Sea of Thieves News

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July’s time-limited Adventure, ‘The Forsaken Hunter’, tasked pirates with sleuthing their way across the Sea of Thieves in pursuit of the missing Merrick, and the true culprits have now been revealed. The Dark Brethren – a collection of renegades who once tried to seize control of the Sea of the Damned – have returned to plague the waves. Now Merrick is locked away in their latest base of operations, glimpsed in all its foreboding glory during our recent cinematic trailer.

That means it’s time to swap clues for cannonballs, travel through the nearest archway (with a little help from the Pirate Lord) and take the fight to the Dark Brethren in the Sea of the Damned. But pirates will be on the back foot in such strange territory, and Merrick’s captors certainly won’t surrender him without a fight…

[h3]Recap of the Damned
[/h3]
Currently, the forlorn fisherman is being held atop a twisted recreation of the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern, a reflection of one of the most mountainous landmarks on the Sea of Thieves. Reaching him will be no easy task. Pirates will need to fend off attacks from a spectral fleet while working to seize control of three lighthouses around the tavern’s perimeter, illuminating a path to the top where the Dark Brethren and their prisoner await!

If all this talk of supernatural seas and transformed taverns has left you staring at your ship's map and wondering where to start, help is at hand. Our latest Adventures Ahead article is ready to educate pirates old and new about the outcasts that make up the Dark Brethren, and how recent events have seen Merrick fall from triumphant community leader to defiant captive.




[h3]Social Climbers
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Knowing that the doors to the Sea of the Damned must not remain open indefinitely, the Pirate Lord encourages crews to join forces during this battle, facing the Brethren together and making the task of scaling the tavern that much simpler. While a single crew with enough courage and skill might prevail, those willing to rally support through their speaking trumpets will stand the best chance of reaching Merrick in time. With no treasure to tussle over, co-operation could prove the key to success.

Supplies will likewise improve the odds, so be sure to stock up around the Outpost before heading into the fray. When you decide the time is right, speak to Larinna outside the tavern to get started and then seek the Pirate Lord, who’ll be waiting down at the docks to set Merrick’s rescue parties on the right path. Bring the Hunter home, and earn an exclusive Memento of your Adventure, when you take part in ‘A Hunter’s Cry’ between now and September 1. Just remember to watch your step...




[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 2.6.0.1.

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



[h3]Adventures
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Rally your allies: it's time to take the fight to the Dark Brethren and help bring home a celebrated Hunter in Sea of Thieves’ sixth time-limited Adventure! Venturing into the Sea of the Damned is a risky undertaking even without a band of renegades lying in wait…

‘A Hunter’s Cry’ (August 18th – September 1st)

• Keeping Merrick captive in the Sea of the Damned, the Dark Brethren will stop at nothing to retrieve the vital information he holds.
  
• Speak to Larinna to begin this new Adventure, then approach the Pirate Lord who will use the Veil of the Ancients to open a path to the Sea of the Damned, allowing your rescue attempt to begin.
  
• To stand the best chance of success, crews should unite and rely on each other to breach the Brethren’s defences. Revealing the path to the top of the Twisted Sea Dog Tavern and overcoming the Phantom resistance will require a combination of sea and land combat, strength and agility, puzzle-solving and teamwork!
  
• The Pirate Lord can’t keep the gateway open indefinitely as threats from the Sea of the Damned will break through to the Sea of Thieves, so crews must strive to rescue Merrick quickly and efficiently.
  
• Pirates who fully complete the Adventure will earn an exclusive Title and a cosmetic reward to serve as a Memento of their quest.

[h3]Captains of Adventure
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Ship and Pirate Milestone Balancing

• Following player feedback and internal review, the requirements to progress the Classes of certain Ship and Pirate Milestones have been adjusted. Read more about the changes here.

[h3]Fixed Issues
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Captains of Adventure

• As Captains set sail in a new gameplay session, they will now find that the ship’s history in the Captain’s Logbook shows correct values for Gold Earned, Islands Visited and Nautical Miles Sailed.
  
• Players who experience an unsuccessful ship purchase will no longer be returned to the Ship Type selection screen.
  
• Captains can now consistently discard Voyages from the Captain’s Bookshelf.
  
• Sybil the shipwright at the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern now asks Captains to wait after purchasing supplies before additional items are offered.

Insider Rewards

• Insiders who are eligible for the Sapphire Blade Sails will now find them in the Ship Customisation Chest.

[h3]Known Issues
[/h3]

Saved Ship Customisations Not Persisting

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

Ship and Pirate Milestones Temporarily Disabled

The following Milestones have been temporarily disabled and will not progress when the relevant actions are completed:

• Quest Board Maps Completed – Ship and Pirate Milestones
  
• Captained Ships Spotted – Ship and Pirate Milestones
  
• Provisions Sold to The Hunter's Call – Ship and Pirate Milestones
  
• Sea Forts Conquered – Ship and Pirate Milestones
  
• Repairs Made – Pirate Milestone Only

Captain’s Stash Voyages Temporarily Unavailable

• Captain’s Stash Voyages offered by the shipwrights are temporarily unavailable.

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.

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[h3]Download and Installation
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Download size:
Steam: 4.66 GB

Murderous conspiracies, covert rituals, unwisely buried instructions… Having been absent from Sea of Thieves’ ongoing story for a while, the Dark Brethren’s return to the waves brought about plenty of fresh revelations and set pirates’ tongues wagging in the wake of our (and Merrick’s) previous Adventure, ‘The Forsaken Hunter’.

If you’re unfamiliar, the Dark Brethren court was first convened during the events of Sea of Thieves: A Pirate’s Life. An assortment of villains and renegades were summoned for a singular purpose: to breach the Sea of the Damned, rouse an army of Phantoms and challenge the Ferryman’s supremacy. Had the Brethren succeeded in this ambitious act, they alone would have decided which loyal pirates were allowed to return to the land of the living, and who would be left to languish beyond the veil.

Luckily for those of us who are prone to being surprised by keg-carrying skellies, the Dark Brethren were thwarted in their efforts to seize control of our resurrections. Once the battle was over, most pirates assumed that the Brethren’s ringleaders were now scattered across the Sea of the Damned in the wake of their failure, and their threat would soon be forgotten.

As it turned out, most pirates were wrong.

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[h3]Court in the Act
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Though the Dark Brethren have relatively few members in the upper echelons, their names and faces will be familiar to anyone who’s spent time on the Sea of Thieves. The most influential among their number is Wanda, though she prefers to go by her Warsmith moniker nowadays. This former shopkeeper is particularly infamous thanks to her reinvention of Cursed Cannonballs, overseeing construction of The Reaper’s Hideout… oh, and that time she attempted to annihilate the Outposts with a fleet of Skeleton Ships. Happy days.

He may be the most surprising inclusion in the Dark Brethren’s ranks of rogues, but having been unwittingly manipulated by various parties during his time with the Bilge Rats, Duke had become something of an outcast. His desire to get back into the thick of things ultimately led to an encounter with the Sirens, which might have ended very badly for Duke had Wanda not recognised his usefulness and intervened to bring him into the fold. It remains to be seen just how far Duke will follow his allies down their dark path, but for now he seems content to be the bad guy.

Amaranta, by contrast, needed no encouragement to become the Brethren’s newest member and, ultimately, flee to their side in the wake of DeMarco’s death – though a bad habit of taunting her rivals is already causing trouble. Serving this unlikely trio are Phantoms who’ve pledged their loyalty for a chance at freedom rather than spend eternity in the Sea of the Damned, and their presence significantly increases the Brethren’s ability to wreak havoc.



[h3]Staff Meetings
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When seeking to access the Sea of the Damned and summon forth Sea Forts for their own ends, Flameheart’s followers unwittingly made it possible for the Dark Brethren to flit back and forth between the two worlds, at least for a while. Once those rifts had healed, however, a panicky Amaranta found herself stranded in the living world and was forced to collect and assemble a number of strange artefacts according to Warsmith’s instructions.

Powered by the energy of a Siren trident and leveraging the skull of the once-formidable Gold Hoarder, the completed staff has further empowered the Dark Brethren, allowing them to travel to and fro as they see fit while establishing a base of operations well away from prying pirate eyes.

Their current hideout resembles a warped reflection of the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern, doubtlessly manifested from Amaranta’s memories – she spent many long hours there daydreaming of her rise to power, after all. And now that he’s been sent to the Sea of the Damned by way of Amaranta’s blade, Merrick also finds himself held in this Brethren bastion.



[h3]A Merrick-ulous Escape
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Belle is certain Merrick knows something that can further the Brethren’s ambitions, and the race will soon begin to rescue him before Warsmith and her cohorts can coerce the helpless Hunter into spilling the beans – having already orchestrated Merrick’s demise once, there’s no telling what else she might be capable of doing.

Though a few grudge-bearing Reapers might consider all this to be Merrick’s just desserts in the wake of the ‘Lost Sands’ Adventure, all pirates will get their chance to set sail for the Sea of the Damned, assail the twisted Sea Dog Tavern and work alongside other crews to save him before it’s too late.

Those who know Merrick of old have almost completed their preparations. The mission to sail into hostile waters in an epic finale to this trilogy of Adventures is about to begin. Will pirate courage and tenacity see Merrick freed from the clutches of the Dark Brethren and ferried safely back to his Seapost? Find out for yourselves when ‘A Hunter’s Cry’ launches on August 18th, with your window of heroic opportunity lasting until September 1st. Just don’t forget the cannonballs…

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

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Rally your allies, it's time to take the fight to the Dark Brethren and help the Hunter! Our next time-limited Adventure, 'A Hunter's Cry', is live from August 18th to September 1st.


https://store.steampowered.com/app/1172620/Sea_of_Thieves/

[h3]Ahoy Captains!
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First of all, I’d like to extend a massive thank you to all the Captains of Adventure who have set sail since the launch of Season Seven. It’s been a joy for the team to see your ship names and their stories beginning to come to life on the Sea of Thieves!

We’ve also seen and heard the sentiment around the new Milestone system, so I wanted to explain the thinking behind the system and announce some changes.

[h3]What is the intention behind the Milestone system?
[/h3]
The intention of this system is to enable you to track the way you uniquely play and the things you like to engage with the most, and then give you rewards for that – letting you customise your ship to become a true reflection of your play style and journey.

In terms of the overall time investment and balance required to progress Milestones, it is intended to be vastly different to Commendations or Seasonal progression in that this is long-term progression, representing your journey over not just a single Season but many. With that in mind, players should expect that Milestone progression is slower than some of the existing progression systems.

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[h3]Why don’t Milestones track things I did in the past?
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Milestones are not awarded for deeds you have already completed primarily because Milestones are designed to be a progression system specific to Captaincy – they are for actions you have completed while aboard a Captained ship, much like Pirate Legend Commendations that require you to be a Pirate Legend to unlock them. If you play on a non-Captained ship, you do not progress Milestones.

In addition to this, the team have been hard at work implementing a huge number of stats behind the scenes – which has been a significant undertaking – in order to correctly track and award all these Milestones for you, your crew and your ships. We have not had the ability to track many of these actions until now, so it would have been impossible to retroactively award everything. The fairest and most consistent approach was to have no Milestones be retroactive, rather than having a mix of retroactive and newly tracked stats.

When we were originally considering the system, we did discuss and carefully consider this limitation of not being able to award everything retroactively. We ultimately felt that the introduction of Milestones still has a hugely positive impact that makes Sea of Thieves sessions more rewarding over the long term, especially as we’re rewarding core content that will always be part of the experience.

[h3]Why aren’t the rewards easier to achieve?
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Milestones never end as they are uncapped, allowing you to progress them forever; you can’t ‘complete’ a Milestone. At certain Classes, though, you can unlock rewards.

In terms of the balance of where rewards lie, we have rewards that are given for the Alignment itself, meaning you can do anything within that Alignment to get them. The trophy items of Trinkets, pictures and plaques are given for specific Milestones themselves, and are therefore intended to showcase dedication to a particular activity.

The intention was not to expect every player to have everything, but for players to have those items that represent a chosen play style, unique to you and your crew.

We’ve heard a lot of feedback from players around wanting more long-term goals and objectives, and the tier system for trophies felt like a good solution to this. Rather than creating completely unique trophies for the upper tiers that would have felt out of reach for some players, there is a small reflection of your personal level of dedication in the quality of its base, frame or plaque while the trophy item itself stays the same. This felt like a good balance of fairly unlocking the customisations you want on the journey, while still accommodating those players who really want the long-term progression to be represented. The tiers are a meaningful icing on the cake!

However, that being said, we feel that there are definitely changes that we can make to address the feedback around the Milestones being too much of an investment without compromising the original vision for these as a longer-term progression system. Some of this is from player feedback, but since we launched, we have also had the ability to track how swiftly players are moving through Milestones and we can see areas that are not aligning with the time we anticipated.

Some of the most vocal feedback we’ve heard has been around timed activities like sleeping and sitting. When we were building the Milestone system, we really wanted all play styles to be represented. For instance, an Alignment like The Rogue represents those who enjoy the whimsical charm of life aboard ship – the role-players. We wanted to include these players in a way that felt meaningful and not have The Rogue be significantly faster to progress than the other Alignments, so that a Legendary Rogue didn’t feel like a lesser accomplishment. That’s the reason we balanced the timings to be high, but we’ve heard the feedback and have now lowered these to be more achievable through passive play.



[h3]What changes are we making to Pirate Milestones?
[/h3]

Changes are being made to Pirate Milestones as follows.

The Gold Seeker:

• 'Treasures Sold’ is decreasing from 450 to 400
  
• 'Treasures Sold to the Gold Hoarders’ is decreasing from 75 to 70
  
• 'Treasures Sold to the Merchant Alliance’ is decreasing from 75 to 70
  
• 'Treasures Sold to the Order of Souls’ is decreasing from 75 to 70
  
• 'Gold Earned’ is increasing from 90,000 to 200,000
  
• 'Treasures Sold to The Reaper’s Bones’ is increasing from 75 to 150

The Voyager:

• ‘Voyage Quests Completed’ is decreasing from 20 to 15
  
• ‘Nautical Miles Sailed’ is decreasing from 200 to 100
  
• ‘Islands Visited’ is decreasing from 15 to 10
  
• ‘Shipwrecks Visited’ is decreasing from 3 to 2
  
• ‘Rowboats Docked’ is decreasing from 3 to 2

The Emissary:

• ‘Gold Earned as a Gold Hoarders Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as a Merchant Alliance Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as an Order of Souls Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as an Athena’s Fortune Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as a Reaper’s Bones Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 200,000

The Hunter:

• ‘Provisions Cooked’ is decreasing from 35 to 25
  
• ‘Provisions Eaten’ is decreasing from 75 to 50
  
• All varieties of ‘Fish Caught’ are decreasing from 25 to 10

The Feared:

• ‘Cannons Fired’ is decreasing from 100 to 75
  
• ‘Ghost Ships Vanquished’ is decreasing from 25 to 15
  
• ‘Skeleton Ships Vanquished’ is decreasing from 3 to 2
  
• ‘Skeleton Lords Vanquished’ is decreasing from 3 to 2
  
• ‘Sharks Vanquished’ is decreasing from 45 to 10
  
• ‘Sunken Kingdom Treasuries Conquered’ is decreasing from 3 to 2

The Rogue:

• ‘Minutes Spent Playing Shanties’ is decreasing from 60 to 15
  
• ‘Grogs Poured’ is decreasing from 75 to 30
  
• ‘Minutes Spent Sleeping’ is decreasing from 60 to 5
  
• ‘Minutes Spent Sitting’ is decreasing from 60 to 10

The Ill-Fated:

• ‘Trips to the Ferry of the Damned’ is decreasing from 25 to 15
  
• ‘Minutes Spent in Storms’ is decreasing from 60 to 15
  
• ‘Minutes Spent on Fire’ is decreasing from 60 to 5
  
• ‘Buckets Bailed’ is decreasing from 100 to 50
  
• ‘Times Sunk’ is decreasing from 25 to 15

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[h3]What changes are we making to Ship Milestones?
[/h3]

Changes are being made to Ship Milestones as follows.

The Gold Seeker:

• ‘Treasures Sold’ is decreasing from 450 to 400
  
• ‘Treasures Sold to the Gold Hoarders’ is decreasing from 75 to 70
  
• ‘Treasures Sold to the Merchant Alliance’ is decreasing from 75 to 70
  
• ‘Treasures Sold to the Order of Souls’ is decreasing from 75 to 70
  
• ‘Gold Earned’ is increasing from 90,000 to 200,000
  
• ‘Treasures Sold to The Reaper’s Bones’ is increasing from 75 to 150

The Voyager:

• ‘Voyage Quests Completed’ is decreasing from 20 to 15
  
• ‘Nautical Miles Sailed’ is decreasing from 200 to 100
  
• ‘Islands Visited’ is decreasing from 15 to 10
  
• ‘Shipwrecks Visited’ is decreasing from 3 to 2
  
• ‘Rowboats Docked Aboard’ is decreasing from 3 to 2

The Emissary:

• ‘Gold Earned as a Gold Hoarders Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as a Merchant Alliance Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as an Order of Souls Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as an Athena’s Fortune Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 100,000
  
• ‘Gold Earned as a Reaper’s Bones Emissary’ is increasing from 30,000 to 200,000

The Hunter:

• ‘Provisions Cooked Aboard’ is decreasing from 100 to 25
  
• ‘Provisions Eaten Aboard’ is decreasing from 225 to 50
  
• All varieties of ‘Fish Caught’ are decreasing from 25 to 10

The Feared:

• ‘Cannons Fired Aboard’ is decreasing from 200 to 75
  
• ‘Ghost Ships Vanquished’ is decreasing from 25 to 15
  
• ‘Skeleton Ships Vanquished’ is decreasing from 3 to 2
  
• ‘Skeleton Lords Vanquished’ is decreasing from 3 to 2
  
• ‘Sharks Vanquished by Crew’ is decreasing from 90 to 20
  
• ‘Sunken Kingdom Treasuries Conquered’ is decreasing from 3 to 2

The Rogue:

• ‘Minutes Spent Playing Shanties Aboard’ is decreasing from 60 to 15
  
• ‘Grogs Poured Aboard’ is decreasing from 150 to 30
  
• ‘Minutes Spent Sleeping Aboard’ is decreasing from 60 to 5
  
• ‘Minutes Spent Sitting Aboard’ is decreasing from 60 to 20

The Ill-Fated:

• ‘Times Damaged’ is decreasing from 100 to 50
  
• ‘Minutes Spent in Storms’ is decreasing from 60 to 15
  
• ‘Minutes Spent on Fire’ is decreasing from 60 to 5
  
• ‘Repairs Made by Crew’ is decreasing from 50 to 25
  
• ‘Buckets Bailed by Crew’ is decreasing from 200 to 50
  
• ‘Times Sunk’ is decreasing from 25 to 15

[h3]What happens to Classes I have already earned?
[/h3]

In cases where we’ve decreased a requirement, you’ll see an increase in your Class. However, should this make you eligible for an automatic reward – for example, the Captain’s Logbooks – please note that you will need to earn one more Class in that Alignment for the unlock to take place, and you will not see a pop-up telling you the reward was unlocked. So be sure to double-check your Ship Customisation Chest!

For rewards purchased in the shop, if the changes have pushed you over the eligibility threshold to buy one, you will need to progress by one more Class for it to correctly show as unlocked.

In cases where we’ve increased a requirement, you’ll see a decrease in your Class. Any rewards you had already unlocked will stay unlocked. If you had already crossed a threshold that unlocked the ability to buy a reward as a result of your progress, this will remain unlocked for you.

Again, thank you all for your continued support on the Sea of Thieves. These changes are now live in the game, and we hope you find the Milestone system to be more balanced and enjoyable while still being a true expression of your crew and their deeds.

See you on the seas!

– Shelley “Pressgang” Preston, Captain of The Isabella