Be a Pirate Combat Guide: How to Sink Enemy Ships Without Getting Sunk

Quick answer

Your cannons only fire from the sides of your ship, so sinking an enemy in Be a Pirate is mostly positioning: turn the correct side of your hull toward the target, then fire with Q for the left side or E for the right side. Pick pirate boats weaker than yours first, upgrade between fights, and leave sea creatures alone.

• Aim assistance exists, but shots from a wrong side or bad angle can pass through or miss.
• Enemy boats shoot back — sinking one rewards loot and a level-up.
• In the CURSED SEA, shooting a shark triggered a counter-attack that destroyed a starter Dinghy, and kraken tentacles rise near travel routes.

Get a ship that can fight

You need a gun before you can sink anything. Buy your first real boat — the Dinghy — at the Shipwright (see how to get ships), and the game bolts a swivel gun onto it. The tutorial then runs a target exercise (SHOOT THE TARGETS) that teaches the two fire controls: Q fires the left side of your ship, E fires the right side. Practice there; the same keys sink pirates.

How to sink an enemy pirate ship

1. Take the objective. Enemy boats appear as marked targets — the banner reads SINK THE PIRATE BOAT! An early example is the Pirate Rowboat Lv1.
2. Line up your broadside. Cannons fire from the sides of the hull only, so sail until the enemy sits off your left or right side, never straight ahead or behind.
3. Fire with Q or E. The game provides aim assistance, but the angle still matters: shots at a wrong angle can pass through the target or miss entirely.
4. Keep your firing side on them. The target moves and shoots back, so keep turning until it sinks.
5. Take the rewards. Sinking a pirate boat gets you its loot and a level-up.

The tutorial's target exercise and a real sink, side by side — the Q/E control card first, then a Pirate Rowboat Lv1 fight:

Watch the full guide on YouTube.

How to not get sunk yourself

Fight down, not up. Attack weaker enemy ships first and sail seas that match your power level. Reinvest the loot into your current ship's speed, health and cannons (ship upgrades) so tougher encounters become survivable — the top-tier Ironclad lists 44 cannons and 95% wave resistance.

Leave the wildlife alone. Shooting a shark in the green-fogged CURSED SEA triggered a counter-attack that destroyed an under-geared starter Dinghy on the spot. Giant kraken tentacles also rise near travel routes, so stay careful while sailing (see the kraken guide).

Know when to break off. When a giant tentacle rose near the route after one early fight, the objective flipped to HEAD BACK TO PORT — treat that prompt as your cue to sail home. A starter ship avoids the kraken instead of fighting it.

Problems and fixes

My shots pass through the enemy or do nothing

Firing from the wrong side or at a bad angle

Suggested response

Turn the ship so the enemy sits off one side, then press that side’s key — Q for left, E for right.

I keep taking hits in every fight

The target outguns your current ship

Suggested response

Attack weaker ships first and upgrade speed, health and cannons between fights.

My boat sank with no enemy ship in sight

A sea creature — in the CURSED SEA, shooting a shark triggered a counter-attack that destroyed a starter Dinghy, and kraken tentacles rise near travel routes

Suggested response

Don’t shoot sharks, steer carefully around kraken tentacles, and sail home when the objective flips to HEAD BACK TO PORT.

Sinking ships in Be a Pirate comes down to the broadside rule: pick a boat weaker than yours, keep one of your sides pointed at it, and upgrade with the loot you take. For the wider earn-and-upgrade loop, see how to progress fast.