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Crew and Population - Version 9 vs Version 10
Sep 21, 2026, 06:46 AM
Added the Patch 6 change to how Drifters redistribute between islands when a Pirate Camp is built or demolished
Sep 21, 2026, 06:50 AM
Added an official screenshot illustrating the production-versus-drain panel and route lines
11Crew and Population is the haven's labour layer in Corsair Cove. Buildings need workers; ships need crew; expeditions burn through both. The same pool of survivors covers all three demands, and the haven only grows when the player goes out and recruits more bodies. This page consolidates worker tiers, specialist crew roles, and the recruitment pipelines, with cross-references into City Building, Naval Combat, and Cohesion and Morale.22Hands and Crew44Pirates come in two distinct types. Hands live on the island and keep the economy running; crew sail with the fleet, where they raise the ship's stats and keep it afloat. Each occupation carries its own upkeep, so the shape of the population is something the economy has to be steered around rather than a fixed cost.66HandUpkeep per MinuteOccupationDrifters1 HousingAssigned automatically to whatever jobs are openBuilders1 HousingConstruct production buildingsFetchers1 HousingCarry goods between buildingsGreenhands1 Housing, 1 StewStaff simple production buildingsMasterhands1 Housing, 1 Roast Bird, 1 BoozeStaff advanced production buildings89Drifters are the pool everything else draws from, and they take open jobs on their own. Pausing construction or production frees them up again, which is the usual lever when a new building has nobody to staff it. Fetchers are assigned automatically in some cases, but specific work such as stocking a Warehouse needs a route created by hand in the building menu.910All Hands on Deck doubles a building's fetcher and greenhand usage, so it is worth spending sparingly when drifters are scarce. The best targets are buildings with few staff and a large footprint, such as Sugar Cane Farms or Campfires.1112Upkeep is always demanded in the Pirate Camp that a worker's building belongs to, which means a Galley and Tavern have to exist in that same camp rather than merely somewhere on the island. A building can be reassigned to another camp in range, and that reassignment is often a cheaper fix than duplicating the supply chain.1314Ship Crew Roles1516Ten crew roles serve at sea. Swabbies sail on everything; the other nine are tied to specific ship tiers and classes, and each one wants goods that a haven of that size should already be producing. Crew types unlock automatically together with the buildings that supply them when a new ship tier is reached on the Compass.1718CrewUpkeep per MinuteServes OnSwabbies1 Stew, 1 BoozeAll shipsPicaroons1 RumTier 2 and 3 Destroyers and ReaversScallywags1 Cassava BreadTier 2 and 3 Prowlers and HuntersBombardiers1 Medicine, 1 BootsTier 3 and 4 Destroyers and HuntersCrow's Eyes1 Turtle Soup, 1 SlopsTier 3 and 4 Prowlers and ReaversBuccaneers0.5 Tobacco, 0.5 EyepatchTier 4 and 5 Prowlers and DestroyersNavigators0.5 Wine, 0.5 Tattoo InkTier 4 and 5 Hunters and ReaversMarauders0.2 Sabres, 0.2 SpyglassTier 5 and 6 Destroyers and HuntersRenegades0.2 Prosthesis, 0.2 HardtackTier 5 and 6 Prowlers and ReaversCorsairs0.1 Fancy Clothing, 0.1 Pistols, 0.1 JewelleryAll tier 6 ships1920Hiring a crew member costs a fee equal to their upkeep. Dismissing one is worse than it looks: firing any crew member other than a Swabbie costs a point of Cohesion, so it is a last resort rather than a routine way to trim expenses.2021Crew upkeep is drawn in the pirate camp their pier belongs to, which means every community building feeding that crew has to sit in the same camp. A pier can be reassigned to another camp in range, and doing so is a common way to hang a new set of production chains off an established harbour. See Ships for which roles each hull carries.2223How Drifters Behave2425Drifters cannot be picked up and assigned by hand. There is no manual transfer between camps, and no way to order a specific worker to a specific site. What they do follow is simple logic: a drifter looks for a job and a bed, and settles wherever it finds both.2627That makes population routing an indirect problem. To populate a new camp, make it attractive, put jobs and beds there, and drifters will funnel toward it on their own. The corollary is that an over-provisioned older camp will keep holding onto workers a newer one needs.2829One redistribution rule changed after launch. Building or demolishing a Pirate Camp used to make Drifters relocate between islands unexpectedly, which could produce sudden housing outrages in the camp they left; Patch 6, released September 17, 2026, adjusted how that redistribution is handled so it no longer happens.3031GoalWhat Actually WorksMove workers to a new campBuild jobs and beds there and make it the most attractive option. Direct transfer is not possibleRaise total populationTrigger immigration events, and recover drifters found out at sea during voyagesSupport higher crew tiersProduce advanced drink. Basic swabbies need only booze, but better crewmates want goods such as cider or moonshine, and meeting that need raises ship stats3233Recruitment Pipelines3334Population does not grow through passive birth ticks. Every new resident is actively recruited at sea or rescued from a wreck, which couples the builder loop tightly to expedition planning.3536Shipwreck Survivors pulled from wrecks scattered across the archipelago.Raid Recruits crew won, freed, or coerced into service during raids on enemy shipping and settlements.Sea Catches the in-fiction route that lets the player fish whole crew members out of open water.3738Because most recruitment is at-sea work, the city-builder loop and the naval layer are not separable. Expeditions that look like resource runs on paper are also population missions; expeditions that fail at sea pull bodies off the haven's roster as well.3940Population Loss4142Crew lost in combat does not respawn. Sailors who die at sea reduce the haven's labour pool because the same population that lives on the island crews the ships. A botched engagement does not just cost the ship; it pulls bodies off the roster. Recruitment payouts from successful Expeditions are how the population gets back up after a hard run.4344Provisions and Housing4546Workers and crew need somewhere to sleep and something to consume. Living quarters scale with population; taverns, kitchens, and depots feed the comfort and supply economy. Higher worker tiers expect richer provisions: drifters take basic shelter and ale, specialists expect specialist quarters and the better goods. Failing to keep ahead of provisioning drives Cohesion and Morale down, and a fully-emptied cohesion meter ends the run.4748Unconfirmed Details4950Worker and crew roles, their upkeep, and their ship assignments are all published. Still open:5152Whether hands promote between tiers internally or arrive already sorted into their role.Population caps and exactly how housing tiers interact with them.How long crew lost in battle stay out of the labour pool, if they return at all.
