Prologue¶

As with the naval missions, the privateer missions can be accessed via the Harbormaster’s map at the Davenport Homestead. Unlike the naval missions, these privateer contracts are short, fairly easy and aside from one or two trickier ones, should not take too much of an effort.

Henderson in Distress¶

For this mission, you will need to defeat the enemy ships in the area whilst they try and attack a friendly ship on the area. The only optional objective in this mission revolves around preventing the allied ship from losing more than 50% of its health.

There are 11 enemies in the area that we need to destroy and all of them are gun ships. The best way to get rid of gun ships in a hurry? using that swivel gun to shoot their weak spots! If you have a chance to line up 2-3 of them at once, broadsiding them is also a viable option. Either way, they should not put up too much of a challenge. Once all of the enemy vessels have been destroyed, the mission will be complete.

Paving the Way¶

To begin the mission, pilot the Aquila raound the lighthouse to the left until you reach the search area on the mini-map. As you arrive a short scene will play.

You will now be attacked by a large number (10) of gunships. Note that there is an optional objective to destroy three enemy ships by ramming them. The gunships are quite weak, so you will have no problems taking the rest of them out. Once all of the enemy vessels have been destroyed, the mission will be complete.

Dread of Night¶

This privateer mission has you chasing down an enemy ship through a rocky passage at night time. The first 2-3 minutes of this mission have you working your way through the rocks and cliffs, simply keep the enemy ship in sight and avoid taking damage (there is an optional objective to take less than 25% damage from the environment).

Once you reach the open ocean, the bad guy will have back up. Twelve gunships will appear, so take the lot of them out and the target vessel that we followed at the start as well to complete the mission.

Troubled Waters¶

Note: This mission will only be unlocked once you have completed the previous three missions - ‘Henderson in Distress’, ‘Paving the Way’ and ‘Dread of Night’.

You’ll start this mission out in the open ocean. Work your way towards the search area on the mini-map. As you approach, beware of rogue waves and avoid taking damage from them by taking cover at the appropriate time.

When you reach the search area, three frigates will appear. Now we’ll have to take these enemies down. However there are a couple of things to remember about these stormy settings: due to the weather, the waves can be quite large and as such can block your shots or can be used as cover from enemy attacks.

Secondly, throughout the area you will also run into rogue waves on occasion, so be sure to take cover when you hear that warning bell! Once you have killed all three enemy boats, you will have completed the mission.

Raiding the Prospector¶

Note: This mission will only be unlocked once you have completed the previous three missions - ‘Henderson in Distress’, ‘Paving the Way’ and ‘Dread of Night’.

To start this mission, you will be in open water facing off against seven enemy ships. The good news? They are all gunships, so you can quickly take them down with a combination of swivel guns and broadsiding fairly quickly.

Once the British gunships are all sinking or sunk, continue towards the next objective marker. To get there you’ll need to work your way through the rocks jutting out of the water until you reach the search area. A scene will play.

The target ship will appear, trailed by six more British gunboats, you will also see a time appear up in the optional objectives area - you need to take down the fleet within 1 minute 30 seconds. Once you have eliminated the lot of them, the mission will be complete.

One of a Kind¶

Note: This mission will only be unlocked once you have completed the previous three missions - ‘Henderson in Distress’, ‘Paving the Way’ and ‘Dread of Night’.

This mission is a little different to the rest of them, to start with you need to pilot your ship through the rocks and cliff faces until you reach a harbour.

Once you arrive in the harbor you will have to survive for 4 minutes whilst defending the rivermouth against oncoming enemy ships. There are a large number of them around, but what you will really want to focus on is the frigates that show up with about 2 minutes left on the timer - you will want to take one of these down to complete the optional objective. Wind down the clock to zero and you’ll complete the mission!

Blistering Dawn¶

A nice and easy one! Sail straight out into the open and take down the four schooners that come to attack you. Once the enemy ships are all destroyed, the mission will be completed.

A Call for Help¶

At the start of the mission, pilot the Aquila through the small gaps in the rocks until you reach the open ocean at the far end. You’ll run into an allied vessel - the Independence.

We’ll now be able to achieve our optional objective - we need to prevent the Independence from losing more than 75% of its health. There is a large number of enemy vessels in the area that will come in to attack our ally, so try to focus fire on the ships that are closer in proximity to the independence. Continue to kill the enemies in the area until the mission is complete.

Search for the Somerset¶

The first part of this mission has you working your way through the rocks and cliffs (note there is an optional objective to take less than 25% damage from the envirnment). Once you reach the open ocean, work your way over to the search area indicated on the mini-map. Once you arrive, five gunships and a frigate - the Somerset will appear out of the mist to attack you. Take them all out to complete the mission.

The Sea Wolves¶

Note: This mission will only be unlocked once you have completed the previous three missions - ‘Blistering Dawn’, ‘A Call for Help’ and ‘Search for the Somerset’.

In my opinion, this was the hardest of the twelve privateer missions in which to complete the optional objectives for full synchronisation. There is not much to say in terms of tactics in this mission as all hell breaks loose no matter what you try.

There is an optional objective to eliminate the enemy ships before they can take down more than four of your allies.

At the start of the mission, you will be in line behind eight allied ships. Try to get to the right hand side of the flotilla as this will give you an easier time to get a first attack on the enemy frigates that show up. There are four enemy frigates that will show up. The trick is to kill these guys as fast as possible and before they can kill your allies. Once all of the enmies have been defeated, the mission will be over.

A Midnight Engagement¶

Note: This mission will only be unlocked once you have completed the previous three missions - ‘Blistering Dawn’, ‘A Call for Help’ and ‘Search for the Somerset’.

This mission is very similar to the previous mission ‘Dread of Night’. This privateer mission has you chasing down an enemy ship through a rocky passage at night time. The first 2-3 minutes of this mission have you working your way through the rocks and cliffs, simply keep the enemy ship in sight and avoid taking damage (there is an optional objective to take less than 25% damage from the environment).

Once you reach the open ocean, the bad guy will have back up. Four gunships will appear, so take the lot of them out to complete the mission.

The Giant and the Storm¶

Note: This mission will only be unlocked once you have completed the previous three missions - ‘Blistering Dawn’, ‘A Call for Help’ and ‘Search for the Somerset’.

This mission takes place in the middle of a storm, so be sure to watch out for those rogue waves and keep in mind that the huge waves will block your shots if they get between you and your targets. The mission consists of two different battles. The first battle consists of five enemy vessels consisting of gunships and schooners. After destroying all of these, the next wave will arrive.

This consists of three frigates and brings up our optional objective - we need to destroy all three of these ships by firing on their powder stores. To do this we need to broadside or ram the front of the hostile boats to reveal their weak spots. At this point, hit the weak spot with the swivel cannon to destroy them. Once all three of these ships are destroyed, the mission will be complete.