Reasoning
NPC ships rn are basically just targets to take out your frustration on and give terrible rewards. I suggest adding more organisation to them so they actually feel like a functioning fleet.
Features
Grand Navy
Gravy ships now travel in groups. They will patrol in mainly the Northern Bronze Sea, being less active due to Ravenna’s influence in the South. When the Gravy ship is near Fort Talos, they will immediately turn and leave. Gravy ships will travel between islands, stop there briefly, and then switch to another islands. If the Gravy ship does not see activity after three islands, it will return to Silverhold and despawn. Gravy fleets usually consist of a main ship (Ketch in the Bronze Sea), and other smaller ships of a lesser tier. Two ships will circle around Silverhold and won’t despawn.
If a notoriety player is driving a ship, the NPC ships chasing them will first attack them with cannon fire. After two minutes, if the player doesn’t leave the ship, they will attack. If the player is on a civillised island, they will dock at a port; if they are on a wilderness island, they will cycle the island and deploy randomly.
Gravy ships will prioritise pirate ships and attack them with pincer tactics. They will sometimes escort merchant ships. They have a 50% chance to attack assassin ships. Even if they sank the ship, they will not attack.
Assassin Syndicate
Assassin ships travel alone, departing from Whitesummit. They are mostly active in Central Bronze Sea. They will despawn after not having any activity for 8 minutes. Like the Navy, they will cycle between islands, looking for potential targets.
Kingdom Ships
Kingdom ships are more active near their capital islands. Ravenna ships will spawn and depart from Rubica, and will either cycle around Ravenna, sail to Fort Talos and despawn, or sail in the Northern Bronze Sea, looking for pirates. Ocassionally they will dock at Sailor’s Lodge to resupply. Samerian ships will spawn at Caitara or Masada, and either cycle around Sameria, or patrol around the Central Nimbus Sea, looking for Keraxean ships. Occasionally they will dock at Shale Reef to resupply. Keraxean ships will be mostly active in the Southern Nimbus Sea, cycling around Port Mistral or patrol around the central Nimbus Sea, looking for Samerian ships.
Kingdom ships will prioritise attacking enemy Kingdom ships over pirates or assassins.
Merchant Ships
Merchant ships can spawn on any civillised island with a port. The further south, the more high tier they will be. They will travel from island to island delivering goods. When two merchant ships spot eachother, they will drive to eachother and exchange goods.
Pirate Ships
Pirate ships spawn randomly and can travel both alone or in groups. Their order of prioritisation are Merchants > Navy > Player Ships > Kingdom Ships > Other Pirates > Assassins. Pirates attack indiscriminately. Pirates will not dock by towns, but larger groups will fire at towns.
One in every seven pirate ships will be a Corsair ship, a lot more powerful than a regular pirate ships. As of now they only spawn randomly in the Nimbus Sea. When a Corsair ships is spawned, all Navy patrols within a 2,000m radius (including Gravy players) will be alerted. If they are not in combat, the Gravy ships will locate and attack the Corsair ship. Corsair ships will despawn after ten minutes of no activity. Sinking a Corsair ships grants large amounts of renown even pass the 100k border. Corsairs will target clan players over regular players, and even attack their islands occassionally. In the Vimir Sea, Corsair ships will be even more powerful, possibly becoming a boss battle.
Other details
-Ship chest tier is dependent on ship tier.
-If a large amount of ships are sunk in a specific region, it will be reported in the Agora.
-Ships’ despawn timer will be reset if it enters combat
-Sunken Merchant Ships will generate Castaways