Earn Double When Selling Loot (Emissary System)
There is a new system in the game called Emissaries, where you choose to represent a certain trading company during that session by adding a shiny new flag to your ship. Doing Voyages from that company, obtaining loot associated with that company, and doing random events (explained at the end of this guide) will increase the Level of your Emissary flag. Selling loot to that company while having an Emissary flag will multiply the value you sell the loot for, as well as the reputation earned with that company, depending on the flag’s level.
For example, if you sell stuff to the Gold Hoarders while a Lvl 4 Gold Hoarder Emissary flag is happily flapping on your ship, the loot’s value is doubled. At Lvl 5 (the maximum), loot is +150% value (halfway between doubled and tripled). Lvls 2 and 3 offer smaller-value boosts.
The 5 notches in the top flag and full circle around the skull in the leftmost flag indicate these Athena’s Fortune Emissaries have reached Lvl 5.
Whenever you stop representing the Emissary by lowering the flag, you get an instant gold reward (up to 5,000 at lvl 5) and a substantial reputation boost with that company. Lowering the flag is usually done when you have to leave the game (finish the session), or when you reach Lvl 5 and get the bonus mission (read the next paragraph).
At Lvl 5 Emissary, a new prompt will appear with that company’s representative to get some special, bonus maps called Emissary Quests. These maps give better loot than typical treasure maps and are generally very worth your while to do. At this point, it is usually best to sell all that company’s loot first for +150% value, get the bonus quests, lower the Lvl 5 flag, and start representing the company again from scratch at Lvl 1. This way, when you do the Emissary Quests, you’ll raise the flag to Lvl 5 again, get a new set of Emissary Quests, lower your flag again, get up to Lvl 5 again etc. This is the core loop of the Emissary system! By doing this, you take full advantage of the great Emissary Quest loot while also getting nice boosts in reputation with each flag lowering.
Important: Remember to get the Emissary Quests with the NPC before lowering the flag!
As such, the Emissary system rewards you for having long play sessions (where you’re able to do the core loop over and over) and keeping your loot in the ship for longer (so you can sell all of it at once at Lvl 4 or 5).
The only downside with being an Emissary is that the shiny new flag can make you a more attractive target for other pirates, since broken Emissary flags obtained by sinking other ships can be sold at the Reaper’s Hideout for up to 10.000 gold for a Lvl 5 flag. Reaper’s Bones Emissary players, however, can get up to 25.000 for the same Lvl 5 broken flag by getting their flag to Lvl 5 themselves! Luckily, Reaper’s Emissaries are always marked on the map and visible to all.
Reaper’s Bones Emissaries that reach a Lvl 5 flag and return to the Reaper’s Hideout NPC will not receive an Emissary Quest, but instead will gain the magical ability to see the position of any Emissary ship from other companies currently on the server, neatly marked on their ship’s map! You can see what level a Reaper’s Bones Emissary is by counting the red notches next to their ship on the map.
A Reaper’s Bones Emissary at Lvl 1 appearing on the map. If you count 5 red bars on that flag and you’re an Emissary, beware… you’re probably being watched!
Due to the incredible boost of income and reputation it provides, I fully recommend being an Emissary whenever you can.
To get an Emissary flag, cast your vote on the tables beside the respective company’s NPC at outposts. The majority of the crew needs to vote at the table before the Emissary flag can be raised or lowered.
Luckily, you don’t need to go to Reaper’s Hideout to represent Reaper’s Bones: they have a table in each outpost. Look for a hanging skeleton somewhere on the island, usually near beaches.
Yet another side note about Reaper’s Bones Emissaries: unlike the other Emissaries, these guys have a hard time earning Emissary levels by obtaining loot, unless it is stolen from other players. They level up much faster by engaging in PvP and doing random events, especially Forts (see RANDOM EVENTS).
On the upside, any type of loot can be sold at the Reaper’s Hideout.