Presidios. Overview
The Presidios are fortresses left by the Spanish across the Caribbean during their conquest of the New World. They represent powerful strongholds from which your Brotherhood can project your dominion over the sea lanes, fight off the Spanish Armada, and rise above rival Brotherhoods. Your ability to capture, hold, and develop the Presidios will determine your Brotherhood's standing and dominion over the Spanish Main. As your Brotherhood captures and develops Presidios, your control over the Caribbean will be shown on the Dominion Map.It won't be easy. The Spaniards won't give up the Presidios without a fight, and developing them will take teamwork and discipline. No Captain can do it alone - you must join an existing Brotherhood, or start your own in order to fight.
Presidios can be found scattered across the Spanish Main. They may be heavily defended by Spanish garrisons or rival Brotherhoods - so plan your attack wisely.
Any Brotherhood that captures a Presidio will have to defend it from increasingly powerful attacks by the Spanish fleet. While this may sound like a poor proposition for any self-respecting pirate, there's a silver lining: The British Crown has made a secret offer to any Gentleman of Fortune willing to fight the Spaniard - Letters of Marque offering the King's Pardon as a reward for every Spanish sailor defeated in the battle over the Presidios. Units who receive the King's Pardon are forgiven all past crimes, boast higher defensive and offensive statistics, and cost far less to maintain than regular forces. Upgrading your Presidio increases the area it controls; raises it's Defensive Bonus against attacks; increases the efficiency at which it earns King's Pardons and the number it can issue; and broadens the range of Unit types it can Pardon.
King's Pardons/Pardoning
The Spanish Crown has vowed to secure its Presidios, preserve its stranglehold over the New World, and regain total control of the Caribbean - if it means hunting down every last Pirate alive. Any Brotherhood that captures a Presidio must be ready to defend it against waves of attacking Spanish forces (not to mention fellow Pirate Brotherhoods). In exchange for undermining the Spanish, the British have set aside their differences with the great pirate Brotherhoods and arranged Letters of Marque secretly granting them full King's Pardons for each successful defensive victory against the Spanish armada. These can be used to Pardon your Units - making them cheaper to maintain and giving them higher defensive and offensive statistics than your regular Crew. All Pardons earned from defeating Spanish attacks are kept and issued from the Presidio where the battle took place, and can be accessed by any Brotherhood member who's Crew participated in its defense.Dominion Range
A Presidio's Dominion Range (the amount of surrounding territory it controls) is determined by its Level of development and its proximity to adjacent Presidios controlled by the same Brotherhood. This means that two Presidios of identical development Levels can have different Dominion Ranges. If a Presidio is positioned adjacent to one or more Presidios owned by the same Brotherhood, it receives a boost to its Dominion Range - so try and capture as many adjoining Presidios as possible. The total output of all Presidios controlled by your Brotherhood will be the sole factor determining your Brotherhood's position in the Brotherhood Fame Rankings and influence on the Dominion Map.Upgrading Presidios
Once a Brotherhood has captured a Presidio, its members must pool their Resources and Rubies towards developing it. Every Brotherhood member can contribute Resources and Rubies towards the Presidio's next upgrade Level. The progress bar will display the Brotherhood's collected contribution in demarcations from 20,000 to 50,000 Resources of any type. Once the progress bar is full, the Presidio will upgrade to the next Level and its Dominion Range and Defensive Bonus will increase. If a Brotherhood's Presidio is captured, it automatically loses 1 Level after the first 60 minutes. This means you can capture it back without further damage if your Brotherhood reacts quickly.Go to the Brethren Court and open the "Presidio" tab to manage captured Presidios. You can get updates on your Brotherhood's Presidios from your Master at Arms' reports. The Merchant will inform you about Resource deliveries to your Presidios.
You can Pardon increasingly advanced Pirate Unit types by developing a Presidio's Level:
Level 2 - Pirates
Level 3 - Mercenaries
Level 4 - Fleet
Level 5 - Armada.
Keep in mind that a Presidio will attract more Spanish attacks with each additional upgrade Level. This in turn will provide you with more Pardons to Pardon more Crew.
Presidio Interaction (Map)
Place your cursor over a Presidio on the Dominion Map to choose from a set of possible actions:"Info" - Opens the Presidio Stats Window and offers you the following three tabs (if this Presidio is controlled by your Brotherhood):
"Presidio" where you can:
- Send additional Resources and check the Presidio's upgrade progress;
- Monitor the number of King's Pardons your Brotherhood recovers defeated Spanish forces;
- Redistribute King's Pardons to different Presidios (available only for Brotherhood Leaders, Advisers and Commodores);
- View the Presidio's layout and development progress.
"Garrisons" where you can:
- Send reinforcements to a Presidio;
- View Crew currently guarding a Presidio;
- Open the "Presidio" tab at your Brethren Court.
"Pardons" where you can:
- Select the number and type of Units to be Pardoned. Click "Pardon" to activate.
- Review the Presidio's King's Pardon history
"Send Reinforcements" - Select this option to send reinforcements to a Presidio. This option is only available for Presidios currently occupied by your Brotherhood.
"Capture" - Send forces to capture a Presidio.
"Scout" - Attempt to Scout a Presidio.
"Go to the Brethren Court" - Opens the Brethren Court window and allows you to view the stats of any Presidios your Brotherhood currently controls by clicking the "Presidios" tab. You may also send reinforcements to a desired Presidio from this window.
Use the Navigation Panel or Mouse Scroll from the Dominion or Regular Map to view a Presidio's pop-up action menu.
If a Presidio is captured by a rival Brotherhood, all surviving Crew guarding the Presidio will be returned to their Home Havens.
Presidio Interaction (Within Haven)
To control a Presidio from the Brethren Court, your Brotherhood must have captured at least one Presidio on the map. Once you have control of one or more Presidios, go to the Brethren Court and open the "Presidio" tab. From here you can view information on the number and type of Units currently garrisoned at any Presidio occupied by your Brotherhood. Advisers and Commodores can also use this interface to transfer Royal Pardons between their Presidios. Click on the Brethren Court's icon to view the Presidio on the Dominion Map. Click the button in the right-hand part on the screen to open the Presidio's stats window. From here you can add Resources. The Presidio control window is available at the Brethren Court only if you have already joined an existing Brotherhood, or created your own.You will receive battle reports on your Brotherhood's Presidios from your Master at Arms' reports. Your Merchant will keep you informed on Resource deliveries among your Haven and your Brotherhood's Presidios.
To control Reinforcements garrisoned at your Brotherhood's Presidios, open the "Garrisons" tab. From here you can view, send, or recall any Reinforcements you have stationed at Presidios captured by your Brotherhood.
Bonuses Tab and Unified Presidios
Presidios of Level 5 provide special Bonuses, which can be viewed in the Bonuses tab of the Presidio interface. Bonuses first become effective when the Presidio is of Level 5, and directly-adjoined to at least ONE other Level 5 Presidio. The more Presidios of Level 5 (up to a maximum of 4) that are held around the Presidio – the more effective the Bonuses will be.Unified Presidios
If you manage to surround your Level 5 Presidio with 4 directly adjoining Level 5 Presidios, the central Presidio will become a Unified Presidio. Unified Presidios are indicated on the Map with the icon "5+", and provide your Brotherhood with the most powerful Bonuses.
To view a breakdown of Presidio Bonuses, click the "Bonus Requirements" button.
There are two types of Bonuses:
- Presidio Dominion Range Bonus. This Bonus expands your Brotherhoods's Influence over the Seven Seas.
- Presidio Defense Bonus. When a Presidio becomes a Unified Presidio, it will grant an extra Presidio Defense Bonus to all Units garrisoned there.
Attention: if another Brotherhood downgrades the Unified Presidio, it will become a Level 4 Presidio and the Bonuses will no longer be effective. If they downgrade any of the surrounding Presidios, the Unified Presidio will lose its Unified status.