Naval Combat and Salvage

This page covers the mechanics of ship-to-ship combat, repairing damage, boarding actions, sinking, and the crucial Salvage system for recovering lost vessels and items in UO Outlands. Return to the main Ships page.

General Combat Rules

Ocean areas are Lawless Zones; PvP is unrestricted.
Players are flagged PvP if their crew attack another player.
Damage from Players, Tamed Creatures, and Summons to enemies on different ships is reduced by 50%.
NPC Crewmembers deal +50% increased damage in ship battles.
Poison damage follows similar reductions.
Cannons are the primary damage source.

Ship Repairing

Ships have three HP types: Hull, Sails, and Guns. Damage requires repair using Ship Repair Kits (crafted via Tinkering).

Initiating Repair: Use the "Repair Ship" command (Gump/Hotbar). A targeting gump appears.
Targeting: Select which Hit Point type (Hull, Sails, Guns) to restore.
Process: Requires the ship to remain stationary for 10 seconds. Overhead message indicates repair type ("*Repairing Hull*").
Effectiveness: Amount repaired depends on ship stats (Stats Gump) for Hull/Sail/Gun Repair Amount.
Interruption: Repair fails if the repairing player is killed or moved before completion.
Cooldown:
- Can only repair once every 5 minutes while in combat (by default).
- Cooldown can be reduced by the ship's Ship Repair Cooldown stat (from Upgrades).
- After being out of combat for 60 seconds (and the last repair cooldown resolved), repairs can be performed continuously.

Ship Boarding

Boarding allows direct engagement with enemy crew and access to loot (Doubloons) on their corpses. Sinking a ship with live crew forfeits this loot.

Initiation Condition: Can be attempted when enemy ship's Sail OR Gun HP drops below 50%.
Tool: Requires using a Boarding Rope.
Participants: Only the Captain can initiate. Players must opt-in via "Auto-Join All Boarding Parties" (Players Gump Tab) to participate. Followers and readied Crew join automatically.
Process: Use the "Send Boarding Party" command (Gump / Hotbar). Selected members jump to the enemy vessel.
Combat: Crewmembers attack nearest enemy autonomously. Boarding crew have Orange names/HP bars.
Cooldown: Can only attempt boarding once every 20 seconds. Ship must be stationary for 0.1 seconds before attempting.
Success Chance:
- Base chance starts at 0% when enemy Sails/Guns are at 50% HP.
- Increases up to 100% as the lower of the enemy's Sail/Gun HP approaches 0%.
- Improved by the attacking ship's Boarding Chance Bonus stat (from Upgrades). (Example: 25% bonus + 50% base chance = 62.5% effective chance).
- Success chance is announced to the attacking crew upon attempt.
Crew Incapacitation: Crewmembers reduced to 0 HP become Incapacitated (Grey name/bar, Skull icon). They enter a Recovery Cooldown ("Recovery in X") before returning to their ship.
Restrictions: Embarking/Boarding cancels targeting cursors and resets melee swing timers. Explosion Potions/Spells cast on one ship deal only 25% damage if the caster moves to another ship before detonation.

Ship Ramming

Allows inflicting direct Hull damage by collision. Only the Captain can initiate.

Conditions:
- Ramming ship must be stationary for at least 5 seconds.
- Must not have rammed in the last 10 seconds.
- Must be unable to move in 6 other directions (i.e., blocked).
Damage (PvP):
- Target ship suffers Hull Damage = 30% of its Max Hull HP.
- Ramming ship suffers Hull Damage = 5% of its own Max Hull HP.
Damage (PvE - NPC Ramming Player):
- NPC ships auto-ram if stuck next to a player ship.
- Player ship suffers Hull Damage = 20% of its Max Hull HP.
- NPC ship suffers Hull Damage = 5% of its own Max Hull HP.

Ship Sinking

Notification of receiving Doubloons when your ship sinks.

Notification that enemies received Doubloons from sinking your ship.

When a ship's Hull HP reaches 0, it sinks.

Captain's Payout: Captain immediately receives 80% of the ship's Total Doubloon Value (Registration Cost + Upgrade/Crew Costs) in their Bank Box.
Enemy Payout: 10% of the ship's Total Doubloon Value is distributed among enemy player ships that dealt damage (scaled by damage share).
Wayward Salvage Chance: Each installed Upgrade and Crewmember has a 1% chance to detach and become "Wayward Salvage" in the Salvage System.
Ship Deed Transfer: The Ship Deed itself, along with all remaining attached Upgrades and Crew, is immediately sent to the Salvage System (no 30-minute delay).
Pending Salvage Loss (PvP): If sunk by enemy players, any Pending Salvage on the sunk ship is transferred to the sinking enemy ship(s), distributed based on damage dealt.

Ship Salvage System

Allows recovery of sunk ships, detached upgrades/crew, and looted items. Accessed via Salvage Foreman NPCs at town Docks.

Accessing the System

Say "Salvage", "Recover", or "Buy" near a Salvage Foreman.
Shift-click Foreman and select "Salvage".
Items remain recoverable for 30 days (up from 14).

Salvage Credits

Obtain credits by dragging unwanted Crewmember Contracts onto a Salvage Foreman.
Credits awarded: Novice (100), Adept (250), Veteran (500), Expert (1000), Master (2000).
Credits are used automatically first when paying recovery fees.

Ship Salvage Menu

Recovering Ship Deeds

Paying the recovery fee for a sunk ship.

Options after recovery fee is paid.

Requires paying a Recovery Fee = Total Doubloon Value of the ship (Reg Cost + attached Upgrade/Crew Costs).
Click the Large Diamond button to pay (uses Salvage Credits first, then bank Doubloons).
Paying the fee re-registers the ship with all components re-installed.
Ship status changes to "Available" (Green text).
Buttons appear to move the recovered Deed to your Bank Box, Backpack, or a Dockmaster (for dry dock?).
Small Orb button previews the ship's menu without paying/modifying.

Recovering Wayward Salvage

Wayward Salvage with 7-day delay (Pink text).

"Wayward Salvage" = Upgrades/Crew detached during sinking (1% chance each).
Recovery is Free.
Requires a standard 7-day waiting period before becoming "Available" (Pink text during delay). Automatically ready after 7 days.

Expediting Wayward Salvage

Wayward Salvage available after expediting.

Bypasses the 7-day wait.
Click the Large Diamond Expedite button.
Expediting an Upgrade: Requires targeting and consuming (deleting) any Ship Upgrade from your backpack.
Expediting a Crewmember: Requires targeting and consuming a Crewmember Contract of equal or higher rank (any profession) from your backpack.
Expedited items become immediately "Available".
Small Orb button previews the Wayward item.

Looting Ship Upgrades and Crewmember Contracts (Pending Salvage)

Notification of gaining Pending Salvage.

Upgrades/Contracts looted at sea are not physical items but become "Pending Salvage" attached to your ship.

Sources (PvM):
- MIB/Salvage Crates: Items that *would* have been in the crate become Pending Salvage.
- NPC Ship Holds (when unlocked): Items that *would* have been loot are randomly assigned as Pending Salvage to damaging player ships (scaled by damage).
- Ocean Mini-Boss/Boss Corpses: Loot items randomly assigned as Pending Salvage to damaging player ships (scaled by total player+crew+cannon damage).
Acquisition: Pending Salvage count shown in Ship Overview Gump. Inaccessible while at sea.
Transfer on Docking: When the ship Docks, all Pending Salvage is transferred to the Captain's Salvage System and becomes immediately retrievable (like Expedited Wayward Salvage).
Transfer on Sinking (PvP): See #Ship Sinking.

Yielding Salvage

Allows transferring your entire current Pending Salvage load to another player's ship.

Use the "Yield Salvage" button (Overview Gump) and target a ship within 6 tiles.
Overhead text appears on both Tillermen/Holds. Receiving crew gets system message.
Attempting to yield with 0 Pending Salvage announces emptiness (can be used as proof).