Uncharted Waters Hints v1.0
by Arpad Korossy

This text is the property of the author and the Gaming Intelligence Agency and may not be reproduced in any modified form without the express consent of either the author or the Gaming Intelligence Agency. 

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The goal of Uncharted Waters is simple: advance in noble rank by completing tasks for the king of Portugal. Thus, your objective is to gain fame so that the king will call on you, and to prepare a fleet and resources that can handle any mission he gives you. 

Gaining fame:

Trading - Trading is the easiest and safest way to gain fame, and also the fastest way to make money. There are many things to consider when trading, including your current funds, price of goods, profit per unit of goods, and distance of trade route. Also, while any place that sells a good will ususally have it at a low enough price that you can make a decent markup somewhere, the key is finding the best markup. Thus you should always negotiate with a merchant fleet to find what port will giv you the best price for your current cargo. Prices will fluctuate, so you should do this each time, even if you're trading cargo that you've sold before. The following are some good trade routes:

	Grain from Majorca: Grain is so cheap that even someone starting out will be able 	to fill their hulls with it, making it a good buy, great for starting off on.

	Porcelain from Bordeaux: Another great starting trade route is to take sugar from 	Lisbon to Bordeaux, buy porcelain, then bring it back to Lisbon. 

	Artwork from Istanbul: A fairly high-priced item that's still available in the 		Mediterranean. 

	Gold from Argin: Though this route is dangerous and will take you right through 	the African storm zone, it pays off in a big way. A somewhat safer and also more 	rewarding alternative is to invest in Carribean ports such as Panama until they 	offer Gold at their marketplace. This bypasses the storm zone and you get a lower 	price to boot. It take a lot of cash to invest however, so it's not for everyone. 	Also, since it's imbossible to fill up on gold due to your 60,000 GP limit, you 	may want to fill up on firearms in Lisbon, withdraw gold to take you back up to 	60,000, then go to Argin. This way you can buy all the gold you can afford, and 	then sell the firearms to take you back up to 60,000, then buy more gold. The 	result is a lot more moeny.

	Pepper and Cinammon from the Far East: This is a very hot item because it has a 	ridiculously low price, but has a massive markup. Cinammon and Pepper can be 	bought for 3 or 4 GP, then sold for as high as 500 GP. When you've filled the 	hulls of five galleons with it, that translates to a mind-boggling amount of cash. 	Make sure to stock up on this on any trip to the Orient.

Battles - Fighting is not nearly as productive as trading, but it's just as necessary so you should prepare yourself for it. After getting enough gold stop by Seville to build yourself some galleons, as they're the best fighting ships and also have huge cargo space ideal for trading. Always build new, and always buy the best. Buy a mahogany hull, and leave space for 60 guns and anywhere from 160 to 200 bunks. Then load up on 60 cannons, and, if you can afford it, the Neptune figurehead (which may cost more than your ship itself). Buy galleons whenever you're financially able to until you have the max of five. Crews should be kept at 10 per ship until you're ready to go into battle, due to the massive rate at which a full battle crew uses up supplies. When fighting, always target the flagship as your main objective as you gain nothing extra from destroying other ships. However, destroy other vessels if they become a nuisance. Also use your cannons at every opportunity because they prevent the loss of your crew.