Pirate, Corsair, and Sea Dog

Cove creatures
Level 1
Nymph
Oceanid
Level 2
Crew Mate
Seaman
Level 3
Pirate
Corsair
Sea Dog
Level 4
Stormbird
Ayssid
Level 5
Sea Witch
Sorceress
Level 6
Nix
Nix Warrior
Level 7
Sea Serpent
Haspid
Towns

Statistics
Pirate
Cost per troop  225
	Attack 8 Defense 6 Damage 3–7 Health 15 Speed 6 Movement Ground Size 1 Shots 4 Growth 7 AI Value 312
Special abilities:
• Ranged attack • No melee penalty
Corsair
Cost per troop  275
	Attack 10 Defense 8 Damage 3–7 Health 15 Speed 7 Movement Ground Size 1 Shots 4 Growth 7 AI Value 407
Special abilities:
• Ranged attack • No melee penalty • No enemy retaliation
Portraits

Pirates, Corsairs, and Sea Dogs are the level 3 creatures of Cove. They can be recruited from the Frigate. Both the Upgraded Frigate and the Gunpowder Warehouse must be built in order to recruit Sea Dogs.

"Pirates - one of the main dangers trapping seafarers. They can be found in virtually every corner of the world, though, more often, they rob the coast and sea trade routes. Skilled pirates who deserved respect among Regnan captains called Corsairs. Their skill in fencing allows them to make lightning attacks on enemies who are not able to fight back. Sea Wolves are legendary Corsairs who robbed dozens of ships. Rumored that they keep their prey on the lost islands, which many in the Endless Ocean. Sea Wolves armed with perfect pistols that created by the best alchemists of Regna. Perhaps that is why these fighters shots so deadly." ^{HotA Facebook post}

Special Ability: Accurate Shot

The Sea Dog's Accurate Shot is triggered after a shot: each creature in an attacking stack has a X% chance of killing a creature in the attacked squad, but the total number of killed creatures cannot be more than (number of creatures in an attacking squad) * X/100 (rounded up). X = 3 multiplier for shooting without penalty and X = 2 if shooting with penalty. Ability doesn't work if shooting at creatures behind walls.

Heroes with a specialty

• Anabel the Captain has pirates as a specialty, which increases the speed of any Pirates, Corsairs or Sea Dogs by 1 and their Attack and Defense skills by 5% for every 3 levels (rounded up).
  
• Bidley the Captain can upgrade Pirates and Corsairs to Sea Dogs.

User commentary

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Pirates are great tier 3 shooters with good stats and no melee penalty. Their only weakness is a low shot count (only 4), although it should be sufficient to kill most neutral creatures if split into multiple stacks. An Ammo Cart can also help greatly in prolonged battles. Sea Dogs are without question the best tier 3 creature in the game. They have great stats and a ranged version of the Mighty Gorgon's death stare ability. This is balanced by the high cost of the Gunpowder Warehouse, which prevents them from being acquired too early in the game. Pirates and Corsairs should generally be upgraded to Sea Dogs before engaging enemy players. Like with Mighty Gorgons, care should be taken to maximize Accurate Shot caps when splitting stacks of Sea Dogs. The cap is the real limiting factor: 33 Sea Dogs will never kill more than one creature with their ability, while 34 of them can kill two when shooting without penalty, 27% of the time. Likewise, 67 Sea Dogs is the minimum amount for a triple kill, but the chance of it already starts at 33%. Sea Dogs are in fact very expensive (Unit price is 375g), combined with their regular T3 weekly growth rate, total cost rivals tier 6 creatures. It's not wise to use them in early games, as they are not cost effective.

See also:

• List of creatures

• Comparison of Level 3 Creatures
• Comparison of Ranged Creatures