The latest developer journal from the folks at Pirates of the Burning Seas looks at improvements to the game's combat mechanics.

For 1.16, we’re making various improvements to the combat mechanics of the game. We are improving the underpowered brawling skill chain, changing the debuff stacking mechanic in ship combat and adjusting round shot damage. These changes should help smooth out some areas that are currently rough and prone to exploitation.
Brawling Update

1.16 includes a set of changes to the brawling skill line. The changes give brawling more damage output while making it easier to maintain combos. There are fewer attacks that consume combo points and more attacks that benefit from combo points. We expect there to be another step after this one.

Read more here.