Naval combat in Holdfast: Nations At War is built around coordinated ship handling, broadside gunnery, repairs, boarding actions, and resource control. The Age of Sail update greatly expanded naval play with Naval Conquest, ship repairing, resource boxes, timed capture contests, ramming damage, new captain and midshipman orders, revised ship physics, and rebalanced ship cannons.
The modern naval loop is simple to understand but hard to master:
- Keep the ship moving with good wind and sail management.
- Use orders to coordinate gun crews, repairs, boarding, and evasive manoeuvres.
- Damage enemy hulls, masts, guns, and crew before committing to a capture.
- Repair intelligently, because every ship has a finite resource pool.
- Board only when the numbers, ship position, and respawn situation favour the attack.
Ship Classes & Classifications
Ships are categorised by size, firepower, manoeuvrability, crew capacity, resource value, and score impact. Larger ships usually carry heavier batteries and more crew, but they are harder to turn, more expensive to lose, and more dependent on disciplined repairs.
Score values and capture behaviour can vary by game mode or server configuration. Age of Sail added configuration for ship score, resources, ramming, capture timers, captured-ship spawning, and whether captured ships are scuttled or remain usable.
| Ship Type | Primary Role | Key Features | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50-Gun Frigate | Flagship / line ship | Heavy broadside, chase guns, large crew, strong durability. | High-value ship. Current base sink value on the Ships page is 300. |
| 17-Gun Brig-Sloop | Medium cruiser | Balanced speed and armament, with 6-pounder cannons and a bow carronade. | Current base sink value on the Ships page is 100. |
| 8-Gun Schooner | Light cruiser / escort | Agile, low profile, armed with 4-pounder cannons and swivel guns. | Current base sink value on the Ships page is 50. |
| 2-Gun Schooner | Long-range support | Two heavy 24-pounder long guns on rotating platforms. | Current base sink value on the Ships page is 30. |
| 8-Gun Corvette | Age of Sail warship | Added with Age of Sail. | Detailed wiki stats still need to be filled on the Ships page. |
| Landing Schooner | Coastal / landing support | Added with Age of Sail. | Used around naval and coastal objectives. |
| Gunboat | Port spawn / scout craft | Small craft with forward firepower. | Dynamic port spawns now use gunboats instead of rowboats. |
| Rocketboat | Support craft | Mobile rocket platform with fragile hull. | Spawner limits and cooldowns can be configured by servers. |
| Rowboat | Boarding / lifeboat | Oar-powered craft used for boarding, evacuation, and ship-to-shore movement. | Rowboat assisting was fixed in a later update. |
Command & Orders
The Captain is responsible for the ship's course, sail state, broadside timing, and survival priorities. Age of Sail added a dedicated set of naval orders so the Captain can coordinate the crew without relying only on voice chat.
| Captain Order | Use |
|---|---|
| Load Guns | Tells gun crews to prepare the battery. |
| Fire Guns | Calls for a coordinated broadside. |
| Fire Guns At Will | Allows gunners to fire as targets appear. |
| Cease Gun Fire | Stops wasteful fire or prevents friendly hits during boarding. |
| Brace | Warns the crew before impact, ramming, heavy fire, or rough manoeuvres. |
| Boarding Action | Signals the crew to prepare for close-quarters combat. |
| Wet Sails | Helps manage fire risk and sail survivability. |
| Hoist Flag | Naval command ability that can be enabled or disabled by server configuration. |
| Repair | Directs the crew to prioritise damaged sections. |
The Midshipman replaces the older Adept Sailor role and acts as a second-in-command for naval play.
| Midshipman Order | Effect |
|---|---|
| Rally Gun Crew | Improves gun crew work around the battery. |
| Improve Ship Handling | Supports ship handling and manoeuvring. |
| Rally Repair Gang | Improves repair work during damage control. |
Sailing & Wind
Sailing is a balance between wind direction, sail state, ship size, and the Captain's timing. Larger ships carry more power, but their mass makes them slower to answer the helm.
| Action | PC Control | Console Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Raise/Lower Specific Sails | 1-9 keys | Hold LB/L1 for the radial menu |
| Raise/Lower All Sails | W / S | D-Pad Up / Down |
| Switch View | Ctrl | R3 |
| Read Wind | Compass / HUD | Compass / HUD |
Wind and Sail Handling
- Sailing with the wind: Keep the wind on the stern or quarter for speed and broadside control.
- Sailing close to the wind: Avoid pointing directly into the wind, especially on larger ships, or the ship can lose momentum.
- Square sails: Strong for power and speed when the wind is favourable.
- Lateen sails: Useful for manoeuvring and maintaining control at sharper wind angles.
- Dynamic wind: Server configuration can enable changing wind direction over the round.
Helm Tips
- Start turns early. A frigate's mass means the hull will keep carrying through the turn.
- Counter-steer before you reach the desired heading to avoid overshooting.
- Use third-person view for awareness and sail checks.
- Use first-person view for narrow passages, docking, or precise broadside alignment.
Ammunition Types
Effective gunnery requires the Captain, Artillerymen, Sailors, and Midshipman to work together. Ammunition is loaded from ammo boxes on the ship's deck, and Age of Sail rebalanced ship cannons and cannonballs.
| Ammunition | Primary Effect | Target | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Round Shot | Hull and gun damage | Hull, guns, masts, artillery | Standard cannonball. Strong for sinking ships and disabling loaded guns. Cannonballs can penetrate soft wood such as masts and rear hull panels. |
| Chain Shot | Rigging damage | Masts and sails | Best for slowing, demasting, or trapping a ship before boarding or finishing it with round shot. |
| Grape Shot | Anti-personnel | Crew on deck, boarding parties, small boats | Devastating at close range. Grapeshot can produce lethal splinters when it hits ship hull panels. |
Gunnery & Ballistics
Ship gunnery changed significantly with Age of Sail. Cannonballs now inherit the firing ship's velocity, projectile visuals were improved, and hit detection was improved on moving ships. Loaded cannons can still explode when destroyed, but infinitely chained cannon explosions were prevented.
Target Priorities
| Target | Best Ammunition | Why It Matters |
|---|---|---|
| Hull below the waterline | Round shot | Creates leaks and forces repair crews to spend resources. |
| Masts and rigging | Chain shot / round shot | Reduces speed and manoeuvrability, making the target easier to board or rake. |
| Gun deck | Round shot / grape shot | Disables loaded guns, kills crews, and slows return fire. |
| Open deck | Grape shot | Clears boarders, repairs, and exposed officers. |
| Small craft | Grape shot / swivel guns | Rowboats, gunboats, and rocketboats are fragile but dangerous if ignored. |
Ballistics & Aiming
- Raking fire: Firing through the bow or stern can travel through more of the ship and punish crew clustered along the deck.
- Moving ships: Lead targets and remember that your own ship's movement affects shot velocity.
- Counter-battery fire: Aim at gun ports and loaded cannons to stop a broadside before it fires.
- Soft wood penetration: Masts and some hull panels can be penetrated, so shots may damage more than the first surface they hit.
- Rocket and mortar damage: Later fixes improved rockets and mortars not always damaging ships.
Gunner Checklist
- Select ammunition before the ship turns into broadside position.
- Call when a side is loaded so the Captain can hold or swing the ship.
- Watch the splash or impact, then correct elevation.
- Switch targets if repairs, boarders, or enemy gun crews become the bigger threat.
Damage & Repairs
Damage control is now one of the defining naval systems. Ships can repair hull damage and masts, but repairs consume a finite pool of ship resources. When ships sink, they can drop resource boxes that other ships can recover.
| Damage Type | Effect | Repair Priority |
|---|---|---|
| Hull damage | Creates leaks and causes the ship to take on water. | Highest priority if the ship is flooding. |
| Mast damage | Reduces sail power and handling. | Critical if the ship needs to escape, chase, or avoid boarding. |
| Gun damage | Disables firepower and can kill nearby crew if a loaded gun explodes. | Repair or shift crews depending on the fight. |
| Fire and deck pressure | Forces crew off guns and repairs. | Use crew orders and positioning to stabilise. |
Repair Notes
- Ship repairs consume limited resources, so do not repair cosmetic or low-impact damage during a decisive broadside.
- Sailors and Carpenters received repairing hammers with Age of Sail.
- The Midshipman's Rally Repair Gang order improves repair work.
- Later updates made ship resource levels clearer and fixed mast damage while being repaired.
- Captured ships can start with a configurable percentage of resources, depending on server settings.
Boarding & Capture
Boarding is no longer just a melee brawl on deck. Age of Sail added a timed contest period for enemy ship capture. If attackers hold the advantage long enough, the ship is captured.
| Boarding Phase | What Happens |
|---|---|
| Approach | The attacking ship closes distance, often after damaging the target's sails, guns, or crew. |
| Contact | Boarders cross by hull contact, deck fighting, or small craft such as rowboats. |
| Contest | Attackers must hold the numbers advantage through the capture timer. |
| Capture Result | Depending on mode or server settings, the captured ship may immediately sink and award resources, or its helm may become usable. |
Boarding Tips
- Use Boarding Action before contact so Marines, Sailors, Surgeons, and repair crews know the plan.
- Clear decks with grapeshot before sending boarders across.
- Stop firing into the target once friendly boarders are committed.
- Captains count as 2 crew members when defending their ship from boarders.
- Respawning on contested or captured ships can be controlled by server configuration.
- Rowboats are useful for stealth boarding, evacuating a sinking ship, or moving survivors to a captured objective.
Ramming
Age of Sail added ship ramming damage. Ramming can finish a crippled target, interrupt repairs, or knock players around on the impacted ship, but it is risky because it can expose your own hull, slow your movement, and put your crew in boarding range.
When Ramming Helps
- The enemy is already demasted or trapped.
- Your crew is ready to board immediately after impact.
- The target is low enough that impact damage may finish it.
- You need to force an enemy ship off a spawn area, objective, or friendly vessel.
When To Avoid It
- Your own ship is flooding or low on resources.
- Your gun deck has a better shot than your bow.
- The enemy has more boarders ready than you do.
- The collision will leave you stuck under enemy guns.
Servers can configure ramming values such as base damage, reflected damage, minimum impact velocity, slowdown, and knockback force.
Crew Roles & Survival
| Class | Naval Role | Essential Duty |
|---|---|---|
| Captain | Command and navigation | Steers the ship, manages sails, calls orders, chooses targets, and decides when to repair, ram, disengage, or board. |
| Midshipman | Second-in-command | Uses naval orders to improve gun crews, ship handling, and repairs. Replaces the older Adept Sailor name. |
| Artilleryman / Cannoneer | Gunnery | Loads, rams, aims, and fires ship cannons. Later class changes folded the old rocketeer role into the artillery role. |
| Carpenter | Damage control | Repairs hulls, masts, and ship systems. Key to surviving long fights. |
| Sailor | Deck crew and boarding | Handles repairs, boarding, swimming, and close-quarters fighting. |
| Marine | Boarding and defence | Provides musket fire, bayonets, and deck security during boarding actions. |
| Surgeon | Sustain | Keeps gun crews, officers, and boarders alive during long engagements. |
| Musician | Morale support | Can buff nearby ship crew-mates after the later musician changes. |
Survival Basics
- Do not cluster around loaded cannons under enemy fire.
- Keep repair crews alive, especially when resources are low.
- Use the ship's structure for cover, but remember cannonballs can penetrate some soft wood.
- If the ship is sinking, launch or reach a rowboat before the deck goes under.