Build 1.14: Black Bart's Revenge is now on the live servers in Pirates of the Burning Sea, and it brings numerous updates to the game, which the Flying Lab team has discussed in great detail in various dev blog entries. You can read the full patch notes here or after the jump, but here's some links you should check out for detailed information.

• Chapter 3 of the Black Flags and Dread Saints story arc has begun with build 1.14. It reveals the opening moves of Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts but does not divulge his long-term strategy. Read this blog entry for more about the notorious Black Bart.
• The way pirates accumulate points in Conquest has changed. For example, the amount of points that Pirates get for capturing a port has increased from four to five. You can read all about the changes here.
• Clothing colors and faces for female avatars have been reworked. This blog entry explains the process and shows some examples.
• Ollie, the sound guy at Flying Lab, is adding tradional music to PotBS. He discusses recording music for the game in his blog entry.

This is a milestone update and contains about a month's worth of changes. The biggest changes you'll notice are:

• New Black Flags Dread Saints missions: The next chapter in this chain has been revealed!
• Sprinting in AvCom no longer causes rubberbanding.
• If you're an econ player, you'll be delighted by one-click create.
• Changes to RvR including increasing the duration of Pirate Raids from 48 hours to 96 hours. See below for details.

Release notes for 1.13.51.1 are here.

Known Issues:

• Skirmish is not yet ready for prime time and is thus disabled in this build. It's still available on Testbed and we hope you will wander over there periodically to enjoy it and help us continue to shake the bugs out of it.
• Boarding is not possible in ship duels. We had turned it off in Skirmish and that turns it off in Duels also. It will be available again in a future build.
• Experts don't always continue cooling down when you're logged out as they should. We're aware and working on a fix.

Differences between 1.13.51.1 and 1.14.63.0 include but aren't limited to:

Ships / Outfitting:

• Explosive Round Shot now has its own icon, no longer sharing the one used by Heavy Round Shot.
• Expert Sailmaster: The item (not the skill) now repairs 10% sail damage, as the description says it should.
• Hercules: If you destroyed the masts of a distant Herc, some masts would remain floating in the air. Fixed.

Ship Combat / Skills:

• If a ship sinks, we check whether any enemies are "nearby" and, if not, remove the InCombat effect so you don't have to wait two minutes to leave if the encounter has ended. However the distance for "nearby" was too short (1000y). We've increased it to 1500y.
• Escort (Navy): Corrected the tooltip. This skill isn't limited to ships larger than you.
• Invincible (Navy), Run Them Down (Cutthroat), Survival Instincts (Buccaneer) and Too Mean to Die (Cutthroat) discontinued cooldown when you logged out so they could still be active when you logged back in. That's wrong. Now they continue to cooldown as they should.
• Emergency Repairs now strips Deter Pursuit as it should.
• Fixed a bug that, on rare occasions, caused a sunk ship's ghost to remain, blocking you from firing at another ship.

Swashbuckling:

• Sprinting was causing rubberbanding. We believe we've fixed this.
• Tweaked the way we calculate which avatars you can see when we there are too many for you to see them all. (You have a Max Visible Avatars preference slider in your Preferences. It's possible in town, port battles, and skirmishes for there to be more players than are visible. In battle, it's very important that we not cull the wrong ones from your view.)
• We no longer show healthbars over the bodies of dead players in avatar combat.
• Fixed a number of consumable items that allowed you to stack +damage in avatar combat too high.
• Reduced the damage on Treason which is now called the Traitor.
• Removed Dodge from Vengeance, increased the damage.
• Removed Dodge and Parry from Kraken, increased the damage, added Initiative.
• Reduced the damage on Confrerie Cutlass.
• Increased the minimum damage on the Gun of Del Morro.
• Increased the damage on Watcher's Foil.

Black Powder:

• Knockback Shot now has a 20s reset time.
• Gut Shot now does +40% damage.
• Head Shot now does +60% damage.

Brawling:

• Roundhouse now always applies a 4s Stun if a Combo effect is present. For each Combo effect on the target, Stun Immunity is shortened by 2.5s.

Dirty Fighting:

• Foot Slash now does +20% damage.
• Seize Opening now does +40% damage, 15s Bleed.
• Twist the Blade now does +60% damage, 25 damage if target is bleeding.
• Overwhelm now does +100% damage.
• Gut Kick now gives Burst of Initiative. Burst of Initiative increases your Initiative Regen by 10/s for 5s.
• Cleave now does +20% damage.
• Maelstrom now costs 30 Initiative.
• Blade Storm now costs 40 Initiative. Target gains Deep Wounds, a 15s bleed. Deep Wounds and Bleeding stack. This skill has a 15s cooldown.
• Fortitude now increases your Guard by 10%.
• Tough It Out now heals for 60 hit points.

Fencing:

• Lunge now applies Broken Defense if the target is Bleeding.
• Bladework now deals 30 damage if the target has Broken Defense.
• Attack au Fer now gives Burst of Initiative. Burst of Initiative increases your Initiative Regen by 10/s for 5s.
• Slash now costs 30 Initiative, and has a 6 second cooldown.
• Lightning Thrusts now costs 40 Initiative. If target has Blind, Weakened, Heart Thrust, or Broken Defense, their durations are refreshed. This skill has a 10 second cooldown.
• Ballestra Lunge now deals 15 damage if target is Weakened. Balanced is not removed.

Florentine:

• Elegant Loop now gives Burst of Initiative. Burst of Initiative increases your Initiative Regen by 10/s for 5s.
• Fluid Defense: Has its own icon now. Now it's easier to distinguish from Hold Position.
• Staggered now reduces targets Initiative Regen by 1.5/s.
• Spring Attack now costs 20 Initiative, and does +20% damage. This skill has a 6s cooldown.
• Spinning Slice now costs 30 Initiative.
• Cyclone now costs 40 Initiative, and does +60% damage. If target has Crippled, or Staggered, target takes 15 damage for each effect, and their durations are refreshed. This skill has a 10s cooldown.
• Reversal now deals damage if the target has Precision, Balanced, Intensity, or Tough.
• Corps-a-Corps now deals 30 damage if the target is Crippled.

Missions:

• Updated the appropriate Broadsheet Peddlers to point you at new Black Flags Dread Saints missions.
• Prize Agent: He has long given an explanation of Marks of Victory. Now he also explains Marks of Trade.
• Town Boss: Fixed his info service. He used to mimic you if you asked whether he was the magistrate. He's more helpful now.
• Pointe-a-Pitre: We've added Chaise Rental Agents to help you more quickly traverse this large town.
• Blowing off Steam: This mission is no longer available. It shouldn't have been available in the first place. If you have this mission, cancel it.
• Man of Wealth and Taste: We've done a better job of preventing you from getting through the debris. Also fixed the green glow on the ships.
• Groundbreaking: You could try to talk to both Mayans when one or neither should be clickable.
• Big Wreckage: Some players have found this confusing. We've clarified the mission text and we hope that helps.
• Exchange Rate: It was possible to skip the avatar combat section which was sort of cheating. Fixed.
• Falling to Pieces: You can no longer walk through the shipwreck.
• Looking for Clues: The flagship has a different name than the other raiders now, to help distinguish it.
• Nothing is Ever Easy: You'd previously identified the Pride as one type of ship and then it was showing up as a different ship in this mission. It's consistent now.
• Missing Prisoners: Was missing a prisoner, preventing you from completing the mission. We've added the third prisoner. Cancel and retake the mission and it should work just fine.
• What's Mine is Mine: Fixed some camera issues in the jungle room.
• Native Poultices no longer teleports you. It wasn't supposed to.
• Bey's Retreat: Irena was affected by group buffs when she shouldn't have been. Sulfurous Powder was using the wrong cooldown timer. Fixed and fixed.
• Dread Knot: If you died in Cristobal's house, your only option was to give up. You can now try again.
• Drop Zone: Trying to deliver the chest while in combat didn't work but didn't tell you why. Fixed.
• Guards and Wards: Decreased the range of the forts. This mission was too difficult to solo - should be easier now.
• Behind Enemy Lines: NPCs are now French as they should have been all along.
• Crazy Like a Fox: Some NPCs had code instead of text for their affiliation name. Fixed.
• On the Beach (and missions like it): NPCs had a "No Capture" buff on them.This makes no sense in avatar space, only in ship space. Fixed.
• Pig Tracks: Leaving after speaking to the captive broke the door to "The Thing Beneath the Fort." Fixed.
• Fly Swatting: The mission made no sense in terms of the ships being investigated. Should make more sense now.
• Mogens Brisebois is Missing: If you cancelled the mission at the wrong time, you couldn't take it again. Fixed.
• In Through the Outbreak: Exiting now puts you in port as it should instead of the Open Sea.
• The Big Surprise: It was possible to complete Turn the Tables after completing this mission, but that made no sense. Fixed.
• Matter at Hand: Drury is now more powerful than before. (Was previously a grunt, now a lieutenant.) Also destroying the fort now deactivates the other encounter objectives.
• Baptism by Fire: Fixed a problem with the EO. Also, after you complete this mission, you unlock a daily version but we didn't make that clear. Now the bounty hunter will send you back for it.
• Caveat Emptor: Beaujolais shouldn't talk if he's unconscious. Also, you shouldn't interrogate Halfdir in front of your Dread Saint buddy. Fixed.
• Dutch West India Company: Become Indifferent: This mission was previously hidden from you. Fixed.
• Subterfugal Force: The torch bearer should now stop to fight back when you attack him.
• Underground Movement: Halfdir started talking when he shouldn't. Fixed.
• When the Saints Come Marching In: The first group of NPC were facing a wall. Fixed.
• Wicked Communion: The fort commander was level 1 when inside the fort. Now he's level 40.
• The Inquisition: Become Esteemed: Asked you to kill 25 Lost Ironsides ships and then said you must kill 15. The right answer is 15. Fixed.
• Northern Passage: 104's don't make good smuggling ships, really. It's now called a Sea Dog Commodore.
• For the Captain Who Has Everything: You can now take this mission from William Kidd.
• The Bonefire: Removed Light Masts buff from NPCs who shouldn't have had it.
• There's Always a Catch: The scorpion was parroting the captain. Now he's silent as scorpions should be.
• Unhappy Meals: You shouldn't have been able to click on the Berserker Captains. Fixed.
• Walking Wounded, Walking Dead: Your ally now follows you around as he should.
• Battle Royal: If you cancelled this mission, you couldn't retake it. Fixed.
• Greater Purpose: We shifted the wind so you're not sailing directly into it in order to exit the encounter.

Economy:

• Multiple recipe runs now take only as long as one run.
• Increased the production cost of the Leviathan from 3200 to 12,000 per player feedback. Decreased the output deeds from 4 to 3. Increased the insurance value appropriately.
• Removed the auctioneer from Somerset. He wasn't supposed to be there in the first place.

Open Sea:

• Grand Turk & Somerset: These now have tooltips when you mouse over them from the Open Sea.
• All Lost Ironsides NPCs are now called Lost Ironsides instead of Lost Verdaderos or some such.
• The captains of treasure ships now have names.

PvP / Port Contention:

• We believe we've fixed a race condition that enabled 7 people to join a battle when only 6 should be allowed.
• Increased the amount of points that Pirates get for capturing a port from 4 to 5.
• Increased the duration of Pirate Raids from 48 hours to 96 hours. This affects both Pirates capturing National ports, as well as Nationals capturing Pirate ports.
• Some ships gave an extra MOV/MOT than they should on sinking. Fixed.
• When attackers earn enough (5000 and 7500) contention points, the Town Boss of the defending town is supposed to be debuffed. This wasn't working correctly. Similarly defenders earning 5000 and 7500 points didn't get the buffs on the Town Boss that they should. Fixed. 

Art / Sound:

• Grenades no longer send shredded paper flying around. We hope you like the new effect better.
• BSharp made a pass through the female faces and prettied some of them up a bit.
• Tweaked female arms a bit. After we narrowed waists and shoulders, the arms looked a bit too Popeye.
• There was a general texture problem with all female coats. Fixed.
• The female Merchant vest was showing up as Short Bodice, Lacy and had a ton of clipping issues. Fixed.
• Fixed the invisible female chefs hat.
• Fixed some wonkiness between various male coats, vests, and gloves.
• The Port Captain had a number of clones throughout the Caribbean. There's now a bit of variety.
• Tweaked idle animations a bit. There should be less clipping with weapons and such (although there may still be some) and transitions should be smoother now.
• There was an NPC in the Privateer room writing on air. Fixed. Made some other improvements in that room as well.
• Fixed a number of clothing clipping issues on a variety of NPCs.
• Gibara: Entering raided state left a musician standing in a pile of gold and a woman sleeping in a barrel. That wasn't intended. Fixed.
• Golden Lake: Some wood looked like stone. Fixed.
• Maracaibo: Fixed some camera issues.
• Pointe a Pitre: The doors in the sewers didn't highlight correctly. Fixed.
• Port Royal: Fixed some perf issues (hitches) by rechambering the room and by removing some of the lively NPCs.
• Cleaned up some tiger-striped hills. They shouldn't have been striped.
• Captain's Quarters: Fixed some camera issues in this room.
• BSharp tweaked the ocean color a bit. This was partially to fix wakes in dusk and night rooms, but should make things look better in many places.
• The port theme plays when you enter the main town room the first time and also every time you enter the magistrate or the admiralty. However, it no longer plays when you enter other rooms in a town. This is so we can add different music for those rooms, but we have only done that in some rooms, not all. More to come.
• We've added more sounds to the House of Marque in San Juan.
• Added sounds to the fighting pit.
• Added some new musicians, including Hurdy Gurdy players. The Hurdy Gurdy players have different tunes depending on which nation's town they're in.
• Improved the music of the flute players in the taverns.
• Some zombies were making the wrong noises. Fixed.
• Some soldiers have been retrained to hold their weapons in their left hands and salute with their right hands.
• Improved a number of sounds in a number of locations - various music, animations, footsteps, and others.

UI:

• Effects (those little icons below your healthbar) now show visible timers similar to skills. As the effect it wearing off, its progression is shown.
• Icons for ship outfitting were never supposed to have stars like those for consumables. We've removed the stars.
• Tweaked the Mission UI to better accommodate localized text.

Stability / Performance:

• Fixed a game crash that could occur sometimes when zoning from ship space into town, most notably into Port Royal.
• Fixed a game crash that sometimes occurred if you tried to trade with someone and the game incorrectly decided you weren't allowed to.
• Fixed a game crash that was likely due to a race condition when leaving boarding combat.
• If you crashed and then logged in to a new server before the crash dump got sent, the crash dump tool would tell us the wrong server when reporting your crash. Fixed.
• It was possible to crash while trying to send us a crash dump. Fixed. :P

Misc:

• Organized titles, pulling ones you get for participating in Testbed or contests or such into a "Community and Testbed" category.
• We've changed our desktop icon.
• New translations from SOE.