First, you must make an account at vc.igg.com. After that, download the game and start playing. Then you make an character and a name, you will start out on a ship. The person whom you need to talk to next will have a blue "!" above their head. This tutorial expains its self. There are two buttons in the lower-right corner of your screen. One says "Go to birthplace" this immediately sends you to Athens and skips the tutorial. The other button makes you skip the beginning and go straight to the sea battle.
After you talk to all 3 people, you will engage in a sea battle. Don't worry, this one is extremely easy! Look at the top-left of your screen. There you should see a picture of a green shape (you) and the enemy targets will appear white. To shoot, they must be within your cannon radius, this shows up as white area on each side of your ship. Then you must press F1 which should be "Force Attack" this will make you shoot your cannons. Notice at the bottom there are two panels, they both say how much ammo you have. You may also turn on "Autofire" this either will already be in your hotbar (Panel at the very bottom of the screen) or will be under "Instruction". "Instruction" is at the bottom-right of the screen. You can also access it by pressing Control+A. It will be under "At Sea" , it is called "Turn on fire automatically". To activate it, right-click it once so it looks like the cannons aren't firing. Warning: autofire is notoriously famous for not working a lot. So be warned it might not work.
After you kill the ship, be sure to collect it's loot. You can do this buy manuevering your ship to where you sunk the enemy and clicking on its debris. You should get 1000 coins or so. After this, you will see a button in the top-left area of your screen called "Quit". This button will send you to the high seas where you learn how to sail.
Sailing is relatively easy, you simply right-click where you want to go. There is also an "Auto-Track" function which we will talk about later. Simply follow the path marked by flags and you will get to the starting port (Athens).
Congrats, you have just completed the tutorial!

At the beginning, there will be a pop up called "Function Interface Help". Read through this, it will help you a lot. Afer that, you must open up your inventory. To do this press Control+C or select "Character" in the bottom-right of the screen. After you open this up, you will see 6 panels. The first 3 at the top say "Basic", "Skill", and "Society".
Basic contains your stats. They should read from top to bottom: HP, SP, Attack, Defense, Accuracy, Dodging Rate, and Load. HP is your health. SP is your special energy, it is used for special abilities and many other uses. Attack is how much damage you do. Defense is how much damage your opponent will hit less than you. As your defense gets higher, you need more defense to reduce the damage done by enemies. Accuracy is how often you will hit, this is not too important while fighting monsters, but important while fighting players. Dodging Rate (Dodge) is an extremely important skill. It will determine how often your opponents hit you. If your dodge is high enough, monsters you are fighting will almost never hit you. Load is the amount of weight you can carry, it's format is like this xxx/xxx load. If you are 90% or more full, then you become overloaded. You will start walking which is much slower.
Skill contains are your skills and their skill levels. You will first start out with Voyage, Eloquence, Sea Battle, and Barehand. You can then go to the skill tutor, he is located just inside Athens City, and learn all the other skills. Note: this will require over 10,000 silver (currency in this game). The other skills you can learn are: Medicine, Fishing, Sword-Playing, Falchion-Playing, Axe-Playing, Shooting, Timber-Felling, Mining, Planting, Ship-Building, Foundry, Alchemy, and Sewing.
Under society are your:
~Nationality
~Reputation
~Noble Title
~Notoriety
~Titles
~Amity with other countries.
Nationality is simply the empire of the city you got your noble titles in. Reputation is needed to gain higher noble titles, this can be gained through discoveries, quests, treasures and other ways. Noble title is your permanent title such as baron. Higher noble titles allow you to wield higher level weapons and allow other things too such as talking on public chat. If your notoriety is 1 or above, any player can attack you and steal your items. At 1 notoriety you can pray and go back down to 0. At 2 notoriety or higher you can either go to jail or use a "Pardon"(lowers your notoriety by 1) which costs real money. Titles are simply for show and go below your name. Titles cost money but the higher level titles also give you reputation. Amity is needed to maintain a good relationship with the empire. Negative amity and ships and guards from that empire will attack you. You also need higher amity for higher noble titles from that empire.
The 3 panels on the lower half read "Equipment","Article","Item".
Equipment contains all the items you wear, these include: Armors, weapons, charms, almost anything you equip. Article contains all the beast authentications, timber, metal, cloth, and various other things. Items contains everything else, ranging from potions to silver to map pieces.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Bare-handed Fighting (BH)~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Must-train skill -- I don't care even if you hate fighting :
Higher BH level = Higher max HP + Dodging Rate
In the (rare) cases when you are not using a weapon, its level decides your hit rate, basic ATTK and basic DEF.

Ways to level it :
- Kill monsters with weapons, BH gains EXP 80% of weapon EXP
- Do Carry tasks for the Docker and Trader

Stunt Skills:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Defense Promotion-Passive~~~~~~~~~~~

Increases your defense by 1% per level, this is the most suggested one to level up first.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Restore Concentration-Passive~~~~~~~~~~

Increases your health restoration rate by 25% per level, this is very useful for afking monsters and is necessary to level up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Muscle Promotion-Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Increases your load by 5 per level, not too important.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Types of Weapon~~~~~~~~~~~

Falchion ---- Sword ---- Axe ---- Gun ----

~~~~~~~~~~~Weapon Skills~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Each type of weapon has its own set of skills.

These skills can be divided into 4 kinds: Passive, Active, Ultimate, Special

Passive: always on; activate automatically.

Active: you have to activate it by clicking on the skills icon.
Each use lasts 20 seconds and consumes 30 SP, unless mentioned otherwise.

Ultimate: active skill; you can learn it from a Skill Tutor when your weapon level is 61.
It is a single level skill i.e. no upgrade.
Can get from Skill Tutor in Barcelona or Seville.

Special: Some weapons like Ranked weapons have it.
Right click on the weapon to use the skill. Lasting time 60 seconds.
Recharge time 5 minutes.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Falchion~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Standard +20% defence when equipped
Your Accuracy is also lowered by a high amount

Power Slash : Active
- Lowers target's defence for 20 or 30 seconds
- Level 1 decreases target's defence by 11%
- The higher level it is, the longer it lasts
-------
Fury Slash : Active
- Increases the speed & accuracy of your attacks while lowers your defence when use
- Lasts for 20 or 30 seconds
- Higher level will improve accuracy.
-------
Lightning Slash : Passive
- Possibility to attack twice quickly -- second attack does less but then more as your level gets higher damage
- Higher level gives better chance of a double attack and increases the second attack's damage
-------
Soul of Sabre: Ultimate
- Using it will let you attack back immediately when you get attacked
- Damage is 50% of your attack- You can attack more than 1 target at the same time
- No EXP when used

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sword~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
No penalties or Improvements when equipped

Stab : Active
- Lowers target's accuracy
- Higher level will make the debuff more powerful
-------
Critical Stab : Passive
- Increase your accuracy and damage
- Higher level will improve both
-------
Launch Stab : Active
- Increases your damage while lowers attack speed
- Lasts for 20 or 30 seconds
- Higher level will improve damage
-------
Sword Dance: Ultimate
- Let's you do 5 quick attacks, in normal damage.
- 100 SP to use
- Sometimes you may hit a critical Sword Dance which will double the damage

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Axe~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lowers your defence by 20% when equipped

Thunder Hack : Active
- Lowers the dodge rate and accuracy of the target
- Higher level will improve the dodge rate debuff
-------
Block : Passive
- Possibility to lower target's damage on you
- Higher level will have higher possibility
-------
Defensive Stance : Active
- Greatly improves defence
- Must not move or attack when using it, or else the skill stops working
- Level 1 removes the -20% defence penalty. From level 2 on each level adds 2 defence.
-------
Rage of God : Ultimate
- Damage to target will be 3x your normal damage
- Attack is -not- affected by target's defence
- Never misses
- Cool-down time: 1 minute
- 100 SP to use

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Gun~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lowers your defence by 70% defence when equipped
Gun is the only ranged weapon, mid-range (pistols) and long-range (rifles)

Wounding Shot : Active
- Lowers target's accuracy
- Target cannot run for 3 seconds
- Higher level will improve the effect
-------
Rapid Fire : Passive
- Possibility to do 2 attacks on every shot; 2nd shot has lower accuracy
- Higher level will increase possibility and improve accuracy
-------
Sniping : Active
- Increases damage but takes longer to fire
- 100% accuracy
- 10 SP to use
- Higher level increases damage
-------
Kiss of Holy Gun : Ultimate
- Increases accuracy
- May decreases target's hit rate
- Lasting time 30 seconds. Must not move, or else the skill stops working

Note: I would reccomend Falchion or Sword as your first weapon, then take on Axe as your second.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Medicine (MED)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A should-train skill :
You overall SP increase with every level of MED.
Higher level MED = More SP
Depends on which Stunt Skills and potions you have, you can heal others, cure them of poison or increase their attack speed.

MED level and Stunt Skills decide what level of potions you can use.
Higher level MED = Higher level potions

Ways to level it :
- Use potions on your character
- Use the Stunt Skills and potions on other players (approximately twice the EXP)
- AFK method -- Work at the Tavern. At Tavern Boss, select "Work" or "Employment"

Stunt Skills :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Healing - active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For better healing power and using higher level potions on yourself and others.

Takes 30 SP to use.

To heal yourself :
Just use the potions.
Right click on potions or left click and drag them to your hotkey bar

To heal others :
Healing potions in your inventory; Select target; Move close to target; Right click or hotkey Stunt Skill's command icon; Left click on target's avatar

( Command icon : Ctrl + A; On Land tab )

3 degrees of Healing Skill :
Low-level Healing Skill uses Low-level Healing Potion
Secondary Healing Skill uses Secondary Healing Potion
High-Level Medical Study Skill uses High-Level Healing Potion

Skill level & effects :
LvL 1 = + 6 HP / second
LvL 2 = + 6 HP / second
LvL 3 = + 7 HP / second
LvL 4 = + 8 HP / second

Good : Don;t you want to use better potions?

Bad : MED is quite slow to level. Takes a while to get those Stunt Points to upgrade Healing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Poisoning - active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Higher level Poisoning = Higher level potions (Poison and Antidote)

To use Poison potions :
With weapon equipped, right click or hotkey the potions.

To cure yourself when poisoned :
Right click or hotkey Antidote potions.

To cure others of poison :
Antidote in your inventory; Select target; Move close to target; Right click or hotkey the Stunt Skill's command icon; Left click on target's avatar

( Command icon : Ctrl + A; On Land tab )

3 degrees of Healing Skill :
Low-level Detoxification Skill uses Low-level Antidote
Secondary Detoxification Skill uses Secondary Antidote
High-Level Detoxification Skill uses High-Level Antidote

Good : Curing others of poison give really good EXP for MED.

Bad : Damage from Poison potion is quite low, especially during low level.
Poison cannot be used on weapons that have a special skill.
Potions are player-made, although some quests give a few as rewards.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Blood Rage-Active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Higher level Blood Rage = Use higher level Incitantia potions + longer lasting time

Takes 30 SP to use.
Target's attack speed will increase but takes away 20 HP.
Cannot use if HP is less than 20.

To use Incitantia potions on yourself :
Right click or hotkey the potions.

To use Blood Rage on others :
Incitantia in your inventory; Select target; Move close to target; Right click or hotkey the Stunt Skill's command icon; Left click on target's avatar

( Command icon : Ctrl + A; On Land tab )

3 degrees of Blood Rage Skill :
Low-level Blood Rage Skill uses Low-level Incitantia
Secondary Blood Rage Skill uses Secondary Incitantia
High-Level Blood Rage Skill uses High-Level Incitantia

Good : Wouldn't you want to attack faster?

Bad : 20 HP decrease can be a lot, depending on your max HP.
Potions are player-made, although some quests give a few as rewards.

This is a section all about the skills and the stunts (special skills) that come with them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Voyage~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a must-train skill :
All 3 types of ship Battle, Raider,Merchant have level requirements for this skill to rebuild/upgrade.

Ways to level it :
- Do escort tasks for the Docker
- Find a safe place on high sea and leave your ship there make sure you dont have any Trader Goods
- Sail through storms (take Repair Kits and Medic Kits with you)

Stunt Skills :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alert - active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Used in sea battles; attack and defense boost.

( Command icon : Ctrl + A; At Sea tab )

ATTK : Increases your cannons damage to enemy ships hull.
DEF : Enemys cannon damage to your hull will decrease.

When used, your ship will sail at lowest speed 3.0.
Takes 30 SP to use.
Lasts for 10 seconds at LvL 1. Every level upgrade adds 5 seconds.

Cannot be used with the 2 other Voyage Stunt Skills.

Good : Higher ATTK = Kill enemies faster = Faster EXP
When fighting strong or a group of enemies, the DEF boost lets you fight longer.

Bad : Turn and sail speed slow down a lot, a bad thing if your enemies go out of your cannon range.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Pursuit - active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Used in sea battles; lets you chase a target with increased speed.

( Command icon : Ctrl + A; At Sea tab )
The increase is based on your ships normal speed at the time.
Your ship will sail directly towards the target you select.

When used, enemy's cannon damage to your hull will go up.
Your cannon accuracy will go down.
Takes 30 SP to use.
Lasts for 10 seconds at LvL 1. Every level upgrade adds 5 seconds.

Changing ships direction or using another Stunt Skill during the chase will cancel the effect.

Good : If you fight with ramming, this skill helps a lot.
This is also the skill to use when enemy is running away. Or if you need to run away from a group of enemies , select the furthest enemy and use this skill.

Bad : Your hull will take more damage and cannons will miss a lot.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Full Speed-active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Used in high seas, offshore and sea battles; increases speed a lot.

( Command icon : Ctrl + A, At Sea tab )

Can only use when sail durability is lower than 60%.

When used, cannot fire cannons.
Takes 30 SP to use.
Lasts for 10 seconds at LvL 1. Every level upgrade adds 5 seconds.

If already using one of the other two Stunt Skills, this will replace it.

Good : For escaping from enemys, or when sailing too slow on high seas or offshore because of low sail.

Bad : No attack with this skill.
Not useful if your enemy is faster or has longer cannon range.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Eloquence (ELQ)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Train this skill for :

- Getting rich
You can make lots of silver by doing Merchant Guild Quests.
They require this skill and its Stunt Skill Purchasing.

- Doing story quests
Many Scenario Quests also need this skill and Purchasing.

- Want stronger ship hull and higher ship load, or have a Merchant Ship
Because you also gain 80-85% Structure EXP from Eloquence EXP, it is a must-train skill for Merchant Ships.
Even if your ship is of other classes, you still might want to train this skill because every level of Structure gives +40 hull durability and +5 cargo load.

- Wearing Eloquence hats to get more SP
Of all the hats, Eloquence hats give the highest SP bonus

- Want to put more items to buy/sell in your Stall (See Vendition)

Ways to level it :

- Do Merchant Quests, the most EXP way

- Do Trend Trades
Check your Public Chat channel for popular Trader Goods in different cities.
Buy those Trader Goods and sell to those cities. EXP will be double of normal because the profit is double.

- Plan high profit trade routes
Longer distance = Higher profit = More EXP
AS LONG AS no cities near your destination are selling the same Trader Goods. Use the list in the link section to help you.

When selling Goods to Traders, you will EXP only if you bought those Goods.
Selling Goods that you picked up will -not- give EXP.

Just got a Merchant Ship? A link for the guide is in the link section.

Stunt Skills :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Purchasing - passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Its level decides what level of Trader Goods you can buy.

LvL 1 Purchasing buys LvL 1 Trader Goods, LvL 5 Purchasing buys LvL 5 Trader Goods and so on.

All Merchant Guild quests requirements are based on Purchasing levels.
Also, many Storyline quests and some Warrior Alliance quests want you to buy Trader Goods.

Good : It's not even a matter of good or bad if you want to do those quests or play a merchant, you must train this Stunt Skill, period.

Bad : Useless if you don't plan on playing a merchant / Merchant Ship, or doing even the Storyline quests.
Most of the Warrior Alliance quests that require buying Goods don't give good enough rewards for the trouble.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Negotiation - passive~~~~~~~~~~~

Pay less when bribing pirates.

When pirates stop you because of the Trader Goods on your ship, you get the option to bribe them.
Higher level Trader Goods means not only stronger pirates, but also paying more money.
With this skill, the higher level it gets, the less bribe money you have to pay.

Good : If you are getting stopped by Raiding Ships (pirate Raider Ships) often, or if you don't ever want to fight them,
or if you want to train only a few levels of Purchasing, or if you do trade runs mostly (instead of MG quests)
then it might be worth spending a few Stunt Points on Negotiation to lower the overall cost.

Bad : Quite useless if you plan on doing lots of MG quests.
In higher levels they give millions of silver.
So you end up paying total of 50k to all the pirates, big deal. :p
Besides, with the exception of the Mediterranean Sea, you travel on routes that have very few pirates, you just have to explore a little, think a little, plan a little.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Vendition - passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Increase the amount of selling / buying items you can put in your Stall.

The higher level this skill is, the more things you can sell or buy through your Stall.
For details on how to set up Stalls and the different kinds, check the Booth / Stall Guide.

Good : If you are always selling things to or buying from other players through your Stall.

Bad : No using a Stall? No use for this skill, then this is useless.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sea Battle (SB)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another must-train skill :
Gotta have some ship fighting skills to protect yourself on the sea.
And if you like battles, kill pirates bosses or are a warrior-type player, well, duh! :p

When you get EXP for this skill, you also get EXP for Military Equipment.
ME is a ship skill required for Battleships rebuild/upgrade..

Ways to level it :
- Kill Smuggling Ships (pirate Merchant Ships), one by one, to know how ship battles work
- Once you are more skilled, go to Battlefields to kill stronger ships (pirate Battleships). The World Map shows locations for them.
- Do Warrior Alliance quests

Stunt Skills :

~~~~~~~~~~~Cannon Fight - passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Used in sea battles; required to equip cannons to your ship.

The higher level is it, the higher level cannons you can use.

There are different types of cannons with different attack power and range.
I won't get into that here.
You can find out more about it by going to the Shipyard Boss and looking at the stats of his cannons.

Stats of cannons, no matter type :
Cannon Attack Power = How hard it hit
Cannon Fight Raidus = Firing distance
Fire Angle = How wide it can turn to fire. Higher number = Wider turn.
Loading Time in milliseconds, eg. 5000 = 5 seconds.

Good : Even if you want to focus on the other two SB Stunt Skills, you'll still need the help of cannon fire.

Bad : I really can't think of anything bad about it.
I mean, if you don't want to fire cannons, what are you playing a game like VCO for? :p

~~~~~~~~~~~~Ramming - active~~~~~~~~~~~~

Used in sea battles; need this skill to equip a Ram on your ship.

( Command icon : Ctrl + A; At Sea tab )

When used, your ship will sail directly against your target and strike a heavy impact.
Your ship will automatically sail towards your target and ram.

If your ship is fast, you can then sail away, turn to face the target, then ram again.
Rinse and repeat.

Must already have a Ram equipped to use this skill.
Takes 30 SP to use.

Higher skill level = Higher level of ram = Higher damage
Faster sailing speed = Higher damage

You'll see many Raider Ships use Ramming.
That is because they are fast and don't have as many cannons as Battleships.
And so the damage from ramming gives them a head-start in destroying enemy.

Good : For the opening impact if you have a fast ship.
A good skill to use with Pursuit (Voyage Stunt Skill).
Never misses.

Bad : This is more of a Raider Ship equipment.
Pretty useless if you have a slow ship (like Merchant Ship), takes you forever to even get close.
For Battleships in PVP, if your enemy is a Raider Ship, good luck chasing
It's bugged -- causes you to accidentally attack another player (= Pink name = Notoriety Point)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Grappling-active ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Used sea battles; need this skill to equip a grapple on your ship.

( Command icon : Ctrl + A; At Sea tab )

Must already have a grapple equipped to use this skill.

Takes 30 SP to use.

There are 5 types of grapple, each has different uses.
Here is a detailed guide on all the grapples.

Good : 5 types of grapple, many ways to use them for different battle strategies.

Bad : Doesn't always succeed. The more sailors your enemy has, the more you fail to hook.
In PVP, when boarding, your enemy might be able to destroy your grapple easily.

These were all the initial skills you start out with except barehand.

C o l l e c t i n g .. S k i l l s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Mining~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Learn this skill to mine ores & smelt metals.
Metals are used for rebuilding ships and making weapons / cannons / shields / figureheads.

Mining, Skill Tutor puts in your bag an Inferior Pickaxe (Equipment tab) when you learn this skill.

Equip it; Go to suburb; Hold down Alt key and find an Ore Stack; Move your mouse over the rock; Mouse cursor changes to a moving axe; Left click on rock to start mining

Smelting
Right click or hotkey the Smelting command icon; For the rest, see pic

Your Mining level decides the levels of ores you can smelt :

LvL 1 - Pig Iron
LvL 11 - Pure Iron
LvL 21 - Bronze
LvL 31 - Brass
LvL 41 - Copper
LvL 51 - Green Silver
LvL 61 - Pure Silver
LvL 71 - Gold
LvL 81 - Purple Gold
LvL 91 - Black Gold

Takes 4 SP each time you collect, no matter fail or succeed.
Takes 5 SP and 3 ores to smelt 1 piece of metal -- you don't fail UNLESS under attack.

Ways to level it :
- Mining and smelting.
For ores level, check this city guide.

Stunt Skills :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ore Study - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This decides the level of ores you can mine :

LvL 1 - Pig Iron
LvL 2 - Pure Iron
LvL 3 - Bronze
LvL 4 - Brass
LvL 5 - Copper
LvL 6 - Green Silver
LvL 7 - Pure Silver
LvL 8 - Gold
LvL 9 - Purple Gold
LvL 10 - Black Gold

Good : Higher level Ore Study = Mine higher level ores

Bad : Can't think why it's bad.

~~~~~~~~~~Loading Practice - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~

It increases your character's bag load for 5 weights with every level.

Good : Who doesn't want to carry more things in the bag?

Bad : 5 points each level aren't that many.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Miner Spirit - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It increases your character's SP by 5 points with every level.

Good : More SP = Mine longer = Mine more

Bad : 5 points each level aren't that many.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Timber-felling~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Learn this skill to cut logs & make Timber.
Timber is used for rebuilding ships and making weapons / cannons / shields / figureheads.

Cutting Logs, Skill Tutor puts in your bag an Inferior Timber-felling Axe (Equipment tab) when you learn this skill.

Equip it; Go to suburbs; Hold down Alt key and find a Small Tree; Move your mouse over the tree; Mouse cursor changes to a moving axe; Left click on rock to start cutting logs

Making Timber --
Right click or hotkey the Processing command icon; The rest see the pic for Smelting, same idea.

Your Timber-felling level decides the levels of Timber you can make :

LvL 1 - Level 1 Timber
LvL 11 - Level 2 Timber
LvL 21 - Level 3 Timber
LvL 31 - Level 4 Timber
LvL 41 - Level 5 Timber
LvL 51 - Level 6 Timber
LvL 61 - Level 7 Timber
LvL 71 - Level 8 Timber
LvL 81 - Level 9 Timber
LvL 91 - Level 10 Timber

Takes 5 SP each time you collect, no matter fail or succeed.
Takes 5 SP and 3 logs to make a piece of Timber -- you don't fail UNLESS under attack.

Ways to level it :
- Cutting logs and making timber.
For trees level, check the city guide below in the links.

Stunt Skills :

~~~~~~~~~~~~Lumber Study - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This decides the level of logs you can cut :

LvL 1 - Level 1 log
LvL 2 - Level 2 log
LvL 3 - Level 3 log
LvL 4 - Level 4 log
LvL 5 - Level 5 log
LvL 6 - Level 6 log
LvL 7 - Level 7 log
LvL 8 - Level 8 log
LvL 9 - Level 9 log
LvL 10 - Level 10 log

Good : Higher level Lumber Study= Cut higher level logs

Bad : Can't think why it's bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Loading Practice - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It increases your character's bag load for 5 weights with every level.

Good : Who doesn't want to carry more things in the bag?

Bad : 5 points each level aren't that many.

~~~~~~~~~~~Woodcutter Spirit - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It increases your character's SP by 5 points with every level.

Good : More SP = Cut longer = Cut more

Bad : 5 points each level aren't that many and eventually you dont need much SP.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Fishing~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Learn this skill to collect fish, shells, Cold Iron and Eaglewood :

Shells can be taken to an Authenticator to gain Reputation.

Some Merchant Guild quests need some types of fish that can only be caught with high level fishing.

Cold Iron and Eaglewood are materials for making higher level weapons, uniforms, special figureheads and for building LvL 10 Tortuga ships.

To fish -- Skill Tutor gives you an Inferior Fishingnet when you learn the skill.

Equip it on your ship; Go to the Docker and select Offshore, You may also fish in shoals on the high seas, this requires Item Mall Bait and rods; Look for Shoal areas in the water; Sail to those areas and left click on the water

Ways to level it :
- Fish. Remember to bring SP potions.

Stunt Skills:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Fishing Practice~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gives your ship 20 extra load per level, reccomended

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Fisherman Stamina~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gives you 5 extra SP per level, not necessary

~~~~~Fishing Maintenance (Not sure of the name)~~~~~~

Reduces the durability lost on your fishing net per level, it's either 5% per level or 1 % per level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Planting~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Learn this skill to plant crops.
Crops are used for making potions (Alchemy) and cloth (Sewing).

To plant, Skill Tutor puts in your bag an Inferior Hoe (Equipment tab) when you learn this skill.

Go to suburbs, find some wild plants and pick up their seeds; Equip Hoe; Find the Scarecrow and some space near it; Right click or hotkey the seeds; Plant the next seed

Each seed needs 20 minutes to grow, then you can click on each crop to collect.
After that 20 minutes growing time, you have another 10 minutes to collect before other players can take your crops.

Takes 5 SP each time plant a seed.

Ways to level it :
- Plant

Stunt Skills :

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Botany Study - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This decides the level of seeds you can plant.

Good : Higher level Botany Study= Plant higher level seeds

Bad : Can't think why it's bad.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Loading Practice - Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~

It increases your character's bag load for 5 weights with every level.

Good : Who doesn't want to carry more things in the bag?

Bad : 5 points each level aren't that many.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~Harvesting - active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When use, it will pick up your grown crops for you.

Command icon : Ctrl + A; On Land tab; Harvesting

Every level adds 1 crop collection, eg. At LvL 4 it collects 4 crops at a time.

Takes 5 x the stunt level SP to use

Good : No more clicking one grown crop at a time to collect.
If you got careless and planted a seed in a spot that you can't reach, Harvest might be able to collect for you.

Bad : Depends on your own liking, you might prefer to save your SP for planting instead.

P r o d u c i n g .. S k i l l s

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Alchemy~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This skill is for making potions

Skill Tutor puts in your bag an Inferior Vessel and a Low-level Healing Potion Recipe (Item tab) when you learn the skill.

Equip the Vessel and right click on the recipes to learn them.

Find out what materials you need and/or to make the potion:
Right click or hotkey the Alchemy command icon; Click the drop-down arrow; Select the potion you have learned to make

Ways to level it :
- Make potions.

Skill Stunts:

~~~~~~~~~~Optimize Refining-Passive~~~~~~~~~~~

Increases your chance of successfully making a potion with alchemy by 1% per level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Apothecary Spirit-Passive~~~~~~~~

Increases your SP by 5 per level

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Effectiveness Enhancement-passive~~~~

Increases the effect of potions used on yourself by 10% per level, so if this was level 1 and you heal yourself 10 normally, you would then heal yourself 11. Very useful stunt.

~~~~~~Ultimate Skill-Unknown Name-Active~~~~~~~~~~~~

Uses a "Special-Made Poison" and throws it like a bomb. It is an Area of Effect stunt. It will poison anyone it effects for 8 seconds. I think it does more damage as your alchemy gets higher. You need around 60 alchemy to learn this and you must do a quest which I do not know.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Sewing~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This skill is for making clothes and hats

Skill Tutor puts in your bag an Inferior Sewing Kit and a Weaving Manual (Item tab) when you learn the skill.

FIRST THING TO DO : Right click on the Weaving Manual to learn it.
Or else you can't make cloth!

Equip the Inferior Sewing Kit and right click on the drawings to learn them.

Find out what materials you need and/or to make the cloth and clothes:
Right click or hotkey the Sewing command icon; Click the drop-down arrow; Select the cloth / clothes you have learned to make

Ways to level it :
- Make cloth / clothes.

Skill Stunts:

~~~~~~~~~~~~Armor Maintenance-Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Decreases the durability lost on your armor by 5% per level, extremely useful for afking monsters and if your dodge isn't that high.

~~~~~~~~~~~~Rapid Repairing-Active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Instantly repairs your uniform or hat, a relatively long cooldown and costs 200 SP.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tailor Spirit-Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Increases your SP by 5 per level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ultimate Skill-Unknown Name-Active~~

I am not sure at all what this does, but I think it allows you to break down a hat or uniform back into the materials you originally needed for it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Foundry~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This skill is for making and repairing weapons and making cannons.

Skill Tutor puts in your bag an Inferior Hammer and a Cutlass Drawing (Item tab) when you learn the skill.

Equip the Hammer and right click on the drawings to learn them.

Find out what materials you need and/or to make the weapon :
Right click or hotkey the Foundry command icon; Click the drop-down arrow; Select the weapon you have learned to make

Ways to level it :
- Make weapons and cannons.

Skill Stunts:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Rapid Repair-Active~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Same thing as the Sewing Rapid Repair except this only repairs weapons.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Weapon Maintenance-Passive~~~~~~~~~~~

Decreases durability loss by 5% per level, a MUST have to afk monsters for a long time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Blacksmith Spirit-Passive~~~~~~~~~~~~

Increases your SP by 5 per level.

~~~~Ultimate Skill-Vertigo(Might be wrong)-Active~~~~

Uses an Iron Hammer and stuns the enemy for around 5 seconds, they may not heal or do anything except talk in public chat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Ship-building~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

This skill is for repairing ships and making shields and figureheads.

Skill Tutor puts in your bag an Inferior Hammer and a Fire Swordfish Figurehead Drawing (Item tab) when you learn the skill.

Equip the Hammer and right click on the drawings to learn them.

Find out what materials you need and/or to make the item:
Right click or hotkey the Ship-building command icon; Click the drop-down arrow; Select the weapon you have learned to make

Higher Ship-building level = Higher repair points per second = Faster repair

Ways to level it :
- Make shields and figureheads.

Skill Stunts:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Battle Repairing-Active~~~~~~~~~~

Heals the hull and sail durability of your ship while you are sailing or anchored. This can be only used in offshore scenes. It is extremely useful for staying inside Battle Fields for a long time. Also you can heal yourself during a storm so you may save yourself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Shipbuilders Spirit-Passive~~~~~~~~~

Increases your SP by 5 per level.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Optimized Manufacturing-Passive~~~~~~

Increases the chance of you to succeed creating a shipbuilding based object by 1% per level.

Thanks to Feist for supplying this information.

The time I am writing this, VCO's economy has crashed. The only way to earn money at a decent rate is to purchase IM (Item Mall) and sell it for silver. IM costs real life money and is like a drug, once you buy some, it's hard to stop buying. You may also do the 12 Million quest chain, this take a few hours but you'll end up 12 million richer. The whole quest chain will is posted down lower in this page. You can also earn money by collecting wood/metal and selling it, this is not a great way of making money though. One of the top ways to make money is by doing merchant quests, they are extremely boring but give good money.

12 Million Quest (updated guide to the old 30 mil quest)
How to earn approximately 12 million in 7 hours
Requirements to Start: any level of boat; the dragon gunboat is great for new players and level 2 purchasing skill to start. As you progress, you'll get more eloquence stunt points; spend these on purchasing - you'll need level 4 purchasing further down.

1) Venice's spices

Start the quest in Venice by speaking to Massetto. On your way to Istanbul, stop at Athens and buy a Knight Cutlass from the Blacksmith (12,500 silver). Head to Alexandra and purchase 10 marble from the trader. After that find Abba Bakery at Istanbul dock and collect 10 brandy from him and give the marble to Abba Bakery. Then give Knight Cutlass to Mill (he stands not far from Abba Bakery). Finally, collect 5 spices from Abba Bakery and go back Venice and speak with Massetto to complete the quest. Keep the 10 of brandy cases which you'll need later.

Massetto (Venice) - Abba Bakery (Istanbul dock) - Alexandria Trader - Abba Bakery (Istanbul dock) - Mill (Istanbul) - Blacksmith in Athens - Mill (Istanbul) - Abba Bakery (Istanbul dock) - Massetto (Venice)

Reward: Voyage +50000, Eloquence +50000, Sea Battle +100000, Silver Coins +80000, Reputation +300, Amity in Merchant Guild +5

2) The legend of Crete Island: The proof of hero
Requires: Finish task "Venice Spices"

Mahmoud (Alexandria) - Sabrina (Alexandria) - Hussein (Alexandria) - Sabrina *Alexandria)- Mayeroff (Istanbul) - The prophet on Crete Island (village, behind a house on the right side of your screen) - Geremi (Algiers) - The prophet on Crete Island

Mahmood can be found in the square of Alexandra (enter the city, turn right and past the trader). He spawns in the daylight hours. When you initially speak with Hussein, tell him you have the navigator certificate. Ask him where the soldiers are and agree to bribe him with 500 silver.
- The second time you meet Sabrina, tell her that her son is in Istanbul. You will get a pair of boots made by her to give to her son Mayeroff.
- You will get the map of Crete from Mayeroff; keep it for a quest further down.
- Wait until the time is between 20 and 3 to head into Crete Village (the pirates are too tough for low level players)
- You will encounter pirate ships sailing to Crete beach, a dragon gunboat should get you in just
- Get the broken cutlass from Geremi. Keep talking to Geremi until you get the option to ask him about a cutlass. Deny his offers to sell you the cutlass. He will eventually give it to you for free.
- You will get a sword called "Brave Heart" to authenticate and enter Cretan Labyrinth / Double Axe Labyrinth, although authenticating this is not part of the quest, you can always do it another time.
- Give Sabrina 500 on the second times u talk to her will get Reward 1, talk to Mayeroff will get Reward 2 and finally will get Reward 3 + title.

Rewards: 1st: Reputation +500; 2nd: Voyage +30000, Eloquence +30000, Silver Coins +30000, Reputation +50; 3rd: Sea Battle +100000, Silver Coins +50000, Reputation +200

3) The struggle under Kiz Kulesi: Medicine for saving lives
Requires: Finish task "The legend of Crete Island: The proof of hero."

Nathan (Istanbul suburb)

Buy a low level healing potion from the alchemist before heading to find Nathan in the suburbs. Although you have the potion with you when you talk to him, don't give it to him right away, but tell him you will come back with one. Then talk to him again and give him the potion.

Rewards: Sea Battle +1000000, Eloquence +1000000, Voyage +1000000, Reputation +200, Amity in Ottoman Empire +5

NOTE: You will now have to wait 72 minutes before starting the next quest below:

4) The struggle under Kiz Kulesi: Money threatening lives

Nathan (Istanbul suburb) - Betty (Istanbul) - Kadeer(Istanbul) - Betty (Istanbul) - Kadeer (Istanbul) - Betty (Istanbul)

In your last conversation with Betty, she will give you Chinese China which you will need later in this overall quest.

Reward: Sea battle +1500000, Eloquence +1500000, Voyage +1500000, Reputation +250, Amity in Ottoman Empire +10, "Chinese China"

5) The carnival in Venice: Preparation
Requires: Finish tasks "Venice Spices" + "The struggle under Kiz Kulesi: Money threatening lives" (You need Chinese China to start this quest)

Massetto (Venice) - Matteuzzo (Venice) - Edward (London) - Matteuzzo(Venice) - Massetto (Venice)

NOTES:
- After you submit Chinese China, wait 1 day.
- When you leave London, head to Hamburg and pick up 3 cases of rum

Rewards: 1st: Reputation +100, Amity with England +5; 2nd: Eloquence +150000, Silver Coins +300000, Reputation +200, Amity in Merchant Guild +5

6) Galileo's Scientific Research: Deliver Telescope

Requires: Any of the following skills >= 10 (Sea battle, Voyage, or Eloquence)
Amity in the Merchant Guild >= 30
Amity in Kingdom of Greece >= 20

Galileo (Venice) - Pascal (Athens)
NOTES:
- Get 30x Astronomical Telescope from Galileo

Reward: Eloquence +1000, Silver Coins +50000, Reputation +80

The rest:

NOTE: After giving the telescope to Pascal, you must wait 24 minutes before speaking to him again to start the next quest below. While waiting, you can gather the trader goods required for Quest No. 8, which are: 5 cases of Beer (Beirut); 10 cases of Brandy (if you followed this guide, you already have it) (Istanbul); 3 cases of Rum (Hamburg) (if you followed this guide, you already have it); 7 cases of Whiskey (Venice). Don't worry if you cannot carry all the goods at once, you can submit them separately.

7) Galileo's Scientific Research: A letter to Galileo
Requires: Finish task "Galileo's Scientific Research: Deliver Telescope"

Pascal (Athens) - Galileo (Venice)

Reward: Voyage +50000, Silver Coins +40000, Reputation +80

The carnival in Venice: Importing

Requires: "The carnival in Venice: Preparation"

Massetto(Venice) - Massetto(Venice)

NOTES:
- Need: 3 cases of Rum (Hamburg), 7 cases of whiskey (Venice), 10 cases of brandy (Istanbul) and 5 cases of beer (Beirut)
- You will get Carnival Invitation - need it to do "The Treasure of Genghis Khan: Clue."

Reward: Voyage +1000000, Silver Coins +600000, Reputation +500

9) Quest No. 9 The previous guide is confusing here. Go to Quest 10, but when you get to Tyrano Bishop, start a second conversation with him to begin Quest 10.

10) Comprehensive war of Europe: Mediation

Requires: Finish task "The carnival in Venice: Importing" + "Galileo's Scientific Research"

Galileo (Venice) - Elizabeth (London) - Tyrano Bishop (Genoa)
NOTES:
- With Choice A, you will start Comprehensive war of Europe: Alliance.
- With Choice B, you will start Comprehensive war of Europe: Prepare for war.

Reward: Choice A: see below; Choice B: Eloquence +500000, Voyage +500000, Silver Coins +500000, Reputation +300

This revised guide will continue under the premise that the player has chosen Choice B, in support of Spain. The other route is difficult for new players and would require higher level purchasing skills (level 10). For players who wish to run the quest with Choice A, please refer to the original guide.

11) Comprehensive war of Europe - Prepare for war
WARNING CLOSES "Comprehensive War of Europe:Alliance"
Requires: Finish task "Comprehensive war of Europe: Mediation"

Boucheron (Barcelona) - Wait 3 game-days - Boucheron (Barcelona)

Sea Battle +1800000, Eloquence +1800000, Silver Coins +1000000, Reputation +200

NOTES
- Find Boucheron near the Guild Manager - he spawns near the fountain at about 9 a.m. game time

NOTE: Before starting Quest No. 12, you'll need to wait 72 minutes. During this time, go to Hamburg to by 50 Hurricane Cannons (1250000 Silver) which are needed for the next quest.

12) Comprehensive war of Europe: Treasure (Spain)

Requires: Finish task "Comprehensive war of Europe: Prepare for war"

Talk to Boucheron (Barcelona) - Fayard (Barcelona)

Rewards: 1st: Sea Battle +1800000, Eloquence +1800000, Silver Coins +1000000,
Reputation +200; 2nd: Silver Coins +3000000, Reputation +500, Amity in the Kingdom of Spain +20, Amity in the Kingdom of England -5, Title â%u20AC%u0153Dragon Knightâ%u20AC; 3rd: Voyage +1000000, Sea Battle +1000000, Silver Coins +1000000

13) The Treasure of Genghis Khan: Clue

Requires: Finish task "Comprehensive war of Europe: Treasure" and the Carnival Invitation you got from "The carnival in Venice: Importing"

Nathan (Istanbul suburb) - Kadeer (Istanbul) - Abba Bakery (Istanbul dock)

Reward: Sea battle +600000, Eloquence +600000, Voyage +600000

14) The Treasure of Genghis Khan: Search
Requires: Finish task "The Treasure of Genghis Khan: Clue"; Need Map of Crete Island from: "The legend of Crete Island: The proof of hero"; 1.2 million silver to buy the Paladin Sword

Artes (Alexandria) - The prophet on Crete Island (village, behind a house on the right side of your screen) - Ye Du(Corsica Island - Tavern) - Coceres(Amsterdam) - Harold(Oslo) - Coceres(Amsterdam) - Ye Du(Corsica Island - Tavern)

NOTES:
- Artes will tell you to look for Sabrina; ignore that and continue on to Crete Island
- Need to have Paladin Sword (Reykjavik Blacksmith) with you before talking to Harold.
- The second time you talk to Coceres, he will reward you Reward A + Level 84 gun (revolver).
- The second time you talk to Ye Du to finish the quest, he will reward you Reward B.
- Title gained: "Golden Kesig"
- You will get the Brotherliness Bead

Reward: 1st: Silver Coins +100000, Reputation +100, Amity in the Dutch Republic +20; 2nd: Sea Battle +5800000, Eloquence +5800000, Voyage +5800000, Silver Coins +2000000

Payday!
With the Brotherliness Bead, head to Barcelona and speak with Boucheron again. Turn traitor on your "brother" Ye Du.
Reward: 2500000 silver; -900 reputation, Amity with the Kingdom of Spain +20
Now head to see Drake in London, and again turn traitor on Ye Du again.
Reward: 2500000 silver; -900 reputation, Amity with the Kingdom of England +20

That's it. Total payout is 14770000 but net will be approximately 12000000 after buying the Palladin Sword and Hurricane Cannons.

Thanks to Crappyjazz for supplying this information.

Guilds are a people united together in a group that share the same enemies and allies. They help each other out and should trust each other. Guilds require 5 people to create one. They consume money each day, approximately 20k silver per member. Guilds can go to war with other guilds.
Alliances are groups of guild against the same enemies. Alliance fight against each other and normally one alliance is the strongest out all them all.
You can make teams which simply give you a defense bonus if you are near your teammate. You can also use teampots which if you are near the leader of the team you will get a attack/defense/accuracy/dodge bonus.
If you are in a guild there are 5 positions from lowest to highest: Common Member (Regular person), Executive Officer (May Recruit People and other stuff depending on your guild), Director (May Recruit and make departments and Promote/Demote Executive officers), Vice-Leader (May Manage Guild diplomacy, and all of the above metioned), Leader (May do all the above mentioned and promote/demote anyone). There can only be 5 Execs, 3 Directors, and 1 vice and 1 leader.
Guilds start at level 1, they can be promoted to level 5, higher level guilds require more money and have more oppurtunities to do things. You need to level up Commercialization to advance your guild. You may also level up Industrialization to upgrade you military status, normally this is not too important. Commercial tasks involve collecting goods, crops, metal, timber. They are normally a bit more time-consuming. Industrial tasks require cannons,weapons,armor,ship-shields and so on. Normally you would ONLY use cannons. Industrial tasks do not require you to go back to your guild manager to get the quest everytime. But Commercial quests require you to get the quest, accomplish it, and then go get another one. So this means you can take 1000 cannons and keep accepting industrial tasks to turn in all those cannons without moving.

~August 11-Added High Seas Fishing Locations
~August 13-Added thanks for information
~September 3-Added eBay and Amazon