Skull & Bones keeps evolving, and every now and then a ship comes along that reshapes the way you approach the seas. Enter the Sloop of War-a medium, DPS-typed, toxin-leaning workhorse that, when fitted correctly, is one of the most versatile PvE vessels in the game today. Whether you're gutting open-sea bosses, hammering forts, make Skull and Bones Items or holding your own when trouble shows up, this build makes the Sloop of War sing.

 

Below I'll break down why this is the "do-everything" sloop: what makes it tanky despite being DPS-oriented, the weapons and rolls that actually matter, the furniture choices that amplify its strengths, and how it performs in real fights.

 

Why the Sloop of War Works-Toxic Power with Survivability

 

At first glance this ship screams offensive: it's a DPS class ship with toxin mechanics baked in. But the Sloop of War's kit gives it surprising defensive stay-power. The ship's trait (the Plagueer effect) amplifies poison damage and duration-stacking up to +30% damage and +100% duration from consecutive hits-and even spawns a 300m toxic explosion that deals a flat toxic hit to nearby enemies. That explosive behavior feeds the build's "hit everything from range" playstyle.

 

Crucially, being affected by the poison state reduces damage taken by 30%. Paired with armor that has resistance rolls and smart furniture choices, you can be absurdly hard to kill: in testing this Sloop sat at about 47,300 HP and 9,460 brace strength, while remaining fast and highly maneuverable. In short: it hits like a truck and lives long enough to keep hitting.

 

Weapons: Picari 3 Long Guns-Why They're the Right Call

 

This build deliberately avoids torpedoes (the single-target boss kings) and embraces long guns-specifically Picari 3 long guns-to remain effective against forts and in general PvE. The reasoning is simple: torpedoes are fantastic on bosses and some ship classes, but they're weak against structures. Long guns let you rain precise, sustained damage into towers and weak points with useful secondary damage and piercing.

 

The Picari 3 is deceptively strong here because of its toxic free (listed in-game as 20% but actually 30% toxic damage)-a mislabel that moves the Picari's effective damage up significantly. Its damage profile also includes piercing and a +75% damage to weak points, so when you line up broadsides or land rear weak-point hits you'll see the numbers climb.

 

Setup notes:

 

 First long gun roll: Combustion (explosive synergy).

 Second long gun: Siege (more structure damage).

 Third: Second Storm or similar for burst DPS.

 

Weapon reloads in this configuration can be pushed into very short windows-practical reloads around the 5-6 second mark when optimized-letting you maintain density and DPS.

 

Those broadside numbers add up: multiple hits of 3,151 + 1,380 + 920 + 437 + 372 demonstrate big per-broadside outputs that chew hull and structure with ease.

 

Auxiliary & Armor Choices-Sustain + Empower

 

Auxiliary: For a one-ship solution that must deal with both open-sea bosses and fort sieges, the build favors a Little Grace auxiliary (repair-focused) in the default loadout. Little Grace grants large repair per shot (noted as roughly ~1,029 repair per shot in the video testing) and restorative effects that top up severe damage. This makes the Sloop reliably self-sustaining when you're juggling multiple targets.

 

If you're soloing a big boss and want maximum burst, swapping in a Spirit Caller auxiliary significantly increases single-target output-but the default Little Grace keeps the ship flexible for everything.

Armor: The go-to is Buccaneer's Oath for PvE. Why?

 

 After sinking a foe you receive offensive and defensive boosts (the "blood and gold" state).

 

 The plate offers resistances and an excellent suite of defensive stats.

 

 On the rolls: prioritize Survivor over raw passive maintenance.

 

Double Survivor gives massive heals when you dip under the threshold, which, when timed right, produces many thousands more HP per minute than passive maintenance. In practice that means more clutch survivability in heavy fights-which you want as a mid-range DPS platform.Furniture & Workshop Picks-Amplify What Matters

 

Furniture choices are where the Sloop of War becomes surgical.

 

This build stacks pieces that increase explosive/secondary damages, reduce reloads, and specialize against structures:

 

 Rim's Breath Churner-+5% weapon damage to explosive weapons and +20% secondary explosive damage. Because the long guns are running combustion, they benefit from the explosive category.

 

 Plagueer's Ward-reduces reload of toxic weapons and nudges toxic damage up-small but synergistic.

 

 Ramrod Workshops-decreases reload and increases secondary damage for broadsides.

 

 Ammo Priming Bench-boosts structure damage by 20% for siege weapons at range (over 160m), which stacks with weapon Siege rolls to reach something like +50% structure damage when combined with the long gun's implicit effects.

 

 Long Gun Works-increases secondary damage of long guns dramatically (noted as +90% in testing), turning every volley into a structure-shredding event.

 

These mods are chosen to make the Sloop of War a turret-killer and fort breaker while still shredding ships.

 

Playstyle-Sit Back, Pick Weak Points, Repeat

 

This ship is a standoff performer. You want to:

 

1.Engage from range.

 

2.Use long gun arcs to hit weak points (rear and tower weak points are precious).

 

3.Keep Empower stacks up (hits grant weapon damage stacks) to climb DPS.

 

4.Reposition to bait mortar shots or heavy incoming fire, then brace and repair as needed.

 

In a fight against an open-sea boss (the video tested Durk Ankenan), the process is satisfyingly straightforward: drop the Little Grace for sustain, keep your distance so the broadsides land, and exploit the Picari's piercing + weak-point multipliers to pop juicy rear hits. The toxin tick keeps contributing while the long guns do heavy structural work. The captain in the video braced only sparingly; with the blood and gold state active and Survivors in armor, the Sloop tanks comfortably.

 

PvE Versatility, With PvP Potential

 

This isn't a one-trick ship. It's explicitly built to be "one ship to rule all content"-the sort of loadout you can bring to a fort, an open boss, or a random encounter without swapping your core kit. The creator notes a PvP-focused variant will come later, but even this PvE layout holds its own in player fights thanks to solid mobility, survivability (poison-damage reduction + repairs), and the ability to land heavy, consistent damage.

 

If you want a PvP-first Sloop, swap some furniture for reload and maneuverability boosts and consider torpedoes or more focused auxiliary loadouts-but you will lose the fort and structure efficiency that makes this build shine.

 

The Numbers Say It's Solid

 

To recap the practical metrics observed during testing:

 

 HP ~ 47,300

 

 Brace ~ 9,460

 

 Picari 3 effective toxic ratio is 30% (despite the in-game text saying 20%).

 

 Per-broadside hits in the thousands; reload windows vanishing into sub-6 second practical cycles when tuned.

 

 Buccaneer's Oath + double Survivor yields tens of thousands more healing per minute in clutch windows than double maintenance.

 

Those raw figures translate to real map performance: fast clear speed, consistent fort-down potential, and comfortable solo or squad play.

 

Final Verdict-The Sloop of War Is a PvE Powerhouse

 

If you want a single ship that can reasonably tackle all PvE content without swapping builds constantly, this Sloop of War configuration is hard to beat. It leans on long guns and poisoning mechanics to deliver sustained structure damage and melting power while pairing it with survivability that keeps you in the fight.

 

It's not the absolute apex of single-target boss nukes-torpedo builds still hold that crown-but for players who want a flexible, satisfying, screen-clearing, more Skull and Bones Silver, fort-pulling ship that can also survive PvP scrapes, this Sloop of War build hits the sweet spot. Fast, punchy, and surprisingly tanky: welcome to your new favorite all-rounder.