Today we're diving deep into one of the most underrated yet explosive ships in Skull and Bones-the Garuda Skull and Bones Items. After a request from a fellow crewmate, Paul, it was time to revisit this ship and overhaul its build for 2025. The result is nothing short of brutal: a long-range, high-precision, high-burst monster capable of soloing Megaforts, clearing regular forts with ease, and deleting enemy ships from extreme distances.
If you've dismissed the Garuda in the past, this updated build changes everything.
Why Choose the Garuda?
The Garuda is designed for one job-DPS. It's a pure damage dealer with a kit that rewards positioning, accuracy, and calculated burst.
Here's what makes the Garuda special:
Deadeye-Distance-Based Damage
The ship's signature perk, Deadeye, increases weapon damage based on the distance to the target, capping at 60%. The farther you are-the harder you hit. This makes the Garuda perfect for long guns and long-range bombard builds.
Survivability at Low Health
When your hull drops below 40%:
+500 armor
Trimming costs no crew stamina for 10 seconds
40-second cooldown
This gives the Garuda surprising resilience for a DPS ship, letting you survive situations that would sink other long-range vessels.
Piercing Damage Bonus
+20% piercing damage baseline
+30% when hitting a punctured target
This directly synergizes with the build we're using-particularly because several of our long guns roll piercing effects.
Unique Long Gun Placement
The Garuda can equip six long guns directly on the bow.
No other ship fires this many from the front, making it a natural long-range execution platform.
The Weapons-Full Long Gun Devastation
This build revolves around Drowned Ones Long Guns, arguably the best long-range weapons for the Garuda thanks to their combination of:
Flooding damage
Piercing
Noxious effects
Weak point burst bonuses
Across the different Drowned Ones variants used, the damage ranges from 2,794 to over 4,200 per shot depending on rolls.
Key Traits You Want
Most of the guns used in this build share these traits:
• Flooding 2 & Piercing 2
Essential for stacking both status effects reliably from range.
• Noxious
Adds toxic buildup and creates DOT pressure.
• Siege
Boosts damage to structures-crucial for deleting forts.
• Amplified Flooding
Raises flooding burst damage even further.
Weak Point Synergy
Drowned Ones long guns have Perforator:
Hitting a weak point deals 150% of flooding damage as severe burst.
If the target is already flooded: 200%.
This pairs perfectly with the Garuda's Deadeye perk, letting you rack up insane burst numbers when you chain multiple weak point hits.
Support-Grace III Repair Buoy
This repair buoy is one of the best in slot for this ship:
943 repair amount
Restorative (removes severe damage)
Empower (3% damage per stack, up to 5 stacks = 15% bonus)
+3.9% reload speed bonus
You'll float this buoy constantly during fort fights, stacking bonus damage and speeding up reloads.
Armor-Nocturn Heart
This armor provides everything the Garuda needs:
Excellent base durability
"A Run in Strength" bonus
Double Maintenance for increased healing
+15% weapon damage while above 75% hull
Since you're fighting from long range, staying above 75% health is easy-meaning you maintain this damage buff for most engagements.
Furniture-The Real Power of This Build
The furniture loadout transforms the Garuda into a precision damage machine.
1. Tooling's Guidance (Best in Slot)
This furniture feels tailor-made for the Garuda:
+30% damage to the next weak point hit within 8 seconds
+12% damage to weak points with front weapons
–5% reload time for front weapons
When you're running six long guns, this is absurdly strong.
2. Caustic Spall Station
A new addition obtainable in Blackwood, and it's incredible for flooding builds:
+13% flooding damage when firing from 200+ meters
1% flooding damage per 1% projectile speed bonus
+10% damage to flooded enemies
Because this build stacks projectile speed from other furniture, the bonus multiplies heavily.
3. Long Gun Works I
+19% secondary damage for long guns
A straightforward and powerful increase to your burst potential.
4. Ammo Priming Bench
Underrated but essential:
+20% siege damage
+18% repair weapon efficiency at 160m+
+10% projectile speed for siege/repair weapons
That 10% projectile speed feeds directly into the Caustic Spall Station for even more flooding damage.
5. Expanding Corkscrew Station
+12% secondary flooding damage
+8% increased range
More range means more Deadeye value, more projectile speed effectiveness, and safer fort fights.6. High Velocity Kegs
+12% secondary piercing damage
+8% maximum range for piercing weapons
If you don't have these (they were part of a limited event), swap them for:
Alternative: Long Gun Grinder
+15% projectile speed
This compensates for lost range and further boosts flooding multipliers.
How the Build Works in Combat
This build is designed around three core principles:
1. Maintain Maximum Range
Deadeye peaks at long distances.
Most furniture bonuses activate at 160–200+ meters.
Flooding damage increases with projectile speed, which is more valuable the farther you are.
Your ideal range is 200–250 meters, especially when hitting forts.
2. Stack Status Effects
Each long gun shot applies:
Flooding
Piercing
Noxious (Toxic)
Once flooding is applied, weak point burst damage skyrockets.
Once noxious is applied, enemy armor melts more quickly.
With six long guns hitting in rhythm, you apply all three statuses instantly.
3. Hit Weak Points Rapidly and Repeatedly
Tooling's Guidance gives:
+30% next weak point
+12% front weak point
+5% reload
With perfect rhythm (about 8 seconds), you can chain weak point shots that produce massive flooding bursts. This is how you delete forts from across the map.
Real-World Performance-Forts, Megaforts, and Ship Combat
Soloing Megaforts
This is where the Garuda shines.
Because Megaforts have predictable weak points and long animations, you sit at 220 meters and rip them apart in 90 seconds or less.
Regular forts melt instantly
Players using this build report killing standard forts so quickly they can plunder and leave before reinforcements arrive.
Ship-to-Ship Combat
While not as tanky as Bruiser-style builds, the Garuda can:
One-shot smaller ships
Delete medium ships with 4–6 weak point hits
Out-damage most enemies before they can even close distance
Toxic buildup helps deal with armored vessels, while flooding burst deletes soft targets.
This is a timing-focused build, and once you get the cadence down, the Garuda becomes a precision artillery platform.
Final Thoughts-The Best Garuda Build Yet
This updated Garuda setup turns a previously overlooked DPS ship into a long-range execution beast. It's:
Efficient
Safe
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Beginner friendly
Endgame viable
Perfect for solo players
If you were waiting for a Garuda build that could truly compete at the top level of Skull and Bones, this is the one.
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