Had you forgotten about Skull and Bones? Ubisoft means to rectify that if so with a new dev blog on the long-delayed multiplayer pirate game, and it actually focuses on content near and dear to my own heart: crafting.
“Crafting will be one of the keys to your survival on the high seas,” Ubisoft says. “You’ll be able to craft everything you need, from ships, armour, weapons, furniture, and repair kits to become the most fearsome pirate Captain in the Red Isle and beyond.”
The thing about the crafting in this game is that you won’t be doing it. You’re a pirate captain, not a blacksmith or shipwright. Instead, you’ll be galivanting around, collecting rare blueprints through quests and plunder and reputation, harvesting the raw resources using an array of tools (or just buying or stealing them), refining those resources by paying NPC workers, and then bringing everything back to the experts.
“As you first step foot in Sainte-Anne, you will quickly meet the local crafters and vendors who will help you on your journey. If you need some new weapons, ammunition, or armour, Thomas Raferty, a hardy Blacksmith with a history as dark as the coal fuelling his forge, will gladly offer you his services. In search of a ship upgrade? Visit Fanilo Rhantasoa, a skilled shipwright and craftsman, to craft new ships. If you’re looking for new furniture to optimise your loadout, there’s Zayn Magoro, local Carpenter of Sainte-Anne and friend to all pirates – he’ll be sure to lend a helping hand. And don’t forget about Vera van Wessel, your go-to person for refining goods, and bad jokes. Of course, there are many more vendors and crafters you have yet to discover and meet in the various pirate dens. Seek them out to fulfil all your crafting needs. With the right blueprints, resources, and plenty of silver, you’ll find their services quite invaluable.”
Closed beta for the game is still apparently set to kick off next week on August 25th – more than six years after it was originally demoed in 2017.
