Best Weapons and Ship Loadout

This is a guide on best ship weapons and cannons in Skull and Bones. Read on and learn which are the best ship weapons and cannons to have, where to place them on your ship, and what the best beginner weapons are!

Ship Weapons Guides
Best Ship Weapons	All Ship Weapons

Best Weapon Loadout for Each Ship

List of Best Ship Weapon Loadouts
Rammer Bedar	Defender Hulk	Sentinel Cutter
Firebrand Barge	Blaster Sloop	Bombardier Padewakang
Hullbreaker Brigantine	Pyromaniac Sambuk	Vanguard Snow

Rammer Bedar

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Scurlock's Long Nines (Enhanced Long Gun)
Broadsides	Flooding Demi-cannons III (Enhanced Demi-Cannon)

The Rammer Bedar's playstyle involves shooting at targets from far away before accelerating to ram the ship on their broadsides. and then shooting the ship with demi-cannons while pursuing it from the sides.

Scurlock's Long Nines great range and fast reload time for a long gun make it a great pursuit weapon, while Flooding Demi-cannon III on both sides inflict flooding and slow that make enemy ships more susceptible to ramming attacks.

How to Get Rammer Bedar

Defender Hulk

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Rahma's Legacy (Enhanced Torpedo)
Broadsides	Basilisk III (Enhanced Culverin)
Stern (Back)	Flooding Demi-cannon III (Enhanced Demi-Cannon)

The Defender Hulk's low speed mean that in solo play, it needs to deal as much damage as possible to the pursuing enemy ship since it can't flee the battle. In group play, having stronger weapons means that the enemy will prioritize targeting you over your allies.

Rahma's Legacy is a powerful bow weapon that requires more precise aiming, which is easier to do when firing from the bow. Basilisk III is a great broadside weapons as it makes enemy ships more susceptible to crew attacks and boasts higher upfront damage than the Tearing Culverin III.

Finally, Flooding Demi-cannon III is placed on the stern so you can inflict flooding damage against enemy ships chasing after you, slowing them down with flooding damage and making them easier to evade during combat.

How to Get Defender Hulk

Sentinel Cutter

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Repair Bombard III (Enhanced Bombard)
Broadsides	Tearing Culverin III (Enhanced Culverin)

The Sentinel Cutter is best used as a support ship during group play and is focused on healing allies while also attempting to immobilize enemies by targeting their sails.

Repair Bombard III is best placed on the bow to make it easier to aim and heal allies, while Tearing Culverin III is best for broadsides to support allies by tearing enemy sails from mid range.

How to Get Sentinel Cutter

Firebrand Barge

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Fire Bombard III (Enhanced Bombard)
Broadsides	Fire Long Gun III (Enhanced Long Gun)
Stern (Back)	Fire Bombard III (Enhanced Bombard)

The Firebrand Barge's playstyle focuses on dealing as much damage with Fire damage weapons. Fire Long Gun III are installed on broadsides to maintain the Ablaze status effect when pursuing enemy ships from the sides.

Finally, the Fire Bombard III is placed on both the bow and stern to give the ship a way to inflict fire damage while you're repositioning your ship to hit it again with your bow weapon.

How to Get Firebrand Barge

Blaster Sloop

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Dardanelles Gun (Enhanced Bombard)
Broadsides	Basilisk III (Enhanced Culverin)

The Blaster Sloop is a powerful midgame ship adept at plundering settlements thanks to its Explosive Damage perks. The Dardanelles Gun is the strongest Bombard weapon and is placed on the bow for easier aiming against towers and settlement weakpoints.

The Basilisk III are installed on the broadsides as they offer the best damage against ships when hitting their weak points thanks to its piercing damage. You can also fire them at relatively long range, allowing you to shoot down settlement targets like towers if you can't use the bombard yet.

How to Get Blaster Sloop

Bombardier Padewakang

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Dardanelles Gun (Enhanced Bombard)
Broadsides	Basilisk III (Enhanced Culverin)
Stern (Back)	Dardanelles Gun (Enhanced Bombard)
Auxiliary	The Termites III (Enhanced Rocket)

The Bombardier Padewakang is the strongest ship for plundering settlements thanks to its 70% chance to trigger an explosion with its weapons. The Dardanelles Gun are installled on both the Bow and Stern for easier aiming and is best used against tower settlements.

Basilisk III are installed on the broadsides so that the Padewakang has a way to damage NPC ships, and you can also use these two snipe weak points on settlements.

The Termites III are installed on your ship's auxilliary since these rockets boast increased damage to towers, and also has a higher angle of aiming to make it easier to target these structures.

How to Get Bombardier Padewakang

Hullbreaker Brigantine

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Fire Bombard III (Enhanced Bombard)
Broadsides	Dardanelles Gun (Enhanced Bombard)
Stern (Back)	Fire Bombard III (Enhanced Bombard)
Auxiliary	Leopold III (Enhanced Rocket)

The Hullbreaker has the fastest sailing and turn speed, allowing you to easily switch between your Front, Broadsides, and Back Weapons. This flexibility lets you deal heavy damage while you're chasing enemies or fleeing from them.

The Leopold III provides AoE and Flooding damage that is best used against larger, slower ships.

How to Get Hullbreaker Brigantine

Pyromaniac Sambuk

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Blue Specter (Enhanced Sea Fire)
Broadsides	Zamzama III (Enhanced Demicannon)
Stern (Back)	Fire Bombard III (Enhanced Bombard)
Auxiliary	Rocket III (Rocket)

The Pyromaniac Sambuk's playstyle involves chasing after boats and dealing as much damage as possible with its Sea Fire weapon placed on the bow. Blue Specter is placed on the bow, with its Superheated Perk further boosted by the ships Fire damage perks.

Zamzama III has the Raider Perk that increases Charge Rate of the Vulnerable effect by 50%, letting you use more crew attacks. This also enhances the damage of your crew's molotovs.

Fire Bombard III is placed on the stern to deal fire damage while fleeing or repositioning, while Rocket III are placed on the auxilliary slot since these deal higher fire damage and can help maintain the Ablaze effect on larger ships.

How to Get Pyromaniac Sambuk

Vanguard Snow

Location	Weapon Type
Bow (Front)	Scurlock's Long Nines (Enhanced Long Gun)
Broadsides	Culverin V (Culverin)
Stern (Back)	Rahma's Legacy (Enhanced Torpedo)
Auxiliary	Rocket III (Rocket)

Vanguard Snow is a Tank that works best when it's drawing the attention of World Bosses or Elite Captains away from its allies. Weapon damage isn't as important for this ship, as opposed to weapon range and reload speed since it requires you to keep enemy aggression focused on you.

Scurlock's Long Nines offers high reload and long range, allowing you to snipe enemies during pursuit or from afar. Culverin V offers balanced damage, range, and reload and is the better choice over Demi-cannons since it doesn't require you to chase after enemies and hit them up close.

Rahma's Legacy is your strongest weapon and deals the most damage when you launch them from long range and is great at taking out smaller ships. Finally, Rocket III is placed on your auxiliary since it's a fast volley of projectiles that can also deal burning damage.

How to Get Vanguard Snow Ship

Best Ship Weapons and Cannons

Weapon Type	Range	Strengths and Weaknesses
▼ Demi-cannon	Medium Range, Short Range	For dealing spread damage at close range. Weapon is beginner-friendly. Deals low damage when fired from afar
▼ Sea Fire	Short Range	For dealing damage over time Needs skill to properly maximize damage
▼ Long Gun	Long Range	For sniping enemies (dealing good amount of single-shot damage from afar) Long reload time and requires good aim
▼ Bombard	AoE	Good for dealing with multiple ships within a radius Easy to miss enemies because of its slow projectile speed
▼ Culverin	Medium Range, Short Range	Good to start off with due to decent reload speed and range Balanced weapons become less useful in late-game

Demicannon for Spread Damage (Short to Medium Range)

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Demi-cannon	Sea Fire
Long Gun	Bombard
Culverin

Weapon and Level	Base DMG / Repair	Damage Types	Perks
Flooding Demi-cannon III (98)	1028	Flooding: +51	・Flooding II

Demi-cannons deal high spread damage that can hit the entire part of the enemy ship when firing from short to medium range. These are best attached on the broadsides since you'll spend most of your time attacking ships while sailing close to their sides when attempting to board them.

The Flooding Demi-cannon III is currently the best demi-cannon in the game as its large spread when fired from medium range means it can reliably stack the Flooding damage against enemy ships.

Sea Fire for Damage Over Time (Short Range)

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Demi-cannon	Sea Fire
Long Gun	Bombard
Culverin

Weapon and Level	Base DMG / Repair	Damage Types	Perks
Blue Specter (110)	502	Fire: +150	・Superheated ・Burning III

Sea Fires are great at applying Fire Damage that deals damage over time and is particularly effective at World Bosses or Elite Captains with high HP.

This weapon type is best installed on ships with Fire Damage Perks such as the Pyromaniac Sambuk
and the Firebrand Barge to further boost the fire damage and spread it inflicts.

The Blue Specter is currently the best Sea Fire weapon in the game thanks to its Superheated Perk which further increases the damage the weapon deals when focusing fire on one target. This weapon's blueprint is obtainable from Mysterious Rogue by trading 50 Ethereal Ashes which you can get by defeating Maangodin.

How to Beat Maangodin

Long Guns for Long Range

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Demi-cannon	Sea Fire
Long Gun	Bombard
Culverin

Weapon and Level	Base DMG / Repair	Damage Types	Perks
Scurlock's Long Nines (110)	2234	Piercing: +670	・Mast Breaker ・Piercing III ・Tearing II

The Long Gun is best weapon for sniping enemies at long range and for accurately hitting weak points from afar. The low reload speed of these guns means they are best installed on the ship's bow (front) since you spend more time firing your broadside weapons.

Scurlock's Long Nines is currentlly the best long gun in the game for damaging sails and sniping weak points. It boasts Tearing II, deals additional damage with its Mast Breaker, and has a relatively higher reload speed compared to other long guns.

Bombard for AoE

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Demi-cannon	Sea Fire
Long Gun	Bombard
Culverin

Weapon and Level	Base DMG / Repair	Damage Types	Perks
Fire Bombard III (98)	2925	Exploding: +585 Fire: +292	・Explosive II ・Burning I

Bombard cannons are the best auxilliary weapons for plundering settlements due to the massive AOE damage they inflict. Ships such as the Bombardier Padewakang and the Blaster Sloop get the most out of these weapons as both have AOE Damage Perks that further increase the damage and spread of Bombards.

The Fire Bombard III is currently the best Bombard weapon in the game as on top of its Explosive II perk, it also has Burning I which is an additional damage type that helps burn down ship and settlement health.

Best Weapons for Beginners

Culverin are Good Starting Weapons

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Demi-cannon	Sea Fire
Long Gun	Bombard
Culverin

Weapon and Level	Base DMG / Repair	Damage Types	Perks
Tearing Culverin III (98)	936	-	・Tearing II
Basilisk III (105)	1025	Piercing: +205	・Raider ・Piercing II

Culverin cannons are great starting weapons as they have balanced damage, range, and reload speed. They are best installed on your broadside (left and right) gunports since you'll spend most of your time facing enemies in this direction.

Both the Tearing Culverin III and the Basilisk III are great choices as these inflict tearing and piercing damage respectively.

Keep in mind that while balanced, they become less useful as you progress the game when you can equip stronger and more specialized weapons to deal with stronger enemies.

How to Raise Ship Rank and Level

Skull and Bones Related Guides

List of All Ship Weapons

All Weapons by Loadout Slots

All Weapons by Loadout Slots
Deck Weapons	Top Deck Weapons
Auxiliary Weapons	Bow Weapons

All Ship Weapons Guide

All Ship Weapons Guide
Best Ship Weapons and Cannons