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Traditionally, chain shot was used to cripple and break the masts of enemy ships, however, I am having a hard time telling if I am doing more damage to a ships movement by aiming at the masts or just aiming at the ship in general. Where should I aim my chain shot for maximum effect?

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    I've found that I am more likely to get "exposed points" on an enemy ship when targeting their hull but I have got them in the mast before (only once). I've never actually noticed a speed adjustment from chain shotting them either though so I'm quite interested in what people have to say here. :)
    – Chris
    Commented Nov 6, 2013 at 16:08

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I really love the naval combat, but you're so busy at times that my answer below might be off a bit. This is how I experienced it.

I went for realism and tried to shoot the main mast on the ship with my chain shot. After a while, a mate suggested to shoot the hull. Shooting the hull itself doesn't do more damage, but it gives you an extra chance to get one of those swivel targets that do add a lot to damage. So there is a potential damage increase, but not guaranteed.
The bigger the ship (better armored actually, but there's a correlation), the less damage you do on the hull though. The first big Spanish ship I had to fight (I forget its name) did not take much damage from shooting the hull with the chain shot, but shooting the masts did seem to bring down its turning speed.

Generally speaking, I like to aim for the masts of ships bigger than the jackdaw, and aim for the hull on the smaller gunboats and the likes.

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Chain shot does seem to slow ships, especially larger ones, if you hit the sails/masts. Round shot does the same, to a much lesser extent.

This is critical when fighting Man o' War and Legendary ships where you really really do not want them to broadside you. Reducing their manoeuvrability allows you to star in front or behind and get shots in without being damaged, or go in for a ram.

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Chain shots were actually shot at the mast and sails to decrease the mobility of the enemy ships but there is actually no effect in Black Flag and I prefer to hit the hull because it is easier and it seems to do more damage. I have noticed a few times where a chain shot aimed towards the mast actually unveils a weakness for your swivel(the target the shows up in red) but then again, that happens wherever you hit the ship. At the end of the day, it doesn't matter where you hit as long as none of your shots miss the target. I rarely use chain shots but when I do, I use it as a warning shot before ramming the hull.

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