Build 1.16: Black Bart’s Bounty is now live on all North American, European and Australian servers in Pirates of the Burning Sea. Blockading has been introduced as a way to generate contention; the team has opened up chat channels and removed the need for Diplomacy; and you can now respawn with other sunken teammates when you sink in a skirmish. Here's some more information from the announcement:

This milestone update contains the penultimate chapter of the Black Flags and Dread Saints story arc, new rooms for role-players, Blockading, combat mechanic improvements, and many other changes.

You can also check out the full patch notes here or below.

This is a milestone build with about a month's worth of changes. Some of the bigger changes you'll notice include:

• Blockading: This is a new way to generate contention. See the PvP / Port Contention section below for details.
• Diplomacy: We've opened up chat channels and removed the need for the Diplomacy skill.
• Skirmish: Synchronized Respawns - When you sink in a skirmish, you can respawn with other sunk teammates. This helps avoid spawn camping.

Release Notes for 1.15.52.2 are here.

Differences between 1.15.52.2 and 1.16.59.0 include but aren't limited to:

Ships / Outfitting:

• Bloody Dagger: Reduced reload bonus, acceleration. Changed 10lb guns to 9lb. This ship is only available on Testbed but give it a spin and let us know what you think.
• Vengeance: Reduced turn rate, acceleration. This ship is only available on Testbed but give it a spin and let us know what you think.
• 'Hyperion' Refit Frigate: Added this Buccaneer only, smaller gunned version of the Poseidon. This ship is available on Testbed only and will not go live with M16. But give it a spin and let us know how you like it.
• Heavy Round Shot: Sail Damage 11.5%-16% -> 7.5%-11%, Crew Damage 4.5%-6.75% -> 3.5%-5.25%.
• Bronze Round Shot: Sail Damage 12.5%-18% -> 9%-15%, Crew Damage 6%-8% -> 4.5%-6.5%.
• Explosive Round Shot: Sail Damage 15%-20% -> 10%-16.5%, Crew Damage 10%-12% -> 6.5% 9.25%.
• Changed Juggernaut Broadside armor from 22% Broadside Integrity to 5% Armor Integrity, and 4 Broadside DR.
• Changed Resilient Gunports 5 from 26% Broadside Integrity to 23% Broadside Integrity.
• Heavy Ketch (Captured): Set the level of the ship to match the regular version of the ship.

Ship Combat / Skills:

• As effects are applied, they sometimes show up on the left side of the list instead of the right side of the list but we've always flashed the one on the far right, making it look like it's the new one. Fixed - we now flash the one that's new, regardless of where it appears in the list.
• Debuffs are now split into two categories: Primary and Secondary. These categories stack separately, so you cannot combine two reload debuffs in the Primary category, but you can combine the debuffs if one is Primary and the other is Secondary. The highest possible reduction in each category will be applied for each stat that is getting debuffed.
• Fixed a bug that caused combat to end early when all players were in boarding combat.
• Fixed a bug that could cause you to retain effects gained during boarding combat after you left the encounter.
• Claim Prize now works on ships marked as (Mission). This change allows players to claim, or scavenge any ship, whether minor, mission, or otherwise. This does not affect Take Command.
• Claim Prize and Scavenge now have an increased chance to reward Commendations for claiming ships in Fleets.
• It's no longer possible to reduce a ship below the resist cap (50%) when it is in boarding combat.
• Removed General Trainers from the game. The Advanced Crew Focus skills they had available are now in your regular career skill trainers.

Buccaneer:

• Disrupt Formation: -2 accuracy -> -1 accuracy, 90 second duration -> 60 second duration, Max Hits 7 -> 9, Reset 2min -> 3min.
• Heated Shot: -2% turn / accel -> -1%.
• Jugular: Duration 90 seconds -> 75 seconds.
• Scrapper: Fixed a bug that caused this effect to be removed prematurely if you targeted ships greater than 350 yards away.

Cutthroat:

• Cripple Enemy: Added -3 damage reduction, -2 Accuracy. Duration 150s -> 75s.
• Decimate: Added -2 Accuracy. No longer requires antipersonnel shot..
• Defense: All Resist 4% -> 7%.
• Devil Take the Hindmost: Added -2 Accuracy.
• Run Them Down: Battle debuff 5min -> 3min, OS buff 5min -> 1min.
• Target Weakness: Added -2 damage reduction.

Privateer:

• Jugular: Duration 90 seconds -> 60 seconds.

Navy:

• Decimate: Duration 30 -> 60. No longer requires antipersonnel shot.

Swashbuckling:

• Tweaked the animation for Knockdown.
• NPCs were sometimes using area of effect skills when they wouldn't hit anyone. They also weren't always good about turning to face their enemy. Made some improvements.
• Improved the blood particle effect.
• Improved the flash powder particle effect. It now covers a broader area.
• Improved the particle effects for Mark and for Heart Thrust.
• Removed the stars from skill icons. They had no meaning.

Brawling:

• Jab: Initiative cost 0 -> 10. Now adds 2 combo counters (6). Inflicts 12 balance damage for each combo on the target. Increased combo duration (12s) if the target already has four counters.
• Cross: Initiative cost 20 -> 10.
• Stomp: Cripple duration 8s -> 12s. Combo duration 6s -> 10s. Now adds a combo point. Target takes 12 health damage for each combo point.
• Uppercut: No longer removes combo effects. Applies broken defense (12s) if the target has at least 2 combo counters.
• Hook: Damage +15%.
• Knee: No longer requires stun or removes combo effects. Adds multiple effects based on combo counters - 1: Weakened (15s), 2: Shaken (15s), 3: Off Balance (15s), 4: 15 Health Damage
• Roundhouse: No longer reduces stun immunity. Damage +60% -> +40%. Deals +10 health damage for each combo counter on the target.

Missions:

• Added some particle effects to improve the look of digging in the Treasure Map missions.
• French/Spanish Tutorials: If you skipped them, not all the correct things would happen. Fixed.
• Spanish Tutorial: Fixed some confused NPCs.
• Boarding Tutorial: Fixed an issue with the NPC personas.
• NPCs below level 40 now have a chance to damage reduction ship supplies on sinking. This reduces the impact to low level players of the mission loot nerf we did in 1.15.
• Denouement: Gave the NPC captain a sword so he could fight.
• Groundbreaking: The mission could break if the Veteran walked away. Fixed.
• Dead of Night: Clarified instructions for lighting the lighthouses.
• Black Heart, Black Powder: Damage done in boarding combat carried over into the land combat. We fixed this for all cases of zoning out of boarding, we believe, but this was the most noticeable instance.
• Nutty Navigator: Corrected the destination.
• Hedden's Blockade: Some ships would sail away, forcing you to go hunt them down which was frustrating and not the point of the mission. Fixed.
• Damage Control: It wasn't always possible to complete this mission. Fixed.
• Bey's Retreat: Fixed the placement of some NPCs so they don't stand or sit inside each other.
• Kill the Frog Brothers: Fixed a number of graphical issues with the room.
• Hammer and Anvil: Fixed a bug that caused the mission to break if you completed it as a group.
• When the Saints Come Marching In: Tweaked locations to minimize ships appearing and disappearing.
• A Barbadian's Head: The conversation with Bauregard couldn't be heard by group members. Fixed.
• Dye Marker: Decreased the difficulty slightly.
• Pay Dirt: Fixed the reward requirement - you do actually have to dig up the treasure to get the treasure.
• Dailies: Added some variety to the contents of the Crate of Supplies you receive for doing the Varyag and Confrerie turn-in mission.
• Increased the rewards given by some midland dailies.
• A Small and Deadly War: Buffed the damage from the possessed.
• Just One More Thing: You're now required to destroy all 16 ships to complete the mission. Also, the enemies spawn a bit further away to minimize the lag that all of them spawning at once can cause.
• Failing a group mission caused it to stop being the group mission. Fixed.
• Group missions now stay active during transitions between stages.
• Fixed an exploit with group missions.
• Solo daily missions and Group daily missions now have different rewards. Also increased the rewards for non-daily missions.
• Fixed an exploit in the Treasure Map missions.
• Fixed a bug that was causing the X in treasure map missions to flicker sometimes.
• Dread Saints were appearing as a faction on your reputation sheet. This should not be. Fixed.

Economy:

• Fixed the insurance payout on the 'Treason' Pirate Flagship.
• Marks of Victory are now rewarded based on the insurance value of the ship sunk rather than just the level of the ship. This makes it more valuable to sink more expensive ships.
• Fixed an exploit with ship deeds.

Open Sea:

• Fixed a bug that sometimes caused Battle Markers to show as Closed in the tooltip when they weren't.
• Battle Markers: When you can't join, it says that in red, making it easier to discern.
• We added a new brand of rare spawns in the Open Sea for the latest chapter in Black Flags and Dread Saints. When you kill these guys, you win a title.
• Slightly increased the spawn rate of Treasure Fleets.
• We made a number of changes to Open Sea Fleets. We added the Treason to Pirate Fleets and the Poseidon to Pirate and National Fleets. Treasure Fleets now have more treasure ships in them. We slightly increased the amount of loot dropped by any ship in a Treasure Fleet. Also, all fleets are level 65 again.
• Some French and Spanish Fleets claimed to contain Deliverance Frigates but didn't. Fixed.
• Spanish Treasure Convoy (8) didn't actually contain a treasure ship. Fixed.
• Fixed a bug that caused single French Merchant NPCs to spawn two ships in battle.
• Some Varyags were sailing ships higher level than they should have been allowed to sail. Fixed.
• Fixed a bug that caused the effect of a current near Havana to last too long.

PvP / Port Contention:

• If you accepted a Port Battle invitation while in PvP, your enemy had no clue how you escaped and may have reported you for cheating. Now your enemy gets a HUD explaining where you went.
• If your enemy surrendered to you and you were a member of a group, the group leader got the loot whether or not you were the leader. Now surrendered loot goes in the loot box and you can dice for it along with the rest of your group.
• Blockading: All players over level 20 automatically receive passive skills called Blockade Port and Patrol Port. To use these skills, enable your PvP flag by talking to a Port Captain. Create or join a group. A group with strength >= 200 sitting in the Open Sea outside a port not currently in contention generates (Blockade) or reduces ;(Patrol) contention for that port. Only one group can do this at a time.
• We slightly reduced the unrest generated by killing NPCs and slightly increased the unrest generated by killing players.
• Fixed another issue with boarding combat in Port Battles.
• We now reward titles to players who have participated in Port Battles since we started tracking individual statistics. Participating in 10 battles on the winning side gets you "Battle Worn Commander." 25 wins: "Veteran Commander." 50 wins: "Heroic Commander." And for fun, 10 losses: "Unlucky Commander." 25 losses: "Ill-Fated Commander." 50 losses: "Cursed Commander."
• Removed Writs from the Citations of Conquest exchanges.
• Reduced the cost of all items in the Citation of Conquest exchanges.
• Increased the output of the Citation of Conquest > Mark of Victory exchange to 20.
• Added the option to exchange 1 Citation of Conquest for 20 Marks of Trade.
• Added the option to exchange 3 Citations of Conquest for 1 Lineship Structure Bundle.
• Increased the effectiveness of all outfitting in Citation of Conquest exchanges.
• Reduced the cost of all outfitting in the Mark of Victory exchanges.
• Increased the effectiveness of all outfitting in the Mark of Victory exchanges.
• Reduced the cost of Fleet Commendations in the Mark of Victory exchanges.
• Increased the cost of Explosive Shot from 1 Mark of Victory to 5.
• Fixed a bug in some Port Battles that could cause the Port Commander to spawn at less than full health and guard. Also fixed some exits in the back of the main room.
• Port Battle rewards now all show up in Chat but only in chat. (MOV/MOTs weren't being reported at all and doubloons were being reported both in Chat and in the HUD.)
• Corrected the Garrison Commander who was incorrectly stating you defenders could only turning in unrest bundles when the port is in International Tension. It's now clearer that both attackers and defenders can turn in unrest bundles at any time, but defenders' unrest bundles will only apply after unrest has been gained on the port
• Skirmish: Increased the point spread for high level ships. Basic level 50 ships still have a point cost of 100, which gradually scales up to ~140 for refits and then up to 250 (instead of 200) for First Rates.
• Skirmish: If you sink in a skirmish and another teammate sinks or has sunk within a few (30) seconds and your team has shared respawns remaining, the two of you will respawn at the same time. Same thing if more than two of you sink within seconds of each other. This helps you coordinate attacks and counter the threat of spawn-camping.
• Skirmish: Decreased the distance between initial team spawns in the Curving Coast encounter so you can get to the fun faster.
• Skirmish: Improved the randomization of respawns in the Curvy Coast room.
• Fixed a bug with Nation chat in Skirmish.
• We tweaked the Skirmish UI a bit - more to come.
• Skirmish: It was possible to group with a member of an opposing team. Fixed.
• If you accept a challenge to Duel, you will be removed from your group.

Art / Sound:

• If you backed into a corner, suddenly you started running backward in place like crazy. Fixed.
• If you are a female Buccaneer and received the Buckle-Strap Boots, you can now wear the Pegleg version at the correct level if you have earned a pegleg, as well.
• Added to the Capital cities rooms for Role Players to party in. Look for the drama masks on a door. Schedule your event by posting it in the Salty Sea Dog Inn.
• Fixed a chambering problem in a room used in the mission "It's a Jungle Out There" and many others.
• Ambergris: Fixed the lighting on some barrels.
• Belize: Fixed an NPC who was floating above a barrel.
• Belle Isle: Fixed some awning problems.
• Cat Island: Fixed an NPC who liked to pretend his rifle was a spyglass.
• Jenny Bay: Fixed some camera clipping issues and several other graphical issues in this town.
• Oranjestad: Added a Dutch flag to town. Finally!
• BSharp tweaked lighting and shadows in a number of rooms.
• Lute players in the taverns now vary their tunes.
• Added flag rustling sounds to the flags in some towns.
• Port Royal: Tweaked the sound at the shore - now less intense.

UI:

• Added a Survey button to the Server Selection UI. Historically, we have surveyed you about every patch we release and we notify you of the survey in the LaunchPad Message of the Day. Station Launcher doesn't always show the LP MOTD so survey response has dropped off drastically. We really do value your feedback so are making the link to the survey more readily available.
• Area Chat now broadcasts to the area around a port when you are inside a port.
• We removed language restrictions on all shared chat channels, and removed Diplomacy from the general trainers. Any players who previously had the Diplomacy skill will still have it, but it has no use now. If you have the Diplomacy skill, you get 3 free Career Respecs, and will have to respec in order to regain the Skill Point spent on that skill.
• We've increased the size of your ignore list from 50 to 150.
• Fireworks was showing up on the toolbar as Craft Fireworks. Fixed.
• The Social UI icon in the Window Palette flashes to alert you of new mail. It didn't always stop flashing when it should. Fixed.
• The Customize Outfit button didn't always gray out when it should. Fixed.
• The logout timer was using outdated art. Fixed.

Stability / Performance:

• Cut down on the number of unnecessary skills that an NPC acquires. This, in turn, cuts down on bandwidth usage. (It may make some NPCs fight a little smarter too.)
• Fixed a crash that a few of you hit that was caused by a list box not being able to determine an item's category. (If you hit this crash, it was likely while trading or viewing your inventory.)
• If you walked away from a trade and then tried to accept it after the window closed, you could crash the game. Fixed.
• Fixed a crash that a few of you hit when we did the wrong thing with our calculation of your stored labor. (Not that you lost or gained labor incorrectly but that we sent it into the ether and caused a crash.)
• Fixed a game crash that could occur if we tried to update the UI incorrectly.
• Fixed a game crash that occurred once when someone got their camera in a bad position.
• Fixed a mission server crash that could occur if the owner of a Skirmish left the skirmish without killing it and then logged out.

Misc:

• I got overzealous when adding things to the spam filter. We've removed a common letter combination so that valid mail will go through again.
• Added updated translations from SOE.