How to Win at Battleship: 7 Strategies That Actually Work
Battleship (or Sea Battle) feels like pure luck at first, but strong players sink fleets in far fewer shots than beginners. The secret is that every shot should give you as much information as possible. Here are seven strategies that work, from the basics to tricks most players never think about.
1. Hunt in a checkerboard pattern
The smallest ship is 2 squares long, so every ship must cover at least one square of a checkerboard pattern. If you only fire at "black" squares while searching, you'll still find every ship, using about half the shots of firing randomly. This one habit makes the biggest difference.
2. Switch from hunt to target mode after a hit
When you get a hit, stop searching randomly. Fire at the four squares around it (up, down, left, right). Once you get a second hit, you know which direction the ship runs, so keep firing along that line in both directions until it sinks. Only then go back to hunting.
3. Widen your pattern as small ships sink
Keep track of which ships are still afloat. If the 2-square ship is gone and the smallest ship left is 3 squares long, you can space your search shots every third square instead of every second. Fewer wasted shots means a faster win.
4. Use the "no touching" rule
On Royal Duels, ships never touch each other, not even diagonally. When a ship sinks, every square around it is guaranteed empty, so never fire there. The same logic helps while targeting: a hit next to a sunk ship can't belong to a ship touching it.
5. Think about where ships fit
Look at the open spaces left on the board. A 5-square ship needs five empty squares in a row. If a region is too small for any remaining ship, skip it entirely. Late in the game, this alone often tells you exactly where the last ship must be.
6. Use special weapons at the right moment
Royal Duels adds weapons that unlock during the match. The 📡 sonar is most valuable early on a big unexplored area: it tells you how many ship squares hide in a 3×3 zone without spending a real shot on each square. The 🚀 missile (2×2) shines on a zone the sonar flagged. The 🌊 torpedo is best on a long, untouched row. Save the ✈️ airstrike for finishing a ship you've already found, since its + shape covers all four neighbors of a hit at once.
7. Don't give up when you're behind
Falling two ships behind unlocks the airstrike, and being down to your last ship unlocks the nuke (3×3). Comebacks happen a lot more than you'd think.
Practice against the bot
The Hard bot on Royal Duels uses checkerboard hunting, target mode and the gap rule, and it uses its own weapons too. Beat it a few times, then challenge a friend with a link.