Pirates of the Burning Sea : Black Bart's Gambit
As you old salts surely know by now, the focus of our new content this year has been the Black Flags and Dread Saints saga. In 1.18 the story comes to its conclusion with an explosive climax. This is the sixth and final chapter and in it Black Bart makes a last effort to unseat Captain Kidd and take over the Brethren of the Coast. This is dramatized in a new epic mission, similar in scope to previous missions like Beys Retreat and Fortaleza de Luz.
In previous chapters of the story, a pirate gang called the Dread Saints rose from obscurity to become a major power in the Caribbean. Giles Low, also known as The Deacon, started the Dread Saints, mixing religious fanaticism with the worship of the pirate deeds of Bartholomew "Black Bart" Roberts. Black Bart did not buy into the religious mumbo jumbo, but he knew a good opportunity when he saw it. He took on the role of "Dread Saint" and proceeded to build an alliance amongst the pirate gangs to challenge the Brethren of the Coast. As Roberts saw it, Captain Kidd was weak and worthless and his attempts at nation building were doomed. He believed that the pirates deserved a better leader: Black Bart himself.
For a time, the Dread Saints only gained in power, but the valiant captains of the Burning Sea handed them a series of defeats. Most of the pirate gangs supporting Roberts melted away, leaving him with only his most faithful adherents. Black Bart could have sailed away at this point, leaving the Brethren of the Coast weakened, but intact. He could have...but he didn't. He simply could not admit defeat to Captain Kidd, so he made one more roll of the bones. He would lead his followers right into Tortuga, kill Captain Kidd, and seize control of the Brethren at the source of their power.
Black Bart's all-or-nothing attack is the subject of Trouble in Tortuga, the epic mission that completes the Black Flags and Dread Saints story arc. This is not the Tortuga you've seen before. In Besieged Tortuga, the Brethren and the Dread Saints fight in the streets as the city tears itself apart. To defeat Black Bart and the Dread Saints, you must first deal with his fearsome lieutenants. In "Fisto Inferno" you square off against Frutos, a giant Portuguese pugilist with fists of steel. In "Beauty and the Beasts" you face the canny Trapper Faye and her pack of wild beasts. In "Cannons of Heaven and Earth" you must defeat Cardinal Xin, a fearsome pirate from the Far East in a small but deadly armored ship. There are also several optional daily missions involving drunken boxers, secretive Templars, and more.
Once these heavyweights have been taken care of, its time for the main event. In "The Dread Saint" you move against what used to be Captain Kidd's villa, now the headquarters of Black Bart during the siege. Here you face The Deacon and then Black Bart himself in a climactic ship battle. Can you stop Black Bart and the Dread Saints or will the face of the Burning Sea be changed forever?
Besieged Tortuga is, of course, a set of group missions for level 50 characters. While we tried to provide missions for characters of all levels during the course of the Black Flags and Dread Saints story arc, the conclusion requires the presence of the mightiest heroes of the Burning Sea. If you think you have what it takes to defeat the fiercest buccaneer of the Golden Age of Piracy, gather your fellow captains and set sail for Besieged Tortuga!