Battle of Pirates tips: aim, wind, cards and specials
Updated · 3 minute read
Win at Battle of Pirates by using your first shot to find the range, correcting for the wind on every turn, and matching the card to the target. Save your specials: one well-timed Torpedo or Acid Rain decides most close battles.
Aiming
Drag back from anywhere on the screen and let go. The direction of the pull sets the angle and its length sets the power. A tiny pull does nothing, so a stray tap never wastes your turn.
The aim line shows how the shot starts, not where it lands. It is there to help you read the angle, and you can switch it off for a harder game.
On a keyboard, the arrow keys set the angle and the power, and holding Shift makes each press a fine adjustment. That fine control is often the difference between a near miss and a hit.
Reading the wind
The wind arrow shows the direction and the strength. It pushes the ball sideways for the whole of its flight, so a high, slow shot drifts much further than a low, fast one.
Into a headwind, shoot flatter and harder. With the wind behind you, you can take power off and let it carry the ball. After each miss, change one thing at a time, the angle or the power, so you learn what moved the ball.
Choosing a card
You are dealt three cards every turn, and they come back fresh the next turn, so never hold one back for later.
| Card | Use it when |
|---|---|
| Round Shot | You have the range. Full power, full distance. |
| Chain Shot | You want two chances to charge your special: each of its two balls counts. |
| Grapeshot | Your aim is shaky. Five pellets in a fan forgive a lot, and each hit charges your special. |
| Mortar | The mountain is in the way. It only fires at 45 degrees or steeper, and clears the mountain outright. |
| Firebomb | The battle will go on a while. The fire burns for four of their turns. |
| Bore Shot | Rock is between you. It punches straight through. |
| Patch Kit | You're behind. It heals 12 and still fires a round. |
| Twin and Triple Shot | The target is big and close. Several small balls, one special charge. |
| Powder Keg | Enemy ships are sailing close together. One wide blast hits them all. |
Picking a hull class
Every class is free. Balanced has no weakness to exploit. Shooter adds 18% cannon damage, Tank adds 35% health, Critical gives a 40% chance of critical hits, and Aimer lengthens the aim guide.
New to the game? Aimer helps you learn the arcs. Confident with your aim? Shooter or Critical ends battles sooner. In team games, a Tank at the front buys your side time.
Using specials
Each attack that deals damage adds a charge, up to three, and a miss keeps the charges you already have. Chain Shot and Grapeshot charge it for every ball that hits; Twin, Triple and every other card charge it once.
With three charges, a special replaces your shot for that turn: Torpedo deals 25 damage to one enemy ship you choose, Acid Rain deals 15 to every enemy ship, and Heal repairs 20 of your own hull.
Torpedo finishes off a damaged ship. Acid Rain is at its best in 2v2 and 3v3, where it hits two or three ships at once. Heal is the comeback button: use it when you're losing, not when you're ahead.
Team battles
In 2v2 and 3v3 the ships fire in a fixed order, so everyone acts equally often. Agree on one target and sink it: a fleet that loses a ship loses a turn every round.
Questions
- Why do my shots keep missing short?
- Usually the wind. A headwind slows the ball for its whole flight, so add power or shoot flatter.
- Can I hit my own ship?
- Yes. A steep shot into a strong headwind can come back, and your own hull takes the damage.
- Which bot is hardest?
- Captain. It lands about nine shots in ten. Swab lands about two in five and Gunner three in four.
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Written with the help of AI tools from each game's own rules, and checked against the game.