Windrose Ship Upgrades Guide
If your ship still feels half-finished in Windrose, the usual reason is that players craft the right parts at the wrong station or never equip them through the Wharf. Current April 2026 sources make the early upgrade path fairly clear.
Where Ship Upgrades Are Crafted
Current sequence:
- craft ship gear at the Shipwright’s Workshop
- equip ship gear at the Wharf
These are two different buildings.
Current Shipwright’s Workshop cost:
- 15 Wood
- 10 Coarse Fabric
- 5 Copper Ingots
It also needs to be under a roof and within Bonfire range.
12-Pounder Cannons
Current recipe per cannon:
- 10 Copper Ingots
- 10 Wood
This is the only cannon type that current public references consistently document as implemented right now.
Hull Bracing
Current recipe:
- 5 Copper Ingots
- 30 Wood
- 5 Nails
Hull Bracing reduces incoming damage and is the cleanest durability upgrade currently documented in public sources.
Boarding Rack
Current public references agree on what it does:
- improves NPC crew effectiveness during boarding actions
But the exact public recipe is still not documented consistently across the sources I used, so I am not giving a guessed material list here.
How to Equip Ship Upgrades
At the Wharf:
- interact with the table
- choose Ship Selection
- select your current ship
- hit Manage Ship
- drag cannons or other upgrades into the Ship Gear slots
Steam player discussion confirms this is the correct workflow and that confusing the Wharf with the workshop is a common mistake.
Can These Be Upgraded Further?
Current ship-equipment documentation says the upgrade items can be improved again through the Shipwright’s Workshop Upgrade tab with additional materials.
Best First Upgrade Order
For most players, the clean early order is:
- 12-Pounder Cannons
- Hull Bracing
- boarding support gear
That order gets your ship battle-ready before you start optimizing the crew side.
Bottom Line
Current early ship-upgrade loop is:
- craft gear at Shipwright’s Workshop
- make 12-Pounders and Hull Bracing first
- equip everything at the Wharf
If you crafted the part but it still is not active on the ship, the missing step is almost always Manage Ship.
