Use Conversation to raise one Mate’s loyalty and Speech to raise the whole roster’s. Then promote Mates, learn and activate useful effects, train expertise after maximum promotion, and assign each Mate to a compatible cabin. Low loyalty or an injury can stop a Mate from using skills and abilities.
Raise loyalty before relying on a Mate’s abilities
In Mate management, use the available loyalty actions as part of your routine. LINE Games’ Mate guide says a Conversation raises one Mate’s loyalty every four hours, while a Speech raises all Mates’ loyalty every 24 hours. These are cooldowns stated in the guide, updated May 24, 2023; check the live interface in case a later update changes them. The guide also says loyalty decreases as your fleet sails. LINE Games: Mate guide
- Conversation: targets a single Mate. Use it on a key specialist whose loyalty has fallen.
- Speech: covers all Mates. Use it when several Mates need attention.
- After sailing: check the roster again, since loyalty falls while sailing.
Low loyalty is not just a roster statistic. LINE Games’ Tavern guide says a Mate with low loyalty or an injury cannot use their skills and abilities. Check for injuries as well as loyalty if an ability is unavailable. LINE Games: Tavern guide
Understand what you are improving: skills, effects, and expertise
Skills and effects serve different purposes. LINE Games describes skills as mostly active abilities and effects as mostly passive bonuses. Skills include Naval Combat Skills and Duel Skills; equipment can enhance or grant some skills. Effects are learned as Mates level and spend relevant in-game resources, but a learned effect must also be assigned as an activated effect to provide its benefit. The number of effects available to apply depends on promotion status. LINE Games: Basic Growth Guide
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Expertise is a separate measure that matters when assigning a Mate to a role. The guides distinguish ship expertise, which affects the ship the Mate is assigned to, from fleet expertise, which affects the wider fleet. The right investment therefore depends on whether you want an active skill, a passive effect, or stronger performance in a particular ship or fleet role.
Promote Mates to expand their toolkit
Promotion is the main route to gaining additional skills and effects. LINE Games’ Basic Growth Guide says all Mates can be promoted up to four times to gain new skills and effects. The Mate guide adds that promotion improves expertise and raises the maximum number of effects that can be applied. Promotion requires meeting the relevant level and material requirements; check the Mate’s current requirements before spending materials. LINE Games: Mate guide
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- Choose a Mate whose role you plan to use. Consider the ship or fleet assignment before investing in that Mate.
- Meet the displayed level and material requirements. Requirements can vary by Mate and may change with updates.
- Promote the Mate, then review the result. Check newly available skills, effect capacity, and expertise.
- Learn and activate useful effects. Learning an effect alone is not enough; assign it as an activated effect.
Train expertise after maximum promotion
Once a Mate reaches maximum promotion, the Mate guide says training can grant expertise points up to four times. You can allocate those points among combat, adventure, or trade expertise. Training uses promotion materials and books. The guide lists tasks, the palace contribution store, and the guild contribution store as sources for books. Check the in-game training screen for the current cost and available sources before committing resources. LINE Games: Mate guide
Match each Mate to a compatible cabin and useful role
Assignments determine whether developed expertise and skills contribute to gameplay. LINE Games says an incompatible cabin assignment cuts the Mate’s expertise by 50%, and unassigned Mates’ skills and expertise do not affect gameplay. Use the Mate menu’s detailed stats alongside the ship’s cabin screen to check fit before assigning. LINE Games: Mate guide
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Combat ship specialties include Artillery, Ramming, Support, and Melee. Fleet specialties include Nature, Aesthetics, Scouting, Supply, Purchasing, Sales, Negotiation, and Trade. Treat these as different assignment goals: a ship specialist supports the ship they occupy, while a fleet specialist’s expertise applies more broadly.
- Prioritize role fit: favor expertise that matches the cabin and the job you want the Mate to perform.
- Consider skill stacking: LINE Games says assigning multiple Mates with the same skill to one ship increases that skill’s strength. Stacking is useful when you want to strengthen a particular ship skill rather than spread Mates across different skills.
- Avoid leaving useful Mates unassigned: their skills and expertise do not affect gameplay while they are unassigned.
Account for the current Transcendence notice
LINE Games’ 2026 update notice says Mate Transcendence expanded to Stage 3 and, at the time of that notice, Stage 3 was available only to S Grade Mates. This is a separate progression detail from the four regular promotions described in the older Mate and growth guides. Because requirements and eligibility can change, verify the current in-game conditions before spending scarce items. LINE Games: Mate Stage 3 Transcendence notice
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