Curse of Pirates weapons determine how effectively your ship cuts through swarms of sea monsters, enemy gunboats, and ocean bosses. Developed by Funky Parrot and published by HeroCraft PC, the action roguelike equips your vessel with automated crew cannons, equipable magic skills, directional elemental weapons, and boss-exclusive armaments like the legendary Cannon of the Deep.
Success in each run requires pairing your ship's projectile ballistic profile with compatible crew bonuses and status effects, ranging from burning oil slicks to void curses and lightning rays.
Primary Ship Cannons and Ballistic Modifiers
Your base weapon system consists of your ship's cannons, which your crew fires automatically while you steer and dash through hazardous waters. Pressing your active ability key (E on keyboard controls) fires an all-out cannon salvo when surrounded.
As you collect experience and level up during ocean runs, you can modify your base cannon projectiles with projectile traits:
| Cannon Modifier | Combat Effect | Gameplay Utility |
|---|---|---|
| Piercing Shot | Cannonballs pierce through 1 additional enemy | Clears packed lines of chasing sharks and fish swarms |
| Split Shot | Cannon attacks split into 2 pieces upon firing or impact | Expands lateral coverage against widespread patrol boats |
| Multi-Projectile | Unleashes an extra projectile in a row | Increases frontal burst damage against elite naval targets |
| Ricochet | Cannonballs bounce between nearby targets | Maximizes damage efficiency in dense enemy clusters |
| Super Cannon Upgrade | Replaces basic cannon fire with high-caliber ordnance | Drastically raises flat physical projectile impact |
Increasing attack speed and pickup range between waves further amplifies your cannon output, ensuring your broadsides reload rapidly enough to keep pace with escalating enemy density.
Elemental Weapons and Active Ability Skills
Beyond standard gunpowder cannons, Curse of Pirates features elemental and summon-based weapon abilities unlocked through character boons and mid-run card picks. These skills occupy active slots and dictate your ship's elemental archetype.
Radiance vs. Flamethrower
Players on the Steam community forums have noted that certain high-tier weapons share the same equipment slot, leading to distinct playstyle trade-offs:
- Radiance: An omnidirectional aura weapon that damages surrounding sea beasts in a persistent radius. Community feedback highlights Radiance as one of the most reliable slot options due to its full-circle coverage and consistent tick rate.
- Flamethrower: A directional weapon (available up to Level 5 Purple rarity) that deals fire damage in an arc. While offering directional burning, players have observed balance discrepancies regarding its spin speed and uptime—its listed 9-second duration and 8-second cooldown can leave gaps in defense compared to full-area auras.
Electric Ray and Lightning Magic
Selected through lightning patrons such as Skycleaver and Edric Stormblade, the Electric Ray functions as an automatic summoned unit. Once acquired and upgraded, it zaps nearby ships and swimming monsters with sustained electric beams, helping stack lightning damage toward in-game achievements while your cannons handle long-range threats.
Dark Bow and Ghost Summons
Offered by Lord Darkbone, the Dark Bow and associated death boons introduce ghost and poison projectile damage. While early tests by players show its initial direct damage can feel modest compared to pure physical fire, its strength lies in secondary debuffs:
- Dash movements leave a trail of poison water.
- Attacks have a chance to summon ghostly apparitions that stun enemies or afflict targets with ongoing poison damage over time (DOT).
Flame Ward and Explosive Barrels
Fire archetypes supported by Astrid Flameheart and Albrecht add burning hazards to the water:
- Flame Ward: Generates swirling flame zones around the vessel.
- Barrels and Oil: Drops barrels behind the ship that leave oil slicks. When ignited, these slicks deal heavy area-of-effect damage to trailing pursuers and can cause burning targets to violently explode.
Eldritch Grasp and Void Abilities
Affiliated with Zar'Kul the Mad, abyss-themed weapons focus on curses and summons:
- Massive Tentacle Strikes: Summons abyssal tentacles out of the water to smash clustered ships.
- Piranha Swarms: Unleashes hungry swarms that move forward, tearing through small aquatic enemies.
- Underwater Bubbles: Traps enemies while applying random status debuffs and curses, temporarily increasing your ship's elemental scaling and granting bonus armor when debuffs trigger.
Legendary Weapons: Cannon of the Deep
Special high-tier weapons do not appear in ordinary early-level card pools; they drop after defeating major aquatic bosses.
During ocean runs, completing navigation objectives and summoning the Kraken rewards you with the Cannon of the Deep. When dropped:
- Navigate your ship directly over the floating legendary drop marker.
- Open your ship inventory interface.
- Assign the Cannon of the Deep to your vessel's primary weapon slot, replacing your starter cannon battery with the boss-grade weapon.
The Cannon of the Deep significantly boosts projectile potency for the remainder of the run, allowing you to transition into higher-difficulty chapters and map sectors.
Best Weapon Synergies for Run Builds
Curse of Pirates encourages building around distinct elemental tags:
The Critical Fire Fleet
- Core Weapons: Upgraded Cannons with Split Shot, Flamethrower, Ignited Barrels.
- Key Boons: Astrid Flameheart (Fire Damage) and Albrecht (+50% Fire Damage).
- Strategy: Drop oil slicks behind you while turning broadsides into enemies. Take the perk where burning enemies violently explode to clear chasing fleets automatically.
The Storm Cannon Battery
- Core Weapons: Super Cannon, Electric Ray, Bomb ability.
- Key Boons: Edric Stormblade (Extra Projectiles, Thunder rhythm) and Skycleaver (Lightning Damage).
- Strategy: Stack raw projectile count with multi-projectile and piercing boons. The Electric Ray softens incoming diving units while your reinforced broadsides obliterate naval targets from a distance.
The Abyssal Damage-over-Time Build
- Core Weapons: Dark Bow, Eldritch Grasp, Zar'Kul Void Bubbles.
- Key Boons: Zar'Kul the Mad and Darkbone.
- Strategy: Inflict continuous poison and curse debuffs. Every active damage-over-time effect increases your ship's elemental output, while your dash roots enemies and leaves them trapped inside toxic waters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you fire weapons in Curse of Pirates?
Your ship's primary cannons and summoned skills (like Electric Ray and tentacles) fire automatically at nearby targets within range. You control ship movement with your steering controls, trigger dashes using Shift, and activate your all-out emergency cannon barrage by pressing E.
Where do you find the Cannon of the Deep?
The Cannon of the Deep is a legendary drop obtained by defeating the Kraken boss during map runs. Once defeated, pick up the floating loot icon to replace your current cannon system with the legendary version.
Can you equip both Radiance and the Flamethrower?
According to Steam player discussions, Radiance and the Flamethrower share the same equipment weapon slot. Selecting one will generally replace or conflict with the other, requiring you to choose between Radiance's 360-degree area aura and the Flamethrower's directional burst.
What are the best cannon upgrades for clearing crowds?
The most reliable cannon upgrades for crowd control are Piercing Shot (allowing cannonballs to pass through the first enemy) and Split Shot (dividing attacks into two projectiles). Combining these with attack speed and ricochet ensures consistent coverage across wide ocean waves.
