Today we're finally diving into a build that's been teased for a long time-the Battle Junk tank build in Skull and Bones. This ship isn't about speed, burst damage, or chasing targets across the map. Instead, it's built for one purpose: control. Control the battlefield, control enemy aggression, and survive long enough for your crew and allies to dismantle everything around you.

 

At its core, this Battle Junk setup is a taunt-focused tank designed to soak damage, force enemies into bad positions, and massively amplify weak-point damage for everyone attacking your targets. It excels in group content, events, Skull and Bones Items and chaotic fleet encounters where pressure matters more than raw DPS.

 

Let's break down how this build works, why it's so effective, and exactly what gear makes it shine.

 

Build Identity: Pressure Over Pursuit

 

This Battle Junk is not a hunter. It doesn't sprint from fight to fight or chase fleeing ships. Instead, it anchors itself in combat and dares enemies to make mistakes. The philosophy behind the build is simple: let them come to you.

 

By stacking taunt effects, brace bonuses, and endurance-based damage reduction, this ship becomes a floating fortress. Enemies that focus you become vulnerable, weaker, and slower, while you grow stronger the longer the engagement lasts.

 

This makes the build especially powerful in large-scale events where enemies swarm, apply pressure nonstop, and punish ships that can't hold the line.

 

Core Mechanics: Taunt, Brace, and Endurance

 

Everything about this build revolves around taunting enemies and capitalizing on braced damage.

 

Taunt Effects

 

 Enemies within 200 meters are provoked.

 Taunted targets take 50% increased weak-point damage from all sources, not just you.

 Taunt applies in an area, making it perfect for clustered fights.

 While bracing, enemies within 125 meters are automatically inflicted with taunted charges.

 

This turns the Battle Junk into a massive debuff platform. Allies benefit just as much as you do, which makes this build incredibly valuable in cooperative content.

 

Brace Strength and Recovery

 

 +150% brace strength

 +25% brace strength recovery

 Additional recovery scaling based on how many taunted enemies are actively targeting you

 

The more enemies that focus you, the stronger your brace regeneration becomes. Those annoying enemy sloops that never stop firing? They actually help fuel your survivability.

 

Endure: Damage Reduction That Scales

 

Each time you brace incoming damage, you gain 2% damage reduction per hit, stacking up to 20% total reduction. As long as you continue bracing damage within a 12-second window, the stacks remain active.

 

In prolonged engagements, this makes the Battle Junk absurdly hard to kill. The longer enemies stay locked onto you, the worse the situation becomes for them.

 

Weapon Loadout: Taunt-Infused Firepower

 

The weapon selection leans heavily into incendiary, explosive, and amplified damage, while maintaining taunt application across every firing angle.

 

Primary Weapons: Hong Yi Pa Imperial Guns

 

These Portuguese-designed cannons infuse taunted incense into their shells, triggering aggression when inhaled. Each variant provides a slightly different elemental profile, allowing the build to stack multiple damage effects simultaneously.

 

 5,228 damage-Incendiary, Amplified Electric, Deadly Strike

 5,236 damage-Incendiary, Amplified Electric, Deadly Strike

 5,504 damage-Incendiary, Amplified Explosive, Deadly Strike

 5,384 damage-Incendiary, Amplified Burning, Deadly Strike

 

These guns aren't just about raw numbers. Their real strength lies in status layering-burning, electric, explosive, and taunt effects all working together to overwhelm enemies while forcing them to stay engaged.

 

Auxiliary Weapon: Crouching Tiger

 

Your auxiliary weapon is the Crouching Tiger, and it perfectly complements the tank identity of the build.

 

 19,476 damage

 Blast and Burning II

 Dire Explosive

 Amplified Explosive

 Amplified Burning

 

This weapon exists to punish clustered enemies and reinforce taunt pressure. When fired into a crowd, it escalates chaos instantly, ensuring enemies stay angry, disorganized, and focused on you.

 

Armor Choice: Phoenix Crest

 

The Phoenix Crest is the heart of this build's survivability.

 

Key Perks:

 Taunts enemies while regaining brace strength

 Fire Resistant

 Maintenance

 Survivor

 

While an ice resistance roll would be ideal, the rolled perks here are strong enough to justify its use-especially due to its unique taunt synergy.

 

Revile

 

Every hit received while bracing builds taunt status on the attacking enemy. This means enemies practically taunt themselves just by shooting you.

 

GloatBrace strength recovery increases by 100% for each taunted enemy actively targeting your ship, up to a maximum of 10 ships.

 

This is why Phoenix Crest is so effective. In swarm situations, brace recovery skyrockets, allowing you to stay braced almost indefinitely.

 

Furniture Loadout: Amplifying Pressure

 

Worm's Breath Turner (Blackwood)

 

This piece is critical and strongly recommended. Once it's gone, you'll feel the absence.

 

 Triggering shell shock increases enemy reload time by 20% for 10 seconds

 Increases secondary damage of explosive weapons by 20%

 Increases overall explosive weapon damage by 5%

 

Slower enemy reloads mean less pressure on your brace and more uptime for endurance stacking.

 

Devil's Concoction

 

 +12% secondary damage for burning weapons

 +8% maximum range for burning weapons

 

This enhances the build's fire-based identity and ensures burning effects stay relevant at longer ranges.

 

Bombard Ministry I

 

 +10% bombard damage

 +8% damage to structures

 +5% repair amount from repair weapons

 

Gunpowder Bench I

 +10% damage to ships with the Ablaze effect

 

Ram Rod Workshop

 -7% reload time for broadside weapons

 +7% secondary damage for broadside weapons

 

Bombard Works I

 +19% secondary damage for bombard weapons

 

Together, these furniture pieces stack multiplicatively, turning secondary effects into a major source of sustained pressure.

 

Performance in Combat: Built to Hold the Line

 

In practice, this Battle Junk doesn't win fights by deleting enemies instantly. It wins by outlasting them.

 

Enemy ships swarm, unload everything they have, and grow weaker with every second. Weak points glow brighter. Reload times increase. Brace strength never seems to break. Eventually, ships fall apart-not because they were chased down, but because they stayed too long.

 

This build shines brightest in events and near-solo encounters where multiple ships converge. While damage numbers may not always top the chart, the impact on the fight is undeniable.

 

Final Thoughts

 

The Battle Junk tank build is a statement. It's pressure over pursuit, patience over panic, more Skull and Bones Silver and control over chaos. This ship doesn't sprint toward glory-it waits, endures, and watches enemies collapse under their own aggression.