Sea of Thieves News

As one Adventure ends and another starts to take shape over the horizon, today’s update ushers in a fresh bunch of fixes and adjustments to improve your experiences on the Sea of Thieves, alongside a fearsome refresh of Pirate Emporium stock. But first, for Captaincy context, remind yourself of Season Seven’s key features with this trailer...

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With everyone on the same page, let’s proceed with a breakdown of what’s being delivered in this latest update. Banshee gear, balancing adjustments, Captaincy settings and cosmetic corrections await!

[h3]Pirate Emporium
[/h3]
Dread is the watchword for this new Emporium update, as the tale of the broken-hearted Bleakheart Banshee takes life in an eerie new ship set, costume, tankard and weapon bundle. Alongside that, the Season Seven Plunder Pass is still on offer to boost rewards as you build Renown...

Season Seven Plunder Pass

• Anyone wishing to take full advantage of Season Seven rewards can still buy the Plunder Pass. Any rewards unlocked will become available upon purchase, so players who have raised their Renown throughout Season Seven can instantly see their hard work rewarded before the Season ends.
  
• This Season’s Plunder Pass offers early access to the complete Beachcomber’s Bounty ship set and the evolving Baleful Bloom Costume, and can be purchased at any time through the Pirate Log, Pirate Emporium or Steam Item Store.

Bleakheart Banshee Ship Collection

• Browse the entire Bleakheart Banshee Ship Collection. Premium items such as the Collector’s Figurehead and Sails are separate purchases outside the main Ship Bundle.
  
• Players can also pick up just the core components of this set at a discount in the form of an Essential Ship Bundle.

Bleakheart Banshee Costume

• Dress as a grim spectre from Sea of Thieves legend, whose devotion to a love lost at sea led to an afterlife spent seeking retribution.
  
• Players can also perform the Banshee Cry Emote while wearing this costume.

Bleakheart Banshee Tankard

• This tankard was supposedly used in the ritual that transformed a heartbroken bride-to-be into a vengeful spectre. Don’t worry, it’s been rinsed out since then.

Bleakheart Banshee Weapons

• In this bundle are four carefully restored weapons, salvaged from the ash and ruin of a gothic ghost story.

Freebie Skull Crusher Emote

• Show those skellies exactly what they’ve got coming to them with this freebie emote.

Banshee’s Bait Bundle (Store Only)

• Available from Steam Store, this bundle contains the Bleakheart Banshee Costume, Weapon Bundle and Tankard, along with 550 Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium and a free 25,000 gold bonus for use in the Outpost shops! Head to the Steam Item Store to find out more.

Furtive Fox Bundle (Store Only)

• Available from the Steam Store, this bundle contains 550 Ancient Coins, an Auburn Fox, the Hide and Peek Emote Bundle, Hunter clothing for your pirate (Hat, Jacket, Trousers, Belt and Boots) and a free 10,000 gold bonus for use in the Outpost shops! Head to the Steam Item Store to find out more.

[h3]Events[/h3]

Twitch Drops

• Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Seven with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to Sea of Thieves social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active for Partnered streamers, allowing players to earn Eastern Winds Sapphire items. Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.

[h3]Gameplay Improvements
[/h3]

Rebalanced Ferry Time Across Crew Sizes

• Following reductions to the Ferry of the Damned wait time in previous updates, these times have undergone further adjustment to provide a more balanced experience across all sizes of crew.
  
• Solo crews will now be held for 15 seconds, two-pirate crews for 19 seconds, three-pirate crews for 23 seconds and four-pirate crews for 25 seconds.

Replace Gamertags and Replace Ship Names

• Players can now choose to replace gamertags or ship names independently, allowing creators who wish to protect themselves and others they meet on the seas to see Captained ship names if they choose.

Replace Captain’s Gamertag on Ship’s Banners

• Captains now have access to a new setting, providing creators with more control over their Ship’s Banners. Captains enabling ‘Replace Gamertag on Ship’s Banners’ will now find the Captain’s name on the banner is replaced when their ship is viewed by any other player.

[h3]Fixed Issues
[/h3]

Gameplay

• Vanquishing emergent Skeleton Captains will now progress the Hunter of Cursed Captains Commendation.
  
• Players who are away from their ship when migrating servers will now drop any held items before migrating.
  
• Players passing through the Tunnels of the Damned should no longer find their Emote Radial is reset.
  
• Cargo Runs should now appear on emergent maps found inside barrels.

Legend of the Veil

• Pirate Legends will once again encounter Shipwreck Graveyards during the Legend of the Veil Voyage.
  
• During a Legend of the Veil Voyage, crews should now be consistently directed to the next quest after completing the initial quest from Belle.
  
• Starting and cancelling Legend of the Veil Voyages should now ensure that treasure from Shipwreck Graveyards is removed from the world.

Captains of Adventure

• The first Captained ship to join a server should now consistently retain previously saved ship decorations.
  
• Saving a customisation to a Captained ship should now consistently ensure that the item is equipped in the next session.
  
• In the shipwright stock shop, Voyages will now appear locked and unavailable for purchase if a ship does not have enough space to store the Voyages.
  
• After migrating servers, players should now consistently see all purchased Captain’s Voyages on their Captain’s Bookshelf.
  
• Captain’s Logbook customisations should no longer reset after migrating servers.
  
• Crews will no longer be offered the option to restore a ship if the ship is already in pristine condition.
  
• Crews defeating specific skeletons such as Gold Skeletons and Plant Skeletons will now progress the expected Milestones.
  
• Trinkets now have a small chance to be nudged if they are submerged in water.
  
• Players who skip the Captaincy tutorial 10 times will no longer be shown the tutorial in their next session.
  
• Milestones related to Tall Tale completion will now progress as intended for larger crew sizes.
  
• Within the Captain’s Logbook, Quests Completed in the current Voyage will now progress as intended for larger crew sizes.
  
• When purchasing a Trinket tier, players no longer have to close and reopen the shipwright’s shop to buy the next tier.
  
• Retrieved Captain’s Logbooks will now advise players to take them to The Reaper’s Hideout to be cashed in.
  
• Realigning a Trinket will now cause controller vibration.
  
• The Scorched Forsaken Ashes and Silent Barnacle tables, chairs, curtains and chandeliers now use the correct colours and match the rest of the items in their sets.
  
• The text within the Captain’s Logbook regarding pets has now been corrected.

Environment

• More seats have been added to the tavern at New Golden Sands Outpost to offer players more choice.
  
• Players should no longer become stuck in place when walking around the palm trees near the Order of Souls tent at Ancient Spire Outpost.
  
• The incense burners at Ancient Spire Outpost will no longer intersect with the rock around them.
  
• Players can no longer get stuck on trees at Old Brinestone Fortress.
  
• Players should no longer see overlapping textures at Wanderers Refuge.
  
• Players at the Treasury of the Lost Ancients who become stuck in the environment will now appear at the entrance to the Treasury.
  
• Players can no longer walk through the ropes attached to the Sovereigns’ lifts at the Outposts.

Visual and Audio

• Players sprinting or switching weapons shortly after eating will now hear the audio effect stop short, clearly indicating the action was cancelled.
  
• Wood burned in campfires will now disappear when fully depleted.
  
• The steam effects on the Ah, Coffee! Emote can now be seen properly when performed with all body sizes.
  
• Crews venturing into the Shrine of Hungering while the Fort at Shark Fin Camp is active will now hear the appropriate Shrine music.
  
• There is no longer a visible texture seam on the finger of the Jack O’ Looter Costume.

Text and Localisation

• Notifications received when earning Trading Company reputation will now display the correct text.
  
• When switching to a language other than English, the prompts to show and hide Tall Tales should now change to the selected language.

Performance and Stability

• Improved server stability to reduce scenarios where crews are removed from a game session.

[h3]Known Issues
[/h3]

Reduced Server Performance

• Players may experience scenarios where they encounter ping spikes at random while playing, resulting in rubberbanding or client stutters. While improvements were most recently released in update 2.5.3, the team continue to work on further improvements for future updates.

Ranged and Melee Weapon Hit Detection

• In areas of intense action, players may find themselves firing shots or landing strikes that do not cause damage to their targets. While small improvements continue to be delivered during our regular updates, we are continuing to investigate and identify further improvements to the player combat experience.
  
  To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.

[h3]Download and Installation
[/h3]

Download size:

• Steam: 6.55 GB

As pirates aplenty work to unearth Ancient Treasures for Belle in our latest Adventure ‘The Sirens’ Prize’, and yet others discover the surprising truth behind a mysterious murder, September 17th stood on its own as a day for players to put the stresses and strains weighing down on the Sea of Thieves to one side and set sail with one simple thing in mind: community.

Well… community, gold, reputation and Ancient Skeletons if we’re being honest, so four things were on their minds. Okay, and talking like a pirate due to some very serendipitous timing with real-world calendar events, so five, five things were on our pirates’ minds and we’ll stop there before a specific group of inquisitors turn up unexpectedly.

But before we get into the day itself, let’s start our Voyage of Community Day highlights with a quick glance at recap rock for the uninitiated. Over there, it’s off the port side. As you can see, Sea of Thieves Community Days happen once during a Season, and during these days we offer our pirates the opportunity to boost their in-game rewards by sharing some of that passion we all have for sailing the Sea of Thieves. They do that by using the #SeaOfThievesCommunityDay hashtag on Twitter, spreading the love and pushing up through five ranks of our Community Emissary Grade as they collectively make more and more noise.




There was an extra-special treat on offer at Grade Five this time around, as reaching that top Grade would see a surge of Ancient Skeletons spawning across the seas for the rest of the day! With the prospect of Ancient Coins at your hook-tips, along with ample boosts to gold and reputation, the maximum Grade was hit in a record-breaking four hours and 44 minutes! Fine work indeed…

Not that this was the only thing worth setting sail for. Our official merch outpost offered exclusive goods and a 30% discount, as it’s done every Community Day thus far. The Gilded Phoenix Hull was given away via Twitch Drops. Setting sail during the day earned you a lovely chestnut-coloured flag with which to broadcast your amiable aims, no matter how many Gunpowder Barrels you had secretly stashed. We served up not one, but two appropriately elocution-based emotes over an extended period to mark Talk Like a Pirate Day, the Arrrgh! and Ranting Rogue Emotes. There were even special fireworks!

But that’s enough about what you got, our tour is entering the statistic surf so let’s talk about what you did. A day for the record books seemed to be on everyone’s minds, with scoundrels of all styles smashing the totals achieved on our last Community Day. Party pirates guzzled 880,868 grogs to the tune of 2,075,861 instruments, presumably while toasting the 1,318,615 fireworks launched (we’re sure your throats have recovered from all your appreciative articulations by now).




Elsewhere the sounds of combat rang out, often sounding a lot like cannons. 15,178,386 booms belonged to cannonballs, 557,802 could be claimed by chainshots flung with a varying degree of precision and 1,914,985 were caused by projectile pirates, who we shouldn’t automatically assume were seeking a scrap but it does help the number sit nicely in this paragraph.

All this carnage saw a grand total of 23,205,607 foes meet their end, of which 165,740 were those aforementioned Ancient Skeletons with their sought-after coins! A hearty congratulation to all the crews who profited from this never-before-seen surge – we hope you found some beguiling goods to purchase in the Pirate Emporium.

Finally, a nod to the foodies among you who devoured 11,722,511 food items over the course of the day, of which the number of bananas (3,570,943) stacked one by one in a big gravity-defying tower would be the equivalent of 76.9 Mount Everests! We suppose all those enemy encounters and the 2,349,029 emotes used would make for somewhat hungry work, let alone the staggering 203,175,357,480 gold made during the event!

You weren’t just busy on the waves though, which you can see if you inspect the community coral reef that we’ll be passing over shortly. The range of creativity brought to our attention on a Community Day is always one of our favourite things to see, and it also lets us deliver Hats of Unfeasibly Glorious Fame to a range of deserving pirates who we haven’t yet found time to honour in our Community Hub.

To that end, stunning cosplays and craft work from _JVL_, Fitzir_, grzywa_art, TheBreadGod9829 and ItSJustEnDerR, the artwork of Crimsaara, Burby_92, FortuneFinn, erroloxbow and MissCaptainOwl and accessibility advocate Shaysters all found a symbol of their persisting piratical pride awaiting them in their Equipment Chests to mark the day. For an even bigger list of celebrated corsairs, turn your attention to this Twitter Moment and we’ll wait here for you to get back.




Nice to see you back, just in time for us to say how much we also enjoyed seeing the activities our pirates were partaking in on the day. From EliEelEye’s crew tackling the entirety of the bingo card we created and TheEmeraldYosh1’s loot art of our chummy Community Day logo, through to Shrimpok’s flashy dance party with their extended crew, it’s the huge range of fun and stories you always share that truly make Community Day meaningful for us.

In fact, as we spot a shoal of social Splashtails streaming through the reef, we can see all the fun you got involved in to entertain us and the wider community. We asked if you liked pirates, to sum up Sea of Thieves in a GIF, to show us what your pirate was wearing – and in every instance you obliged and warmed our hearts.

We even asked you to direct a Voyage in SoT TV’s Interactive Expedition, with viewers in the Twitch chat using polls to direct our helmsman LazyBuzzard in his search for gold! And in the process you managed to get a Gunpowder Barrel on board and see him detonate it on deck. We’d say that’s a success. If you want to watch this back without the decision-making pressure, you can enjoy all the harmonica solos and questionable choices here.




And that concludes our look back, and brings us gliding comfortably into port once more. If you were one of the pirates who joined us at any point during our Season Seven Community Day, either in-game or via social media, we extend our most heartfelt thanks. We appreciate your showcases of skill, fun, creativity and silliness that make the Sea of Thieves community such a joy to behold, and we can only thank you for joining us to broadcast that to the world. As always, the #SeaOfThievesCommunityDay tag is there for all to scroll through as a monument to the passion we share as both creators and players of Sea of Thieves.

You’ll undoubtedly be riveted to know that we’ll be holding another Community Day in Season Eight, so keep your eyes on the horizon and, more helpfully, our social media channels (and Twitter in particular) to find out when that’ll be. But until then, happy sailing!

Deep below the surface of the Sea of Thieves, the coral-crusted Sunken Kingdom has always been a place of mystery and wonder – not to mention great dangers. September’s time-limited Adventure, ‘The Sirens’ Prize’, will challenge players to navigate its undersea labyrinths and treacherous shipwreck spires in search of stolen treasures.

The object of your quest: three Ancient artefacts required for a mysterious ritual that will empower the Pirate Lord’s allies to stand their ground in the face of an upcoming resurrection. These relics were claimed by the Sirens as trophies long ago, and will be jealously guarded against any intruders from the surface world. Fortunately, this is not a journey you’ll need to undertake alone...




[h3]Sink Your Watches[/h3]
Whispers of strange sightings at Plunder Valley stretch far beyond mere rumours. Representatives of the Ancients, who inhabited the Sea of Thieves countless generations ago and whose influence can still be felt today thanks to their many ruins, traps and curses, have recently begun to take an interest in the affairs of their former homestead. For the first time in untold years, they are making their presence known.

Pirate Legends who’ve conquered the Legend of the Veil Voyage will already know that the Ancients can be formidable fighters. In ‘The Sirens’ Prize’, crews with enquiring minds (and a talent for holding their breath) will get the chance to spend more time in the Ancients’ company, learning much about their motives and the eventual fate of a truly enigmatic society.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Assembled the Rite Way[/h3]
Once your foray into aquatic archaeology has been completed, the stage will be set for a ritual high atop a stormy cliffside, reuniting the treasures at last. This supernatural spectacular will light up the horizon and is bound to attract attention from Flameheart’s followers, along with anyone else who’d rather see the Pirate Lord remain an underdog in the battles to come.

If you’re new to this continuing conflict between the allies of Athena’s Fortune and those who serve The Reaper’s Bones, fear not – the latest in our series of Adventures Ahead articles will bring you up to speed on a story that most recently detoured into the Sea of the Damned. Once you’re in the know, you’ll be more than ready to plunge into ‘The Sirens’ Prize’ by speaking to Larinna at any point between now and September 29. The Sirens are waiting for you...




[h3]Find Out More[/h3]
For more information on the latest Sea of Thieves update, including full release notes, visit the Sea of Thieves website. This update is available for free to all Sea of Thieves players who have bought the game on Steam. Simply download and install the latest Sea of Thieves update to get access.

New to Sea of Thieves? Find out about the latest free content updates on our What’s New page, get familiar with Who’s Who or pick up some gameplay tips from our Pirate Academy, which provides invaluable information on topics ranging from sailing to swordplay as you prepare for your maiden voyage. Learn more about Sea of Thieves here, or join the ongoing adventure at www.seaofthieves.com where you can embark on an epic journey with one of gaming’s most welcoming communities!

As Season Seven continues, the team have been working on the next time-limited Adventure along with additional fixes based on feedback from the community. We’re introducing more of this content to the game in today’s release, update 2.6.1.1.

For more information on all the new content that arrived in Season Seven, check out the launch release notes!

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[h3]Adventures[/h3]
Merrick may be free from the Dark Brethren, but other threats persist across the Sea of Thieves – and Belle has now made a deeply unsettling discovery. Time to venture beneath the waves in search of Ancient Treasures in this seventh time-limited Adventure!

‘The Sirens’ Prize’ (September 15th – September 29th)

• Belle has been on the trail of a particularly disturbing rumour, and has unearthed information about an approaching “Time of Resurrection”.
  
• Fearing the worst, she decides new alliances must be made and sets a plan in motion – a plan that will once again require the most fearless pirates to join her cause.
  
• Speak to Larinna to begin this new Adventure, before heading to meet Belle at Plunder Valley. Then prepare for an undersea journey through well-defended Siren Shrines, seeking invaluable artefacts from an age long gone...
  
• Pirates who fully complete this Adventure will earn an exclusive Title and a cosmetic reward to serve as a Memento of their quest.

[h3]Fixed Issues
[/h3]

Captains of Adventure Milestones

• Players reaching Class 50 in any Pirate Alignment will now unlock the achievement entitled A Professional Pirate. Players who had already reached Class 50 in an Alignment prior to this update will just need to raise the Class again to trigger the achievement.
  
• Players reaching Class 50 in any Ship Alignment will now unlock the achievement entitled A Seasoned Ship. Players who had already reached Class 50 in an Alignment prior to this update will just need to raise the Class again to trigger the achievement.

Pirate Emporium

• When browsing the Pirate Emporium, the Mandrake Costume now shows the correct artwork.

[h3]Known Issues
[/h3]

Legend of the Veil Shipwreck Graveyards Temporarily Disabled

• Following reports of server instability and potential economy impact, crews taking on a Legend of the Veil Voyage will temporarily no longer find themselves directed to a Shipwreck Graveyard as part of their Voyage. The team are working on a resolution and intend to return this experience in a future update.

Saved Ship Customisations Not Persisting

• Captains may find that saved customisations such as ship liveries and decorations do not always persist between sessions.

Reduced Server Performance

• Players may experience scenarios where they encounter ping spikes at random while playing, resulting in rubberbanding or client stutters. While improvements were most recently released in update 2.5.3, the team continue to work on further improvements for future updates.

Ranged and Melee Weapon Hit Detection

• In areas of intense action, players may find themselves firing shots or landing strikes that do not cause damage to their targets. While small improvements continue to be delivered during our regular updates, we are continuing to investigate and identify further improvements to the player combat experience.

To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.


[hr][/hr]
[h3]Download and Installation[/h3]

Download size:

• Steam: 4.05 GB

The cannons have silenced, the portals have closed and the Veil of the Ancients has once again been hidden away. Thanks to the valiant efforts of pirate crews willing to venture into the Sea of the Damned and save Merrick, the Dark Brethren have been routed and their plans left in disarray.

Belle insists that Merrick knows more than even he realises, and while it’s still not clear what information the Brethren hoped to gain from their pugnacious prisoner, his interrogation appears to have been interrupted just in time. But where does all this leave our luckless Hunter – and who else might have taken advantage of recent events to further their own schemes?

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[h3]Shark Tales
[/h3]
Merrick’s more familiar than most with the many perils of the pirate’s life, having lost several limbs in a mighty battle against a terrifying Megalodon aboard his ship, the Killer Whale. (His eye, conversely, was claimed by a particularly aggressive parrot, but that’s not a story he tells as often.)

This reckless streak caused no end of domestic strain between Merrick, his spouse Serik and their extended family, but reconciliation proved possible when Merrick settled down at a Seapost to represent The Hunter’s Call and live out the rest of his days as an unassuming trader. At least until Belle came calling…

Time spent sailing alongside the old salt during the events of ‘The Shrouded Deep’ has convinced Belle that Merrick either knows, or gleaned from their conversations, more than he should. It was certainly knowledge worth killing for, as the Dark Brethren tasked Amaranta with ending Merrick’s life and casting him to the Sea of the Damned, where her cohorts were waiting to ensnare him.




[h3]Bar Brawling[/h3]
Unwilling to let Merrick’s secrets fall into the wrong ears, the Pirate Lord was convinced to make use of the Veil of the Ancients – a powerful relic that Merrick himself had helped to recover. With it, he opened passage into the Sea of the Damned, allowing courageous crews to set sail and lay siege to the Dark Brethren’s new hideout: a warped and twisted manifestation of the Sea Dog Tavern laced with devious mechanisms. It’s never been harder to order a grog.

By taking control of nearby beacons and using them to light a path, Merrick’s benefactors made it to the summit and forced a frustrated Warsmith to withdraw empty-handed. Yet with her parting shot, she swore that the Brethren would torment Merrick and his loved ones for as long as he lived. So for his family’s sake, Merrick decided not to board the Ferry of the Damned and regain his flesh-and-blood form, choosing to shun the mortal coil and leave his family behind.

Taking pity, the Pirate Lord has since arranged accommodation for the spectral Merrick that keeps him well out of harm’s way – although, so far as the larger Sea of Thieves is concerned, the forsaken fisherman never did make it home. One question remains, however: where, in the midst of this daring rescue and its bittersweet aftermath, was Belle herself?




[h3]Alarmed Belle
[/h3]
Some insight into that lingering conundrum is offered by ‘The Sirens’ Prize’ cinematic trailer, which suggests Belle’s attention has been occupied by a different danger altogether. The Dark Brethren are not the only group plotting to shape the seas to their own liking, and while the Pirate Lord’s allies have been locking horns with the Warsmith, foes like Captain Flameheart have been able to advance their plans without hindrance.

Caution and suspicion led Belle to place Merrick’s safety in pirate hands, and guided her to a tome which alluded to an approaching ‘Time of Resurrection’. Even the threat of such an event taking place was more than enough to send Belle plunging below the waves in search of aid – though who exactly she intends on seeking help from, and what the cost might be, remains to be seen.

With a portentous prophecy now looming over the Sea of Thieves, and whispers of Heralds and rituals beginning to circulate, it can only be a matter of time before pirates find themselves embroiled in more intrigue ahead of a brewing confrontation… one that fate itself seems to have declared inevitable.

You’ll be able to dive into the next chapter of our ongoing story when ‘The Sirens’ Prize’ launches on September 15th, with your window of opportunity lasting until September 29th. Mystery and history await, but be on your guard – on the Sea of Thieves, it can be difficult to forge alliances without also making enemies…

[hr][/hr]
[h3]Previously: [/h3]
Adventures Ahead: ‘A Hunter’s Cry’ Adventures Ahead: ‘The Forsaken Hunter’ Adventures Ahead: ‘Lost Sands’ Adventures Ahead: ‘The Shrouded Deep’ Adventures Ahead: ‘Forts of the Forgotten’ Adventures Ahead: ‘Shrouded Islands’