Outside of the usual robbing of enemy ships and the constant quest for treasure, players have to find some reliable ways to earn an honest living. Hunting down and delivering animals is one of the simplest and most effective ways to do it, collecting some of the rarest creatures to get the biggest rewards.
Snakes are definitely the highest risk, highest reward animal you can go after. Making it all the more important for you to go in knowing what’s in store, especially when it’s crunch time and you have no more gold to your name. Winging it and going in without a plan will end up in most pirates being left with blurry vision and no rewards in sight.
6 Come Prepared
Finding snakes to catch isn’t like finding other animals, they’re aggressive on sight and come with a certain amount of danger on the hunt. This means players will have to come prepared with gear that can both shut down the snakes attacks and keep you safe while tracking them down.
This will include grabbing a snake basket either from a Merchant Alliance representative or finding stray baskets along the many island shores. Following up with an instrument to pacify the snake when you finally catch one will complete the look and make hunting them all the more stylish.
5 Know The Species
Like some of the other animals in the game, snakes come in many colors and values. Varying by a massive 2500 gold at the extreme ends, knowing exactly what snake you’re getting your hands on is important knowledge.
The most valuable snake being the Golden snake, fetching the hunter up to 2800 gold with a commission. With 4 kinds of snakes coming with a serious ramp in reward, targeting what is and isn’t worth your time will be a big clue to how successful the hunt turns out. Considering how much of a pain they are to collect over the other animals, getting the most out of the time is suggested.
4 Catching The Snakes
As soon as a player approaches any of the snakes they’ll be attacked, either spat at with venom from a distance or bitten at close range. So having the instrument out and at the ready is priority number 1, soothing the snake with a tune and making it safe to approach.
Once you have the snake in the basket the mission isn’t over, needing to keep it pacified the entire time you’re carrying it. You can either bring an accomplice to play an instrument while you carry or endure some serious venom to the eyes until you get back onboard the ship. If you get bitten or spat on, the player will be poisoned for a short time and have to eat to keep their health up and prevent death.
3 Transport
When the snake is safely onboard your ship, you might think you can just put it down and forget about it. However, putting it on deck will only cause problems for both the snake and the crew, constantly spitting poison and constantly at the threat of death by the environment. If the player loses the snake to fire or gunshot then the reward suddenly drops and becomes not worth it.
Placing all the snakes you catch around your other loot below deck not only removes the annoying venom strikes but will also protect it from other pirates if you get boarded. Preventing any loot from going missing even if the enemy takes out the crew, handing out extra time to the team that’s got their reptilian guards placed well.
2 Filling The Contract
Merchant Contracts will be the key to any kind of big reward, if you go around just scooping up snakes to sell to any old merchant you’ll be sorely disappointed. As soon as you pick up the animal ledger in a bottle, journal or parchment, the rewards multiply by 10 and players now have a specific location to deliver them to.
It will also put a time limit on the reward, making sure players feel the pressure. Using a pocket watch is advised, otherwise you’ll be standing at port with a whole lot of worthless snakes. Planning out the route before you start hunting would also be wise, budgeting your time so you don’t have to race to the port at full speed after catching the product.
1 Bugging Out
There’s a common bug that will let players return the animals to almost any outpost, not the one on the contract. This cuts the time pressure in half and makes it a lot easier to get the reward at the end of the quest. It also reminds us to always be on the lookout for the rare time that a bug can actually help us not hurt us.
The bug will also let the player sell an unlimited amount of the animal, while this won’t be an easy task when it comes to snakes, it’s definitely a big opportunity to cash in if you’ve got a good band behind you when hunting. Make the most of the window while you can, it might not last forever.
