If you are just starting HIROTONFA’s American Revolution Smuggler, the first few weeks can feel a little overwhelming. There are ports to learn, goods to trade, crew members to recruit, ship upgrades to unlock, and plenty of small mechanics that aren’t immediately obvious.
In this guide, I’ll go through the things I found most useful when starting the game, including how to manage your time, where to make some early money, which specialists are worth knowing about, and how ship upgrades work.
I’ll keep the focus on the early game so you can get your first few weeks running smoothly without having to figure out every mechanic completely on your own. There are also some light spoilers for NPC locations, minigames, and useful interactions.
HIROTONFA American Revolution Smuggler Beginner Guide
There are a few mechanics in HIROTONFA’s American Revolution Smuggler that are easy to overlook when you first start playing.
Understanding these early can save you quite a bit of money and time.
Travel at the Right Time
When you travel between regions, the game says that the journey takes a day.
It doesn’t quite work that way.
Traveling to another region simply advances the game to the morning of the next day.
Because of this, leaving a port during the evening or at night can be a great way to travel without losing as much useful daytime.
Before leaving a port, I recommend using whatever time you have left.
You can deliver a package, interact with buildings, complete a minigame, or handle other activities before setting sail.
You Need at Least Five Crew to Travel
Traveling to a new region requires a crew of at least 5 people.
If you are planning a longer trip, make sure you visit inns and recruit enough crew before leaving.
Running out of crew at the wrong time can seriously disrupt your plans.
Check the Inns
Whenever you enter an inn, take a moment to look around.
The furniture on the right side of the inn can contain a small amount of extra loot.
It isn’t a huge reward, but it’s worth picking up whenever you’re already inside.
You Can Sail Without Supplies
One useful trick is that you can actually sail with 0 supplies.
This does reduce crew morale, but the negative effects don’t immediately happen.
The consequences are triggered when you reach your next port.
That means if you’re only making a short trip and you’re running low on supplies, sometimes it can make sense to sail without buying more.
Just don’t let your crew morale stay low for too long.
Watch Your Crew Morale
Low morale can eventually cause a mutiny.
When this happens, crew members can leave or demand additional pay.
So while sailing without supplies can occasionally save money, it isn’t something I would rely on for long journeys.
Free Ship Repairs
You can get free ship repairs every Monday at certain locations.
These include the Hudson River Chains and the Royal Navy fort in New England.
You need at least 50 reputation with the corresponding faction to use the repair.
An interesting part of this system is that you can maintain good relations with both factions at the same time.
Best Early Game Strategy
The opening quest in HIROTONFA’s American Revolution Smuggler sends you to buy ore in New Jersey and sell it in Connecticut.
This quest is actually a great introduction to the early trading system.
Before heading to New Jersey, though, I recommend making one small detour.
Buy Tools in Connecticut
Before leaving Connecticut, buy one set of tools.
Tools are cheap in Connecticut and are in demand in New Jersey, so you can make some additional money from the trip.
While you’re there, check the post office for a delivery job.
If you find a delivery going to New England, accept it.
Complete the delivery before continuing with your trading route.
Head to New Jersey
Once you arrive in New Jersey, it should be around evening.
Sell the tools you purchased earlier and then buy the required ore.
But don’t immediately leave.
There is another opportunity waiting for you.
Play the New Jersey Boxing Minigame
New Jersey has a boxing minigame that becomes available during the evening and night.
You can complete it once per day and earn around 500–1,000p.
That’s a significant amount of money during the first week, so I definitely recommend doing it whenever you have the opportunity.
If you arrive in New Jersey earlier than evening because you weren’t able to complete a delivery, you don’t have to wait around doing nothing.
You can enter your ship and use the option to pass a time block.
This advances the time to evening and allows you to play the boxing minigame.
Visit Maine Before Returning to Connecticut
After finishing your business in New Jersey, don’t immediately return to Connecticut.
Instead, travel to Maine.
There is an old man NPC in Falmouth who can introduce you to the fishing minigame.
The fishing minigame is available during the morning or noon.
Your performance in the minigame affects some of the immediate rewards, including the amount of money and the fishing kit you receive.
However, the important part for this early strategy is what happens afterward.
When you return to your ship, an event will trigger and an NPC will join your crew.
After that, you can finally head back to Connecticut and sell the ore.
This completes your opening quest while giving you extra money from the boxing and fishing activities.
Your Next Goal
After completing the initial ore quest, your next major objective should be the Portsmaster quest.
The exact location and goods required can vary.
However, if you followed the early route above, you should have a much healthier amount of money to work with, making the first week considerably easier.
Smuggler’s Cove in Boston
Smuggler’s Cove is one of the more interesting locations in the early game.
Getting access to the cove isn’t immediately obvious, so I recommend exploring Boston and interacting with the available characters and locations rather than expecting the game to simply hand you the solution.
Once you gain access, the cove becomes an important source of smuggled goods.
This is one of those areas where exploring on your own can be especially rewarding, so I would avoid rushing straight to a solution if you’re enjoying discovering the game naturally.
Port Guide
Each port in HIROTONFA’s American Revolution Smuggler has different specialties and preferred goods.
Understanding these differences is important because it allows you to build profitable trading routes.
| State | Port | Specialty | Favoured Goods | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quebec | Quebec City | Fur | Cigars, Ore | — |
| Maine | Falmouth | Fur | — | Fishing NPC |
| New Hampshire | Portsmouth | Lumber | Ore | — |
| Massachusetts | Boston | Rum | Sugar, Cigars, Cotton | Smuggler’s Cove |
| Rhode Island | Providence | Rum | Cotton | — |
| Connecticut | New London | Tools | Ore | Fence |
| New York | New York City | Tea | Rum, Cotton | Theater, Racetrack |
| New Jersey | Perth Amboy | Ore | Tools | Boxing |
| Pennsylvania | Philadelphia | Tools | Cigars, Tobacco | Unlocks market date spot |
| Delaware | New Castle | Supplies | — | — |
| Maryland | Baltimore | Tobacco | Cigars | — |
| Virginia | Williamsburg | Tobacco | — | — |
| North Carolina | Wilmington | Lumber | Tea | — |
| South Carolina | Charlestown | Cotton | Rum | — |
| Georgia | Savannah | Cotton | Sugar | — |
| Florida | St. Augustine | Sugar | Tea | — |
| Louisiana | New Orleans | Cigars | Tobacco, Lumber, Ore | Card game, fog bomb seller |
This information can change as the game receives updates, so I would treat the table as a useful reference rather than a permanent list.
Specialists
Specialists are extremely useful in HIROTONFA’s American Revolution Smuggler because each one provides a different bonus or ability.
The main specialists include:
- Fishing Specialist
- Carpenter
- Cook
- Quartermaster
- Doctor
- Navigator
- Lookout
Fishing Specialist
The Fishing Specialist periodically fishes up goods and allows you to interact with fishing spots on the map.
This can give you additional resources while you’re traveling.
Carpenter
The Carpenter helps repair your ship’s Hull points.
If you are frequently taking damage, having a Carpenter can make maintaining your ship much easier.
Cook
The Cook reduces your rate of supply consumption.
The Cook can also periodically increase crew morale and prevents the supply spoilage event.
This makes the Cook particularly useful for longer journeys.
Quartermaster
The Quartermaster reduces your debt repayment.
They also provide a weekly report and information about where particular goods can be sold.
If you’re heavily focused on trading, this information can be extremely useful.
Doctor
The Doctor reduces crew fatalities when you’re raiding or poaching.
The Doctor also prevents illness caused by eating raw oysters.
This becomes more useful once you’re engaging in activities that put your crew at greater risk.
The Navigator increases your ship’s movement speed.
This can save a lot of time when traveling between ports.
Lookout
The Lookout helps spot ships and find shipwrecks that you can loot.
The specialist also prevents certain collision events.
If you spend a lot of time traveling, this can provide several useful benefits at once.
How to Recruit Specialists
Marina, the Fishing Specialist, has a fixed location.
You can find her in Falmouth, Maine.
Talk to the old man and complete the fishing minigame.
The minigame is available in the morning or at noon.
Your performance doesn’t affect the recruitment event.
After returning to your ship, the event that recruits Marina will trigger.
The other specialists are hired through inns.
To find out which inn has a specific specialist, enter an inn and interact with the NPC on the left side of the counter.
For 50p, he will tell you the locations of the specialists.
When you enter an inn containing a specialist, the recruitment cutscene will trigger.
The first specialist costs 1,000p.
Each additional specialist costs double the previous specialist’s hiring price.
Because the price increases quickly, I recommend thinking carefully about which specialists you want to hire first.
Ship Upgrades
You can upgrade your ship using wampum obtained by completing quests.
Some upgrades can be found at specific locations.
For the faction forts, you need at least 50 reputation points with the corresponding faction.
Attack, Defense and Agility
You can upgrade ATK, DEF, and AGI up to level 2 at:
- Hudson River Chains — Patriot Fort
- Fort Franklin — Loyalist Fort
HP Upgrade
The HP upgrade can be found at Germantown, located in the southern area.
Crew Capacity
The crew capacity upgrade is available in the State of Muskogee, located in the Louisiana map area.
There are additional upgrade levels beyond these, so as you progress through the game, keep exploring new locations and completing quests.
Buying New Ships
You can also obtain completely different ships.
Look for Lunatic Luke, who can be found at the building to the left in ports.
Unlike ship upgrades, purchasing a new ship does not require wampum.
Different ships have different stats, so replacing your ship can be another way to improve your setup instead of only upgrading the one you started with.
Increasing Ship Movement Speed
Your ship’s movement speed can also be improved by hiring Wanda, the Navigation Specialist.
Her location can vary.
The amount you have to pay depends on how many other specialists you’ve already hired.
If you spend a lot of time traveling between regions, the Navigator’s movement-speed bonus can become very useful.
Sources of Smuggled Goods
If you want to avoid paying normal taxes, there are several ways to obtain goods without buying them through ordinary trading.
Floating Crates
Floating crates can randomly appear in the overworld.
You can send 2 crew members to salvage a crate and obtain one good.
Keep an eye out for these while sailing because they can provide free resources.
Illegal Poaching
You can obtain goods through illegal poaching in Quebec.
This provides another way to obtain resources without purchasing them normally.
Illegal Lumbering
Illegal lumbering is available in the southern part of the map.
This is another source of goods for players who are looking to expand their smuggling operation.
One-Eyed John
You can also obtain deals through One-Eyed John.
These deals provide another way to acquire smuggled goods.
Smuggler’s Cove
Once you’ve unlocked Smuggler’s Cove in Boston, you can obtain goods from there as well.
This is one of the main locations to remember if you’re focusing heavily on smuggling.
Louisiana
Louisiana is another source of goods.
There is a tax involved, though, so these goods aren’t completely free.
What Doesn’t Count as Smuggled Goods?
Some resources may be free without technically being classified as smuggled goods.
Goods obtained from:
- Fishing Specialist catches
- Defeating monsters
- Gifts from State-chans
are free, but they are not considered smuggled goods.
This distinction matters when you’re specifically trying to obtain or use smuggled goods.
The early game of HIROTONFA’s American Revolution Smuggler is mostly about learning how to make your time and money work together.
I recommend taking advantage of the different activities available in each region instead of simply sailing from one port to another.
The opening route through Connecticut → New Jersey → Maine → Connecticut is particularly useful because you can combine trading with the New Jersey boxing minigame and the fishing event in Maine.
As you continue playing, start paying more attention to the specialties of each port and the goods that different locations favor. This will make it much easier to create profitable trading routes.
At the same time, keep an eye on your crew size, supplies, morale, and ship condition. A profitable trip isn’t very useful if you end up losing crew members or spending all of your earnings repairing the ship.
Finally, don’t feel like you need to discover everything immediately. HIROTONFA’s American Revolution Smuggler has quite a few hidden interactions and locations, and exploring the map yourself is part of the fun. Use these tips when you get stuck, but leave some discoveries for yourself as you continue your smuggling adventure.