Sailing Era Speedrunner’s Guide to Andrew

A guide to running through the entire Andrew story as fast as possible.

Speedrunner’s Guide to Andrew

This guide was made as a thought exercise over how to speedrun Andrew, but should also be useful to those who just want to get through the character quick or people who are stuck and want to figure out what to do next.

Warning: This guide will, of course, be full of spoilers. I will be skipping the content of the cutscenes (they won’t even be indicated in the guide), as people can easily watch them if they want, but there will be more than enough hints to spoil part of the story.

You have been warned.

Note: Andrew is the worst character of this game to speedrun. Lots of back and forth, long voyages at sea, and the toughest check of the game to manage. The run is a pain to go through, and takes the longest of all main characters.

Setting Sail/Newcomer Onboard

As usual, Chapter 1 is very much a tutorial. You’ll have more fights than usual in this tutorial, but nothing difficult. It’s also one of the fastest in the game if not for said fight, which is an advantage as Andrew’s story tends to be long.

• Go to the Shipyard
• Go to the Pier
  1. Set Joyce as Surveyor
  2. Set William as Lookout
• Sail to Ceuta
• Go to the Tavern
  1. Talk to Elderly
• Set Sail
  1. Get the Pillars of Hercules discovery
  2. Return to Ceuta
• Sail to Madeira
  1. Fight a single pirate halfway to Madeira
  2. Fight a pair of pirate vessels closer to Madeira

  Note: These two fights aren’t anything difficult (the second can actually beaten by just staying in place and waiting until the enemies kill themselves on your crew), but the drops they have might have an effect on the rest of your game. Getting Sailor’s Bandannas early gives extra speed and, with two, you can skip passing by Copenhagen. The same goes for getting a Hornet Helmet and Hamburg.

• Go to the Trade Center
  1. Sell whatever cargo you looted from the pirates
  2. Buy 2 White Sugar
• Auto-Sail to Lisbon
  1. Use the Offshore Topographic Map: Portugal before setting sail
  2. Once you’ve set sail, put Joyce as Lookout
  3. Put William as Sail Master
  4. Equip a Sailor’s Bandanna on William if you have one

Great Navigators

Chapter 2, like all of the upcoming chapters, is exploration-heavy. You’ll be visiting every port in Africa in this chapter, along with some back and forth to Lisbon. The advantage is that there are no battle in the entirety of this chapter, so you can relax and not stress about being attacked.

• Go to the Tavern
  1. Talk to Julianne
  2. Talk to Sailor
  3. Level Andrew up to 21, and put the point in Shipbuilding
• Go to the Shipyard
  1. Buy two Common Foremast Hard Sails
  2. Buy a Common Aftermast Gaff Topsail
  3. Repair your ship while there
• Go to the Item Store
  1. Buy Offshore Nautical Chart: Portugal
  2. Buy Offshore Nautical Chart: Spain

  Note: Activating Andrew’s Route Pathfinder ability is a major advantage, so you’ll be buying those charts. If you don’t have enough, you can sell every piece of equipment and every ship part save the compass we just got and any Sailor’s Bandanna you have.

• Sail to Copenhagen
  1. You won’t be taking a direct route to Copenhagen. Instead, you’ll be grabbing treasures for spending money. There are three to be found: North of Porto on the Iberian Peninsula (20 000 gold and Rapier), in the bay East of Dublin in England (20 000 gold and King’s Sword), and the peninsula at the top Northeast corner of Scotland (20 000 gold and Celtic Crown).

  Note: Only the King’s Sword is really necessary, and that’s because it sells for 300 000 gold, which will cover your expenses for a long while.

  Note 2: Normally, I’d say to grab the North Sea Fishery and even possibly the Scandinavian Fishery discoveries while near them, but Andrew doesn’t need them for contribution purposes, and (due to a bug) they don’t currently given XP. As such, they are useless detour, however slight they would be.

  That will probably change when this gets fixed.

• Go to the Equipment Store
  1. Buy until you have 2 Sailor’s Bandanna
  2. Sell the King’s Sword, Rapier, and Celtic Crown

  Note: If you somehow, due to the graces of RNG, already have two Sailor’s Bandanna, go straight to Hamburg instead of passing by Copenhagen and do the selling there.

• Sail to Hamburg
• Go to the Equipment Store
  1. Buy Buy a Horned Helmet if you don’t already have one.

  Note: You need both an Horned Helmet and a Horn for the purposes of this speedrun. Again, if you already have a Horned Helmet, skip this place and go to the next (this time: London).

• Sail to London
• Go to the Item Store
  1. Buy Floating Dandelion
• Go to the Tavern
  1. Set William as Sail Master
  2. Set Loris as Lookout
  3. Set Joyce back as Surveyor

  Note: Yes, William is the one we will be building up to Brawling 5, as he already as enough of the other two needed stats that the rest of the equipment we’ll find will let him pass the check.

  Note 2: Loris is needed for the second, less difficult check, which is Music 4/Geography 3. We’ll also be working up to that in time.

• Sail to Genoa

  Note: Grabbing the shipwreck next to Palma is not recommended, as nothing inside can be sold (quite possibly a bug) and it contains no money. As such, it is a waste of time.

• Go to the Tavern
  1. Talk to Scholar
  2. Talk to Experienced Sailor
• Go to the Pier
  1. Talk to Sailor
  2. Remove all cargo capacity for supplies

  Note: Talking to the Scholar and Sailor isn’t necessary for Andrew’s main quest, but it unlocks Bernard’s Gifts, which will be useful in making money later on, along with getting us a specific item.

  Note 2: You won’t be needing to transport anything anymore, so going full supplies makes it safer for long distances.

• Sail towards Tunisia
  1. Grab the Ras ben Sakka discovery North of Tunisia
  2. Sail to Genoa once done.
• Go to the Tavern
  1. Talk to Blanca
  2. Equpi the second Sailor’s Bandanna to Maltim
  3. Set Maltim as second Sail Master
• Sail to Arguin
• Sail to Las Palmas
• Sail to Madeira
• Auto-Sail to Lisbon
• Go to the Royal Palace
  1. Talk to Official
• Auto-Sail to Madeira
• Sail to Cape Verde
  1. Grab the Cape Verde discovery West of Cape Verde
• Sail to Sierra Leone
• Sail to Abidjan
• Sail to St-George
• Go to the Item Store
  1. Buy Nautical Chart: Gulf of Guinea
  2. Buy Nautical Chart: Northwestern Africa
• Sail to Benin
• Sail to Sao Tome
  1. Grab one of Bernard’s Gifts just outside the city (Advanced Telescope, 100 000 gold)

  Note: If you’re not grabbing all of thell, do grab this one, as the Advanced Telescope is necessary for the future Geography checks.

• Sail to Luanda
• Sail to Benguela
  1. Grab the treasure just south of Benguela for Horn and 20 000 gold.

  Note: Do not miss this one! The Horn will be necessary for the tough check needed in Chapter 3, and outside of this chest can’t be gotten except after battles.

• Sail to Cape town
• Go to the Black Market
  1. Buy Nautical Chart: Vasco da Gama
• Sail to Natal
  1. Grab the Cape of Good Hope discovery Southeast of Cape Town
• Sail to Toamasina

  Note: Passing around Madagascar isn’t technically necessary for the main quest at this point, but will be in the future.

• Sail to Sofala Province
• Sail to Mozambique
• Sail to Kilwa
• Sail to Zanzibar
• Go to the Item Shop
  1. Buy the Nautical Chart: East Africa
• Sail to Mombasa
• Sail to Mogadishu
  1. Grab one of Bernard’s Gifts Southwest of Mogadishu next to the river (Laurus Corolla, 100 000 gold)

  Note: This one isn’t necessary and can be skipped if your finances are good enough.

• Sail to Socotra
  1. Grab the Cape Adare discovery on the peninsula east of Socotra

  Note: Technically, you do not need to sail to every East African Port to get this chart, but you won’t be able to use it if that’s the case. As you’ll be going back and forth from Portugal, you will need it for Auto-Sail purposes.

• Sail to Muscat
• Go to the Item Store
  1. Buy Nautical Chart: Arabian Sea
  2. Use all charts
• Sail to Diu
• Sail to Goa
• Go to Governor’s Office
  1. Talk to the Governor
• Go to the Teahouse

Oceanic History

Chapter 3 is where most people have issues with Andrew. Not only is there the most difficult check in all main quests of the game, but some of the quest directions aren’t clear and can leave people stuck for a while. You also need to wait ten days at sea at the start, which some people might not realize and end up not knowing what to do.

• Go to Calicut
• Go to the Item Store
  1. Buy Offshore Nautical Chart: India
  2. Buy Nautical Chart: Bay of Bengal
  3. Use all charts
• Go to the Item Store
• Sail to Kochi
• Sail to Puducherry
• Sail to Ceylon
• Sail to Kolkata
• Go to the Shipyard
  1. Buy an Arab Windsail Ship
  2. Install two Common Foremast Hard Sails at the front of your ship
  3. Install a Common Aftermast Gaff Topsail to the back
  4. Repair your ships as needed
• Go to the Teahouse
  1. Level up Andrew to 31, and put the point in Geography
  2. Level up Maltim to 31, and put the points in Sail Control
  3. Level up Joyce to 31, and put the points in Mapping
  4. Talk to Joyce
  5. Recruit full crew
• Go to the Pier
  1. Put your new ship as flagship
• Sail to Goa
  1. Grab the treasure at the bottom of the Island of Sri Lanka (20 000 gold and Crown of Banten)
  2. Stop before arriving in Goa, then wait until 10 days at sea have passed (you’ll get a cutscene)
  3. Dock in Goa then

  Note: The Crown of Banten is necessary for the tough Humanities check you’ll need to do later this chapter.

  Note 2: Yes, you need to have been ten days at sea before you get the cutscene. As such, staying put is best; docking anywhere resets the timer, and there nothing else that’ll gain you time within ten days of sailing. Just stay in place and wait.

• Go to the Governor’s Office
• Go to the Teahouse
• Auto-Sail to St-George
• Go to the Tavern
  1. Talk to Sailor (topmost one)
• Auto-Sail to Benguela
• Go to the Tavern
  1. Talk to Joyce to start her side-quest
  2. Talk to Sailor (topmost one)

  Note: Normally, side-quests don’t make sense in speedruns, but hers unlocks faster Auto-Sail, and we are and will be doing a lot of that.

• Auto-Sail to Sierra Leone
  1. Stop just before turning towards the port, then sail West to South America, staying as close to the equator as possible
  2. Grab another of Bernard’s Gift at the mouth of the Amazon (Tiny Golden Scale and 100 000 gold)
  3. Grab the Aztec Sun Stone discovery on the south side of the Amazon River
  4. Sail to Bahia
• Go to the Tea Stall
  1. Talk to Sailor
• Sail back to Abidjian
  1. Scavenge the shipwreck just outside the city in the bright spot of sea.

  Note: If you arrive closer to Sierra Leone, go there instead. It’s just a launchiong point for Auto-Sail

• Auto-Sail to Benin
• Go to the Trade Center
  1. Talk to Trade Center Owner
• Go to the Pier
• Auto-Sail to Muscat
• Go to Tavern
  1. Level up William to 31, and put the points in Brawling
  2. Level up Loris to 21, and put the point in Geography

  Note: With that, you have everything that’s needed for the check save an item that comes later.

• Auto-Sail to Puducherry
  1. Stop before turning towards the port, and continue instead to Aceh
  2. Dock in Aceh
• Sail to Malacca
  1. Grab the Strait of Malacca discovery while passing there
• Sail to Jambi
• Sail to Palembang
• Go to the Bookstore
  1. Buy Trade Nautical Chart: Java Sea
  2. Buy Trade Nautical Chart: Banda Sea
  3. Buy Trade Nautical Chart: Celebes Sea
• Sail to Jakarta
• Go to the Black Market
  1. Buy Trade Nautical Chart: Eastern India
• Go to the Commerce Guild
  1. Talk to Wim Mestes

  Note: This is part of Joyce’s sidequest, and if it isn’t available you either haven’t leveled her to 31, or haven’t talked to her in the Tavern/Tea Stall.

• Go to the Shipyard
  1. Install two Shrapnel Guns at the front of your ship
  2. Repair your ship as needed

  Note: There’s a fight against two enemies coming up, and more fights against the Spanish after that. You’ll need those guns.

• Sail to Banjarmasin
• Sail to Surabaya
• Sail to Makassar
• Sail to Dili
• Sail southeast of Ambon to discover Maluku Islands
  1. Fight the Pirate fleet

  Note: this is an easy fight, especially at 2-on-2. Just focus on the flagship as usual.

• Sail to Ambon
• Sail to Ternate
• Sail to Manila
• Go to the Governor’s Office
  1. Talk to Aranda
• Go to the Pier
• Auto-Sail to Jakarta

  Note: By this point, you should have gotten at least the first part of Garaba’s recruitment (the missing supllies scene).

• Go to Commerce Guild
  1. Talk to Wim Mestes
• Auto-Sail to Mogadishu

  Note: Joyce’s last ability will unlock after a few days at sea from this point on.

• Go to the Cafe
  1. Talk to Scholar
  2. Level up Garaba to 31, and put both points in Sail Control
  3. Equip Garaba with William’s Sailor’s Bandanna
  4. Put William as Helmsman
  5. Put Garaba as Sail Master
• Auto-Sail to Muscat
  1. Stop Auto-sail before docking in Muscat, and continue to Hormuz
  2. Dock in Hormuz
• Sail to Basrah
• Go to the Bookstore
  1. Buy the Nautical Chart: Red Sea
• Go to the Library
  1. Equip Advanced Telescope to Loris
  2. Talk to Scholar
  3. Interpret the Ring Seekers using William and Loris

  Note: It may be possible in the future to do both book at the same time, but at this point it isn’t worth it. As such, you’ll be returning to Basrah in not very long.

• Sail to Socrota
  1. Stop Auto-Sail before arriving in Socrota, and continue to Aden
  2. Dock in Aden
• Sail to Massawa
  1. Fight the Spanish fleet

  Note: You’ll be fighting the Spanish right outside Aden. This isn’t a tough fight: just two ships. It’s also the reason why you kept those guns, as they’ll help you deal with the quickly. Dock in Massawa when you’re done.

• Sail to Jeddah
• Sail to Northern Red Sea
  1. Bring four characters and only food
  2. Go straight East to find the exclamation mark (1SE, 3NE, 3SE, 1NE, 2SE, 1NE)
  3. Return to the exit once done
• Sail to Suez
• Go to the Black Market
  1. Buy the Nautical Chart for Smuggling: Indian Ocean
  2. Use all charts
• Go to the Shipyard
  1. Replace your frontal guns by two Common Foremast Hard Sails
  2. Repair your ships as needed
• Auto-Sail to Basrah
• Go to the Library
  1. Equip Advanced Telescope and Compass to Andrew
  2. Equip Horn, Horned Helmet, Crown of Banten, and Ring of King Solomon to William
  3. Interpret Damaged Logbook using Andrew and William

  Note: Once this check is passed, none of the items are necessary (save the Ring of King Solomon, of course). You can sell those if needed.

• Auto-Sail to Massawa
• Go to the Governor’s Office
  1. Get the Land Expedition Qualification permit
• Go to the Post
  1. Take four characters and only supplies
  2. Go 8SW, 8S to reach the exact valid square
  3. Return to the exit once done

  Note: Unlike in most cases, the exact square is not indicated. As such, you’ll need to follow the steps exactly to get there.

• Set Sail
  1. Wait outside Massawa for two days (you will get a cutscene)
  2. Dock back in Massawa

  Note: If you haven’t visited every single East African port, you will not get the cutscene until two days after you’ve visited the last. That includes Toamasina (which isn’t technically on the East coast of Africa), which is the reason we visited earlier.

• Go to the Post
  1. Take four characters and only supplies
  2. Go 7SW, 8S to reach the exact valid square
  3. Return to the exit once done
• Auto-Sail to Lisbon
• Go to Royal Palace
  1. Talk to Official

Circumnavigation

Compared to the rest of the game, Chapter 4 is simple and boring. Just discovering ports and sailing around the map.

• Go to Tavern
  1. Level up your Sail Masters as much as possible, putting all points in Sail Control.
• Sail to Ushiaia

  Note: There are multiple ways of sailing there, depending on how your game went. For speedrun purposes, the best is generally to Auto-Sail to Cape Verde, cancel auto-sail before arriving, then sail the rest of the way manually.

• Go to the Pier
  1. Talk to Resident
• Set Sail
  1. Go a little Southeast and grab the Cape Horn discovery there
  2. Sail to Valparaiso once that’s done.
• Sail to Copiapo
• Sail to Lima
  1. Buy Nautical Chart: American West Coasts
  2. Use the Chart you just bought
• Sail to Lambayeque
• Sail to Tumbes
• Sail to Panama
• Sail to Guatemala
• Sail to Acapulco
• Auto-Sail to Lima
• Go to the Shipyard
  1. Instal two Shrapnel guns in the front of your ship

  Note: You’ll need those now as there are no shipyards before the next battle.

• Sail to Whanganui
• Sail to Hiva Oa
• Sail to Hawaii
• Sail to Samoa
• Sail to Samarai
• Auto-Sail to Dili
  1. Fight the Spanish on the way
  2. Continue to Dili once that’s done

  Note: This is the toughest fight to date, but it isn’t that tough. Three ships but nothing too dangerous. Just mow the crew of the flagship with your Shrapnel guns, and continue on your way.

• Auto-Sail to Jakarta
• Go to the Shipyard
  1. Install two Foremast Hard Sails in the front of your ship

  Note: these will only be there temporarily as we have one last fight to go through.

• Auto-Sail to Goa
• Go to the Governor’s Office
  1. Talk to Governor
• Auto-Sail to Sofala Province
• Go to the Shipyard
  1. Install two Shrapnel guns in the front of your ship
• Auto-Sail to Luanda
  1. Fight Aranda between Benguela and Luanda
  2. Dock in Luanda after that

  Note: This is the toughest mandatory fight of the game for Andrew, though it doesn’t compare to some of the fights that other main characters have to face. Let the Fortuna act as your decoy for as long as it can, and while she does that, mow down the enemy flagship. It’s more risky than usual as the four ships have decent broadside, but it’s quite doable.

  And, once that’s done, there isn’t any more difficulty left in this run.

• Go to the Tea Stall (if needed)
  1. Recruit crew
• Auto-sail to Lisbon

  Note: And now you’re done, save the final cutscenes.