Some of you will regard this dlc as a waste of money, because it has no real purpose in the game except for moving a few passengers or a very small amount of goods, from port to port. Yes it fly's quicker than any ship can sail and you can go overland with it which makes travel distance a lot shorter than the sea route.

It is treated like any other ship as far as storage is concerned, taking up one slot in your docks and you set it as Main to use it. then send to Docks when you want to store it and sail a ship again. As far as flying is concerned, it is not very easy. Like a ship, it relies on the wind to move it. But unlike a ship it flies using thermals, so to actually steer it you have to increase or decrease altitude, where it seems to pick up different wind directions and speed. The higher you go, the faster it seems to travel.

To use it you set it as Main, like any other ship and it will be parked at the Jetty like a ship does. Click the Leave Port and use the W key to make it rise and the S key to descend and use the A & D keys as a rudder. Just try raising it and lowering it first before flying off away from the Jetty, because you can only leave it when you reach the jetty area, just the same as you do when in a ship. It is not easy to steer it as like I have said, it goes where the wind takes it and you have to adjust the steering by using the thermals at different levels which also increases or decreases the speed it fly's.

To enter a port, you need to land it near to the Jetty area, to get the Enter Port message, so that you can leave the Balloon.
It will take a bit of practice to get it to land near the Jetty. You can see where your Balloon is on the Map, like you can with your ship, but you must have the Navigation Perk installed, otherwise you won't know where you are. You can set a course like you can with a ship and you can then use the A / D keys to line up your compass to the red marker, just like you can when steering a ship. But, a lot depends on your altitude as to how the Balloon will react, so you may need to use the W / S keys to help by using the thermals. It is quite fun to fly, once you get the hang of it, but it's not for the feint hearted, as it took me over an hour, trying to land it close enough to the Port Jetty, so I could enter port.

Is it worth a buy. Well as far as use is concerned, No,not really, as you can't carry much in it except a few passengers. But as a Novelty and fun aspect, then Yes, because it isn't too expensive whilst it's on offer. There are no instructions of how to use it, but it is treated as another ship as far as storage and use, except the steering of it depends on the height you are travelling and the direction the wind is blowing, so the compass will determine the direction of the wind and the height of the Balloon will also alter the direction when using the rudder keys (A & D).

When you look at the Balloon Hold, you will notice it only has a few slots and looking at the rest of the info, you will notice it has a Paint box where you can add the chosen paint from your warehouse. You will need to have the Paint dlc. The trouble is, the Balloon which is classed as a Rank 7 ship, is not listed in the Paint dlc, when you choose rank 7, so you can't change the colour, but this might be added later, in the next update.

If you buy it, HAVE FUN, but get used to landing it in the right place before to go wandering off, as once you leave port it isn't so easy to get back again and you could spend a long time trying to dock it, so you can get out of it.

Some of you will regard this dlc as a waste of money, because it has no real purpose in the game except for moving a few passengers or a very small amount of goods, from port to port. Yes it fly's quicker than any ship can sail and you can go overland with it which makes travel distance a lot shorter than the sea route. It is treated like any other ship as far as storage is concerned, taking up one slot in your docks and you set it as Main to use it. then send to Docks when you want to store it and sail a ship again. As far as flying is concerned, it is not very easy. Like a ship, it relies on the wind to move it. But unlike a ship it flies using thermals, so to actually steer it you have to increase or decrease altitude, where it seems to pick up different wind directions and speed. The higher you go, the faster it seems to travel. To use it you set it as Main, like any other ship and it will be parked at the Jetty like a ship does. Click the Leave Port and use the W key to make it rise and the S key to descend and use the A & D keys as a rudder. Just try raising it and lowering it first before flying off away from the Jetty, because you can only leave it when you reach the jetty area, just the same as you do when in a ship. It is not easy to steer it as like I have said, it goes where the wind takes it and you have to adjust the steering by using the thermals at different levels which also increases or decreases the speed it fly's. To enter a port, you need to land it near to the Jetty area, to get the Enter Port message, so that you can leave the Balloon. It will take a bit of practice to get it to land near the Jetty. You can see where your Balloon is on the Map, like you can with your ship, but you must have the Navigation Perk installed, otherwise you won't know where you are. You can set a course like you can with a ship and you can then use the A / D keys to line up your compass to the red marker, just like you can when steering a ship. But, a lot depends on your altitude as to how the Balloon will react, so you may need to use the W / S keys to help by using the thermals. It is quite fun to fly, once you get the hang of it, but it's not for the feint hearted, as it took me over an hour, trying to land it close enough to the Port Jetty, so I could enter port. Is it worth a buy. Well as far as use is concerned, No,not really, as you can't carry much in it except a few passengers. But as a Novelty and fun aspect, then Yes, because it isn't too expensive whilst it's on offer. There are no instructions of how to use it, but it is treated as another ship as far as storage and use, except the steering of it depends on the height you are travelling and the direction the wind is blowing, so the compass will determine the direction of the wind and the height of the Balloon will also alter the direction when using the rudder keys (A & D). When you look at the Balloon Hold, you will notice it only has a few slots and looking at the rest of the info, you will notice it has a Paint box where you can add the chosen paint from your warehouse. You will need to have the Paint dlc. The trouble is, the Balloon which is classed as a Rank 7 ship, is not listed in the Paint dlc, when you choose rank 7, so you can't change the colour, but this might be added later, in the next update. If you buy it, HAVE FUN, but get used to landing it in the right place before to go wandering off, as once you leave port it isn't so easy to get back again and you could spend a long time trying to dock it, so you can get out of it.