Sea of Thieves – Frequently Asked Questions (Guide for New Players)

Sea Of Thieves players, especially new players, have questions about this game, some been asked hundreds of times, some been answered hundreds of times, and some answered never.

Frequently Asked Questions in Sea Of Thieves

All credit goes to Bubingi !

Can I Play Solo?

Yes! However…

It’s not easy, and for a new player, it can be very hard, even as someone who solo sloops once and a while, it can be quite a challenge since… well you need to do everything.

• Make sure the ship isn’t going to crash
• Raise anchor
• Shoot the cannons
• Kill players
• Repair the ship
• Destroy skeleton ships

And more all on your own, yes it is possible, some people do play solo, but it isn’t easy, and for a new player, I would suggest you avoid soloing, until you’re at least familiar on how the game works, so what do you for now?

Find friends!

• You can join random crews ingame, see if you can find a good group!
• Try discord servers to find a crew ready for sailing!
• Have a friend who also has this game on Steam, the Microsoft Store or Xbox? Sail together! The game has crossplay!
• Ask on the Rare and Steam forums for a new friend or 2!

Again solo is possible, but again, wait until you’re think you’re familiar with the game first.

What Weapons Should I use?

It’s up to you. All four weapons have their upsides and downsides, none are useless or overpowered.

Cutlass

Pros

• Unlimited Ammo and no reloads are needed (duh)
• Can block attacks from other Cutlass swipes
• Charge attacks can do huge damage
• Charge jumps can give you some distance or catch up to a target
• Fast Attack Speed

Cons

• Range is short
• Combine this with the Blunderbuss, while at PvE you’re great, PvP is your weakness
• No way to take out Powder Kegs without taking yourself out

Flintlock Pistol

Pros

• 55% damage to enemy pirates
• Fastest Reload out of all the ranged weapons
• Is good at close and medium range
• Amazing Secondary weapon for Eye Of Reach and Blunderbuss

Cons

• Long range it starts to struggle
• Can be outclassed by Eye Of Reach in most situations

Blunderbuss

Pros

• Can instantly kill any pirate at close range if all pellets hit
• Amazing tool to destroy mermaid statues with
• Best weapon for Defending your ship

Cons

• Range and pellet spread is bad, plus it’s random spread too
• Combine this with the Cutlass, while at PvE you’re great, PvP is your weakness
• Powder Kegs while not impossible to destroy, are really hard to destroy safe fully

Eye Of Reach

Pros

• 70% damage to enemy pirates
• Best range of all the weapons
• Able to see enemies far away thanks to scope, but not as good as Spyglass
• Best weapon to combo with the Flintlock Pistol for a quick kill for PvP players

Cons

• Slow reload
• When aiming, people can see your scope shine

All four weapons are good at their own thing, here’s some popular loadouts you might like.

Cutlass/Blunder

My main choice as I stay on the ship most of the time, and can get to island and back on board easily due to sword jumps, plus it’s the best PvE loadout since the Blunderbuss can also kill most Skeletons with 1 hit, while the sword can stunlock skeletons and the charge attack can be used to deal massive damage while keeping you moving!

Flintlock Pistol/Eye Of Reach

A choice for PvP pirates that are able to kill any pirate with trained hands, however it’s terrible at PvE since you only have 10 shots and have to reload with every shot, plus you can only relay on sprinting to move, so if there’s something that hurts your ability to sprint, like Earthquakes and Limpballs, you’re going to have a harder time moving around.

Blunderbuss/Flintlock Pistol

A PvP pirate that kinda behaves like a scout from Teamfortress 2, who gets in and gets out, and is addicted to the sprint button, better at PvE since the Blunderbuss again can one shot skeletons, but again you need to reload with every shot, and the pistol can shoot Gunpowder Kegs safely, however again if your ability to sprint is disabled, you’re an easy target.

Try your own loadout, every loadout has it’s ups and downs, and see what fits you, don’t forget you can change your loadout anytime at your ship and enemy ships too! Just remember where the Weapon Cabinet is.

What should I wear?

Again, it’s up to you…

Some Pirates like to wear all black, as it makes them harder to see in darker areas of ships so they can tuck and steal loot.

Some Pirates like to dress as with certain items to fit a theme, like the Forsaken Ashen Clothing!

Some Pirates like to combine random bits to make their own outfit!

Don’t feel pressured to make a certain loadout that someone else wants you to make, you make your pirate, you make your loadout, have some fun playing dress up!

I Want to Use “X” Cosmetic but I Can’t Find or Buy It, Why Can’t I?

Not all cosmetics are unlocked at the start to purchase for the following reasons.

1. They require a certain Commendation to unlock, to see what you need to do, navigate through the Pirate Menu (Tab on Keyboard, Start on controller) and look through the various Emissaries and menus to see what Commendation you need to beat to unlock a certain item.
2. Some items require you being a certain level as an Emissary to unlock.
3. Some items are time limited to Twitch Drops, Plunder Passes or Ingame Events, always keep an eye out on social media websites like Twitter and Reddit for the latest information because when most are gone, they’re not coming back for a while or in some cases never!
4. Most outfits in the game are locked behind the Pirate Emporium which requires real money to be purchased… unless you got really lucky with an Ancient Skeleton spawning.
5. You need to be Pirate Legend, earn certain commendations or certain Athena’s Fortune Grade Levels and go to the special Pirate Legend Clothing shop to unlock certain clothing items.

I’m in the Pirate Emporium Wanting to Buy a Cosmetic Item but I Can’t Find It, Why is That?

There are quite a few reasons why some items are missing in the Pirate Emporium

They’re restricted to Holidays and Events

Most of the items are locked behind Holidays and sometimes appear randomly during events, so they’re not gone and will return someday!

• Skeleton Pets – Only obtainable during October
• Festival of Plenty Instruments – Only obtainable during November
• Festival of Plenty Pet Outfits – Only obtainable during November
• Bonechiller Costume – Only obtainable during December
• Festival of Giving Weapons – Only obtainable during December
• Festival of Giving Pet Outfits – Only obtainable during December
• Lunar Festival Items – Only obtainable during January
• Lunar Festival Pet Outfits – Only obtainable during January
• Golden Skull Sails – These appear randomly in the shop, there’s very little consistency, so all I can say is keep an eye out not only in the shop, but also online via social media

They’re for charity fundraising

Some sails are for funding charities, they’re only available during for a certain time and chances are will never return unless Rare decides to work with the charities again, so far, no sails have returned…

• Sails Of Union
• Sails of Hope
• Sails Of Sharing

Where Can I Buy a Pet?

Pets can only be bought at The Pirate Emporium, so you will have to grab some Ancient Coins if you want a Parrot, cat, dog or Monkey!

There are three types of pets in Sea Of Thieves

• Normal Pets – These can be customized further by giving them themed outfits to wear.
• Collector’s Pets – These can only be renamed.
• Holiday Restricted Pets – Works the same as Collectors Pets, but can only be bought during certain times of the year, for an example the Skeleton Pets during October.

Where Can I Get Some Free Items?

Want to grab some free items without spending gold, doubloons, ancient coins or acutal money? Here’s some ways to grab some!

• Completing Tall Tales and their commendations unlocks cosmetics straight away, you don’t even need to use any gold to buy them, they’re in your respective chests!
• Levelling up through the Plunder Pass grants rewards! You can either focus on challenges to gain more levels faster by looking in the menus to see what needs doing, or just by playing the game as normal! They’re very easy to level up and again all unlocks are obtained straight away like with Tall Tale rewards!
• Go into the Pirate Emporium, every major update as there’s a new item to be collected, this is often a new emote for your pirate to use! Keep an eye out on the Sea Of Thieves YouTube channel showcasing the new update and items!
• Keep an eye out for Ingame Events! Social Media is your best friend when it comes to this, keep an eye on Twitter, YouTube and Reddit to see when an ingame event is coming and what to do to earn some brand new rewards!
• Like to watch Twitch? Follow these instructions to link your accounts up and then keep an eye out on Twitter, Reddit, Steam or Discord whenever drops are active!
• Already a member of Twitch Prime/Prime Gaming? Sea Of Thieves commonly has items you can claim for free! Login and see if what items are available to claim, remember they refresh monthly!
  For those who don’t have Twitch Prime/Prime Gaming and are interested in trying it out, you can sign up whenever by using the link I posted as well, you get a free trail too and as for the prices here in the UK it’s £7.99 a month and I don’t know for anything else, you’ll have to look online yourself and see if you can afford it, there’s also other benefits too for Twitch Prime/Prime Gaming, but that’s for you to see yourself, I’m not a salesmen… I think…

How Come I Can’t Find These Songs My Friends or Another Pirate is Playing?

There are 2 main reasons.

1. You’re just not finding it, keep looking through the music selection menu until you find it.
2. There are some unlockable songs, as of now, there’s only 2.

“A Pirate’s Life” unlocked by completing all 5 chapters of the Pirate’s Life Arc tall tales and all their commendations, you will automatically unlock it when finished, the tall tales are the following.

• A Pirate’s Life
• The Sunken Pearl
• Captains of the Damned
• Dark Brethren
• Lords of the Sea

You can find all 5 Tall Tales at the Castaway’s Camp at any outpost.

As for the second song, spoiler ahead!

“We shall sail together” unlocked by becoming Pirate Legend and talking to the Mysterious Stranger.

While you might not be able to play these, if another player starts the song, you’re able to join it, and continue it even when they stop!

Why Do I Need to Go to The Shipwright / Ship Box Everytime to Customize My Ship?

Because it’s not your ship, it’s the whole crew’s ship so the game doesn’t save anything to stop pre-existing cosmetics from past sessions from clashing with each other.

Plus while you might like what ship cosmetics you want, your crewmates might not and want something else on instead, so talk to them and see if you can make a ship that everyone is happy with.

Brigantine VS Sloop, Whats the Best for Two Players?

Always the Sloop if you have two players.

A lot players think that the Brigantine is better for duo players then a Sloop for a number of reasons, let’s go through them one at a time and answer why the reasons are often wrong.

1. People say that the Brigantine easier to bail then the Sloop (bucket water out of it) and it’s harder to sink then a sloop!

Actually they’re both just as easy to bail, since in both ships, you can stand at the stairs and throw the water out.

2. People say that the Brigantine is faster then the sloop!

If both ships are going with the wind, then yes the Brigantine is faster, however how often do you sail with the wind in Sea Of Thieves? The answer is rarely, if anything, you sail against or not even with the wind most of the time, so on average a Sloop is better to getting from A to B then a Brigantine.

3. People say that the Brigantine has more fire power, so it can sink the Sloop and other ships easier!

While yes the Brigantine has twice the fire power of a Sloop, it lacks the mobility the Sloop has, a Sloop can effortlessly go around a Brigantine and dodge attacks and rams, go around corners easier, and most importantly is the Sloop’s shape and size.

Due to it’s smaller size, it’s harder to escape fights to go to another part of the ships, meaning boarders can only flee by very quick movements or going overboard.

Plus unlike the Brigantine which is one flat ship, meaning fights are much easier to do, the Sloop has a higher area for the Wheel, Capstan and Ladders, which can give height advantages for Gun users and Blunderbomb users as it’s easier to hit someone below you, while you have the protection of the wooden rails, and just going slightly back so it’s even harder to hit you!

You can try Duo Brigantine if you want, however anything a Duo Brigantine can do, a Duo Sloop can do better.

Why Did My Mast Get Destroyed Instantly?

Reason 1: You got hit by a Chainshot

Chainshots are a type of cannonballs found randomly in barrels, while they do very little direct damage to a ship, the if the Chainshots hits the wheel or capstan it will do heavy damage, however if the Chainshot hits the mast, it will go down.

To avoid Chainshots, try to be at a distance, Chainshots have a very low arc and can be hard to aim with as a target is further away.

Reason 2: You got Kegged

Kegs are powerful and any size can instantly destroy a mast if near it, so if you have a Keg, be careful with them, one detonation can cripple your movement… well and make you well cooked fish food too.

Reason 3: It got damaged enough and you weren’t paying attention

ALWAYS pay attention to masts, without them you’re a sitting duck, keep them well looked after, lighting strikes can damage them, a cannonball that hits the mast will damage it, fire can slowly damage it overtime, and Ashen Lords can bombard your ship and masts with fireballs and meteors, keep your mast looked after!

Where Did My Ship Go?

On a voyage or selling some stuff and your ship disappeared? Here’s a few reasons why it can disappear.

1. The ship had a hole inside it, causing water to come in and slowly sink the ship, always check to see if the ship is fixed up before you leave it
2. The Anchor was raised, but the sails weren’t, make sure the sails are 100% raised before you leave to do anything, as the small movement can cause the ship to be miles away from your original drop of point
3. If you have a Chest Of Sorrows on board, always move it off your ship if you’re not selling it yet, if it starts crying, it will flood your ship if no one is there to bucket the water
4. If your ship is anchored in a weird spot, like in a very shallow body of water and isn’t moving WHILE you hear constant creaking of wood, move the ship ASAP, as the game will consider it stuck and will despawn it to fix it
5. The last possible reason is that somebody boarded your ship and moved it themselves, if you believe this has happened, use a Mermaid to get back on board and get ready to fight!

Why Do Some People Beach Their Rowboats When Selling?

With a crew and noticed they’re beaching the Harpoon Rowboat? Well there’s a simple reason for that!

Rowboats can carry loot and be beached without despawning unlike your main boat, allowing one to use a Harpoon to drag the Rowboat onto an outpost to sell items faster and safer then normally, this can’t be done on every island so easily since some sellers are more inland than others and in higher places like the Merchants on the piers, the best places to do this are at the Shores Of Plenty Outposts, The Ancient Isles Outposts and Morrow’s Peak, the rest are possible but much harder to do and is often worth just selling the old fashioned way!

What’s That in the Sky?

Looking at the sky, you might notice something, a skull, a cloud looking like a Galleon or a giant red storm, these are world events.

Skeleton Fort

Skeleton Forts are when Skeletons have awakened to take over a one dormant fort in the world, follow the cloud to see which Fort has been taken over.

• When you arrive at the Fort, you will be attacked by the Island’s watchtowers and island cannons, find a safe spot, park up, and get ready to fight a horde of Skeletons.
• At the final wave of the Fort, you will find a Skeleton Boss, they are much much more tougher then normal Skeletons, with special attacks that can do huge damage to you and your ship if you’re too close, make sure they keep their distance away from your ship
• When you beat the boss, a key will drop, and you will be able to open the Vault under the main island’s building, and you will get your rewards!

Skeleton Fleet

Skeleton Fleets are patrolling an area, head towards the area and get ready for a massive fight!

• There are 3 waves of Skeleton Sloops or Galleons, 2 for each wave which can spawn randomly in any order, so you might have 2 Sloops for wave one, 1 Sloop and a Galleon for wave two, and 2 Galleons for the final wave
• On the final wave a Skeleton Ship will have a Skeleton Captain on it, when that ship sinks, the event is over, the Captain has a Red Name and is always in a Galleon
• Remember all the ships will have loot on board, so keep an eye out for loot when you sink a ship! This is an excellent way to obtain Barnacle Chests and other rare loot!

Ashen Lord

A large tornado warns that an Ashen Lord is being summoned to our world, these are huge Skeleton Bosses with the power of fire, there are 3 phases.

• There are 4 Ashen Lords, other than voicelines and appearance, they all behave the same.
• When at a certain amount of health, the Ashen Lord will collapse to recover, keep attacking them when the next phase begins when they get back up
• Unlike Skeleton Bosses, Ashen Lords cannot directly instantly kill you due to the lack of a Blunderbuss
• One the final phase, Ashen Lords can summon meteors from the sky, you can tell they’re doing this by collapsing while breathing and leaking fire everywhere, these meteors can damage your ship and deal heavy damage to you
• Upon death they drop an Ashen Winds Skull, a weaponized treasure that breathes fire, the less it’s used the more it’s worth to the Order Of Souls, also extra treasure also spawns nearby including opened Ashen Chests, and Chests Of Rage.

Captain Flameheart

Captain Flameheart can randomly start haunting an island with a ghostly fleet with 4 waves.

• First wave is just normal Ghost Ships that are destroyed with 3 cannon hits, the wave finishes after 7 ships are destroyed, normal Ghost Ships can drop Storage Crates Of The Damned which contains supplies.
• Second wave is a Captain Wave, with 2 ships that take 10 cannon hits to destroy while being protected by normal Ghost Ships, when you destroy a Captain Ship, they drop loot, this wave ends when the Captain Ghost Ships are destroyed.
• Third wave is another Ghost Ship wave, works the exact same way as wave 1, destroy 7 ships and move on.
• The final wave will spawn not only Captain Ships, but Captain Flameheart’s flagship, the Burning Blade, all the ships are protected by Ghost Ships, again Captain Ships drop loot again, while Flameheart’s Ship not only drops loot, but the exclusive Cannonballs Of The Damned, this wave is finished when the Burning Blade is destroyed, which takes 24 Cannonball hits, any Captain Ships that are still alive when the Burning Blade falls will disappear.

Fort Of Fortune

Fort Of Fortunes are the same as normal Forts, but A LOT more harder, with a lot more better loot, there are more waves then normal Forts and skeletons are much tougher, and when it spawns, you wlll hear a loud horn sound play, the louder it is, the closer the Fort is to you.

• On the last 3 waves you will fight 4 bosses
• Third to last you will fight the Fort Boss Mutinous helmsman
• Second to last you will fight the 2 Fort Bosses The Duchess and The Two Faced Scoundrel
• On the final wave you fight a random Ashen Lord, keep them away from your ship as they can easily sink them with projectiles!
• When you beat the Ashen Lord, they will drop a key like normal, and get ready to loot!

Fort Of The Damned

Unlike the other Forts, Fort Of The Damned can only be activated by players and thus can activate during other world events, here’s how to start it.

Obtain each Flame of Fate from the Ferry Of The Damned and store them on your boat’s lanterns.

• The Flame of Burning Hearts (Red Flame) from dying to Fire.
• The Flame of Cursed Bones (Green Flame) from dying to a Skeleton, Phantom or Ocean Crawler.
• The Flame of Lost Seafarers (Blue Flame) from dying to a Shark, Megladon or Siren.
• The Flame of the Viper (Purple Flame) from dying to a Snake’s Venom, Kraken Ink, Venomball or Hermit Ocean Crawler’s Poison Cloud.
• The Flame of Treacherous Weather (White Flame) from dying to lightning or hitting a lightning ball of an Eel-ectric Ocean Crawler before it shoots it.
• The Flame of Embattled Souls (Pink Flame) from dying to another player from another crew.
• You will also need a Ritual Skull.

• After obtaining all of the above, head to Fort Of The Damned.

• Go to the main building at the very top of the island.
• Light all the beacons of their corresponding colours.
• Place the Ritual Skull inside the cage, it should open when all the beacons are lit.
• The Fort will activate.
• To kill the skeletons, you need to pay attention what Beacon is lit underneath them, as that means what colours you need to make them vulnerable to attacks.
• There are 12 waves, waves 1-4 will only spawn 1 colour, waves 5-9 will spawn 2 colours, while the rest spawn up to 3.
• Remember that during all these waves, they can spawn Keg Skeletons.
• On wave 11, Stronghold Keg Skeletons will spawn so be very very careful!
• On the final wave, you will fight the boss Ghost of Graymarrow.
• When you beat the fort, like other fort bosses, he will drop a key which you will use to loot the vault!

What’s That Glowing in the Water?

These are structures part of The Sunken Kingdom, they’re deep underwater requiring one to leave their ship in the open for the poteintial to grab some rare treasures!

There are 2 types of Structures in The Sunken Kingdom, look on your ship’s map to see what type you encountered!

Treasuries

These are essentially an easier version of a Skeleton Fort, where you have to fight numerous waves to enemies, and at the end, a boss to defeat, unlike a Skeleton Fort however who has a unique boss, the bosses in Treasuries are essentially just a normal enemy but with more health.

When all enemies and waves are beaten, the vault will open up, letting you grab the treasure! Just remember there’s a Mermaid Statue in the vault, allowing you to transport loot back up to your ship safely!

Shrines

These are dungeons requiring the player to complete puzzles to reach to the end, killing enemies and grabbing loot on the way, Shrines have multiple Mermaid Statues allowing you to drop of loot while you’re going to the end.

When going into either, remember at least ONE PERSON should stay on the ship and keep watch, Ships above these structures are easy pickings for Pirates.

Coral Bottles

While on our journey across the sea, you might come across these Coral Bottles, these contain a quest for you to go to a random Shrine or Treasury to claim a Breath Of The Sea, which can be sold to any trading company, including the Hunters Call, they come in the same quality as gems, Sapphire being the most common, Emerald being uncommon, and Ruby being the rarest of the 3.

These don’t have a time limit, only the crew who has the quest to claim a bottle can see their bottle until it’s picked up, and lastly they’re either found near the end of a Shrine or inside the vault of a Treasury, on a display like this.

Who or What is This on the Map?

On your map table, you will notice some ship outlines under certain situations, here’s who they are.

Reaper Emissary

This is a Reaper Emissary, anyone can see them on the map and they’re often hostile and will fire on sight, each Red Bar you see on the little flag on the ship shows their level up to 5, when at level 5 they gain the ability to see any other non-Reaper Emissary ship on the map.

Emissary Ship

This is a random Emissary Ship, you can only see this on your map table if you’re a Level 5 Reaper Emissary, they can be any of the Emissaries other than the Reapers as they lack the flag tracking their levels.

Flag Of The Reaper’s Mark Ship

This ship is using The Flag Of The Reaper’s Mark, allowing them to be seen on the map to either challenge someone to a fight, or trying to find friends (rare but it happens) always treat these ships with extreme caution.

Allies

Whenever you join an alliance, you will be able to see your new friends on your map table, what ship they’re sailing and where they’re sailing too.

Reaper’s Chest

This is a Reaper’s Chest, it can only be sold at The Reaper’s Hideout, it rewards Doubloons and progress towards Commendations.

Reaper’s Bounty

This is a Reaper’s Bounty, it can only be sold at The Reaper’s Hideout, it rewards gold and progress towards Commendations.

Fort Of The Damned Key

This can only be obtained when finishing The Fort Of The Damned, this key is used to open the vault, once used it will disappear, this key cannot be sold to anyone.

Fort Of Fortune Key

This can only be obtained when finishing The Fort Of Fortune World Event, this key is used to open the vault, once used it will disappear, this key cannot be sold to anyone.

Where Did This Reaper 5 Come From?

Sailing around happily, and peacefully, watching the map for no trouble and all of a sudden a Reaper 5 spawns out of no where? They have just done a trick called Portal Hopping.

Portal Hopping is when a crew uses a checkpoint from a Tall Tale from A Pirates Life, Chapters 1 or 3 and votes for them, allowing them to go into the Tall Tale, grab supplies, vote to cancel it, then rejoin a brand new server.
This trick IS RARE to come by, however it can happen at any moment, always keep an eye out!

Is this cheating?

No, Rare forsaw this happening when making the portals and decieded as of now to keep it in the game, as again not many people do this trick.

Plus it helps players who want to PvP or earn special commendations find a fresh server to have fights in, like a group Reapers hunting Emissary Flags and not being able to in their original server due to scaring everyone off.

For those who want to try out Portal Hopping, there are various guides on YouTube on the matter, have a look online and see if you want to try it out! While an excellent tool for PvP, it’s also a god tier tool at escaping certain doom! Especially if you’re a fishermen!

Why Did I Get Attacked Even Though I Have no Treasure?

Just because you don’t have treasure, doesn’t mean you’re safe from enemy ships, there are many reasons why somebody wants to sink you.

1. They want your supplies

Supplies are overpowered and win fights, you could be against the sweatiest tryhard sloop in your entire life, landing chainshot after chainshot, cannonball after cannonball, but as long as you can endure their punishment, you can still win against them, which is why some ships will charge head first into you to grab your supplies.

Some ships even bail your ship with buckets so they can keep moving supplies into their own supply crates! If you suspect they’re doing that, get ready as they will kill on sight!

2. They think you’re attacking them

A ship that’s charging full speed either along with or following another ship can send a wrong message, as it’s seen as an aggressive move to get the broadside or boarding advantage, always be super cautious when passing by another ship.

3. They are defending something

Everyone likes to do their own thing in Sea Of Thieves, so they might have a quest wanting them to do a certain objective, like going to a vault, killing skeletons, a world event or whatever, and they don’t want anyone profiting of their work, so either they show signs of being hostile, either try talking to them, fight them, or just move on and go somewhere else if you don’t think you can take them.

4. They just want to fight

It’s simple, they’re out for blood, don’t bother talking to them, just go crazy!

When Should I Use a Trident?

The best time to use a Trident is against bosses, like Treasury Vault Masters, Skeleton Lords and Ashen Lords.

What about normal enemies?

Try to avoid using Tridents against these guys, it’s not worth it:

• Normal and Ghost Skeletons can often be one shot with the Blunderbuss and be stun locked with the Sword
• Golden Skeletons can be made rusty by throwing water on them, making them die to 1 shot from the Blunderbuss
• Ocean Crawlers while tanky compared to Skeletons, still die very easily
• Sirens and Sharks while annoying, it’s just better to shoot them with your gun

What about enemy pirates?

It can work, however it’s best for the following due to the charge up times and slow firing speed:

• Under water if you don’t have a long range weapon
• Spawn Camping, yes it’s a d**k move but a friend can steal supplies while they’re dead

Where Should I Store Gunpowder Kegs?

On other ships!

This isn’t a joke by the way, storing kegs is often too dangerous as they’re very easy to set off, a simple missed sword swipe can set them off.

However if you REALLY want to store kegs, here’s a list of the normal kegs you will come across in your adventure and where you should store them, I always highly recommend only storing them if you’re selling straight away or using them straight away, the longer they’re on the boat, the more risk you have.

Gunpowder Barrel

This is the most common type of Keg in the game, they are found randomly on islands, dig spots, forts, fort vaults, randomly in the water with barrels, can be carried by skeletons, shipwrecks, in Skeleton Ships, and be claimed from the Merchants to be delivered.

These are not usually worth carrying overall, the money they sell for, even as a Merchant Grade 5 isn’t much at all, plus only one commendation is about selling them, which is delivering 100 Gunpowder Kegs on time.

All the other commendations can be easily obtained by blowing them up at Active Forts.

These Kegs do a large amount of damage to ships, however skilled players can easily recover the ship as the explosion radius isn’t super huge, however it’s an excellent engagement tool, if you want to fight another ship, keep an eye out for these Kegs, while they’re weaker compared to others, they still do a pretty decent job causing panic.

Stronghold Gunpowder Barrel

This is a rarer Keg, only found at Fort Vaults, Fort Of The Damned’s Final Wave with some Skeletons, Shipwrecks, Dig Spots and a chance to spawn with a skeleton in Athena Voyages these kegs are like Nukes, being able to do a monstrous amount of damage to ships and has a large explosion radius, getting hit by one of these can mean game over for most crews.

Stronghold Gunpowder Barrels also count as regular Gunpowder Barrels for Commendations, so if you have to deliver one, it will count towards the 100 Gunpowder Keg sales Commendation, in addition it has it’s own special Commendation Selling 100 Stronghold Gunpowder Barrels as a Pirate Legend.

Keg Of Ancient Black Powder

This is the rarest and just as dangerous as the Stronghold Gunpowder Barrel, hitting one of these means certain doom for anyone or anything nearby it, unlike normal and Stronghold Kegs, the explosion is a ghastly ghostly green, letting everyone know that this behemoth has been let off.

These Kegs can spawn at Fort Of Fortune Vaults as a Pair, in a random dig during Athena Voyages and Athena Emissary Quests, a guaranteed dig at the end on the final chapter of Athena Emissary quests and a guaranteed Skeleton spawn on a Thieves Haven quest always handle these Kegs with extreme care! They take a lot of work to get!

Since this is an Athena Treasure, it will count towards all Commendations that need you to sell Athena Loot while being a Pirate Legend, in addition it has it’s own Commendation, where you need to sell 50 of these as a Pirate Legend!

Storing Them

Without a doubt, in the Crow’s Nest.

Anywhere else, it’s too easy to not just anyone, ally or enemy to see or hit them, but Skeleton Ships, Ghost Ships, Fires, Megladons and Krakens can set them off, while in the Crow’s Nest, it has a much lower chance for it to be hit by ships, however Megladons and Krarkens can’t damage them unless they destroy the mast or somehow make direct contact with the Keg.

Speaking of which, if the mast goes, the Kegs will be instantly destroyed, and in addition, they can still be sniped by Eye Of Reach Users.

There is no safe place for Kegs, but right now the safest is on the Crow’s Nest.

I Just Spotted a Mermaid With No Smoke, What Does That Mean?

BE ON HIGH ALERT!

This means an enemy pirate has left their ship and is far away enough to return to it via a Mermaid, keep a watchful eye on your friends, treasure and yourself, at any moment he can come out, kill you and steal your stuff!

• If you’re at a Fort, keep an eye out for the Watchtowers, they’re a popular spot to hide in due to lack of skeletons and height advantage
• While on your ship, keep an ear out for boarding sounds, it sounds like if they’re exiting the water and it only appears on the ladders of your ship
• While on your ship, keep a lookout in popular tucking spots, including the Crow’s Nest, Dark Corners, on the Sloop’s “roof” above the map in it’s corners, Captain Quarters in larger ships and other tight places you think someone can hide in
• Check for fake barrels, you can tell them apart from regular barrels including if they appear to be floating above the ground slightly, different lighting/colour from other barrels, an extra barrel in an area where you know there’s a set amount, the fact you can’t interact with it, the loud sound of a thud someone using the Barrel emote and more!
• Arm yourself with weapons and supplies, a fight could start at any moment.

I Got Killed By a Cheater! Where Do I Report Them?

Sea Of Thieves, like any game has cheaters, however unlike most games, cheaters are very rare due to the excellent Anti-Cheat system and all ranged weapons being projectiles, now before we report anyone you need to ask yourself some questions.

1. Do you have evidence?

Videos? Screenshots of the player? Anything? Keep it somewhere safe on your computer to put onto a Support ticket later.

2. Looking back, was it lag?

The game is an always online PvPvE survival game, so lag is common to see, plus some players don’t play with Ethernet, so what appears to be speed hacking, can be McDonalds WiFi levels of lag.

3. Did the hitboxes screw you over?

It’s no secret, like other games, Sea Of Thieves has bad hitboxes, and at times you can get killed by attacks that shouldn’t hit, while your attacks just magically do nothing.

4. Were you just outplayed and called them a cheater in the heat of the moment?

Listen friend, there’s no shame, everyone has done this at least once in their lives, and if someone says they haven’t, they’re lying, I’ve done it, my friends have done it, tryhard pros have done it, don’t worry about it, just move on and hopefully next time you’re ready!

5. Singled everything out? Time to report!

Click here and follow the instructions to report a player you played against.

How Do I Become a Pirate Legend?

To become a Pirate Legend you need to be at level 50 with at least 3 trading companies, and bought all the corresponding level 50 promotions.

For an example with the Gold Hoarders, you need to reach level 50, but you need the following titles, which cost gold.

• Gold Picaroon Level 5, costs 100 Gold
• Gold Bucko Level 10, costs 200 Gold
• Gold Swabbie Level 15, costs 300 Gold
• Gold Hauler Level 20, costs 400 Gold
• Gold Buccaneer Level 25, costs 500 Gold
• Gold Seadog Level 30, costs 600 Gold
• Gold Magnate Level 35, costs 700 Gold
• Gold Captain Level 40, costs 800 Gold
• Gold Sovereign Level 45, costs 900 Gold
• Master Gold Hoarder Level 50, costs 1000 Gold

So all together you need 5500 Gold to buy the titles, this goes the same with nearly all the other trading companies too, no prices are different, only the names of the titles and what you get to buy when you unlock the title.

The only ones that are different are the following two

Reapers due to how easy it is to make gold of them since they buy nearly everything, so they’re a lot more expensive.
Sea Dogs as they don’t buy anything, but instead you earn reputation and unlocks in the Arena.

So get to work! Find treasure for your Hoarder buddies, collect skulls for the Order, trade for the Merchants, fish for the Hunters, reap your fellow pirates for the Reapers, and entertain the Sea Dogs, do what you want, as long as you reach level 50 and get those titles with at least 3 of them, you will be ready to become a Pirate Legend!

I’m level 50 with 3 companies and I got all the titles, what’s next!

Speak to the Mysterious Stranger, he’s found at every tavern in the game, I would tell you more on what to do, but I think it’s more fun, magical and special if you find out what happens on your own…

What’s The Fastest Way to Become a Pirate Legend? (Part #1)

Firstly before I say anything

Don’t worry about becoming a Pirate Legend as fast as possible, it’s not worth rushing through!

I know the game talks about being a Pirate Legend a lot, and so do some players too, but you’re really not missing out on much, here’s what you get for being a Pirate Legend:

• A free title.
• A free clothing set.
• The ability to do certain commendations as they’re locked for non Pirate Legends.
• Access to a new clothing, equipment, weapon and ship cosmetics.
• The ability to buy certain pet clothing at the pirate emporium when you’re level 20 with the Athena’s Fortune Emissary.
• Access to new area hidden at every Tavern.
• The ability to earn Pirate Legend rewards in every new Plunder Pass at level 46 and 100.
• A new song to play <- Best reward don’t argue.
• The ability to buy and raise an Athena Emissary Flag and do Athena quests <- Worst reward.

That’s it, that’s all you get for those who looked, not too amazing, some stuff is alright, but is it worth rushing? It’s up to you, but I say no.

But for those who say YES GIMME GIMME! Here’s you to become Pirate Legend fast!

Picking Your Zone

In Sea Of Thieves there are zones, all with unique fish, hazards, and attractions, however you want to focus on 2 areas.

The Shores Of Plenty

In the North West of the map is the Shores Of Plenty, a rather peaceful area with lots of islands and with clean sunny beaches!

Pros

• Easy to get to
• All the islands are close together, meaning you don’t often need to sail miles to a quest’s location
• Storms don’t come here often
• Very easy to spot enemy ships in the distance due to lack of massive islands, giant rocks and mountains

Cons

• Easy to get to for enemies
• Not too far away from Reaper’s Hideout, meaning Reapers will be in the area a lot of the time
• A portal is right next to Golden Sands Outpost, meaning hoppers can appear out of no where!
• Often seen as a beginner’s area, so you will see ships here more often then the other areas

The Devil’s Roar

Located at the East, the Devil’s Roar is a dangerous area to be in, but will reward those willing to tackle the area.

Pros

• Easier to spot ships compared to the other zones since you can only really come from 3 directions, from the West, South West and North West, as the North is blocked off via The Shores Of Gold unless someone has the Tall Tale active, there’s nothing in the South part of the map other than open ocean so there’s no reason for anyone to visit down there, and the East is blocked of by the Shroud
• All quests bought at Morrow’s Peak outpost are Ashen Quests, giving you much better rewards then normal quests, nearly all rewards will be Ashen themed, which gives you more money then normal items
• The closest portal is at Ancient Spire, meaning hoppers still need to travel a while to reach the Devil’s Roar and A LOT more to catch up to you!
• Only 2 world events spawn here, one fort which has a low chance to activate, and a skeleton fleet, and even then both of these are often too far out of the way for a majority of players so rarely anyone does these! In addition the Fort NEVER spawns as a Fort Of Fortune.
• Storms NEVER appear in this area
• It’s rare for players to go here due to the danger of the area

Cons

• The entire area is dominated by Volcanoes which spit out huge rocks which can strike ships, they come in a range of sizes with some doing damage similar to a cannonball, while others can deal massive damage to ships, keep an eye out for Volcanic Ash falling from the sky, seeing it means you’re in range to be hit by a rock. Volcanoes will make a large explosion sound when they’re ready to erupt, followed by earthquakes, black smoke rising from the Volcano’s Chimney and black clouds appearing above it, then the eruption begins, lasting between 5-10 minutes, with 5-20 minute breaks in between each eruption, always be ready to get in and get out ASAP on an island, as you can be unlucky and it starts erupting while you’re busy
• When a Volcano is erupting, all the water nearby the Volcano will boil, dealing damage to any player who’s in it and it will flood the your ship if it has a hole in it
• Earthquakes can happen, they disable sprinting and can move unanchored ships away from the island or towards it for damage, remember an Earthquake DOES NOT MEAN a Volcano is erupting, however if a Volcano is erupting, an Earthquake will appear too
• There are ton of randomly spawning geysers, getting hit by one sends you flying into the air, Gunpowder Kegs when hit by these will explode instantly
• Animal Cargo Voyages, Lost Shipment Voyages along with Ghost Ship Voyages cannot be bought or done in this area, any of these Voyages that are voted while in the Devil’s Roar will spawn at an island in The Ancient Isles or The Wilds instead

So both areas have their pros and cons, so pick one.

What’s The Fastest Way to Become a Pirate Legend? (Part #2)

You want to focus on the main 3 trading companies, the Gold Hoarders, Order Of Souls, and The Merchants, pick which one you want to focus on first, and rasie your emissary.

Before we start with the individual tips, remember the following…

• To gain more rep at a faster pace, you want to reach level 25 ASAP as any of the companies as you unlock new quests for the trading companies, compared to the new quests you unlock VS the old ones, you earn more money and rep as you will earn more treasure than normal, so while yes you’re stuck with the old quests and finding random loot until level 25, but the difference in reputation and gold you earn with them is easily worth the grind, so get to work!
• Kill all Megladons and Krakens you come across if you can, killing them gives emissary rank
• Kill Ocean Crawlers as they might drop gems, gems regardless of emissary will give rank
• Any loot you pick up will give emissary rank, regardless you want it or not
• Kill Captain Skeletons, they drop a Skull for Order Of Soul emissary rank and drop a quest for the island you’re on, allowing you to get a reward, depending on what it is, you will earn rank
• Sinking Skeleton Ships will give emissary rank
• Doing Coral Bottle Quests can reward Breaths Of The Sea and you can earn extra coral loot too, visit The Sunken Kingdom whenever you can!
• World events and rewards will give you emissary rank, from killing bosses, to sinking skeleton ships and grabbing their loot.
• REMEMBER! Always lower and raise your emissary after selling for more reputation and always stock up on quests too!
• ALSO REMEMBER! Always buy the newest promotion you bought, they’re essential to becoming Pirate Legend AND unlocking the new quests! I cannot stress this enough as it’s very easy to miss for new players!

Gold Hoarders: Shores Of Plenty

• If you or a crewmate is Level 25 with the Gold Hoarders, have you and your crew pick up a Gold Hoarder Vault Quest each, get as many as possible
• Complete the voyage as normal, remember any skeletons that spawn while you’re digging has a chance to drop treasure.
• Now you have 2 choices, either go to the vault to empty it, or do another vault voyage, it’s up to you, either way remember for at least one of you to do the vault puzzle to get the special chest as getting it will give emissary rank

Gold Hoarders: Devil’s Roar

• Same process as Shores Of Plenty, however remember that volcanoes can erupt and earthquakes can appear, if a volcano is about to set off, either have someone ready to move the ship to a safe area, or to tank the damage (do not recommend it’s not easy and can last for several minutes). Also remember to lower the anchor in case an earthquake happens as it can move the ship.

Order Of Souls: Shores Of Plenty

• Focus on Ghost Ship voyages if you or a crewmate is level 25, make sure you got plenty of supplies and keep an eye out as some ships can drop supply crates of the dammed, focus on the Flagships BEFORE you defeat the Captain Ship, because if you destroy the Captain Ship, all other ships despawn and Flagships also contain loot!
• Flagships can be identified as the ship in the middle of 2 others going around the island. The Captain Ship can be identified as the ship with the unlockable Ghost Captain Sails on the final wave.
• Also fun fact! If you sell 50 Captain Skulls Of The Dammed, an item guaranteed to drop every time you destroy the Captain Ship, you will be able to guy the Ghost Captain Sails for yourself and your crew!
• Don’t forget to keep an eye out for Skeleton Captains on Islands as they guarantee a Villainous Bounty Skull when killed!
• If you feel confident with yourself and crew, tryout some world events, as the Order Of Souls benefit the most out of the 3 companies when it comes to world events!
• Forts give plenty of Skulls and the rare Stronghold Skulls
• Forts Of Fortune give loads of Villainous Bounty Skulls, Stronghold Skulls and Ashen Wind Skulls. Ashen Lords drop the Ashen Wind Skull upon death.
• Captain Flameheart’s event works in the same way as a Ghost Voyage, only harder and with even more rewards!

Order Of Souls: Devil’s Roar

• You can only hunt skeletons with voyages here, thankfully most drop Ashen Bounty Skulls which give more money and reputation, and they can be instantly destroyed via geysers, be careful as they can set off Gun Powerkegs too.
• Skeleton ships also spawn in the region as normal, so it’s worth hunting any you see nearby, plus Volcanoes can damage their ships too!

Merchants: Shores Of Plenty

• Focus on Lost Shipment Voyages when you or a crewmate is level 25, follow the route and work out where you need to go, the only thing I have to say are the following 2 things. Number 1, grab everything you see as you will find cargo to sell and gain reputation. Number 2 and I cannot stress this enough, look for the Captain’s Key! it’s small and easy to miss, but it hides a ton of rewards!
• When you find the Lost Ship, find the Manifest inside the ship and grab any other bits of loot you see. If you have the Captain’s Key, go to the Captain’s Quarters and collect a ton of Merchant Cargo giving you a lot of emissary rank and gold!
• If you get super unlucky and see a huge swarm of birds where you think the ship is supposed to be, you will only find the Manifest and nothing else, if you have a key, either keep it for the next voyage if you can’t find another key or sell it to the Merchants

Merchants: Devil’s Roar

• Unless you want to do Cargo runs from place to place, island to island, I don’t recommend doing this as not only it’s boring, it’s no where as rewarding as doing Lost Shipments, and the danger of running into and then waiting for active volcanic areas to finish while on the time limit can be annoying at times.

Will There Ever Be PvE Servers?

No.

But there’s so many people asking for it!

There isn’t

I can link to numerous people saying that PvE servers should be added, I can prove you wrong!

1) Check the person who is making these claims, they’re often one of the following

• A new player who has had an unfortunate experience with more experienced players
• An experienced player who isn’t good at PvP and just wants it gone
• A private account, chances are an alternative account, with 0 evidence that they actually play the game with said account

It’s always these 3, if you suspect it’s a new player, all I can suggest is either offering to help them with advice or even help them play ingame, however if it’s one of the others, don’t bother arguing, because they’re at the point where they won’t listen to a reasonable argument, I’m not being mean when I say that, it’s true, it’s like talking to a wall.

2) If it’s a thread with hundreds of comments, it’s not as good as it seems, PvE threads bait in lots of people, including the following.

• OP (original poster) who defends their views and holds a majority of the comments in the thread most of the time
• The previously mentioned new players who had a bad experience
• The previously mentioned experienced players who isn’t good at PvP
• The previously mentioned private accounts flooding with “their stories”
• Players who just say “no” and move on
• PvPers who will reply to everything OP has said, giving them the second highest amount of comments in the thread most of the time
• Trolls who annoy the OP and say get good over and over with them having the third highest amount of comments in the thread most of the time

Just because a thread has a 100+ comments, doesn’t mean it’s a popular opinion, it’s just a huge bait that attracted a large amount of fish.

3) If it’s an online poll, especially from a content creator, it’s often extremely unreliable

Anyone can vote in a majority of online polls, including alternative accounts, regardless being on Steam, YouTube, Survey Monkey or whatever, no poll is safe.

Also if a content creator has an opinion, and shares that opinion on their videos, chances are most viewers will share that opinion, so when they make a poll when it’s based on their opinion, they’re just handing it out to a bunch of Yesmen, regardless of what the poll’s subject is.

So… why doesn’t Rare add PvE servers?

Because Rare designed Sea Of Thieves as a PvPvE open world pirate simulator, not only that but this is how updates are designed, this is how the game is advertised, this IS the game, remember your loot isn’t yours until you sell it.

But Sea Of Thieves is losing players due to PvE servers not being in the game!

That’s not true.

Sea Of Thieves has a lot of players, not only on Steam, but on Microsoft Store and Xbox, as of for now, we can only use Steam’s numbers to show off how many players are ingame, and the numbers easily reflect when something is happening.

• When a new Season starts, the player numbers grow.
• When it’s around middle of a Season or there hasn’t been a new update in a while, the numbers fall.
• When something major happens like a certain crossover appearing, the numbers explode to never seen before heights
• When it’s Summer Holidays, the numbers grow
• When a Sale begins, regardless of the time of year or store, the numbers grow and fall due to new players joining for the first time, and old players leaving after buying a new game to play.

And even then, Sea Of Thieves has a very healthy amount of players, for the game to truly die, Rare must majorly mess up something, and they haven’t yet, in fact all they done is improve since the game’s release, they even reworked the original roadmap for Sea Of Thieves due to player feedback.

So no the game isn’t dying, and by the looks of things, is going to be around for a long long time.

There are more reasons why PvE servers shouldn’t be added, which is why I’m currently making another guide about Why PvE servers aren’t being added, keep an eye out for it (if it ever comes out, it’s a super sensitive issue and isn’t easy to make without offending people on either side)