Skull & Bones Helm Empire Tips and Strategy
Contents
Guide to Helm Empire
What is the Helm Empire and Pieces of Eight?
- Once you reach Kingpin and unlock the “end game” you can take over factories (via Hostile Takeovers or Legendary Heists) and produce Pieces of Eight.
- For Factories to run, they require silver to fund. You’re essentially turning Silver into Pieces of Eight.
- When you turn in Pieces of Eight, you progress on the Leaderboard (Platform Specific).
- Reaching Seasonal or Weekly Leaderboard milestones rewards Sovereigns, which are used to buy high end Weapons, Armor, and Cosmetics.
- In the beginning, the amount of Pieces of Eight you get is low, but it increases exponentially as you conquer more territories and acquire upgrades.
- Takeover ALL factories in a zone for maximum benefit.
- Doing this grants you all the trade route bonuses and region bonuses.
- You do NOT need to have them funded or upgraded to get these bonuses.
- Simply controlling them is sufficient.
Spend Wisely
Reinvest Your Profits
- Use your Pieces of Eight (P08) wisely. Gear up through Sovereigns gained by tiering up in the PO8 Leaderboard.
- Don’t spend P08 on blueprints/gear initially. Reach out to the people you play with, the Casual Corsairs trade channel, or the official SNB Trade channel.
- Avoid spending P08 on Helm materials – secure them via missions or contracts instead.
Read the descriptions of the roving rogue hunts as they will state what faction they are and what advanced materials are likely to drop.
Build Tall not Wide
Build tall not wide
- Focus on upgrading a few factories significantly.
- A level 7 factory can store as much coin as ten level 3 factories combined and can be funded for 30 hours instead of 6.
- The funding time increase is significant.
- Spend less time sailing around and make each pickup more valuable.
Upgrade Wisely
- Choose factory locations close to each other, prioritizing areas with abundant production levels for maximum returns.
- Avoid upgrading forts very much as these usually have the least production.
- The factories worth upgrading are usually those with the most trade routes but not always.
- Upgrade the highest producer first, then the surrounding factories on your route to ensure they complete at a similar time. IE Tanjona to level 7 Raofia weaver to 5-6.
- If you notice a factory filling before others in the area, upgrade it one level then compare.
- Funding cannot be added until the current funding cycle is completed, however, the factory can be updated as long as it is not full.
Empire Mgmt Upgrades
Empire Management Upgrades are Crucial
- Invest in Empire Management upgrades in the helm book.
- They’re costly but incredibly rewarding.
- Trade route bonuses can increase from 5% to 7.5%.
- -20% reduction in production costs and a 10% profit boost in controlled territories.
- Upgrading Zone connections IE: red isle connections at the helm desk gives a big boost to all factories in that region and are not too costly.
- Upgrade this as early as possible, usually once your factories are 6+.
- Focus Red Isle BEFORE unlocking Africa. You need to have a sustaining source of PO8 before expanding into another region.
- If not you will be in the same situation with many low level factories producing minimal amounts of PO8 for maximum work.
May be invalid, With changes to trade routes, they no longer make as much of an impact.
Recommended Upgrade Paths: Smuggler Operations to lvl 16 for production of Rum/Gin/etc to make silver. Empire Management to max. Africa and then Red Isle specific upgrades to max. Then the rest.
Best Locations to Upgrade
Harufu
With a 7.6% bonus to trade routes at max, Harufu is a goldmine, producing over ?/h and over ?/h with an active supply run.
Prime Locations
Red Isle: (The First Zone You Get)
- Tanjona – 6 Trade Routes
- Sitrana – 4 Trade Routes
- Shijavu – 5 Trade Routes
- Sainte-Amelie – 4 Trade Routes
- Palisde Bay – 4 Trade Routes
- Hovovhava – 5 Trade Routes
- Tenina town – 3 Trade Routes
- Tsifo lumberyard – 2 Trade Routes
Africa: (5000 PO8 to Unlock)
- Harufu – 11 Trade Routes
- Fond-de-la-baie – 7 Trade Routes
- Port Des Mines – 7 Trade Routes
- Jiwe – 6 Trade Routes
- Bandari – 6 Trade Routes
East Indies: (5000 PO8 to Unlock)
I personally wouldn’t recommend the East Indies until you’ve completely maxed out Red Isle, Africa and the upgrades at the Helm. Many have pointed out that some of the locations in the East Indies have a higher max output rate and may be worth upgrading.
Supply Runs
- They can be lucrative once you have max upgrades, but early on you’re better off saving or selling your helm materials.
- In general I would advise against them unless you are good on silver to fund your factories.
Double or Nothing
Double or Nothing (DON) Wagers
- Double your earnings while flagged for PvP, turning in coins at random outposts. Resets at 10 PM EST daily. A wager can be accepted right before a reset, and you can pop another wager after the reset.
- Always check and monitor your server for the amount of people on your server and their XP levels. If you are far down the list, it’s dangerous to try this alone as you will usually be ganged up on.
- Always try to do it with group members and be on comms.
- Accept your wager at the end of your P08 run to reduce the amount of time with a PVP flag.
Getting Silver
Factories get expensive and you will need a supply of silver.
Selling Helm Materials
Crafting and Selling Rum/Opium/Snuff/Gin to Den Leaders is good silver. Be sure to sell rum/gin in Saint Anne and opium/snuff in Telok to maximize profits
- Invest in the upgrades to unlock higher tier processing and efficiency (Smuggler Operations).
- Get helm materials by collecting the Roving Supply Contracts (from the Supply Network) and killing the Helm ships for double the reward (Resets every so often).
Hunting Rogues and Pestilence Ships
- Rogue and Pestilence ship hunts are also really good silver due to the amount of silver chests and helm materials. Doing these in a group of 3 is best.
- Stack 10 Plaguebringer heads and a few rouge contracts (Standard Orders from the Order Registry) and sail outside of Saint Anne or Telok with a few friends for lots of loot!
Collection Routes
Collection Routes
There are many routes out there… When it comes down to it, just find what works best for you or follow a premade route when you’re done.
Most routes don’t incorporate a helm wager at the end of your run and just have you turn in at Saint Anne.
If you are going for a helm wager, I would plan to end your run at a high producing factory such as Harufu.
Supply Runs
They can be lucrative once you have max upgrades, but early on you’re better off saving or selling your helm materials.
In general I would advise against them unless you are good on silver to fund your factories.
TLDR: I don’t want to read EZ Mode
Helm supply network costs
I hope this was helpful to you!
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