Ship Travel & Naval System

From ferries and port‑hopping to commanding your own warship, the seas of Westeros and Essos are fully navigable — and fully deadly. This guide covers everything you need to know about buying, sailing, fighting, and mastering the naval side of A World of Ice and Fire.

Ferries

Ferries at various harbours transport your party between two stations. The cost is low for small parties but rises with party size. Use them early on before you can afford your own ship.

Owning Your Own Ship

Why buy a ship?

Cheapest form of sea travel in the long run.
Complete freedom of movement on the open water.
Opens trading and raiding opportunities.

Downsides:

High upfront cost.
Limited troop capacity (a ship can only carry so many men).
Speed varies; faster ships are better for chasing or fleeing.
Ships take damage and need repairs.

Ship speed & durability:

Speed depends on ship type and condition.
Wood type affects durability: oak is very durable; beech requires more frequent repairs.

Buying a ship:

Use “See the ships” in the town menu of a port town, or talk to the shipwright.
Port towns may have up to 3 ships for sale, but sometimes none.
The selection changes over time.

Customisation:

In a port, you can customise the sail or paint any ship made of oak.
A special sail is reserved for the player and can be edited via the “Your Custom Sails” folder in the mod’s files.
Once you own a ship, the shipwright also offers to custom‑build ships. Better ships require special materials (which you must gather) and more time. Ironborn shipwrights are the most skilled. The first seven ships you build can be named freely in the ship customisation menu.

Using Your Ships

Embarking:

From the port, click “Sail from port” in the town menu. You’ll appear on the campaign map, at sea, aboard your ship.
Sea travel works much like land travel.

Disembarking:

Two ways: click on a port, or use a landing point.
To find a landing point, travel near the coast or right‑click your party → “Find closest landing point.”
Click the landing point to disembark. Your ships stay where you left them.

If your party is too large:

You can’t embark if your army exceeds your ship capacity.
Use the Camp menu to establish troop quarters at your current position and at the target position, then ferry your army in steps.

Weather at sea:

Check the current weather via Camp (shown on the left). You’ll also get a notification when conditions change.
Windy weather increases speed on the campaign map and in battle, but also raises the chance of damage.
Damage reduces a ship’s condition. When condition hits “Dangerous,” the ship can be destroyed. Check condition via Camp → Fleet.

Morale:

Sea travel is dangerous and can lower troop morale. Notifications appear when morale drops.
Troops especially hate spending the night at sea, so try to make landfall by night.
Very low morale can lead to mutiny. This is partially offset if you chose Ironborn culture at character creation.

Sea Travel Skills

Skill	Effect
Sailing Master	Determines how many ships you can command. Level 1 = 2 ships, Level 4 = 7 ships (max).
Navigation	Increases movement speed on water (equivalent to Pathfinding on land; Pathfinding does not help at sea).
Looting	Higher Looting improves the chance of capturing enemy ships after naval battles.

Troop Abilities

Certain troops, like Sailors and some Ironborn units, are experienced seamen. They increase your fleet’s travel speed on the campaign map. Check the effect in the Camp menu.

Splitting Your Fleet

If you have more than one ship, the fleet speed is determined by the slowest ship.

How to split:

Travel close to a shore.
Go to Camp → Fleet → Leave ship at shore to leave slower ships behind.
To reunite them, bring all ships to any port.
To see an overview of all your ships and their locations, go to Character → Ships.

Ship Combat

Controls:

Up/Down arrows: row forward, fast forward, backward, stop.
Left/Right arrows: steer straight, starboard, hard starboard, port, hard port.
Arrows around the ship icon in the top right show current commands.
Enter: set / raise sail.
Backspace: tactical view.

Boarding:

When you get close enough to an enemy ship, boarding begins automatically. The ships are lashed together and a fight starts.
Win the boarding fight and you may capture the enemy flagship.

Commanding multiple ships:

Ships are assigned to the ninth “division.”
Give them “stand ground” or “charge” commands.
The first troops in your army list are with you on the flagship; the rest are distributed among the other ships.
You can change your flagship at a port or while camping at sea.

Attacking ports from the sea:

With a reasonably large fleet, you can assault enemy port towns directly from the water.
Click on the enemy port town; when you reach it, you’ll have the option to attack without first disembarking.