Explanation
A common issue I see brought up in the forums, but never addressed in a post, is the ability to spawn with, and purchase additional supplies. This allows players to return to fights they've lost much faster, occasionally resulting in them sinking 4-6 times (personal experience & opinion, don't take that number too seriously).
I don't think players should be forced to go around collecting supplies before they start a session all the time. Eventually they will gather an appropriate amount and return regardless. However, the ability to spawn with a decent amount of supplies, and still obtain even more, allows players to return to fights they lost at an overinflated rate.
While this isn't as frustrating to me anymore, as I can consistently sink returning ships with minimal supplies, I can absolutely understand the frustration from newer players. They are usually forced to divert their entire attention to sinking the same ship, possibly risking more supplies than they can gain.
Starting Supplies Changes
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Reduce the amount of Chainshot to 2 in the top barrel. This allows them to take down a sloop mast once, both Brigantine masts, and all but one Galleon mast.
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Reduce the amount of cannonballs to 25, allowing them to get arguably great pressure in on an enemy ship regardless of size
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I would argue the current amount of throwables is okay, as there are enough Blunderbombs to get 2 kills, or rotate an enemy ship about halfway one direction
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Reduce starting wood to 15. Leaves 9 planks to repair holes if the wheel and mast are tier 3.
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There's food in the starting barrels? (Imo no changes needed, arguably, a bigger ship may even need a lil more food)
Captaincy & Merchant Changes
Rather than changing the amount of supplies players receive from the Captaincy and Merchant supplies, I think limiting players to a single supply purchase, a storage crate, and the bait crates (probably not even necessary with Hunters Call) will give players a sense of choice for their adventure, depending on what they need. For PvP, I might take food, but for ghost fleets, I might just do cannonballs.
Shaky about not reducing the amount, but as always, this is only a suggestion