Darktide Tricks for the early levels:

Here are some of the tricks I've learned that might help new players:

• Run 1 long range gun on each side of your boat. Even though it isn't the best damage, it sure is nice to pull ships from longer range, so to avoid getting multiple red attackers on you at once.
• The early crew are not too different from each other. Pick any medium range crew member, but don't forget to upgrade them as better crew is available.
• If you have "Saga Credits" to burn, the buffs are the best cheapest way to improve your ship. 30% attack speed, double experience and 40% movement makes the game much easier at early levels. I honestly never let those buffs go down.
• Medium range cannons are the overall best at early levels. Why? Because there are no long range crew. You have to get into medium crew range at the minimum to get them to fire. Most enemies at the low level fire mostly in the medium range.
• If you want a cool looking crew member, get the "Wight". These birdmen fly around the top of your ship and crossbow the enemy. Awesome.
• Don't sell "quest" items. Seriously, you will regret it. You don't need gold, you need quest items...
• Once you leave newby cove, you will find your treasure maps might not be in the first zone. Zoom out and look around.

For more Tricks and Thoughts:

Part 2 - http://sagathoughts.blogspot.com/2010/08/darktide-tricks-for-early-levels-part-2.html
Part 3 - http://sagathoughts.blogspot.com/2010/08/darktide-tricks-for-early-levels-part-3.html
Part 4 - http://sagathoughts.blogspot.com/2010/08/darktide-tricks-for-early-levels-part-4.html
Part 5 - http://sagathoughts.blogspot.com/2010/08/darktide-thoughts-content-past-29.html

Keep watching the blog for Part 4 and on versions of this guide. Stay tuned...