Today we're diving into one of the most devastating medium-ship DPS setups in Skull and Bones: the Schooner-affectionately nicknamed The Explosive King. This build focuses on raw explosive damage, burning effects, structure shredding, and ship-sustaining repairs, giving players a deadly hybrid of offense and survivability. Whether you're melting forts, deleting armored ships, or farming plunder with style, this Schooner setup delivers some of the highest burst potential in the game.

In this guide, we'll break down the ship's perks, the complete weapon and armor loadout, essential furniture, and real performance impressions based on live gameplay. Strap in-this one hits hard.

Why the Schooner? Understanding the Ship's Perks

The Schooner is a medium-class DPS vessel designed for aggressive captains who want fast reloads, devastating broadside bursts, and powerful status effects. Its perk set is one of the strongest for explosive-based strategies:

Fury
Increases structure damage by 50%
Increases weak point damage taken by 30% for 10 seconds
20% chance on weapon hit to activate Fury, boosting broadside weapon damage by 20%

This alone makes the Schooner perfect for fort destruction and burst combos.

Volatile
All broadside weapons deal 20% bonus explosive damage
Reduces explosive reload time by 10%
Broadside hits trigger a 700-damage explosion every 3 seconds within a 100m radius

This passive is the reason the build exists-free explosions, faster explosives, and more damage in every direction.

Combined, these perks turn the Schooner into a mobile pressure cooker: overlapping detonations, boosted secondary damage, and rapid broadside cycling.

Front Weapon: Alcto-The Crimson Triple-Bolt Ballista

At the bow, the build uses the Alcto, one of the nastiest burning ballista choices in the game:

1,187 damage
Triple Threat: fires 3 bolts simultaneously
When all bolts hit the same target, they erupt in flames, dealing +400 bonus fire damage
78-second reload-very fast for its impact profile

Recommended Rolls

Combustion-boosts burning damage
Siege-increases structural damage
Amplified Burning-extra burning power

This ballista is the build's precision weapon-great for triggering burning, scoring weak points, and capitalizing on Fury uptime.

Port & Starboard: Nash Cars-Repairing Through Damage

For both sides, the build uses Nash Cars, powerful repair-focused long guns that synergize perfectly with explosive DPS.

Each gun deals 4,475–4,526 damage and carries the signature trait:

Ghastly Mending
Restores 5% of damage dealt as hull health
Weak point hits increase repair amount by 700%

This means every broadside volley not only chunks the enemy-but also heals you massively if you're hitting weak points.

Recommended Rolls
Combustion
Siege
Siege (double stack)

Paired with the Volatile bonus and the massive secondary damage boosts from furniture, these guns hit like artillery while keeping your hull topped off.

Rear Weapon: Roaring Mag Free

For the auxiliary slot, the build uses the Roaring Mag Free, a monster against structures:

1,966 damage
Specializes in explosive damage
Shreds forts, towers, and stationary defenses

Recommended Rolls
Combustion
Amplified Explosive
Siege

This is the piece that lets the build live up to its "Explosive King" title. When Fury procs, forts melt.

Armor: Nocturn Heart-Damage While Healthy

The armor choice for this build is Nocturn Heart, which synergizes beautifully with the Nash Cars' healing.

It grants:
Increased weapon damage at high hull health
Baselined for aggressive, untouched raiding tactics

Recommended Rolls

Armored-105 armor
Maintenance-restores 175 hull per second
Fortitude-+13.6% brace strength

The maintenance passive combined with Ghastly Mending makes your health bar nearly unbreakable during plunders.

Furniture Setup: The Core of the Build

The furniture is what transforms this Schooner from "strong" to "absurdly powerful."
Let's break it down.

1. Gear Workshop (Ballista)
12% reduced reload time for ballista weapons
10% reduced charge time

This keeps the Alcto firing at top speed.

2. Long Gun Works I
+19% secondary damage to long gun ammunition

This directly buffs your Nash Cars and their burning/explosive side effects.

3. Italia Curvature (Major Furniture)

This is the most important furniture in the entire build.

While above 50% hull health, it:

Reduces incoming secondary damage by 24%
Generates 15% more threat during plunders
Increases all weapon damage by 10%
Boosts armor rating by 100

This is irreplaceable. If you don't own it, use Fire Barrels for the 10% secondary broadside damage.

4. Ballista Works I

+19% secondary damage for ballista weapons
Stacks with other burning bonuses.5. Ammo Priming Bench

This is the siege synergy engine.

Effects:

+20% structure damage
+18% repair weapon effectiveness beyond 160m
+4% siege weapon damage
Repair weapons heal an additional 7% hull
+10% projectile speed for siege and repair weapons

This directly buffs the Nash Cars and Roaring Mag.

6. Devil's Concoction

+12% secondary damage for burning weapons
+8% maximum firing range for burning weapons

Since almost everything in the build deals burning damage, this is a huge multiplier.

How the Build Performs in Combat

This Schooner melts everything.

Whether you're hitting forts, grinding plunders, or fighting other ships, the combination of explosive multipliers, healing broadsides, and high-reload ballista pressure makes the ship feel like a drifting firestorm.

During testing:

Structures evaporate under explosive volleys
Enemy ships crumble from burning, siege, and Fury-boosted secondary detonations
Hull health stays near-full due to the massive repair scaling
Fury procs constantly thanks to multi-hit broadside weapons
Secondary explosions chain across targets, shredding groups

Even during high-intensity plunders, the build maintains stability and damage output.

The only minor downside:

Electro weapons feel underpowered compared to fire/explosive setups.

The reload is fast-but the damage isn't competitive for this build's goals.

Using the Build in Plunders

Because Italia Curvature increases threat generation, this Schooner functions like a frontline bruiser:

It can tank incoming damage
It deletes towers instantly
It sustains its hull via repair weapons
It controls the flow of combat with explosive area damage

During the showcased gameplay, the ship crushed through forts, burning towers to ash while tanking massive focused fire.

Mastery Note: Unlocking the Alcto

If you're working toward the Alcto mastery:

It requires 500 million, which is a steep grind.

The creator recommends running Woven Hollows as one of the most efficient ways to farm the required currency.

Final Thoughts: The Explosive King Schooner

This Schooner build is one of the strongest medium-ship offensive setups currently possible in Skull and Bones. Between explosive multipliers, massive healing, and punishing secondary damage bonuses, it manages to feel both powerful and durable-perfect for players who enjoy aggressive naval combat.

If you're looking to dominate plunders, tear down forts, and torch enemy fleets while maintaining a solid survivability core, The Explosive King is the build to run.

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