Salt & Steel: Community Tools

Document type: Design — Canonical
Status: Active Development
Last updated: 2026-04
See also: Crew and Social Systems | Design Pillars | Endgame | Monetization

Overview

The Salt & Steel community is not a feature that happens to the game. It is a participant in the game's design. PoE demonstrated that a dedicated ARPG community builds the tools, the knowledge base, and the culture that makes a game last a decade. Salt & Steel is designed to support that community with the infrastructure it needs to thrive — in-game tools that respect player time, a well-documented API that enables third-party builders, and social features that make the game's internal world feel connected to the real people who sail it.

The governing principle: tools should illuminate the game, not replace it. A build planner that makes character creation more accessible without substituting for the satisfaction of learning your build through play is the right tool. A trade board that reduces friction in the economy without automating the social element of trading is the right tool. Tools that short-circuit skill expression or eliminate discovery are wrong tools, regardless of how useful they might seem.

Part I: In-Game Build Planner — The Skill Atlas Visualization

What It Is

The Skill Atlas is Salt & Steel's endgame progression system — the navigable map of the known sea world on which captains plot their route through content. The Skill Atlas Visualization is an in-game interface tool that allows players to plan, theorize, and share their Nautical Chart routing and character build decisions before committing to them.

Core Features

Live Planning Mode: The Skill Atlas interface has a "Planning" toggle that allows players to experiment with route configurations, zone modifier combinations, and endgame boss targeting paths without spending the items or currency required to actually execute them. Planning mode is clearly visual-differentiated from active play (sepia tones, dashed-line overlays instead of solid routes).

Atlas Passive Tree Visualization: The Skill Atlas includes a passive skill layer where players allocate Atlas skill points earned through endgame progression. The visualization renders this tree in its full form — branching routes, node connections, key node highlights — and allows players to plan allocations before spending them. Hovering any node shows:

Effect description (plain language, not mechanical shorthand)
Which bosses and encounters this node affects
Community-sourced note: the number of active players who have this node allocated, and a brief "most common context" note ("Most players with this node are farming the Abyssal Cradle zone")

Build Bookmarks: Players can bookmark up to 20 Atlas configurations with notes. The bookmark captures the full Nautical Chart routing state — which zones are allocated, which modifiers are applied, which bosses are targeted. Bookmarks can be shared as a code string that other players can import, allowing community build sharing without requiring a third-party site.

Build Comparison: Side-by-side comparison of two bookmarked configurations, highlighting differences in zone access, boss targets, and estimated drop tables for each route.

Voyage-Aware Planning: When a new Voyage begins, the Skill Atlas Visualization updates to show Voyage-specific opportunities — which new Voyage mechanics appear in which zones, which Voyage modifiers interact with Atlas nodes, which endgame targets have Voyage-specific drop additions.

GURPS Character Integration

The Skill Atlas Visualization integrates with the GURPS character system at the planning layer:

Character Point Simulator: An in-game interface allowing players to theorize character builds by allocating a simulated character point pool. Shows the resulting Advantage/Disadvantage combination, Skill ratings, and attribute spread without spending actual character points. Useful for planning a future Voyage character or experimenting with respec options.

Interaction Highlights: When hovering an Atlas node or zone modifier, the interface highlights which GURPS Advantages or Skills have notable interaction with that node. A zone modifier that creates Flooding hazards highlights the Swimming Skill and the relevant water-tolerance Advantages as "highly relevant."

Build-to-Zone Matching: The system can evaluate a saved character build against a planned Atlas route and provide a high-level compatibility assessment: "This build has high Cold resistance — well suited for Pale Waters zones," or "This build's primary damage source has reduced effectiveness in Temporal Bubble zones — consider the Clockwork Suppression Atlas node."

This assessment is advisory, not prescriptive. It does not tell the player what to build. It shows them what the game system would tell them if they understood it as well as the system does.

Visual Design

The Skill Atlas Visualization uses the game's nautical chart visual language — the physical chart aesthetic from the Creative Identity document. Planning mode uses aged-paper tones with ink drawings. The GURPS character point simulator is presented as a Captain's Record ledger. The visual design should feel like in-world tools, not software interfaces.

Part II: Trade Board

What It Is

The Trade Board is Salt & Steel's in-game economy interface — the system through which players list, search for, and acquire items through player-to-player trade. The historical lesson from PoE is that a well-designed trade system reduces friction without removing the social element that makes trading feel like a human activity rather than an auction service.

Design Philosophy

Friction is not always bad. The need to contact a seller, visit their ship, and exchange items directly creates social encounters. It is also a real-time cost that PoE players have criticized for a decade. The right level of friction is enough to create human interaction without creating inefficiency that makes people abandon the economy.

The economy is content. Trading in Salt & Steel is not merely the exchange of items for currency. It is an ecosystem — price discovery, market forces, regional supply and demand — that is itself interesting to engage with. The Trade Board should support players who want to be merchants, not just players who want to buy things efficiently.

Search Interface

Category search:

Equipment (subdivided by slot, base type, item level)
Crafting Materials (subdivided by tier and type)
Maps and Charts (Nautical Chart fragments, treasure maps, map modifiers)
Crew Contracts (Named crew members available for hire — see below)
Ship Components (upgrades, cosmetics)
Currency (exchange rates between currency types)

Affix search: Players can search for specific affix combinations on equipment — matching the ARPG standard of searching for "+X% Cold Resistance" and "adds physical damage." The search supports logical operators (AND, OR, NOT) and threshold values (at least X, between X and Y).

GURPS Skill search: A unique feature — players can search equipment by which GURPS Skills or Advantages they interact with. "Equipment that benefits characters with High Pain Threshold" or "weapons that work with Fencing skill at 14+." The interaction metadata is maintained by the game system, not player-submitted.

Visual search: Equipment can be searched by appearance — the player can view available items in the game's visual style before committing to purchase, matching the game's physical-item aesthetic. The visual preview uses the actual in-game render, not an icon.

Regional pricing: Prices are displayed with regional context. A crafting material common in the Caribbean region but rare in endgame zones will show the price differential across market regions. Players who want to engage with the arbitrage economy have the information to do so.

Listing Interface

Ship-based listings: Items are listed directly from the ship's cargo hold. The listing interface is accessed from the cargo hold manifest (the in-world UI equivalent of a stash tab). Items listed remain in the cargo hold but are flagged as listed and cannot be equipped or used until delisted.

Pricing guidance: When creating a listing, the interface shows recent sale prices for similar items (last 30 sales, no older than 7 days). The guidance is not prescriptive — players set their own prices — but it prevents naive mispricing due to lack of information.

Bundle listings: Players can list related items as a bundle with a combined price (a set of three crafting materials required for a specific recipe, for example). Bundles are purchased atomically — either the whole bundle or nothing.

Auto-pricing subscriptions: Players can configure "standing orders" for common purchases — automated notifications when a specific item type at a specific price range becomes available. These are notifications, not automatic purchases. The player still makes the purchase decision.

Trade Execution

Direct trade (preferred): The buyer contacts the seller through the Trade Board interface. The seller accepts the contact; the buyer travels to the seller's ship (or the seller travels to an agreed meeting point). The exchange is made in person. Both parties confirm the item is as advertised before the transaction completes.

Port Trade Post: Every major port has a Trade Post — an NPC-managed storefront where players can deposit items for sale without being online to complete the transaction. Items left at the Trade Post incur a small commission (5% of sale price) but allow async selling. The Trade Post is the high-friction alternative when players cannot complete direct trades.

Fleet internal trade: Fleet members can trade within the Fleet network with reduced friction — a private trade board accessible only to Fleet members, with no commission and direct cargo-to-cargo transfer.

Crew Contract Market

A specialized section of the Trade Board for Named crew members:

Crew Contracting: Players who have excess Named crew members (beyond their ship's capacity) can list those crew members for hire on the Crew Contract Market. Other players can recruit listed crew by paying a hiring fee to the listing player.

This creates a player-driven economy for Named crew that respects the crew system's integrity: crew members are listed with their full GURPS profile, including their Advantage, Disadvantage, and current Loyalty rating. Buyers know what they are getting.

Crew reputation: Named crew members have a travel history — ships they have served on are listed on their contract profile. A crew member who has served five players and been dismissed from each is a red flag, visible in the history. A crew member who served a legendary captain for three full Voyages is a desirable hire, visible in the history.

Part III: Fleet Management Tools

Internal Fleet Interface

Fleet Dashboard: The primary administrative interface for Fleet leadership. Displays:

Current member roster with online status and activity summary
Fleet Stash status (quantities of shared materials, recent activity)
Fleet Island Hideout building status and queued construction
Active Fleet competitions and current standings
Recent Fleet log (significant events — member joins/departures, construction completions, major victories)

Activity Calendar: An in-game shared calendar for Fleet-organized events. Organizers set date/time and event type (Voyage push, Contested Waters operation, boss farming session, social gathering). Members confirm attendance. The calendar integrates with the game's session notification system.

Resource Allocation: Tools for Fleet leadership to coordinate material gathering for Hideout construction — tracking which buildings need which materials, which members have committed to providing them, and progress toward construction thresholds.

Fleet Recruitment

Open Recruiting: Fleets can post a public recruiting notice with description and requirements, visible in the social hub of major ports. Interested players submit an application; Fleet leadership can review and accept.

Invitation: Direct invitation through player name. Invitations persist for 72 hours.

Trial Period: New members automatically enter Crew tier (probationary) for their first 30 real-world days. This allows Fleet leadership to evaluate fit before promoting to full Captain status.

Fleet Match (Social Feature): Players seeking Fleets can answer a brief questionnaire (playstyle, goals, time availability, preferred content) and receive a list of Fleets whose public profile indicates compatibility. This is an advisory tool — both player and Fleet must still agree to the association. Not automated matchmaking.

Fleet Coordination During Voyages

Voyage Planning Board: A shared Fleet interface for coordinating Voyage strategy — which content to focus on, how to distribute effort across Fleet members, which competition events to target. The Planning Board can accept input from any Fleet member and synthesizes common threads.

Shared Map Markers: Fleet members can place shared markers on the Nautical Chart visible to all Fleet members — marking discovered resources, enemy concentrations, Legendary spawn locations, or hazards. Markers expire after 24 hours unless renewed.

Fleet Signal Network: When in Fleet Formation mode (multiple Fleet members at sea simultaneously), a fleet-wide signal system allows coordination: wind direction advisories, enemy threat reports, distress signals, and rendezvous coordinates. The signal system uses the game's in-world visual language (signal flags, lantern patterns, horn codes).

Part IV: Voyage Leaderboards

Leaderboard Architecture

Voyage Leaderboards are the competitive record of each Voyage's 16-week period. They are public — visible to all players including those not actively competing — and serve as the Voyage's historical record.

Individual Leaderboards:

The Fastest Chart: First captains to complete each major Voyage milestone — first to reach the Voyage's new content zones, first to defeat each Voyage boss, first to complete the Voyage's main narrative thread. Timestamped to the second.

Deepest Dive: Most endgame zones completed (measured in total zone runs, weighted by zone tier and modifier difficulty). The farming leaderboard.

The Long Haul: Most hours at sea without returning to port (measured in continuous real-time sailing). The dedication leaderboard.

Prize Admiral: Total value of cargo captured in naval engagements, based on end-of-Voyage market pricing. The naval combat leaderboard.

The Cartographer: Total new exploration discoveries — hidden zones, underwater ruins, secret coves, treasure map completions. The exploration leaderboard.

Fleet Leaderboards: Parallel versions of all individual leaderboards, aggregated across Fleet members. Fleet rankings are the competitive context for most organized group play.

Hardcore Voyage Leaderboards: Separate rankings for Hardcore Voyage characters — characters for whom death means retirement. A Hardcore character that completes the Voyage's deepest content before dying is recorded in the Voyage's Hardcore Hall, visible permanently in the Captain's Record of that account.

Leaderboard Visibility and Privacy

Players can opt individual characters out of public leaderboard display. Their progress contributes to Fleet leaderboards (visible to Fleet members) but does not appear in the global individual rankings. This respects players who engage competitively within their Fleet without wanting public visibility.

No leaderboard penalty for opting out — it is a display preference, not a participation flag.

Voyage Records and Historical Archive

When a Voyage ends, its leaderboard data is archived and remains accessible indefinitely. The Hall of Voyages (accessible in any major port) displays the complete history of all Voyages — who first completed each one, which Fleets dominated competitive periods, which legendary captains appeared on multiple Voyage boards.

This serves the Captain's Fantasy: the leaderboard is not just a temporary competition. It is a permanent record. A captain whose name appears in the Hall of Voyages is part of the world's history.

Part V: Official API

Design Commitment

Salt & Steel will publish a comprehensive, well-documented, versioned public API available from launch. The commitment is explicit:

The API is a first-class product. It receives engineering resources, documentation maintenance, and version stability guarantees. Third-party tools built on the API are part of the game's ecosystem, not a tolerated side channel.

Breaking changes are announced with migration paths. Version changes that would break existing third-party tools are announced with a minimum 90-day deprecation window, migration documentation, and community liaison process.

Rate limits are generous. Tools that need to query item prices, player builds, or leaderboard data at high frequency (market indexers, price checkers, build planners) receive API access tiers that support their actual usage patterns without requiring special arrangements.

API Endpoints

Player Data (with consent):

Character build export (GURPS attributes, Advantages, Disadvantages, Skills)
Ship configuration export (functional upgrades, crew roster — without Named crew personal details unless player explicitly enables)
Voyage history and achievement record
Leaderboard position history

Privacy model: All player data API access requires the player to enable sharing in account settings. Sharing is off by default. Third-party tools must request access through an OAuth-style flow; the player grants specific data categories to specific applications.

Market Data (public):

Current Trade Board listings (price, item affix data, quantity available)
Historical sale price data (rolling 7-day and 30-day averages by item type)
Currency exchange rates
Regional price differentials

Market data is fully public — no player consent required because it reveals only economic data, not individual player information.

World State (public):

Current Nautical Chart faction control (which factions control which zones)
Active weather events (current and forecast)
Voyage milestone completion status (which milestones have been reached globally)
Leaderboard data (top 100 per category, plus individual player position for consenting players)

Fleet Data (Fleet-managed):

Fleet roster (visibility configurable by Fleet Admiral)
Fleet leaderboard position
Fleet Hideout public profile

Expected Third-Party Tool Ecosystem

These are the tools the API is designed to enable. Listed not to duplicate them in-game, but to ensure the API covers what is needed:

Build planners (poedb.tw / Path of Building equivalents): Full offline character build planning with GURPS simulation, DPS calculations, resource estimates. The API provides the build export format; the community builds the tools.

Price indexers (poe.ninja equivalent): Real-time market data, price trend analysis, investment opportunity identification. The API provides the market data stream; the community builds the tools.

Crew databases: Repositories of notable Named crew combinations, GURPS profiles of Legendary crew, recommended crew assignments for specific content. The API provides crew profile data (with player consent for Named crew); the community builds the databases.

Loot filter generators: Visual loot filter tools that allow players to create and share custom loot display rules. The API provides the item data schema; the community builds the tools. (Note: loot filters themselves are an in-game supported feature, not API-dependent, but community filter sharing is an external ecosystem.)

Voyage trackers: Applications that help players track Voyage milestone progress, competition standings, and goal-setting. The API provides the Voyage data; the community builds the trackers.

Fleet management tools: External tools for Fleet administration — roster management, event scheduling, activity tracking. For Fleets that operate at organizational scale (50–100 members), in-game tools benefit from external supplements.

Part VI: Replay and Screenshot System

Voyage Chronicle: Replay System

The Voyage Chronicle is Salt & Steel's replay capture and playback system. It captures combat encounters, naval engagements, and significant world events in a format that can be:

Reviewed from any camera angle: The replay is a stored world state, not a video file. The player can fly the camera freely through the recorded moment, pause, rewind, and adjust perspective.

Shared as a clip file: Clips can be exported as shareable files (small data files, not full video) that other players can play back in their client, experiencing the replay with the same camera freedom. "You have to see this approach angle on the Queen Anne's Vengeance fight" becomes a sharable object, not just a description.

Exported as video: The system supports rendering the replay to video (at the player's system's available quality settings) for sharing outside the game. The rendering is client-side, using the game's render pipeline.

Automatic Chronicle Events

The following event types are automatically captured to the player's Chronicle:

First completion of any campaign boss
First completion of any pinnacle boss
Naval engagements involving 4+ ships simultaneously
Named crew member deaths
Any personal best in timed content
Voyage milestone first completions
Named enemy (Legendary tier) encounters
Weather events rated Storm or higher while at sea

Automatic captures are stored for 30 days by default (or up to 200 manually saved events permanently, with expandable storage via Cargo Hold Tab equivalent).

Screenshot Mode

A dedicated Screenshot Mode accessible at any time:

Pauses the game (or switches to cinematic time-slow for live action)
Removes all HUD elements
Provides depth-of-field, exposure, and color grading controls within the game's established visual palette (the Josh Kirby color language is maintained — controls allow expression within that language, not deviation from it)
Supports positioning the camera freely in the current scene
Includes a "crew posing" system that allows Named crew members to be positioned and animated for portrait-style screenshots

Screenshots are saved locally by default. Optional integration with a community gallery (opt-in, visible to Fleet or globally) allows sharing directly from the in-game interface.

Legacy Portraits

At account-level, a Legacy Portrait is a special screenshot taken at the end of each Voyage for each Voyage character — a formal portrait of the captain in full current equipment, with Named crew members visible in the background. Legacy Portraits are displayed in the Hall of Voyages alongside leaderboard records and are a permanent feature of the Account Record.

The Legacy Portrait is generated automatically with default settings but can be customized using Screenshot Mode controls for up to 7 days after the Voyage ends.

Part VII: Streaming and Content Creator Integration

Why This Matters

Content creators are the most efficient channel for authentic game communication. A streamer's 200,000 viewers watching them attempt a pinnacle boss for the first time see the game's difficulty, depth, and reward honestly — because it is not a controlled demonstration. Supporting content creators is not just audience reach; it is the only way to show the game as it actually is.

The commitment: Salt & Steel will not require content creators to use specific approved builds, routes, or narratives. The game supports creators; the creators do the creative work.

Built-In Stream Integration

Stream Mode: An optional mode that modifies the HUD for streamer readability — slightly enlarged key information, color adjustments for common colorblind accommodations, and a "stream compact mode" that reduces HUD screen coverage to favor the game world in the background.

Chat Integration: Players who have linked their Twitch/YouTube channel to their Salt & Steel account can enable Chat Integration:

Viewers can trigger pre-approved interactions: wave a random flag on the ship, add a vote to a pending crew conflict decision, send a weather report for the player's current zone
Interactions are cosmetic or informational — no viewer can directly harm or significantly help the player (honoring the Ethical F2P commitment to player agency and fair play)
The player sees a viewer feed overlay showing which chat interactions are active

Alert Integration: Standard streaming alert support — new followers, subscriptions, and channel memberships can trigger optional in-game cosmetic events (a brief ship horn, a crew cheer, a flag wave). Player-configurable and easily disabled.

Drops Integration: During official Voyage launch windows and special events, Salt & Steel supports Twitch Drops — cosmetic items available to viewers who watch participating streamers during specific periods. Drops are cosmetic only; no mechanical advantage.

Creator Support Program

A formal program for content creators with demonstrated Salt & Steel communities:

Early Access: Creators in the program receive early access to content (24–48 hours before public release) under NDA, allowing preparation of content for release day. Content embargoes are honored; creators who break NDA are removed from the program.

Direct Contact: A program coordinator who responds to creator inquiries within 48 hours. Bug reports, technical issues, content questions.

Attribution: Any in-game content that was developed in response to creator or community feedback is credited in patch notes with the source (community report, creator feedback, etc.).

Partner Cosmetics: Creators who have sustained, long-term Salt & Steel communities (measured by consistent content over 6+ months, not follower count) are invited to collaborate on limited cosmetic items — a ship skin or character cosmetic designed in partnership with the creator, available in the shop with a portion of revenue shared with the creator. This is an explicit commerce relationship, documented publicly.

Part VIII: Support Infrastructure for Community Knowledge

In-Game Tooltips: Community-Augmented

Item tooltips, skill descriptions, and ability explanations are written by the game's writers. They are accurate and complete. They are also supplemented by a community wiki integration:

When a player hovers an item, ability, or mechanic for more than 2 seconds, a small "Wiki" icon appears in the tooltip corner. Clicking it (or pressing a configurable key) opens an in-game browser panel displaying the relevant Salt & Steel Wiki article for that element.

The Wiki is community-maintained (hosted by the developer, written by the community). The in-game integration is read-only — players cannot edit the Wiki from within the game. This keeps the tooltip experience clean while providing depth for players who want it.

Wiki curator program: Community members with demonstrated accuracy and good editorial practice can be nominated (by other community members) and approved (by the development team) as Wiki Curators, with elevated editing privileges and direct communication with the development team to ensure accuracy on newly released content.

New Player Guidance System

The First Voyage Guide: A narrative-framed guide system that activates for new players and is accessible to experienced players who want to refresh. Presented as a letter from a veteran captain to a new captain — in the game's voice, with the game's tone. Not a traditional tutorial popup.

The guide covers:

GURPS character creation concepts (in plain language, referencing archetypes)
Active defense fundamentals (the game's most important combat mechanic)
Ship management basics
Crew system introduction (specifically: treat them like people)
The first voyage structure (what to expect from the campaign opening)

Community-Contributed Tips: Experienced players can submit tips (max 280 characters) that appear in specific game contexts — loading screens, new zone discoveries, specific boss anterooms. Submitted tips are reviewed by community moderators before appearing. The tip appears with the contributing player's captain name ("Captain's Wisdom from [Name]").

This creates a connection between the experienced community and new players that is authored by the community itself.

Official Patch Note Standard

Every patch note follows a consistent format that the community can rely on:

Summary (3–5 sentences, plain language, what changed and why)
Player Impact Assessment (who is affected, how significantly)
Full change list (mechanical values, technical descriptions)
Developer commentary (optional, on significant changes — explains the reasoning, not just the decision)
Known issues (honest list of things the team knows are wrong and is working on)

The developer commentary is the most important section. It is the difference between a development team that makes decisions at the community and a team that makes decisions with the community. When a mechanic is nerfed, explaining why — what problem it was creating, what the target experience was — converts player frustration into conversation. It is the Salt in the name: honest, sometimes stinging, but worth the clarity.

See also:
Crew and Social Systems — The social systems these tools support
Design Pillars — Ethical Free-to-Play — The commitment that governs what tools can and cannot offer
Endgame — The Nautical Chart and Skill Atlas systems the Build Planner visualizes
Voyages and Seasons — The seasonal structure that Voyage Leaderboards track