This guide delves into the different character classes you can choose from, outlining their advantages and disadvantages in the context of the France campaign within Port Royal 4. It then proceeds to offer an intricate step-by-step explanation of the tasks essential for successfully accomplishing the France Campaign, along with a set of helpful strategies to facilitate your progress.
Overview
This manual offers a comprehensive walkthrough of the France campaign within Port Royal 4, guiding you through the intricacies step by step. Given your prior accomplishment in conquering the initial three campaigns, which is a prerequisite for accessing and engaging in this particular campaign, I will make certain assumptions about your familiarity with fundamental actions such as configuring trade routes, procuring vessels, enlisting commanders, engaging in naval encounters, and the like. Should you require assistance concerning any of these elements, there are alternative resources accessible to provide guidance.
Commencing on January 1, 1604, the France campaign extends its narrative until July 1608. It is essential to note that failing to achieve designated objectives within their stipulated deadlines will result in the forfeiture of the campaign, necessitating a fresh start from the campaign’s inception or a previously saved point.
At the core of this undertaking is France’s ambition to establish a stronghold in the uncharted territories of the new world. Entrusted with a significant responsibility, you have been designated by the viceroy to contribute to the preservation and prosperity of French colonies through the augmentation of their presence in this newfound realm. Your duties encompass the establishment of settlements, fostering commercial ventures, and safeguarding France’s vested concerns within this nascent frontier. This marks the commencement of your multifaceted mission within the course of the campaign.
Character Classes Pros & Cons
The Merchant class traits
Throughout this campaign, your main focus will be on engaging in trading activities and establishing businesses. This approach will clearly be the most suitable strategy for the France campaign.
For a significant portion of the campaign, Spain and France will be in a state of war. While there are downsides to conducting trade with an adversarial nation, like the risk of being attacked, not being able to trade with Spain due to the ongoing war presents a significant drawback. Spain holds control over approximately half of the map. However, if you choose the Merchant class, you can still engage in trading with them.
Opting for the Merchant class eliminates the need to worry about trade licenses. All character classes can freely trade with the French colonies. Keep in mind that at the beginning of the game, the French colonies only possess six ports, and characters from other classes will have to pay in order to engage in trade at different locations.
Throughout the campaign, you will encounter situations where you’ll need to lift various sieges. These instances involve relatively small-scale combat. However, if you desire, you can acquire a letter of marque to engage in attacks as a pirate. It’s important to note that engaging in pirate activities will result in a reduction of your fame, thereby increasing the overall difficulty of completing the campaign.
The Buccaneer class traits
Choosing this class during the campaign is a smart decision. The extra discount for “Letters of Marque” will only be valid once due to there being a single declaration of war in the France campaign.
Having an initial bonus of 5 fame is quite beneficial at the campaign’s outset. This advantage will remain consistent throughout the campaigns, providing a substantial and consistently advantageous boost that greatly strengthens the Buccaneer class.
To avoid the penalty for piracy, simply refrain from attacking ships belonging to nations with which you’re not at war. If your goal is to actively engage in piracy, it’s better to opt for a different class. Throughout most of the campaign, you’ll be in conflict with Spain. In this case, purchasing the discounted “Letters of Marque” and targeting Spanish ships is a good strategy, as they control a significant portion of the map and are easily locatable.
The Pirate class traits
If you’re aiming to be a genuine pirate, it might seem like the obvious choice. However, going the piracy route won’t actually help you finish the campaign. It’s probably wiser not to actively engage in piracy, but everyone has their own preferences. Having a pirate Barque to begin with is a nice option, as it equips your ship with cannons. Yet, there’s plenty of time to gradually build up a military fleet, although you’ll eventually need a couple of military fleets to successfully complete the campaign. If you’re interested in pursuing a pirate path and want to skillfully manage your ship to avoid military involvement, you can certainly do so.
As a pirate, you start off with a randomly assigned captain, although whether they’re competent or not depends on luck. If you’re not satisfied with the captain you get, you can start anew multiple times until you find one you prefer.
One of the major advantages of being a pirate is that the cost of your crew is reduced by 50%. This perk stands out as one of the best benefits. This is especially valuable if you’re planning to have multiple military vessels with a substantial crew (although it’s not a requirement for this campaign). This discount continuously saves you a significant amount of gold, potentially even up to 7,000 gold or more per day, particularly when dealing with a large convoy of warships. These savings accumulate rapidly over time.
In the scenario involving France, there’s a considerable amount of trade and business-related tasks necessary to fulfill the campaign objectives. Opting for the pirate route will lead to you spending a considerable extra amount of gold to develop businesses for these campaign tasks.
The adventurer class traits
Getting experience more quickly is a nice advantage for your captains. You’ll need to win a couple of sieges to complete the campaign, so getting a bit of extra experience can come in handy.
The ability to command ships you’ve defeated in battles opens up some interesting possibilities during the campaign. For instance, you can construct Spanish warships that wouldn’t be accessible otherwise. It’s a cool benefit that can prove to be helpful.
A 20% penalty for boarding is significant from my perspective. Boarding is my preferred combat method, so I’m not keen on having a penalty in this aspect. While captain skills can balance it out, I’d prefer those skills to simply provide a bonus rather than cancel out a penalty.
Conclusion
For all the missions, each class is a good choice, some being a bit easier or harder due to their advantages or disadvantages. But you can finish any mission with any class without much trouble.
Merchant: Having a trade bonus is always nice. The ability to trade with Spain even when they’re enemies is really helpful. Spain owns a lot of the map in this mission, so you’ll have to trade with them. There’s a special captain who can do this for you during war, but a merchant can trade anytime. You can stick to trading with the Netherlands and English colonies if you want to avoid Spain.
Buccaneer: This is one of the best starting choices due to bonus fame points. You’ll only get the “Letters of Marque” bonus once in this situation, and you can easily avoid the penalty for piracy.
Pirate: The crew discount is big, but being seen as a pirate could cause issues, especially if you’re attacking countries other than Spain. Any pirate attacks will make you lose fame, which you need for the mission. So, it’s better to choose pirate but play as a privateer. France is mostly at war with Spain in this mission, so you’ll get crew discounts. Save actual pirate activities for free play sandbox mode. You’ll have a tough time building many businesses in this mission due to a big penalty.
Adventurer: You’ll need one or two campaigns in this mission. Training captains isn’t that important here, so the bonus doesn’t matter much. Getting cool ships by buying defeated ones is nice, but the penalty for boarding makes capturing ships harder.
Objective 1 tasks due by: April 1604 – August 1604
To start off the France campaign, your initial goals are centered around establishing basic trade routes and commencing the construction of your town. Once you initiate trade route setups, most of these objectives will practically complete themselves. Achieving task satisfaction comes by merely providing fundamental goods to your initial town.
To fulfill the inhabitants section of these tasks, you’ll need to establish various businesses within your home port, St. Joe. Additionally, you should incorporate residential housing in your port and include a small church in the town center. If you omit constructing the small church, reaching a population of 2,000 residents in your city won’t be possible.
You can tackle the remaining tasks by configuring an automated trade route that halts at each French colony. Proceed to purchase items produced in those locations and sell them in colonies that lack the same commodities. Set the buying and selling of each product automatically, guided by demand.
Objective 2 tasks due by: November 1604 – April 1605
The subsequent tasks revolve around establishing businesses within our ports. You have flexibility in choosing the locations for these enterprises; there’s no specific requirement regarding placement. However, you’ll need to secure building permits to situate these businesses. Certain ports might prove more advantageous than others, and you can gauge France’s controlled ports to determine optimal business placements based on your specific in-game resources.
You retain control over when to fulfill these tasks. Take your time to fortify your trade routes, accumulating extra gold to fund these businesses and prepare for forthcoming objectives.
Ensure that you don’t postpone these tasks until the last moment. Numerous buildings demand resources for construction. Avoid being caught off-guard without adequate resources to meet the due dates.
Tip: Materials like wood and bricks should be routed to ports capable of producing them. The same applies to coal and metal. When establishing Metalware businesses, it’s wise to link them with coal or metal, ideally both, as both commodities are necessary. Construct resource-specific businesses in towns that can supply the required materials, as more businesses will need setting up as the campaign progresses.
Objective 3 tasks due by: July 1605 – December 1605
This series of tasks serves as preparation for the campaign’s next phase: a looming conflict with Spain. To navigate this situation, you’ll need a capable captain to lead your military fleet. In my view, the most beneficial captain skill is carpentry, which significantly enhances fleet durability. Boarding combat skills follow as the second most crucial, succeeded by gunnery skills. These captain abilities expedite manual battles, the most efficient way to advance combat within the game compared to automatic battles.
Tip: Regardless of your advantage or disadvantage, avoiding automatic battles is recommended. You’ll likely lose more ships using automatic battles than if you engage in manual battles.
After completing the initial four tasks, expect Spain to declare war. Consequently, brace for this eventuality while leveraging the peace to bolster your trade routes. The war declaration will extend throughout the campaign’s remainder.
Spain will dispatch multiple military fleets to attempt the siege and annexation of the Galveston port. You can either repel this attempt independently or consider positioning yourself slightly away from the port. The AI will send fleets to break the blockade. Waiting allows you to assail weakened Spanish fleets, relieving the need to fully break the siege alone. The Dutch have also contributed combat vessels to your home port to aid in establishing a robust military fleet. Defeating numerous Spanish military fleets might necessitate more than one combat fleet unless you opt for AI assistance to fulfill this task.
Objective 4 tasks due by: March 1606 – June 1606
Your upcoming responsibility involves the growth of French towns. Based on prior expansions, swift completion is plausible.
To accomplish these tasks, constructing a total of 40 production buildings in various French towns is all that’s required. Mindful building is vital, as excessive production of a single good can lead to distribution challenges. As you are now in conflict with Spain and limited to trade with the Dutch and English due to the six controlled French ports, avoid trading with Spain post-war, as their fortified fleets can cause substantial losses to raids.
Objective 5 tasks due by: August 1606 – January 1607.
Next, we aim to significantly expand business in our colonies and strengthen trade ties with the Netherlands and England. The focus is on producing and selling clothing to our allies.
Unlocking the Cloth and Clothing trades might entail using commendations at the viceroy, which can be gained by offering colonial commodities or engaging Spanish ships in combat. Selling 200 clothing units to both Dutch and English ports is essential. Ensure automatic trade routes are adjusted accordingly. John Hawkins, a skilled captain, can bolster your endeavors with his military fleet. While his skills are diverse, he’s generally a valuable asset, even for combat against Spanish fleets.
Do not overlook the treasure hunt’s riddle clues, as they guide you toward the treasure map’s completion. Meeting three map parts is a prerequisite. Tackle this task timely, as the hunt can be time-consuming, and delays may lead to missed deadlines.
Objective 6 tasks due by: April 1607 – August 1607.
The subsequent phase entails fortifying the port of New Orleans. By becoming the administrator through the viceroy’s concession, aim for 500 workers employed across various businesses. Constructing five parks is recommended, with four contributing bonuses and the fifth possibly aiding future expansion. Raising New Orleans’ satisfaction to 90% requires basic trade goods, parks, and potentially a tavern.
Producing 80 colonial commodities daily and delivering 1000 to New Orleans is crucial. The commodity might differ per port. Expand businesses as needed to meet the goal and avoid buying commodities in New Orleans to prevent negative delivery numbers.
Objective 7 tasks due by: September 1607 – March 1608
The campaign advances with expansive French colony growth. Administering four towns initially and later five is the objective. Each town requires 500 workers and a concession paid to the viceroy for administration.
Strategically open businesses to minimize intercity transportation. Be cautious of overproduction, modifying automatic trade routes to prevent inflating individual goods. Utilize warehouses and larger markets to manage stock and prices. Efficient management prevents oversupply and price drops.
Objective 8 tasks due by: April 1608 – July 1608
Approaching the final phase, Spain’s efforts to annex Galveston must be thwarted. AI assistance and Captain John Hawkins can aid. Additional tasks might auto-complete based on prior actions. Ensuring New Orleans houses 6000 inhabitants involves upgrading residences, churches, and adding businesses.
The ultimate task entails concluding the treasure hunt with John Hawkins, which results in his departure from service. His departure doesn’t affect ships or crew, but his fleet remains inactive until a new captain is assigned. Transitioning to this phase might require another captain to safeguard against Spanish annexation attempts.
Road To El Dorado clues
El Dorado treasure hunt riddle answers
The treasure you seek is the road to El Dorado and while the final treasure map can be in different locations the individual clues are the same locations on the map. Below are the eight locations for the clues given above. There are steps in the treasure hunt when you will be prompted to return to Tortuga before you can continue. This step is only for John Hawkins fleet you don’t need to send your fleets there.
For each of these locations you will need to send a fleet under your control, it does not need to be a captain and can be a simple unmanned schooner with the exception of the step that requires a fight. Here are the clue answers below.
Clue 1
Clue 2
Clue 3
Clue 4
Clue 5
Clue 6
Clue 7
Clue 8
My Treasure Location:
General Campaign Tips
Secure a Capable Captain Early On
Ensure you unlock captains using commendations, preferably those with the Carpenter, Close Combat, Gunner, or Dodge traits. These skills are crucial for leading combat fleets, particularly if your captain possesses the Carpenter trait.
Efficiently Distribute Your Produced Goods
Prioritize using your self-made goods instead of purchasing them elsewhere. Share the goods you manufacture with France’s ports and your allies to save costs and avoid unnecessary purchases.
Diversify Your Product Range
As your businesses expand, consider unlocking advanced buildings using any extra fame commendations. This helps capitalize on the variety of goods you produce. While cloth and clothing pair well with cotton plantations, also consider unlocking beer, rum, and metal wares if possible.
Strategic Use of Warehouses
Utilize warehouses to prevent excess goods from overflowing and affecting your profits. Keep an eye on your warehouse stock, especially for items like bricks, cotton, metals, and sugar.
Consider Transportation Trade Routes
Despite potential route losses, establishing trade routes that move resources between towns can be beneficial. Setting up a warehouse in one port and distributing goods to other towns can facilitate profitable trading.
Optimize Convoy Efficiency
For long trade routes, add multiple convoys and enable the distribution option to shorten travel times. With more convoys, ships can visit ports more frequently, enhancing efficiency.
Combine Ships on Long Routes
When dealing with extensive trade routes, group 3-4 ships together to maximize cargo space. This strategy ensures you can meet the goods demands of distant ports efficiently.
Recognize the Significance of Ship Speed
Even slight differences in ship speed greatly affect travel times. Prioritize using ships with similar speeds within a fleet to prevent speed disparities.
Maintain Uniform Ship Types
Keep ships of the same type together to avoid speed losses during trips. This reduces complications arising from differing ship stats and ensures smoother fleet journeys.
Avoid Excessive Production
While building numerous businesses is important, avoid overproducing goods to fulfill tasks. Excessive production can lead to price drops and profit reductions. Don’t duplicate similar businesses across different towns.
Treasure Hunt with John Hawkins
Engage in the treasure hunt with John Hawkins throughout the campaign. Though some steps might be time-consuming due to the location of clues in Spanish waters, embracing the challenge is rewarding. Be prepared for potential conflicts along the way due to wartime situations.
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