Uncharted Waters New Horizons

Yeah, figureheads are supposed to protect you when traveling. From playing the game so much, it seems that anything less than the dragon figurehead only protects you while in the Mediterranean or in the Northern Europe area. Dragon and above offer some protection outside of those areas.

The main thing is that figureheads will often protect you from storms, but even with the best figureheads (Goddess and Angel) you should probably still travel with a number of balms when sailing outside of the starting area. Since you rarely, if ever, see storms in the Mediterranean or Northern Europe area, figureheads aren't really needed until you leave those areas.

Figureheads do not seem to protect you from those "spot" hazards, like ghost ships or tornadoes. I don't have a complete list of "ship disappearance spots", but the best figureheads may protect you from some of those.

The two best figureheads become available when a port reaches 1000 economy and industry. I've given the mechanics somewhere with the "real" numbers, but basically at the maximum port level there is a chance the shipyard will offer you a "Great Selection" which will include one or both of the best figureheads. It is still a low chance but it is easy enough to click back and forth trying to get the "great selection".

The short of it is that the more expensive a figurehead, the better it will protect you in your travels.

Guns are the same basic idea, the better guns become available once a port is at or very near maximum levels. There is only one version of the best guns and it combines the two best that are available before that port level is achieved. It is the Carronade which has the power of the canon with the range of the culverin . Again, it only has a chance to show up and has the same "great selection" precursor when trying to buy.

All of this seems to apply the same in all versions of the game.

Yes that is correct for guns and figureheads; the more expensive they are, the better they are.

Prices
Saker is 5 each, Demi-culverin and Canon Pedrero are 40 each, Demi-cannon are 80 each, Culverin are 250 each, Canon are 360 each, and Carronade are 600 each. There is no bargaining and there are no discounts for guns or figureheads.

Yeah, I thought the order was wrong, but you get the opportunity to decline once he gives you the price. Something that is really strange, in my opinion, is that the Saker will only be available in ports with industry of 1000. Oh, and the Carronade and also the Goddess figurehead requires 901 industry and economy AND luck above 81 for your main character. If you get a chance to check out FatRatKnight's faq (on gamefaqs), it has a lot of that info and much more!

Further information about gunfire damage as gathered from various sources which also sheds light on the importance of Chief navigator.   This is actually governed by a few factors including leadership of the main character (or first mate or chief navigator, whichever is greatest); battle experience level (again highest level among main character, first mate or chief navigator) and swordsplay (again highest of Main character, FM or CN); as well as Gun type, number of cannons and gunnery skill presence (again only needed in one or more of MC, FM or CN).

The actual damage is calculated using the following formulae:   Damage index = (type of gun index/100)*MIN(gun number, crew assigned to combat) * (Leadership/100) * (1+ 0.02 * battle experience level) * (gunnery skill presence ie 2 if present)  

where type of gun index = 100 for cannon, 75 for carronade  

Maximum damage = (INT(Damage index *2) + INT(Damage index *2)*(INT(Swordsplay/2)-1)/50)/2  

In other words, in battle situations if planning to use gunfire, select the first mate and chief navigator to try maximise leadership, battle experience and swordsplay; and assign crew to ensure crew assigned to combat is more than or equal to number of guns. In Joao's case, Rocco will make a good early to midgame First mate/chief navigator for purpose of gun battles.

Hi just to add to Chaoyun2k, Carronades are actually less powerful than cannons (75% as powerful) but has a huge range compared to cannons

Yeah I noticed that as well but I rather use carronades because I can fight a more powerful fleet by attacking from a distance. If I have 40 cannons, I dedicate 60 to 80 crew just for the cannons and I use the minimum for navigation + a few extra men.

There's one thing I'm wondering though. Does the ship lose it's maneuverability once the navigation crew falls under the minimum while in battle, the same way a ship lose it's speed while navigating?
Just in case, I always add extra men.
For example, a Tekkoussen requires 45 men minimum but I always use 48 or 50 and the rest for the cannons while I'm in a battle.

Igor, you don't have to have ANY assigned to navigation in battle. I always assign 100% to combat just before initiating a battle.