In Skull and Bones, progression can feel like a slow grind once you hit mid-to-high mastery levels-but there are always hidden efficiency loops that completely break the curve when used correctly. One of the most effective high-XP strategies currently revolves around repeatedly farming the Mazera fleet and Skull and Bones Items in World Tier 4 using a very specific mortar-heavy ship setup.

 

This method has been tested up through mastery level 75+ and even into leaderboard territory, where optimized runs can generate massive XP spikes per clear cycle. The key isn't just raw damage-it's controlling your ship rank, optimizing enemy spawns, and abusing how XP scales at specific thresholds.

 

This guide breaks down exactly how the method works, why it's so efficient, and the full ship build required to make it function.

 

The Core Idea: Controlled Fleet Farming for Maximum XP

 

The strategy revolves around farming the Mazera fleet event in World Tier 4. This encounter spawns multiple ships, including a main target (Mazera) and several supporting vessels.

 

What makes this farm so strong is:

 

 High-density ship spawns

 Repeatable encounter loop

 Fixed XP rewards per ship kill (at certain ranks)

 Fast reset via docking/fast travel

 Strong AoE burst potential with mortars

 

The goal is simple: kill the entire fleet as quickly as possible, reset, and repeat.

 

However, the real secret is not just killing them-it's manipulating your ship rank to stay at the optimal XP breakpoint.

 

The Most Important Trick: Stay at Ship Rank 20

 

One of the biggest discoveries in this method is that XP gain is heavily tied to your ship rank during the encounter.

 

At Ship Rank 20, the Mazera fleet gives maximum XP values:

 

 Mazera kill: ~2,250 XP

 Smaller ships: ~450 XP each

 

But once you go above Rank 20-21, XP begins to scale down noticeably. By Rank 22 and beyond, each kill provides reduced returns, even though enemy difficulty doesn't meaningfully increase in a way that justifies the loss.

 

This creates a critical optimization rule:

 

Do not exceed Ship Rank 20 if you want maximum XP efficiency.

 

The reason this happens is tied to internal scaling adjustments where higher-ranked ships are expected to farm higher-tier content, reducing XP yield per kill in lower-tier repeatable events.

 

So the entire build and skill tree are designed around staying just below that threshold while still maintaining enough power to instantly wipe fleets.

 

The Farming Loop Explained

 

Each farming cycle looks like this:

 

1.Travel to Mazera encounter in World Tier 4

2.Trigger fleet spawn

3.Apply ignition/burn setup (event trigger mechanic)

4.Fire mortars into grouped ships

5.Use ramming for bonus damage amplification

6.Delete fleet in seconds

7.Reset encounter via fast travel or repositioning

 

Each full clear yields:

 

 ~6,000 XP at optimal rank cycles

 Even higher spikes depending on kill timing and assist distribution

 

When optimized, this loop becomes extremely fast, especially with coordinated mortar detonations that chain ship explosions together.

 

The Build: Mortar Explosive Nuke Setup

 

The core of this strategy is a high-explosive mortar build centered around burst chaining and auxiliary scaling.

 

Ship Choice

 

Most players use the Galleon-class ship, primarily because:

 

 High base survivability

 Strong auxiliary weapon scaling

 Good synergy with explosive builds

 Reliable handling for ramming setups

 

Key Weapon Systems

 

1. Roaring Meg (Primary Nuke Engine)

 

This is the centerpiece of the build.

 

Roaring Meg provides:

 

 Massive explosive scaling

 30% bonus damage converted into explosive AoE

 Weak point amplification

 Chain explosion effect on target death

 

The most important mechanic:

 

When a target dies, it triggers a secondary explosion dealing up to 200% explosive damage in a wide radius.

 

This is what allows full fleets to collapse instantly once one ship is weakened.

 

2. Hull Carvers (Piercing Damage Support)

 

Used specifically for Mazera itself, which is weak to piercing damage.

 

These weapons:

 

 Provide consistent single-target damage

 Help finish high-HP targets quickly

 Complement explosive AoE burst

 

3. Iron Thunder Burst Interaction

 

A key passive effect provides:

 

65% increased first-shot damage after no recent firing

This synergizes heavily with mortars, allowing:

 

 Massive opening burst

 Instant ship chunking

 Reliable fleet initiation kills Skill Tree Optimization

 

The skill tree is built almost entirely around one goal: damage amplification without increasing ship rank beyond 20.

 

Key investments include:

 

 Weapon damage scaling nodes (up to +140%)

 Piercing damage boosts (~50%)

 Explosive damage scaling (~50%)

 Mortar-specific enhancements (~165%)

 

Additional important nodes:

 

 Battle Medic: +10% damage per repair weapon (stacked twice for +20%)

 

 Deadly Medicine Store: converts healing into bonus damage

 

 Emergency repair nodes for survivability fallback

 

A critical detail:

 

Repair weapons are intentionally equipped not just for healing, but as a damage multiplier system.

 

Each healing weapon adds another layer of offensive scaling, turning sustain into DPS.

 

Why Mortars Are Essential

 

Mortars are the core AoE delivery system for this build.

 

They are chosen because:

 

 High burst radius

 Strong synergy with clustered fleet spawns

 Scales heavily with explosive bonuses

 Allows preemptive AoE before enemies fully engage

 

When combined with Roaring Meg, mortars become a chain-reaction system that wipes entire fleets in seconds.

 

Gear and Furniture Synergy

 

To maximize efficiency, the build stacks:

 

Explosive Buff Furniture

 

 Weapon damage increases

 Secondary explosive scaling boosts

 Auxiliary damage amplification

 

Utility Furniture

 

 Additional hull survivability

 Reload and handling improvements

 Piercing damage enhancements

 

Some setups also include optional survivability swaps for more armor, but most players stick with pure offensive scaling.

 

World Tier Optimization

 

This method works best in:

 

World Tier 4 (Optimal)

 

 Highest XP per kill

 Best scaling rewards

 Fastest leveling potential

 

World Tier 3 (Fallback)

 

 Easier fights

 Lower XP per kill (~30-40% reduction)

 Still viable for weaker ships or early mastery grinding

 

The trade-off is simple:

 

Higher difficulty = better XP, but only if you can maintain fast clears.

 

Why This Method Works So Well

 

The strength of this leveling strategy comes from three combined systems:

 

1. XP Scaling Breakpoint Abuse

 

Staying at Ship Rank 20 ensures maximum XP return per kill.

 

2. AoE Chain Explosions

 

Roaring Meg enables cascading destruction of entire fleets.

 

3. Fast Reset Loop

 

The encounter can be repeated quickly with minimal downtime.

 

Together, these create one of the fastest XP farming loops currently available in Skull and Bones.

 

Common Mistakes to Avoid

 

 Going above Ship Rank 20 → reduces XP efficiency significantly

 

 Overinvesting into armor → slows kills and reduces farming speed

 

 Using single-target builds → drastically lowers XP per hour

 

 Ignoring explosive scaling → breaks chain kill potential

 

Final Thoughts

 

This Mazera fleet farming method in Skull and Bones is a perfect example of how progression systems can be optimized far beyond their intended pacing. By controlling ship rank, stacking explosive multipliers, and abusing mortar-based AoE chains, players can generate extremely high XP per hour, Skull and Bones Silver with minimal downtime.

 

It's not just about having a strong ship-it's about building a system that deletes entire encounters in seconds while keeping your XP scaling at its absolute peak.

 

If executed correctly, this method turns leveling from a grind into a repeatable high-speed loop that can carry you deep into mastery progression with surprising efficiency.