Royal Sloop

The Royal Sloop is a Ship Type available in Sid Meier's Pirates!. It is one of the smaller Ship Types, and is the largest variant in the Sloop Class family of ships. A fast and sleek vessel, with formidable firepower for its size, it is prized for its high maneuverability and usefulness to the master pirate. The Royal Sloop is a very rare ship, and although there is at least one straightforward, sure-fire way of acquiring one, they are otherwise seldom seen.

In Sid Meier's Pirates!, the Royal Sloop is the name of a Ship Type belonging to the Sloop Class family of ships. It is the Largest variant of that class, being slightly more powerful than the Sloop Of War. It is comparable in strength to a Brigantine, quicker, but slightly less durable.

The Royal Sloop is a very rare ship, which appears during the later stages of the game more frequently. Still it can be seen in 1600.

The Royal Sloop carries up to 20 Cannons into battle, and can hold a Crew of up to 125 men. With less than 12 men available, the Royal Sloop becomes sluggish and difficult to use. With at least 72 men and 20 cannons on board, the Royal Sloop is at its maximum fighting efficiency.

A Royal Sloop can carry up to 60 tons of cargo (including Cannon), which makes it suitable for small-scale trading.

When sold, a Royal Sloop yields, plus for each upgrade installed on the ship. This assumes that the ship is at 100% condition, otherwise it is sold for less (down to if either sails or hull are all but gone).

Upgrades for a Royal Sloop cost each. Once the rank of Admiral has been attained, Royal Sloop upgrades will only cost each.

In the Player's Hands
None of the nation/era combinations will have the player starting off with a Royal Sloop.

Happening upon a Royal Sloop is a rare occurence, which means that most Sloop-afficionados will have to suffice with a Sloop Of War for a good portion of the game.

Once found, however, the Royal Sloop is by far one of the most popular player ships. Although it is a Sloop Class ship, it carries the same amount of armament as a Brigantine, while retaining the Sloop Class's high maneuverability and speed. This more than makes up for its slightly diminished durability compared to the Brigantine.

For this reason, many players will switch to a Royal Sloop if they ever find one (and do not already have a more favoured ship in their fleet).

Roles and Nationality
The Royal Sloop, despite being extremely rare, does appear occasionally in the employ of Spain. When it does appear, it is generally an Escort for another vessel, although this will only occur if Spanish cities are sufficiently angry at the player. They are often the choice of vessel for Spanish Pirate Hunters.

Royal Sloops have also been spotted as New Warships, though this tends to occur very rarely, and again only in the employ of the Spanish.

In addition, Royal Sloops will be dispatched by the Spanish, serving as Treaty Ships. Of course, the very occurrence of a Treaty Mission is in itself rare, and no other foreign power will dispatch a Royal Sloop for this mission (in fact, they'll send a Mail Runner, which is an even rarer Ship Type!).

The only sure-fire way to encounter and/or acquire a Royal Sloop is to locate and defeat Roc Brasiliano, a Famous Pirate. This also guarantees a ship with a good amount of Upgrades already installed.

In Combat
As mentioned above, the Royal Sloop carries a crew and cannon complement comparable to that of a Brigantine. However, it is significantly more maneuverable and faster than a Brigantine, and retains the ability to properly struggle with the Wind, which Brigs do not do very well. Naturally, the cost of this is the slightly-lower Durability common to Sloops.

The Royal Sloop's Best Sailing Point is Broad Reach, where it will clock around 7-8 leagues at weak winds. As with all other Sloops, Fore-And-Aft Rigging allows it to quickly change direction and sail close to the wind at reasonable speed.

Due to their respectively-heavy armament, Royal Sloops are more versatile than the smaller Sloop variants. They can risk shoot-outs with considerably larger ships such as the Trade Galleon, and switch to a Boarding strategy whenever required. Needless to say, a Royal Sloop can wreak havoc on mid-sized and smaller ships, and can still have a good chance of chasing down Pinnaces despite its size. Nonetheless, its size and sloop-like durability does make it more difficult for the Royal Sloop to engage the larger Frigates.

Still, a skillled captain can utilize the good performance of a fully upgraded Royal Sloop to take down smaller Frigates or even the powerful Ship of the Line with the same evasive tactic a War Canoe can subdue any ship by circling on midrange in Broad Reach position. Due to 20 guns and up to 187 crew members it is much easier to chain-shot the sails or using this ship as a boarding platform.