Skull and Bones: Best Ship Weapons and Cannons
This guide covers the five best weapons and cannons types to use in order to gain an edge over opponents in Skull and Bones.
Ship weapons and cannons play an essential role in battle in the upcoming game Skull and Bones. Understanding which weapon systems to utilize and where to place them on your vessel will determine your victory or defeat. This guide covers the five best weapon types to utilize to gain an edge over opponents in Skull and Bones.
Table of Contents
Skull and Bones Best Ship Weapons and Cannons
Equipping the best weapons and cannons is paramount to emerging victorious on the high seas in Skull and Bones. Let's dive into the five essential weapons and pirates’ top cannon picks across categories!
Demicannon: Short to Medium-Range Spread Damage
The Demicannon in Skull and Bones excels at short to medium-range combat with its shotgun-like spread shot. For maximizing damage, mount demicannons on the broadsides for attacking vessels that draw close. The only weakness of Demicannon in Skull and Bones is that they deal low damage when fired from afar.
Flooding Demicannon III
- Level: 98
- Infamy: Cutthroat I
- Damage: 1232
- Flooding: Basic 257 (x4) - Flooding 51 (x4)
- Weak Point Damage: 150%
- Reload Speed: 3.50s
- Fire Rate: 0.02s
- Range: 250m
- Projectile Speed: 400m/s
- Perks: Flooding II
The current best Demicannon in Skull and Bones is Flooding Demi-cannon III, inflicting up to 1232 damage with its Flooding II perk.
Sea Fire: Short-Range Damage Over Time
Sea Fire weapons apply burning damage, continuing to deal fire damage over time after impact. Using an aggressive playstyle, ramming enemies at short range while firing them with sea fire.
The weakness of Sea Fire cannons is that players need great skill to properly maximize damage.
Blue Specter
- Level: 110
- Infamy: Kingpin I
- Damage: 502
- Reload Speed: 11.0s
- Fire Rate: 0.25s
- Fire: +150
- Range: 125m
- Perks: Superheated and Burning III
The Blue Specter sea fire cannon maximizes burning damage, especially when concentrating fire on the same target using its Superheated perk.
Long Gun: Long-Range Sniping
Long guns enable sniping enemies from a distance, softening them up before they can close range. The weaknesses of using Long Guns in Skull and Bones are their long reload time and how they require good aiming too.
Scurlock's Long Nines
- Level: 110
- Infamy: Kingpin I
- Damage: 2234
- Flooding: -
- Tearing: -
- Explosive: -
- Fire: -
- Piercing: +670
- Perks: Mast Breaker, Piercing III, and Tearing II
The Scurlock's Long Nines long gun is ideal for disabling masts and sails from long range with its Tearing II perk before enemies are near.
Bombard: Area-Of-Effect Damage
The bombard excels when facing groups of ships, capable of damaging multiple vessels within its area-of-effect blast. Although Bombards are good for dealing with multiple ships, they are easy to miss enemies because of their slow projectile speed.
Fire Bombard III
- Level: 98
- Infamy: Cutthroat I
- Damage: 2925
- Flooding: -
- Tearing: -
- Explosive: +585
- Fire: +292
- Piercing: -
- Perks: Explosive II and Burning I
The Fire Bombard III is especially devastating with its Explosive II and Burning I perks, engulfing tight enemy formations in flames.
Culverin: Beginner All-Rounder
Novice captains should consider the Culverin as starter weaponry placed toward the rear for broad targeting. They are good options to start off the game because of their decent reload speed and range. However, they will become less useful in the late-game.
Tearing Culverin III
- Level: 98
- Infamy: Cutthroat I
- Damage: 936
- Damage Summary: Basic 936
- Weak Point Damage: 150%
- Reload Speed: 5.00s
- Fire Rate: 0.20s
- Range: 600m
- Projectile Speed: 210m/s
- Perks: Tearing II
The Tearing Culverin III focuses on sail damage, however, the Culverin's balanced attributes become less favorable compared to other specialized weapons.
Basilisk III
- Level: 105
- Infamy: Kingpin I
- Damage: 1230
- Piercing: Basic 1025 - Piercing 205
- Weak Point Damage: 225%
- Reload Speed: 6.00s
- Fire Rate: 0.20s
- Range: 600m
- Projectile Speed: 210m/s
- Perks: Raider and Piercing II
The Basilisk III is one of the best choices for the Culverin type because it concentrates on piercing hulls.
Maintenance Changes (October 19, 2026)
The maintenance announced for Monday, October 19 removes ammunition from the game. Weapons no longer require ammunition to be stocked in your ship cargo or warehouse to fire, so every weapon in this guide now fires without ammo. Tooltips no longer show an ammo type for specific weapons.
Existing ammunition inventory and ammunition crate blueprints have been removed from player accounts and reimbursed. Leftover ammunition was converted to Silver, for example 5 Silver per Mortar Bomb or Buoy Shells and 1 Silver per Cannonball, Bombard Bomb or Sea Fire Oil. Refunds arrive in your in-game mailbox with no expiration date.
The same maintenance includes a few weapon-related fixes:
- Perforate: The Mythic Mod description now clarifies that projectiles can pierce the same enemy ship multiple times, dealing reduced damage with each pierce.
- Blowback: The perk now deals flat damage instead of percentage-based damage.
- Adaptive Arsenal: Weapon damage values now increase under the seasonal bonus for certain weapons.
- Reachwarden Repair Long Guns: Unusual stacking buffs on healing over time were fixed.
Selecting the optimal weapons and cleverly distributing them across your ship presents a vital strategic advantage going forward in your piracy career. Weigh your combat preferences and map out plans for obtaining ideal cannons as soon as the opportunity comes up.
