Black Powder is the resource that keeps your island defenses firing in Corsair Cove. Gun Towers convert it into ammunition, and without a steady supply, a finished tower sits silent while Crown ships close in. Producing it takes three linked buildings and a short delivery route between them.
Quick answer: Build a Guano Gatherer on a Guano deposit, place a Charburner next to a Woodcutter and Quarry to turn Hardwood and Stone into Charcoal, then build a Powdermill beside both. The Powdermill combines Guano ×6 and Charcoal ×2 into Black Powder ×10.
The Black Powder production chain
Black Powder sits at the end of a two-stage chain. Charcoal is made first from raw materials, then combined with Guano at the Powdermill. Everything the chain needs comes from local deposits, so the whole system can run without any raids or imports.
| Building | Inputs | Output |
|---|---|---|
| Guano Gatherer | None (gathered) | Guano ×12 |
| Charburner | Hardwood ×6 + Stone ×2 | Charcoal ×16 |
| Powdermill | Guano ×6 + Charcoal ×2 | Black Powder ×10 |
Because Charcoal draws on Hardwood and raw Stone, a working Woodcutter and Quarry are part of the chain too. The Charburner requests raw Stone, not the Stone Blocks a Stonecutter produces, so route it directly to a Quarry.
Building requirements for each stage
Each building has its own construction cost, workforce, and upkeep. Confirm you have free pirates before committing, since a chain that eats your last available workers can stall its own supply route.
| Building | Workforce | Build cost | Upkeep |
|---|---|---|---|
| Guano Gatherer | 2 Greenhands | 30 Planks | 2 Stew |
| Charburner | 2 Fetchers + 2 Greenhands | 30 Planks | 2 Stew |
| Powdermill | 2 workers | — | — |
Guano deposits are the limiting factor. Unlike wood, stone, and water, Guano nodes are scarce, and a Guano Gatherer can only be placed on a designated construction point tied to that material. Keep this in mind when deciding where to drop new Pirate Camps, since the deposit often sits outside your starting territory.
Build order and placement
Construct the chain from its raw sources toward the Powdermill so each building can pull from the one before it over a short path. Long ladder routes slow material transport, so favor bridges and cliff paths between the three structures.
Tip: Unlock the Powder Monkey skill in the Warrior Path on the Compass to increase how much Black Powder you produce.
Emergency Black Powder before the chain is ready
The first Crown attack often arrives before you can afford a full Powdermill industry. In that case, you do not need to build the chain at all. Send your opening ship to a nearby Jetsum event and take Black Powder directly as cargo.
A single Jetsum event can offer several cargo choices, including a straight 95 Black Powder option and a mixed load of 70 Planks, 40 Booze, and 45 Black Powder. Take the pure Black Powder when defense is your only urgent problem, and choose the mixed cargo when the Haven also needs Planks and Booze. Turn home once the critical cargo is aboard rather than chasing an optional wreck that costs Crew.
Move to permanent production once the imported supply runs low, more than one tower needs ammunition, expansion creates new vulnerable coasts, or you finally have a Pirate Camp that can claim a Guano deposit.
How Gun Towers turn Black Powder into ammunition
Gun Towers are the main consumers of Black Powder. Each fires on Crown ships entering your inlets, and its ammunition supply is tied directly to a steady flow of Black Powder. Build towers after the Powdermill so the delivery route stays short.
| Tower | Inputs per ammunition | Ammo capacity |
|---|---|---|
| Small Gun Tower | Black Powder ×10 | 1 |
| Medium Gun Tower | Cannonball ×4 + Black Powder ×10 | 2 |
| Large Gun Tower | Cannonball ×8 + Black Powder ×10 | 3 |
A Small Gun Tower costs 50 Stone plus 1 Fetcher, 1 Greenhand, and 1 Stew upkeep, and produces 0.3 ammunition with 1 damage. Place it inside the supporting Pirate Camp’s range and close enough for its firing area to cover the vulnerable coast. A tower can look close to the shore and still fail placement because it sits outside the Camp boundary.
For a coast that is attacked repeatedly, store Black Powder in a Warehouse near the tower. The Powdermill can stay in a separate production district as long as the final delivery hop is short.
Confirming a tower is actually loaded
A finished tower is not a loaded tower. When construction completes, the panel can still read 0 Black Powder and 0 Ammunition with a capacity of 1. It cannot fire until powder arrives and the ammunition counter climbs above zero.
Check these points on the tower panel before you treat the coast as defended:
- Black Powder is stored in the correct Pirate Camp.
- The tower has a selected provider and an assigned Fetcher.
- The Fetcher can reach the provider, and Black Powder is arriving.
- Ammunition has increased above zero.
- The tower’s firing area covers the active coastal area.
The island’s total resource count is not enough on its own. Black Powder may exist in another territory, a distant Warehouse, or behind a route with no available Fetcher. Until the tower panel shows the resource arriving, the defense is unfinished. Once ammunition is loaded, a single supplied Small Gun Tower is usually enough to destroy an opening Crown vessel, so add more towers only in response to a real weakness rather than by default.
