Duty Navigation: Tips & Tricks

The duty navigation puzzle serves two purposes. For one, it works as a multiplier that impacts the efforts of your sailors. So, by having a duty navigator in addition to your sailors, you can accelerate your ship even faster. However, without any sailors, duty navigation does you no good, at all. Also, duty navigation is used to memorize league points, which is usually what the puzzle is used for. As it can't be used in battle, it's simply not used much on pillages or commodity runs (although some folks do prefer using duty nav and allowing swabbies to sail on commodity runs - I oppose that concept, but some prefer it). So, in general, the main benefit of duty navigation is memorizing league points.

It's known that you memorize league points faster (in less passes) if you perform better at the duty navigation puzzle. Therefore, the better you are at the puzzle, the less time you'll have to spend memorizing to learn your routes. Some folks complain of having to make 6-8 passes over a league point to memorize it. Garnering Excellents and Incredibles, I can normally memorize any league point in 4-6 passes (usually 4-5). So, if that's the case, let's talk about how to be a good duty navver.

Duty Navigation is different from most puzzles in Y!PP in that it isn't based largely around combos. Sure, you can combo in duty nav, but it's very difficult and I never even bother to try. Regardless of not doing combos, I've climbed as high as #11 on Midnight. If you really want to get to #1, I'd suggest spending some time learning about combos and then you can write about how to be a good duty navver. ;) The scoring is based on clearing constellations - the larger the constellations, the more your indicator is impacted. As such, when you first start duty navigation (at Able standing), you're going to have very small constellations which won't be worth much. As you increase your standing, however, your constellations will become more complicated. This means that they'll take more effort to complete, but they'll also have a greater impact on your duty report. Here's an example of a basic 5-star constellation. The easiest constellations will have only 2 or 3 stars in them - the most difficult will have around 8.



However, while Duty Navigation may be different in that it's not largely combo-based, it's very similar to most puzzles in that a little planning will take you a long way. Actually, I'd go as far as saying that the duty nav puzzle is almost entirely about planning.

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Replacing Lower Circle Pieces

Filling the first constellation is usually pretty simple. You just drop stars as you need them and you're good as gold. The real trouble comes when you have to complete constellations and you have existing stars in your way. Sooner or later, you're going to run across a situation like this:



In this case, we have an orange star in the lowest ring that's preventing us from putting the yellow that we need in that place. So we need to find a way to clear that orange star and replace it with a yellow. It's not a complicated process - let me guide you through what the steps are.



And, to go along with that, just so you can see it in action, here's a quick video of me doing the same maneuver. In this case, I'm trying to replace an orange in the inner ring with a blue star.

Video Sample

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Planning For the Future

Quite often, it seems like you get a lot of stars that don't fit into the constellation so you can just drop them anywhere. Beware - what you don't pay attention to now may come back to haunt you later. Take a look at this example:



In this case, I've got a red star coming that I simply don't need. I could easily just drop it where it is. But, what happens if I do? Then I have two red stars on top of one another (the red star on the inner ring is even part of the constellation). If it takes me a while to get the orange star needed to clear this constellation, I may have to be careful not to accidentally clear that column of reds. If I do accidentally clear it, I may have to start all over, which is costly.

Okay, so that example is a little contrived and not too hard to deal with, but what about this situation?



In this case, I have two oranges stacked - one of which is part of my constellation, so I don't want to clear it. Both the inner and middle rings are locked into place because it helps me clear my constellation. What's worse is that, to complete this constellation, I need two yellow stars. The chances of me getting two yellow stars prior to getting one orange one are not good. That means that I'm probably going to end up with an orange star in my outer ring and I'm going to have to be careful about moving it about so that I don't accidentally clear that column and ruin my constellation.

These situations aren't always avoidable - sometimes you just get stuck in such situations. However, a bit of planning can help you avoid them as much as possible. Even if you can't avoid the situation, being able to recognize that you don't want to accidentally clear that column can help you clear your constellation without a gaffe.

"Fixing" Troublesome Setups

The situation I just pointed out isn't hopeless - far from it. If you're really getting taxed for space in the outer ring and you have an orange star out there, you may want to try to clear it out, giving you some more freedom to move.

In this case, we're fortunate in that there is another orange star in the inner ring. If another orange falls to us in the outer ring, we can shift the inner ring counter-clockwise one position. This action maintains the formation of the constellation in the inner ring (although it's now offset by one position) but allows you to clear the "new" column of oranges safely, making the constellation easier to complete.

Be wary of using this strategy when your outer ring is getting quite full. As you rotate the inner and middle rings, you might find yourself accidentally making clears where you don't intend to and potentially destroying your constellation. This brings me nicely to my next point.

Buying Yourself Time

There are five different colors of stars in the navigation puzzle: red, yellow, white, blue, and orange. As such, you can expect that it'll take, on average, about 5 stars before you get a repeat of the same color you just got. Of course, what star you actually get is random, but the law of averages plays its part, here.

Look again at the previous example. I need two yellows to complete that constellation. Unfortunately, if you count the red one that is falling, I only have 8 positions remaining in my puzzle before I booch. Will I get two yellows before then? I don't know, but it'll probably be dang close. This is a great example of a situation in which I'd like to "buy some time."

Buying time is really just the process of clearing stars in rows or columns to give yourself more room. The most important part of this, though, is that you must clear them without jeopardizing the integrity of your constellation. If you screw up your progress, you really cost yourself more time than you saved.

As I mentioned earlier, you can try to "repair" the column of oranges. Not only does that make the constellation more manageable, but it also opens up three additional spaces on your board, giving you more opportunities to get the two yellow stars needed to complete the constellation.

Any other possible clears that stand out? How about the whites extending off to 3 o'clock? Those have nothing to do with the constellation and are already lined up, just waiting to be cleared. That would be a great way to open some more space.

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Okay, I've rambled on long enough about duty navigation. Hopefully, some of the above makes some sense. As usual, if you have questions, post them here.

Below is a link to a video of me doing some duty navigation. Be warned that I went for video quality over file size, so it is a very hefty download (just over 47 MB, zipped).

Duty Navigation Sample Video

Duty Navigation: Required Reading

Unfortunately, there just isn't much for tutorials on duty navigation. Here are a few things that will help to get you started, though.

YPPedia Entry for Duty Navigation

Duty Navigation Tips Thread on the Y!PP Forums

Scarymuffin's Navigation Video

Start there and I'll come back with some of my own tips shortly.

Power Memming

If you're serious about memorizing the entire ocean, you're eventually going to have to do what is known as "power memming." Power memming is the process of hopping on a boat and then putting everything you have into memming as quickly as possible. There are a number of things to keep in mind to make the most out of your time memming.

Chart Long Routes

Chart the longest route you can chart (that's feasible). For example, if you need to memorize the entire route from Remora to Vernal Equinox, chart the entire thing, if possible, rather than just Remora to Beta. This will help in a few ways.

For one, if you're asking someone else to hop on and chart for you (and rechart once you reach the end of the route), you don't have to bother that person as often.

For another, how well you perform the duty nav puzzle directly impacts how long it takes to memorize a given league point. It often takes a league or so to get your indicator sparkly, so that first league is going to be tough to get a good score on. However, once you're going, you might as well make as much as you can out of that glowing indicator.

Watch Out for Brigands

It may go without saying, but being engaged by brigands just slows down the memorization process. While playing the duty nav puzzle, be sure to keep an eye on your ship and watch for brigands moving in. If you have to, do a quick "Turn About" to avoid the brigands. A little lost speed is well worth it, if you can avoid an entire battle.

If you do get caught in a battle, you'll probably have to switch to sails to augment the token production of your bots. In general, when I'm out memming, I don't even carry any shot. So, when I get into a fight, I just run away for 10 turns, disengage, and then go on with my memming.

Get a Helper

One problem with memming is that, when you reach the end of the route, you need to leave the duty nav station and rechart (assuming you're using charts). Whenever you leave the duty nav station, your indicator resets. What's worse is that you're probably already at max speed so, once you rechart and get going, you're going to have even less time than usual to get your indicator sparkly. This might not only booch your score at the first league point, but the second, as well.

A potential solution to this is to bring someone else aboard to help out. That person will probably sail to help you get up to speed quickly (and thereby enable you to avoid brigands) and, when you reach the end of the route, rechart back over the same route again. Note that this only works if the other person has access to chart your ship (an officer in the same crew as you, for example). The great thing about this is that you never have to leave the duty nav station. You can just keep puzzling away and you never have to lose your sparkly indicator. The downside, though, is that you have to impose on someone else to sit on your ship with you and you also never really know when you're "done" memorizing the route because you're not looking after each pass. This technique works great when you're just starting a route and you know it's going to take a full 5-6 passes to get it memmed. When you're down to a handful of league points, this method loses its effectiveness, because you're going to want to leave the station anyway, just to check your progress.

Memorization: How to Get Routes Charted

In order to nav a course, you need to first get that course charted. You have two options here - you can either chart it yourself (meaning that you must own the chart for that route) or you can get someone else to do it for you.

Step 1: Use the Navy

Memorization of the ocean may be the single best use of the navy (well, maybe except for the "Defeat Brigands" missions which are never run by the folks that need it most, but that's a different story). Once you have Broad experience in bilge, sailing, carpentry, and gunnery, you can take navigation missions from the navy.

What's so great about navigating with the navy?

1. The navy will automatically chart a random course for you within the arch you're in (including interarch routes). You need no chart and you need no one to come chart it for you.

2. You don't need to worry about being attacked on the high seas because no one can attack a navy vessel.

3. You get paid to mem! Sure, it's not a lot, but you're still getting paid, and that's something.

What's not so great about navigating with the navy?

1. The routes it gives you are random. That means that, even if you already have Spring-Epsilon memorized, it may still show you that route...over and over and over again. You just need to be patient and keep checking the mission list for a different route. They change periodically. This becomes more and more of a problem as you successfully memorize more and more of the arch in question.

2. Not all routes are available. You can get a whole lot of routes by navving with the navy (I think you can get all the interarchs, but I'm not quite certain). Nonetheless, the navy covers nearly any route you'd ever want to sail. Most routes not offered are routes that go to uninhabited islands. Unless you're big on foraging, those routes probably aren't a big deal.

Step 2: Find Charts

Once you've memorized everything the navy will allow you to memorize, you're going to have to go out on your own and start memming. This can be a bit of a pain because you're now open for attack (don't carry much - just some rum will do) and it'll cost you PoE to go memming, as you need to stock the ship.

Of course, now you need to chart the courses yourself, because the navy won't do it for you. That means you need to either have the chart for the route in question or you have to have a mate that knows the route and can chart it for you.

If you're looking for a specific route, there are a number of places you might check for charts. For one, check with mates in your crew and/or flag. They may very well have the chart lying around somewhere. If it's a particularly troublesome route, check out the Buying/Selling Charts thread in your ocean's bazaar forums. (That link is for Midnight.) You may be able to find someone selling the chart you're after. You can also sell the charts you no longer need out there, getting you a little PoE back and, more importantly, helping others accomplish just what you're trying to do: memorize the ocean.

Another place to find charts, which may seem a little odd, at first, is at skellie fights. Quite often, people bring extra charts with them to skellie fights to use as their wager items. Whether you take part in the fight or are just watching, you can see the list of items won by folks when the fight is over. Scan through that list and see if you spot some charts that you need. Quite often, you won't find any charts in there that you can't already buy elsewhere, but occasionally you hit the jackpot. If you find a chart you need, send the winner of that chart a polite tell asking if you can buy it. Often, they won't want it, anyway, and just hand it over. And, if they'd rather sell it, 100 PoE is usually enough to get it in your pocket. It may not be the greatest place to find charts, but I found a few that way.

Step 3: Watch for Helpful Charters

There are quite a few folks out there that have the entire ocean memorized. Most likely, all of those folks had some help getting it done, from others that would chart routes for them so they could memorize them. Many of these people look to "give back" by simply helping the next group of folks memorize routes.

Maybe you have someone like this in your own crew or flag. Ask around.

Once in a while, you can find "events" like this one (which is coming up soon) in which you'll have a whole crew of folks willing to help you memorize the ocean. Events like this are a spectacular way to memorize large chunks of the ocean. I memorized nearly all of Sapphire in a single morning thanks to a similar event.

Memorization: Required Reading

Memorization is the process of navigating over a league point so many times that you get to know it "by heart." Once a route is fully memorized (or memmed, for short), you never need a chart to sail that route again. Some things you should read to get the basics down regarding memorizing routes:

YPPedia Article

Also, as memming routes is primarily about duty navigation, you should read this, too.

I'll post more tips as time goes on, but this is a great place to start.