Hello all. Veteran Ship player here with some advanced strategies that I've learned. This isn't a beginner's guide. I'm writing this because there seems to be a death of advanced players of The Ship, and hopefully this will teach and encourage people to play it more competitively.

To win a game of The Ship you need to:
1. Find high MFK weapons.
2. Kill your quarry consistently with them.
3. Do this before someone else does.

And that's it! All of the other game mechanics like clothes and needs don't require your attention nearly as much as these three steps.

NOTICE: WORK IN PROGRESS

Sometime it's better to show you rather than explain it to you. This is my first attempt at a video, so sorry about the intermittent mumbling.

The most important section here. Many people in The Ship are good at getting kills, but can't find weapons for the life of them. Sure it's fun going around killing people, but if you're MFK values are garbage, you're not going to win.

Near the end of every game, the MFK values get really high on some weapons, but these weapons are hard to find because they don't often or don't at all spawn in the commonly checked places. At this stage in the game it's helpful to know these "secret" locations (which usually aren't true hidden secret rooms or that sort of thing).

General:
-Kitchens - Pots, pans, knives
-Engineering - Spanner, wrench, hammer, crowbar, etc.
-Cargo Holds - Usually aren't frequented by many players
-Gun rooms: Particularly the ones with the gun cases are the best, as they spawn a high variety of firearms, explosives, and the truncheons.

Specifics:
Andrea Doria - The filing cabinets in engineering on the bottom floor in the room right next to the crew staircase. Almost always a top MFK weapon and not out of the way at all.
Atlanta - Search the aft deck B near the paddlewheel, and also the wooden containers on deck A
Batavier - Not much. The "engineering" on this map is a tiny room with a floor spawn. The wooden box on deck B below the bridge is good, along with the floor spawn outside of the bridge on deck A. The kitchen is usually better than these anyway.
Connemara - Everything on Deck A - the kitchen, engineering, the spot between the two barrels. Hardly anyone goes up here. Take the elevator.
Cotopaxi - Difficult. The boxes in the kitchen freezer, the sauna, and the secret near the sauna are decent. From the kitchen on B deck you can drop from the atrium back down to the museum where most people are.
Cyclops - Huge and difficult map. The wooden chests on the promenade decks are the best places close to the spawns. The huge engineering and cargo area has plenty of room, but takes time to get to.
Huronian - The filing cabinet in the room with the camera in the bank. Also the changing stalls at the swimming pool. The cargo hold, the kitchen, and the gun room area great too.
Krassin - Outside portions of Deck A, B, and C. Check the wooden containers and the boxes in the cargo hold up there. Engineering in the late game, as wrench and/or spanner are usually very high MFK.
Raficu Maru - Terrible map. Honestly the secrets in the shower and toilet, along with the kitchen are your best bet.
Rubicon - The tiny room in engineering to the right when you enter it with the filing cabinet (again). Cargo hold has several spawns in it. Also the cardboard box in the one secret room in the crew dormitory/under bow deck.

Also, don't carry too many weapons around, but don't carry too few. Only pick up weapons that have high MFK values, or guns. If you get a free moment, look at your inventory and drop any weapons that someone got a kill with and are now worth jack. Don't carry too many guns either, as eventually you'll either get killed or go to jail.

It's important to know the maps well. Know them well enough to know where to go when their location updates without having to look at the map. In many cases the hallways on either side of the ship will be named the same thing. In that case look at the map real fast to see where to go. On top of that, predict where your quarry is going and predict where they'll be by the time you catch up to them. Notice whether their name is a man's or woman's and focus on identifying those people you come across.

You can identify people from a distance by holding down "Z" to zoom in and click on them. For some reason that function from Half-Life 2 is still in there.

I like to bunny-hop using my sprint meter when nobody is looking (bad habit, I know). However, when I'm around people or my quarry I tend to walk more to blend in.

When I do catch up to my quarry several things can occur.
1. They have their back turned, or otherwise don't notice me. If nobody's around I'll go for the kill immediately.
2. They notice me immediately and get suspicious. Bad luck. Oftentimes I pretend like I'm running away from someone, or desperately need to fulfill a need. Sometimes I'll run past them, then double back from a different angle. If your quarry is in a room with the door closed, you can sometimes get away with not identifying them and just attacking them immediately. Unless there's multiple people of the same sex in the room. Then you can either take the risk if you can afford a cold-blood kill or two, or stop and ID them.
3. It's too crowded. Depending on the witness timer on the server, you may or may not want to go for it. If the witness timer is 1 second it's much harder. Quickly drawing your weapon, taking a hit, then putting it away can be used in crowded situations, as the timer resets when you put your weapon away. This strategy will send you to jail at times though, so don't go for it unless you're desperate and really have a good weapon.

MOVE QUICKLY. The best way to avoid your hunter is to avoid high-congestion areas, and to simply out-run them. Realize that like your quarry, your location updates every 30 seconds.

Stand in an ambiguous location when the round starts. A hunter will have a harder time finding you if he's going to "Staircase, Deck C" rather than "3rd Class Cabin 4, Deck C." Another tip is to find a location where there's an identically named spot elsewhere in the ship (like the staircases). Most players don't check the map and often go to the wrong staircase/hallway.

Know obscure passageways to lose people. Here's a few:

Andrea Doria - The elevators can get you from Deck D to A quickly. Also you can drop down through the skylight, landing on the edge of the guardrail of deck B, and go from deck A to C extremely quickly. Just don't fall to your death. Also the whole top of deck A is one whole name on the map, with plenty of things to hide behind and loose people.
Atlanta - Can hide on deck A, then jump down to deck B and C from the rope thing near the bench if someone comes up looking at you.
Batavier - Not much.
Connemara - Elevator can quickly get you to deck A or C, confusing hunters.
Cotopaxi - Can jump through the atrium from deck B to D, just don't fall to your death. Also the secret passageway in the presidential corridor to the library can confuse people too. You can get from the presidential balcony to bow deck if you jump and crouch over the railing.
Cyclops - TONS of paired hallways and staircases (4 of them!!!) to confuse people that don't check the map.
Huronian - The vending machine room can be used to change decks without having to go to the end of the ship.
Krassin - Elevator, or drop down from deck C aft of the 3rd class cabins to the engineering staircases on deck D.
Raficu Maru - Not much. Hide in the "Verandah," which seems to be 50% of the map to confuse people.
Rubicon - The secret room in the crew dorm can get you to bow deck. If your hunter doesn't know about it, it'll seem like you disappeared at a dead end.

Learn to identify someone who is stalking you. Someone that seems to pop out around the corner whenever you go around another corner is after you. Someone who follows you into a quiet area is often your hunter. Or someone standing around when you're in a security area. Anybody who suddenly runs up to you is suspicious. The best way to get rid of them is to either run and use one of the "secrets" I've listed above, or by killing them. The best way to kill them is to attack them first. However, they may not be your hunter, so use your discretion to avoid cold-bloods.

Another controversial strategy some people use is barricading themselves in a room by blocking the door. I only recommend this if you have enough weapons for the next round and you don't have any needs that need fulfilled. It can work well if your hunter is after you, but be aware you'll essentially be out of the round by hiding. Also, wallet/purse bombs can be thrown under the door to kill you, but it's fairly rare for your hunter to have this on hand.

Another tip is to close every door you go through as a habit. This helps draw attention away from where you're going, and also can add precious seconds to someone sneaking up on you. The sound of a door opening can get your attention back from whatever you're doing in a room.

And finally, if you do fight, either have a gun or aim your whacks carefully.

This is where the "pro-tips" start. This involves taking junk from your inventory, such as books, low MFK weapons, clothes, or monocles, and filling up good weapon spawn locations with them. Generally I do this to the flare gun whenever I pick it up, but you can also do it anywhere if you have enough junk to fill it up with. Beware though, oftentimes this can backfire if YOU need more weapons and you find yourself going back to the locations you've trashed.

Probably the most controversial strategy in this guide, although it can be highly effective if done properly. Look back at the three steps to winning the game that I posted in the Intro. Step 3 is winning before someone else does. Keep an eye on the scoreboard and take note of who is at the top. When you run into them you can do several things to slow them down:

-Kill them in cold-blood - Only recommended if you have money to spare. The goal is to stop them from killing their quarry or getting high MFK weapons. Losing a few thousand dollars isn't a big deal if you stop them from getting a 12k kill in a round. Be careful to not lose TOO much money to the point where your best weapon isn't enough to win the game anymore.
-Attack them, but don't kill them - Very effective. It's like the movie Gladiator where the villain stabs the good buy before final battle even begins. Hopefully the person's quarry next round will fight back and kill them.
-Sleeping potion - Find it in the sickbay. You don't get penalized for doing this to a random person. Bloody Good Time, the pseudo-sequel to the Ship, expanded on the sleeping potion a lot with different ways to sabotage other players that weren't your quarry.
-Lure them into killing you - Generally, not a tasteful strategy, as it is essentially trolling the person to get them to lose money. Smart players will easily see through this though.

The hardest part with these strategies is to not turn into a maniac who just kills people in cold-blood for fun. You'll lose that way.

Many people don't know this, but if you right-click on guards you can either pay them to get continuous updates on your quarry for a specific period of time, or ignore crimes for a specific period of time.

-Bribery - Expensive, but can be worth it, as you know exactly where your quarry is. I like to use this when I have a weapon with a high enough MFK to win the game, have the money to spare, and am worried about another player getting in their winning kill next round before me. Some maps don't have guards in convenient enough places to warrant going out of your way to bribe them though.

-Ignoring crimes - Generally only used in desperation if your quarry is camping in front of security and you have a high MFK weapon. What people often don't realize is witnesses still count. Since you do this in generally crowded places, you can get arrested easily if enough people look at you. Use the method I described earlier where you hit them once then put your weapon away. Also your quarry may be dumb and pull a weapon out in front of security, at which point they'll be in jail with no way of getting to them usually.

If you have the time, I've found a few places on the maps to be best to quickly go where you need to at the start of a new round. These places also tend to be ambiguous for your hunter.

Andrea Doria - On the staircase in the big atrium. Can quickly get to any floor and will confuse your hunter.
Atlanta - On deck A near the flare gun. Can drop down to B or C or head aft.
Batavier - THE CHAIR bordering the guardrail at the main staircase in the Amber Room. Stand on this chair and you can quickly drop down to deck B and go in any direction, and ditto for deck A. Your hunter meanwhile will be poking around in the Amber Room.
Connemara - In or in front of the elevator on Deck C. Can quickly get to any deck or go back to deck A for more weapons or to hide.
Cotopaxi - Not sure. This map doesn't really have a central location
Cyclops - Not much. One of the main staircases.
Huronian - The vending machine room gives you access to weapons, is a decent hiding place, and is fairly centralized.
Krassin - The staircase connecting the cafe to deck D. Can go up or down. Poor weapon access though.
Raficu Maru - Not much.
Rubicon - One of the staircases.

Most of the time it's better to hide a little further away from the jail, as your quarry often is released from jail in a security area, and you still need to surprise them.

Specifics:
Andrea Doria - Difficult. Hide in the entrance to the cargo hold and follow them wherever they go. Smart quarries will go up the elevators to avoid a hunter.
Atlanta - Hide in room 8, which is the closest cabin to the security booth. Come out casually and follow them.
Batavier - Hide in the release corridor, but not inside the little room around the corner with the door. Keep your back to the axe case. If your quarry spawns in the office, follow them. If they spawn in the room to your right, attack. If they spawn right if front of you, attack.
Connemara - Quarry is always released in the corridor. If you stand where the corridor meets the security booth you can get a kill 100% of the time with any weapon you want. Hug the left side of the opening and force them to go around you on the outside.
Cotopaxi - Tough. Quarry is always released in a security area. Maybe stand around the corner from the booth and follow them.
Cyclops - Very tough. Not many places to stay out of sight here. Hard to follow without getting seen.
Huronian - Hide out of sight in the 2nd class corridor where the passageway in the back of the guard booth area comes out. Quarry can go several directions from here, but can easily be followed unless they go sprinting towards the sickbay.
Krassin - Hide in the room to the left of the security booth with the door closed. If they spawn in the room you get an easy kill. More likely they'll spawn in the release corridor with security and you can then follow them.
Raficu Maru - Take the raft and hide on the release platform. Hopefully they won't jump in the water.
Rubicon - Hide in the 3rd class room nearest to the brig, off the hallway to the cargo hold.

This honestly doesn't work well most of the time. The idea is if you're about to die of needs or are trapped by your hunter in a security area, you drop high MFK weapons into somewhere where people don't often check, like a trash can, bookcase, or magazine rack. You can also sort of set up a base of operations by hiding weapons in a certain spot and not worry about dying as much, but I generally find it's better to just keep running.

Needs are honestly not a huge issue most of the time. I generally ignore them until they're pretty high except for sleep. Without sleep you can't get anywhere else. Beyond that, usually it's hunger and thirst the creep up on you. Find either a place with security or an out-of-the-way place to do them (like a kitchen or a crew bathroom), and do them when you're done with your quarry and have some spare time. Really you should focus on getting better weapons first though.

Some mechanics in this game are rather poorly implemented:

-Disguises - more trouble than they're worth most of the time. Once again, just outrun your hunter and keep to back routes. However, I suppose if you can hide the changing animation you can disappear in a crowd if you can pull it off.

-Needs - like I said, despite taking up a big chunk of the UI, they're generally not an issue. If you're about to die of something, you can throw your good weapons in a trash can, bookcase, or magazine rack.

-Trolls who kill you - not a huge deal unless you're close to your quarry. You don't lose your weapons when you're cold-blooded and if anything it could throw your hunter off if you spawn far away.

-The wallets people drop when they die aren't really worth the time to pick them up. They're usually only worth $250 and you'd have to bank them to get the money. Spend the time trying to escape and find more weapons.

-One final thing that I should talk about, but doesn't go anywhere else is the sickbay. Many people don't know that you can go to a sickbay if you're injured and pay for either partial medical treatment or full medical treatment by right-clicking on the nurse. You do have a health value in this game, you just can't see it on the UI anywhere. You have to remember if you were hit in a fight earlier in a life. The sickbay can get pricey, especially early on in a game when weapons aren't worth much money. The "Discover your inner child" option is fairly pointless, as it just reduces a bunch of your needs for a price that isn't worth it. I occasionally use the sickbay, but only if I'm going by it anyway, and anticipate a tough fight soon or if I have good weapons that I don't want to lose.

-Actually your reticule, the aiming dot in the middle of the screen, moves up and down more as you get damaged. But in order to assess this you have to stand still, which is not something I recommend you do for long.


That's all I can think of so far. When The Ship: Remasted comes out I'll probably adapt this as needed and copy it over to help players. For now, feel free to leave any feedback.