 1 Surgeon, 2 Carpenter.
- Default HP: 4500.
- Points Note: Friendly fire sinks deduct the same 300 points.
- Age of Sail Notes: Frigates use the expanded repair, resource, capture, ramming, and hull-colour systems.
17-Gun Brig-Sloop
The Brig-Sloop is the fleet workhorse: tougher than schooners, easier to handle than a frigate, and common in modern Naval Battlefield and Naval Conquest rotations.
- Firepower: Medium ship battery with 6-pounder guns and a powerful Carronade at the bow.
- Max Range: ~575 meters
- Max Range (6-pdr): ~525 meters
- Sails & Rigging: 6 sets of sails (2 square). Maximum speed: 13 knots.
- Interaction: 2 sets of climbable rigging leading to Fighting Tops.
- Points: Sinking awards 100 points.
- Crew Spawns: 1 Captain, 8 Marine, 3 Sailor, 3 Midshipman, 1 Musician, 1 Surgeon, 1 Carpenter.
- Default HP: 4000.
- Role: Reliable line ship for medium-population naval maps.
8-Gun Schooner
Modelled after 'Axel Thorsen' A light escort vessel designed for speed and harassment. Its low profile makes it exceptionally difficult to hit at long range.
- Firepower: 8x 4-pounder cannons & 8x Swivel Guns (anti-personnel).
- Max Range: ~500 meters
- Sails & Rigging: 4 sets of sails (1 square). Maximum speed: 12 knots.
- Points: Sinking awards 50 points.
- Crew Spawns: 1 Captain, 2 Marine, 2 Sailor, 2 Midshipman, 1 Musician, 1 Surgeon, 1 Carpenter.
- Default HP: 3500.
- Role: Skirmisher, escort, and small-ship hunter.
8-Gun Corvette
The 8-Gun Corvette was added with Age of Sail and appears heavily in modern Naval Battlefield and Naval Conquest rotations. It sits between the schooners and brig-sloop as a compact warship for medium and low-population naval layouts.
- Firepower: 8-gun battery.
- Crew Spawns: Varies by map and spawn configuration.
- Default HP: 2500.
- Configuration Note: Server rotations commonly spawn multiple corvettes alongside 8-Gun Schooners, 17-Gun Brig-Sloops, 2-Gun Schooners, and Rocketboats.
Landing Schooner
The Landing Schooner was added with Age of Sail as a naval/coastal support vessel. It supports coastal movement, landings, and objective play.
- Weaponry: Landing and transport-focused schooner.
- Crew Spawns: Varies by map and spawn configuration.
- Default HP: Not currently listed.
- Role: Coastal movement, landings, and objective support rather than line-of-battle dueling.
2-Gun Schooner
A glass cannon designed for extreme range support.
- Firepower: 2x 24-pounder cannons mounted on Rotating Platforms.
- Max Range: ~825 meters (Highest in game).
- Sails & Rigging: 3 sets of sails. Maximum speed: 10 knots.
- Points: Sinking awards 30 points.
- Crew Spawns: 1 Captain, 2 Marine, 2 Sailor, 1 Midshipman, 1 Musician, 1 Carpenter.
- Default HP: 1000.
- Role: Long-range pressure. Protect it from fast small craft and boarding attempts.
Gunboat
The Gunboat is a versatile scout and sniper. Age of Sail changed dynamic port spawns to use gunboats instead of rowboats, making this craft more central to port control and small-ship harassment.
- Weaponry: Armed with a 4-pounder bow cannon. While it lacks the stopping power of heavier ship guns, it reloads quickly and can punish damaged vessels.
- Crew Spawns: 4 Marine, 1 Sailor
- Default HP: 1000.
- Swivel Power: Equipped with two Swivel Guns. Useful against rowboats and exposed deck crew.
- Spawner Note: Server settings can control how many gunboats can be present from a spawner, and the NaW gunboat shares newer spawner handling with other boat types.
- Tactical Tip: Because the gun is fixed at the bow, you must aim the boat itself to line up shots.
Rocketboat
The Rocketboat is a fragile support craft built around disruption. Its rockets are unreliable compared with cannons, but a good hit can pressure repairs, sails, and exposed deck crew.
- Weaponry: Features a single Long-Range Rocket Launcher. Unlike standard cannons, rockets have an erratic flight path and explode upon impact.
- Crew Spawns: 4 Marine, 1 Sailor
- Default HP: 1000.
- Spawner Note: Server settings can control its availability from spawners.
- Fragility: Avoid sitting still. Fire, turn away, and keep the smallest possible profile while reloading.
Rowboat
Rowboats are small, manoeuvrable craft that rely entirely on the physical exertion of the crew. They do not have sails and are unaffected by wind direction.
- Default HP: Not currently listed.
Deployment
Rowboats are found attached to the stern or sides of larger vessels like the Frigate and Brig-Sloop.
- Launching: To deploy a rowboat, the mother ship must be stationary or moving at a very low speed.
- Interaction: Approach the rowboat on the deck and press E (PC) or X/Square (Console) to lower it into the water.
Rowing Mechanics
The speed of the rowboat is determined by the number of players actively "sitting" in the rowing positions.
- Coordination: To maximise speed, rowers should ideally be Marines or Sailors.
- Steering: The person at the very rear (the stern) acts as the coxswain, controlling the direction of the boat.
Survival & The Lifeboat Role
When a ship is "Foundering" (sinking), the Rowboat becomes a lifeboat.
- Saving the Captain: In organised play, the priority is to get the Captain and the Surgeons into the Rowboat to maintain leadership and healing capabilities for the remaining crew.
- The Guerilla Move: If your ship sinks, don't give up. A single Rowboat full of survivors can board an enemy ship, kill their crew, and effectively "steal" their vessel, turning the tide of the entire match.
Tips for Rowboat Crews
- The Musician Trick: Having a Musician in the Rowboat playing a drum or fife doesn't help with speed, but it is excellent for morale during a daring boarding charge.
- Equip Melee: Ensure all boarders have their bayonets fixed or cutlasses drawn before reaching the enemy hull.
- The Grapeshot Threat: If you see an enemy cannon being turned toward you and the barrel is glowing with a "shotgun" spread visual, jump out. You have a better chance of surviving in the water than being wiped out in the boat.
- Patch Note: Rowboat assisting was fixed in a later 5.X update.
Customization & Server Tuning
Server owners can tune ships heavily. Age of Sail added or expanded controls for ship resources, ship ramming, ship scores, captured-ship behaviour, dynamic wind, spawn protection, force zones, gunboat spawners, hull colours, and ship names.
Ship Renderer Colours
Ship hull colour variations include Black, Blue, Brown, Green, Red, White, and Yellow. Ships can also use their default hull colours.
Name Pools
Ship name pools exist for British, French, Privateer, and Spanish ships. Each faction has name lists for frigates, brig-sloops, schooners/corvettes, and rocketboats/gunboats. Servers can use those pools or custom ship names.
Age of Sail Configuration Highlights
- Ship spawns can use custom names and hull colours.
- Ship health can be overridden by ship type and faction side.
- Starting wood and metal resources can be tuned.
- Resource drops and resource looting can be changed.
- Ramming damage, reflected damage, minimum velocity, and impact slowdown can be tuned.
- Ship score and steal multipliers can be changed.
- Capture timers determine how long attackers must hold a boarded ship.
- Captured ships can either scuttle or remain usable, depending on server settings.
- Spawn behaviour around contested and captured ships can be changed.
- Sunk ships can be configured to drop resource boxes.
- Dynamic wind can make wind direction change over the round.
- Ship spawn protection, force zones, and small-boat spawners can be tuned.
Comparison Summary
| Category | Ship |
|---|---|
| Highest Default HP | 50-Gun Frigate (4500 HP) |
| Second Highest Default HP | 17-Gun Brig-Sloop (4000 HP) |
| Lowest Listed Default HP | 2-Gun Schooner, Gunboat, and Rocketboat (1000 HP each) |
| Longest Listed Range | 2-Gun Schooner (~825m) |
| Fastest Listed Vessel | 50-Gun Frigate (14 knots) |
| Newest Age of Sail Additions | 8-Gun Corvette and Landing Schooner |
Recent Release Notes Affecting Ships
- 4.00 - Age of Sail: Added ship repairing, mast repairing, finite ship resources, resource drops, timed ship capture contests, ramming damage, the 8-Gun Corvette, the Landing Schooner, structural changes to all ships, ship cannon/cannonball rebalancing, soft-wood penetration, grapeshot splinters, gunboat port spawns, ship spawn protection, force zones, hull colours, and ship physics improvements.
- 4.01: Improved ship resource clarity, smoothed movement on ship ladders/ropes/stairs, updated ship capture/sinking voice lines, fixed multiple ship and boarding issues, and changed Captains to count as 2 crew members when defending against boarders.
- 5.10: Friendly explosions no longer damage friendly ships when friendly fire is disabled.
- 5.20: Improved Age of Sail performance, fixed rowboat assisting, and fixed ship masts breaking when damaged while being repaired.