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Build around the heroes you have unlocked and the ship you want to improve. Put each hero in a ship position that suits their role, make the crew’s damage plan fit the ship, and invest in heroes you can actually develop. A famous late-game lineup is not a useful early-game target if its heroes or ships are out of reach.
Start with your roster and the ship you are building
There is no single starter crew that fits every account. Hero availability, recruitment pools, server conditions, and game progression can differ, so begin with the heroes you own rather than a tier list’s ideal endgame roster. The current independent Heroes Guide assesses heroes by role, damage type, star level, and availability; those are useful factors to weigh together.
Before assigning anyone, decide what the ship needs to do. Compare the available heroes on four points:
- Role and seat fit: Does the hero’s role suit the ship position you are filling?
- Damage type and synergy: Does the hero support the kind of damage this ship is built to deliver?
- Development: How developed is the hero now, and can you realistically keep investing in them?
- Availability: Is the hero already unlocked, or is obtaining them dependent on a changing recruitment pool?
A coherent crew of heroes you can build up is a more dependable early-game choice than a collection of sought-after names with mismatched roles or little development.
#1 Best Overall
Place heroes in roles that suit them
Captain, First Mate, and Gunner are examples of ship roles discussed in Pocket Gamer’s Sea of Conquest guide for starting players. Treat the role shown in your game and the seat’s function as the practical guide: assign a suitable hero to command the ship, then fill First Mate, Gunner, and any other available positions with heroes whose roles and damage plan complement it.
When choosing between two heroes for the same seat, first compare role fit, then damage synergy, development level, and how readily you can continue developing each one. Do not assume a hero is automatically the better pick just because a guide ranks them highly; rankings may reflect a different version, account stage, or roster.
Use story heroes as a bridge, not a fixed meta
Pocket Gamer’s February 2024 beginner guide describes an early progression in which players start with Henry Hells and obtain Jango as a captain for their first additional ship through the story. That is a dated progression example, not a guarantee of the current unlock sequence. Check your own story rewards and available crew in the live game before planning around either hero.
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Rank #2
- PHOENICIAN SEA EMPIRE: Lead the legendary city states of Tyre, Sidon, Byblos, or Arwad as you command fleets, expand influence, and recreate the achievements of master traders and navigators across the ancient Mediterranean.
- STRATEGIC DICE PLACEMENT: Use dice-placement and action selection mechanics to construct ships, mobilize fleets, research technologies, and make critical decisions that shape your path to victory.
- COMMERCE OR CONQUEST: Pursue victory through trade dominance or military strength by fortifying routes, upgrading ships, and controlling key locations without relying on traditional victory points.
- CONTROL ANCIENT TEMPLES: Compete for valuable temple sites across the map, using strategic positioning and careful planning to gain influence and achieve your ultimate objective before opponents.
- EPIC MEDITERRANEAN GAMEPLAY: Designed for 2–4 players ages 14 and up, with approximately 120 minutes of playtime focused on fleet management, exploration, trading, and ancient civilization strategy.
Develop a balanced fleet gradually
As your account grows, plan for ships that contribute damage, defense, and support rather than putting every resource into damage alone. The current independent fleet setups guide presents those as complementary parts of fleet planning. Its specific hero and ship combinations may suit later progression, so use the roles as a direction to grow into, not a mandatory early-game three-ship lineup.
For each ship you can field, ask whether it adds damage, helps the fleet survive, or provides support. Early accounts may not have the ships or heroes to cover every function at once; make the strongest coherent crews your roster allows and broaden the fleet as you unlock more options.
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Keep development decisions qualitative: concentrate on heroes who fit the ship, are useful in their assigned roles, and are realistically available for continued investment. Avoid spreading effort across heroes solely because they appear in a late-game recommendation. The current hero guide’s role, damage-type, star-level, and availability framing is a useful way to reassess the roster as it changes.
Recruitment advice is especially version-sensitive. FunPlus’s official draw-probability disclosure describes guarantees and notes that available pools may vary with game progress and server group. Check the pool and odds shown for your own active in-game banner before making a decision; a localized or older hero list is not a universal promise of what you can recruit.
Keep the goal focused on in-game choices
Crew strength comes from the game’s hero and ship systems: matching roles, damage plans, and development to the account you have. FunPlus describes crew formation and ship customization as core parts of Sea of Conquest, and its launch announcement also refers to hero trials and choosing hero combinations. The task is to make good use of those in-game options, not to acquire a physical accessory or other product.
Quick Recap
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