The Pirate Captain is Trove’s salty sea-dog of controlled chaos: part turret-master, part tactical taunter, part explosive ordinance specialist. you lob explosives, you spawn turrets, you bait fights with decoys, and the room pays you back in loot. If you like orchestrating mayhem from a safe-ish distance while little mechanical parrots peck holes in enemies, this class will feel like home.
This Trove guide walks you through the Pirate Captain abilities, builds: Turret DPS, Doubloon-Boom, or speed-Farm, rotations, gem choices, emblem/flask picks and endgame tuning.
The Pirate Captain Abilities & Passive
Understanding the Pirate Captain means knowing what earns you doubloons, how turrets upgrade, and how the decoy & ultimate change a fight. Below is the functional kit with numbers and how to use each ability in practice.
Basic Attack
Your basic is a short-range trapezoid AoE (about 6 blocks) dealing 200% MD per hit. Crucially, hits generate Doubloons: each enemy hit by certain actions yields a Doubloon; each Doubloon grants 10 energy. The Pirate Captain does not benefit from Energy Regeneration stats — you must generate energy via Doubloons to use energy-cost abilities like 
Pretend Pirate. Learning how to reliably create Doubloons is the class’s first mechanical step.
First Mate and Class Gem
Summons a turret that shoots enemies for 200% MD (first phase) and can be upgraded by collecting Doubloons. The turret lasts 10s and can be upgraded twice: after collecting 3 Doubloons it increases damage to 1000% MD. With class gem you can deploy two turrets (ARR-tillery) and upgraded by picking up Doubloons. Turrets are your bread-and-butter sustained DPS; they persist and keep dealing while you reposition or throw decoys.
Pretend Pirate
Throws a decoy that taunts nearby enemies and can absorb three hits before breaking dealing 350% MD in a radius of 7 Block. Because the Pirate Captain’s energy cannot be passively regenerated, Pretend Pirate is often a clutch tool for controlling aggro or planting a timed explosion. Use it to tank a gap while your turrets chew, and collecting Doubloons.
Man O’ War
Summons a heavy turret that lobs explosive shells (big AoE) for 650% MD with a 15s duration. Man O’ War is the high-damage turret — use it to anchor a boss phase or to blow open a dense pack. Note: there’s no cap on Man O’ War instances, so you can stack them in some builds for ridiculous sustained shelling. Its firing cadence (~1s) plus turret synergies is what makes Pirate Captain viability scale with PR.
Doubloon Passive & 
Signatory Ring Hidden Effects
The Pirate’s play loop depends on doubloon generation: Plunderbuss a passive that make Basic Attacks and Pretend Pirate create Doubloons which fuel Pretend Pirate energy-cost and upgrade turrets. Signatory Ring hidden effects can layer additional perks: spawns extra minions, applies debuffs on basic hits, or makes First Mate generate doubloons randomly — these are powerful and change small details of rotation.
The Builds
Turret DPS Build
This build leans hard into maximizing turret effectiveness. You want your First Mate and Man O’ War to hit like freight cannons while you micro-manage Doubloon flow. Upgrade turrets fast and keep Man O’ War uptime high during boss phases; turret attack rate/damage upgrades scale extremely well with PR.
Why it works: turrets scale with invested stats; upgraded cannons + Man O’ War provide relentless, multi-target damage while you stay relatively safe.
stats: Magical Damage → Critical Hit (aim for close to 100% chance, then stop adding more) → Critical Damage → Attack Speed → Max Health (for safety).
Gems (empowered): Pyrodisc (AoE circles) and Explosive Epilogue (on-kill explosions) are strong; prioritize gems that boost turret MD/PD or general PD/crit.- Emblems & Flask: Chronomantic for 7s Cooldown Reduction + Arcane for damage; and use
Elysian Bandolier Flask - Ally:
Chronomancer Qubesly for extra DPS and Cooldown Reduction. - Rotation: place First Mate → hit packs with Plunderbuss to spawn Doubloons → pick up Doubloons to upgrade First Mate quickly → when boss spawns, call Man O’ War + additional First Mates if class gem allows → stand in safe zone and reapply.
Gems (empowered): Pyrodisc (AoE circles) and Explosive Epilogue (on-kill explosions) are strong; prioritize gems that boost turret MD/PD or general PD/crit.
Chronomantic for 7s Cooldown Reduction + 
Arcane for damage; and use 
Elysian Bandolier Flask
Chronomancer Qubesly for extra DPS and Cooldown Reduction.Quick tip: prioritize Doubloons in the first 2–4 seconds of a pull to reach turret upgrade thresholds swiftly; upgraded turrets are where the burst comes from.
Doubloon-Boom Build
This build amplifies the decoy + explosion interplay. You deliberately generate energy to spam Pretend Pirate decoys as both taunts and area bombs. Combine that with a few turrets and on-kill explosions to create multi-phase chain-clears.
Why it works: decoys convert into powerful timed explosions and buy windows for your crew to re-position. In chaotic Delves, planting a Pretend Pirate under a boss’s feet often decides a phase.
stats: Magical Damage → Critical Hit → Critical Damage → Attack Speed.- Gems: Explosive Epilogue (chains on-kill into more explosions) and Vampirian Vanquisher if you need sustain during decoy-heavy solo runs.
- Emblems & Flask: Chronomantic (cooldown reduction for more frequent decoy usage) + Arcane Increases your Magical Damage. and use Elysian Bandolier Flask.
- Ally: Chronomancer Qubesly for extra DPS and Cooldown Reduction.
- Rotation: open with First Mate(s) → hit with Plunderbuss to build Doubloons → deploy Pretend Pirate in choke point and let it absorb hits, then detonate as it breaks → call Man O’ War during the stacked explosion window.
Quick tip: use decoys intentionally as timers — drop one at the edges of a pull to force enemies into predetermined AoE traps.
Farming Build
Pirate Captain can also speed-farm when built for movement and sustained AoE: Man O’ War shells plus Explosive Epilogue chain-clears let you pre-place turrets and run routes, while Pretend Pirate clears sticky packs. This is a surprisingly efficient farm class when optimized.
Why it works: AoE shells and on-kill explosions clear nodes fast. Turrets provide passive damage so you can move immediately after placing them.
- stats: Magical Damage → Critical Hit → Critical Damage → Movement Speed / Magic Find (prioritize these on gear, swapping damage stats where needed) → Attack Speed → Max Health (as needed for survival).
- Gems: Empowered on-kill gems (Explosive Epilogue) + movement/minor attack speed lesser gems.
- Emblems & Flask: Chronomantic (cooldown reduction for more frequent decoy usage) + Arcane Increases your Magical Damage. and use Elysian Bandolier Flask.
- Ally: Orchian Balanced Damage & Speed.
- Rotation: pre-place First Mate(s) on node entry → spam Plunderbuss to spawn Doubloons and upgrade turrets → drop Man O’ War in dense nodes → use Pretend Pirate only when a pack stalls progress → sprint to next node.
Orchian Balanced Damage & Speed.Quick tip: map knowledge + turret placement = 80% of speed success — pre-plan where turrets will cover spawns.
Gear Stats Priorities
Gearing your Pirate Captain correctly is what turns your humble cannon crew into a ship-destroying armada. Since the Pirate’s energy is Doubloon-based (not Energy Regen) and most of your DPS comes from Magical Damage scaling, you’ll want to optimize each slot for raw Magical DPS, Crit, and attack tempo to keep Doubloons flowing and turrets upgraded fast.
| Slot | Main Stat Priority | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
 Weapon | Magical Damage → Critical Damage → Attack Speed → Critical Hit | Pirate Captain relies heavily on MD scaling for both Plunderbuss and turret DPS. Attack Speed helps your basic generate Doubloons faster; Crit stats amplify turret & ability burst. |
 Hat | Maximum Health → Magical Damage → Critical Hit | Since Pirate Captains often stand mid-range while turrets tank, survivability matters. Max Health helps you survive while picking up Doubloons. |
 Face | Magical Damage → Critical Damage → Critical Hit | Straight DPS slot — prioritize the heaviest-hitting combination to boost turret firepower and ultimate shell impact. |
 Ring | Magical Damage → Critical Damage | Always aim for a high PD Signatory Ring. The hidden effects (Raiders, All Hands On Deck, AVAST YE!!!) are massive force multipliers for your build focus. |
 Banner | Light → Magical Damage → Magic Find (optional) | Light is essential for endgame delves; MD secondary boosts all turret & Man O’ War damage. |
Progression Roadmap
- Early (0–PR5k): learn to place First Mate and use Pretend Pirate for clutch aggro control. Prioritize survivability & some PD.
- Mid (PR5k–PR20k): decide turret vs decoy style; hunt for explosive empowered gems and a useful class gem from Everdark Vaults. Upgrade turrets and practice doubloon economy.
- Endgame: invest Mystic/Cosmic gem lines for Light/PR scaling, polish signatory rings for best hidden effects, and tune emblems & ally pairings for your role (Delve carry vs speed-farm). Class gem upgrades make the biggest single jump in turret builds.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is Pirate Captain good in 2026?
A: Yes. Pirate Captain remains a highly viable class for Delves, Shadow Tower and topside farming due to strong turret scaling, AoE shells, and flexible decoy/taunt mechanics.
Q: What gems are best for Pirate Captain?
A: Explosive Epilogue and Pyrodisc are generalist staples; Berserk Battler or Vampirian Vanquisher are viable depending on sustain needs. Stellar class gems that modify turret behavior are top-priority for turret builds.
Q: Which emblem combo should I use?
A: Martial + Surestrike for DPS; Chronomancer + Unyielding for decoy/cooldown-focused hybrid play; Beamer for farming.
Q: Should I bother with Signatory Ring polishing?
A: Yes — choosing and polishing a hidden effect (Raiders, All Hands On Deck, etc.) can meaningfully change your rotation. It’s a small investment with high returns for a main.
Final Thoughts
The Pirate Captain is a class of deliberate placement and economic rhythm. You win by controlling where enemies stand, by extracting the maximum value from Doubloon, and by letting turrets and Man O’ War shells do the messy work while you call the shots. the class is flexible: you can dominate PR with turret optimization, anchor a party with smart decoy play, or clear topside nodes at speed with Explosive chains.