Mortar Joe is a recruitable worker in Windrose associated with the Millstones and Gunpowder production. He is hired at the Brethren of the Coast main base rather than in Tortuga, which makes him one of the later worker pickups in a normal progression route.
Recruitment
Property | Value |
|---|---|
Location | |
Cost | 500 Piastres |
Profession | Powderman |
Assigned Station |
Confirmed Role
Current post-launch worker guides agree on Mortar Joe's role even when they differ on the exact output scaling: he is the Millstones worker and improves Gunpowder production after assignment. Because those guides do not fully agree on the exact numeric increase, this page avoids stating a hard percentage until the value is confirmed in a stronger structured source.
Mortar Joe is the Powderman among the four hireable specialists, alongside Rosalinda Mercer (Alchemist), Jasper Crowe (Tailor), and Black Axel (Cook). Each costs 500 Piastres. He is the only one of the four not hired in Tortuga.
How to Use Mortar Joe
Travel to the Brethren of the Coast main base and hire Mortar Joe for 500 Piastres.
Return to camp.
Open the Millstones and assign Mortar Joe through the worker tab.
Craft Gunpowder at the Millstones to receive the station bonus.
When He Becomes Valuable
Mortar Joe is not usually the first worker worth chasing. His value rises when gunpowder stops being an occasional recipe and becomes part of the normal ship-combat or ammo loop. At that point, even a modest production bonus saves repeated trips for sulfur, ash, charcoal, or later refill materials.
Location Notes
Unlike the Tortuga hires, Mortar Joe is tied to a separate faction hub. Current worker guides consistently place him at the Brethren of the Coast main base and describe him as a later pickup because players often reach that base after their first Tortuga worker shopping pass.
See Also
Why Gunpowder Demand Spikes
Mortar Joe becomes relevant once the player stops crafting Gunpowder as an occasional recipe and starts relying on it for a repeated combat loop. That usually happens later than the first Tortuga hires, which is why his base effect can feel weaker at the moment he is first discovered even though it becomes much more important later.
Late pickup timing is normal because the Brethren of the Coast base often comes after earlier Tortuga worker shopping.
His perk is tied to a station that many players do not fully lean on until later.
Once the camp is consuming gunpowder regularly, the Millstones bonus turns from optional to practical.
Recruit Timing and Opportunity Cost
Mortar Joe is usually the named worker with the highest opportunity cost at the moment of discovery. Spending 500 Piastres on him too early can feel slow if the player still needs ships, upgrades, or the earlier Tortuga workers. Once the camp already has those basics covered, however, adding a dedicated Millstones specialist becomes much easier to justify.
Build Inclusion for Firearm Builds
Mortar Joe's gunpowder production bonus is mostly cosmetic for melee-focused players, but for any firearm-heavy build the perk turns gunpowder from a recurring chore into a background resource. Long sniper sessions, dual-pistol off-hand setups, and life-steal pistol rotations all consume bullets and shells faster than the base Millstones loop comfortably keeps up with. Hiring Mortar Joe at the Brethren of the Coast main base for 500 Piastres and parking him on the gunpowder station early in a firearm playthrough removes that bottleneck before it appears.
Builds that lean hardest on the gunpowder bonus:
Big Game Hunter / Sniper: the Reliable Musket is the strongest ranged weapon at this stage of the game and burns through bullets quickly during boarding actions and boss DPS phases. With Mortar Joe assigned, the camp can keep up with sustained sniper play without forcing a sulfur and charcoal run between every fight.
Dual-Wielding Off-Hand Pistol: running Drake's Double-Barreled Pistol as the off-hand for the +15% damage-taken debuff doubles the ammo cost compared to a single firearm, and the bonus production keeps the loop sustainable.
Plague Pistol Life-Steal: the Plague Pistol heals 40% of damage dealt back to the wielder, which encourages spamming shots in tight fights. Production scaling lets the camp refill the magazine between fights rather than restocking from town.
Once Mortar Joe is online, treat gunpowder the same way melee builds treat coin: a passive output of the camp rather than a per-trip resource.
Pairing with Tortuga Workers
For combined firearm and consumable-buff builds, hire Mortar Joe alongside Black Axel on the same play session. Black Axel grants a chance to duplicate cooked recipes, which stacks naturally with the sniper diet of Banana Muffin and Tangy Nut Roll. The combined effect is a base that reliably produces both the bullets and the precision-buff food a Reliable Musket loadout consumes, removing the two main supply chores that slow firearm-focused playthroughs. Both hires sit early on the named-workers priority list once a firearm build has been chosen.