A skyway pirate adventure
Pirate101 is a turn-based tactics MMORPG from KingsIsle Entertainment where you and a ragtag crew hunt down the pieces of the legendary map to El Dorado. An army of clockwork soldiers called the Armada has broken out of prison and is working to thwart the Spiral, so you need to find the map before they do. You pick one of five classes — Musketeer, Swashbuckler, Buccaneer, Privateer, and Witchdoctor — and each one has its own strengths and weaknesses to learn. Along the way you explore places like the wild west, haunted caverns, and clockwork hideouts, and you meet hundreds of fully voice-acted characters.
Fighting together on the grid
Combat is turn-based and grid-based, so positioning and planning matter as much as raw power. You recruit hundreds of companions over the course of your journey, and using their skills in the right order triggers crushing combos that can turn a tough fight around. The Steam features list Online Co-op and Online PvP, so you can team up with fellow pirates to take down tough bosses, or sharpen your strategy against other players and climb the ranks. Between fights there are side systems to dig into: venture to Bestia to morph and train a pet, or deck out your bunkhouse to make it your own.
Ships, classes, and what to expect
Your ship matters as much as your crew. You customize and upgrade it while navigating the dangerous skyways, unleash powerful ship abilities, and board nearby enemies in a show of nautical force. The game is tagged as Family Friendly and Story Rich, with a long quest to recover the map of El Dorado at its center. It is a Massively Multiplayer RPG, so expect a world shared with other players, and it is listed as Free To Play. Before you start, know that the tactical layer is the core of the experience — learning your class, positioning your companions, and chaining combos will carry you through the harder battles.