It's About Pirates Ship Fortress Build: Weapons, Crew, and Upgrade Strategy

Why an It's About Pirates Ship Fortress Build Is the Whole Point

A run in this roguelite starts with a slow, single-cannon hull and a "first day at sea" tutorial, then snowballs into a wall of harpoons, mortars, and fire. That escalation is the core fantasy of an It's About Pirates ship fortress build: instead of dodging forever, you stack enough hardware that enemy fleets sail into your problems. The catch is that an It's About Pirates ship fortress build is never one big unlock — it's a chain of small shop decisions, and the game only hands you a few per day at sea.

It's About Pirates is a survivors-like from Elderwoof Games, an independent studio based in Graz, Austria, making its Steam debut after two years of development, according to the publisher's launch release dated November 6, 2026. You combine weapons, items, and a captain, upgrade your ship, and push toward a boss at the end of each run.

How a Run Is Structured

Based on a recorded playthrough of the first adventure, the loop is compact. You steer with the left stick, use a breeze boost to escape trouble, and can toggle auto-attack for your guns. Survive a day, and the game offers a choice between an officer and a weapon or stat upgrade. Then you spend gold in a shop and set sail again.

Gold is the working currency for weapons, crew hires, and upgrades. One caution from that same playthrough: buying a weapon does not equip it. The creator caught himself mid-run with an unequipped purchase, so make equipping a habit before you leave port.

Weapons, Slots, and Items That Make the Fortress

The shop pool is where your It's About Pirates ship fortress build actually takes shape. The table below summarizes pieces that appeared in a single recorded run, so treat it as player experience rather than an exhaustive item list — the release notes promise more than 140 items.

Slot real estate is the hidden constraint. In that playthrough, the front cannon position had to be purchased, and the flamethrower landed in the rear slot. Before you buy a third weapon, check where it will actually mount — otherwise your It's About Pirates ship fortress build stalls with hardware still sitting in the hold.

Crew, Officers, and the Stats Behind the Build

Crew hiring is the second half of any It's About Pirates ship fortress build. Crew members such as a powder monkey, spotter, carpenter, and harpooner supply bonuses to reload, range, armor repair, and lifesteal, and they occupy a capped roster. The important wrinkle: the creator observed that heavy hits cost him crew, not just armor, so a stacked roster is also a fragile one.

Officers sit above crew. One offered entry, Calypso's Wrath, asked the player to collect faction items to level it, and the release notes confirm six factions with unique abilities — a real build axis rather than flavor.

Stat priorities that showed up repeatedly in the upgrade pool:

• Base damage — the simplest reliable multiplier early.
• Pierce and elemental damage — layered on top once cannons are leveled.
• Vitality and armor repair — the difference between a long run and a short one.
• Reload and range — better on slow, heavy weapon setups.
• Morale, luck, and plunder — present in the pool, though the creator admitted he was not sure what morale actually changed at a value of 10.

That last point is worth repeating honestly: if a stat's effect is unclear to you mid-run, take the damage upgrade instead of gambling gold on a number you cannot evaluate.

A Practical Upgrade Order for Your Ship Fortress Build

1. Take raw cannon damage on your first few level-ups. The recorded run opened with cannon level two and never regretted it.
2. Buy one weapon, then equip it immediately. Confirm it appears in a slot before you set sail.
3. Use auto-upgrade as a floor, not a plan. It kept the run funded when the creator forgot to spend, but he repeatedly skipped it and lost value.
4. Reroll a bad shop. When the offerings did not fit, a reroll surfaced lifesteal and repair options he needed.
5. Patch survivability by day five. Vitality, armor repair, and lifesteal keep a fortress build alive long enough to matter.
6. Keep crew slots filled. Empty berths are free bonuses you are declining.

Hazards That Test the Build

A ship fortress build gets stress-tested by sea monsters as much as by enemy fleets. In the recorded first adventure, hammerhead sharks arrived with noticeably more health than the other sharks, eels and mermaids chewed through crew, and a giant crab, an octopus, and a magma turtle each forced repositioning. Environmental hazards joined in: a volcano zone delivered a heavy hit, and an exit timer of roughly 18 seconds turned a farming session into a scramble.

A useful consolation for new players: in that run, dying on the first adventure triggered a second chance with no progress lost. Treat your opening voyages as a place to learn what each creature does.

What the Launch Version Includes

The publisher's launch release, dated November 6, 2026 and captured on November 9, 2026, lists the following content for It's About Pirates on Steam:

That same release stated the game launched with a 15% discount on Steam; it did not specify an end date for the promotion, so check the store page for the live price before buying. As of the November 9, 2026 capture of that release, no price figure was included in the publisher's text.

FAQ

How do I start an It's About Pirates ship fortress build?

Pick a captain, keep auto-attack on so your guns fire while you steer, and spend your first upgrades on cannon damage. Then add one secondary weapon, equip it in a slot you actually own, and start layering vitality before the mid-run monster waves arrive.

Does the game have an endless mode?

Yes. The launch release lists endless mode alongside the 30 standard adventures, plus leaderboards for players who want to compare runs.

How many captains and factions are there?

The launch release lists 10 captains and 6 factions, each with unique abilities. Crew and officers feed into those faction abilities, so captain choice shapes which items are worth chasing.

Is an It's About Pirates ship fortress build better than a fast, dodge-heavy ship?

The recorded playthrough suggests both work, since the breeze boost exists for escaping trouble. A fortress approach leans on damage and repair stats, while a dodge approach leans on mobility. Build toward whichever you can actually execute under pressure.