Sea of Thieves News

Battle breaks out across the Sea of Thieves in Season Eight! But this is a conflict that you can wade into at your own discretion: all pirates wishing to take sides will find two distinct Factions clashing on the open sea as this Season begins. Get the full story in the Content Update video below, with bonus viewing available in the reveal livestream and the Season Eight Deep Dive...

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
Now read on for details on not just the Battle at hand but everything else landing in this substantial update, from a new Plunder Pass and 100 free levels of Seasonal rewards to the latest accessibility improvements and bucketloads of fixes and adjustments!

[h3]The Battle for the Sea of Thieves
[/h3]
Conflict now rages between the Guardians of Fortune, loyal to the Pirate Lord and his allies, and the Servants of the Flame, followers of the newly emboldened Captain Flameheart. Those of each Faction can hunt the other at will, bringing ship combat on demand to the Sea of Thieves...

Choosing a Faction

• Crews who wish to join the Battle for the Sea of Thieves must choose a Faction to fight for: the Guardians of Fortune or the Servants of the Flame. Crews are free to fight for both Factions in order to access the full range of rewards, though only one Faction can be represented at a time.
  
• Head to the Captain’s Table and rotate the Hourglass of Fate to your chosen Faction, then vote to join the Battle for the Sea of Thieves.

Hunting the Opposition

• Crews looking to go on the offensive should unfurl the War Map on the Captain’s Table, vote to begin Battle and then sail to open waters. The ship will dive beneath the waves in search of a willing opponent.
  
• Steel your resolve and prepare to fight in your Faction’s name – Battle is imminent! Once a suitable opponent has been found, your ship will breach the surface with the rival in sight and Battle will commence.
  
• Crews are contained within a Battle area, visible from the ship’s map. Crews who flee from the fight will find their ship subjected to an explosive fate and their rival declared the victor.

Allegiance Streaks

• Crews successful in sinking multiple foes without being sunk themselves will build an Allegiance Streak, boosting the Allegiance earned from each encounter. Building an Allegiance Streak will cause your ship’s glowing visual effects to grow with each win, wrapping the hull to show off your formidable feats.
  
• Ships reaching an Allegiance Streak of four will become a Faction Champion, visible on the map for all to see. Faction Champions can continue building their Streak for as long as they dare!
  
• Pirates becoming Faction Champions are also offered the choice of battling crews larger than their own, selected from the War Map.

Treasure Grade

• Pirates who have joined a Faction can still earn Allegiance without hunting opposing crews, though they must be prepared to defend their hoard: after joining the Battle for the Sea of Thieves, the more treasure is amassed and kept safe on board, the higher the ship’s Treasure Grade.
  
• Crews who defeat attacking Faction crews while defending their treasure will earn more Allegiance for each ship sunk.

Leaving the Battle

• Crews can leave the fight from their Faction’s table at an Outpost (or The Reaper’s Hideout if playing as the Servants), and will be awarded Allegiance and gold based on their success.
  
• The value of a crew’s Hourglass of Fate from successful battles, Treasure Grade and Emissary Grade reached will all increase the rewards earned when cashing in at the Outpost.

Captaincy Alignments and Rewards

• Captains of the Sea of Thieves have access to two new Alignments within the Ship’s Log: The Guardian and The Servant. Captains who pick a side and progress through the relevant Milestones can earn Trinkets, Ship’s Crests and a range of other decorative options themed around their Faction.

Guardians of Fortune Commendations and Rewards

• Within the Reputation tab, pirates loyal to the Pirate Lord can show their Allegiance to the Guardians of Fortune, a new Faction complete with Commendations and rewards.
  
• Earning Allegiance for the Guardians of Fortune will unlock access to the Protector Figureheads, a set of ornate carvings of the Pirate Lord, becoming more embellished as pirates progress.
  
• Loyal pirates can also gain access to Guardian Ghost, Mysterious Stranger and Magpie’s Wing cosmetics and even the returning Legendary Curse from within the Pirate Legend Hideout shops, locked behind Commendations and Allegiance.
  
• Guardians reaching Allegiance level 100 who also hold the mantle of Pirate Legend will be granted access to a new area to explore within the Pirate Legend Hideout. Within this secret area, those loyal to the Pirate Lord will earn the right to the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune, changing them into a ghostly form.

Servants of the Flame Commendations and Rewards

• Within the Reputation tab, cutthroat pirates loyal to Captain Flameheart can show their Allegiance to the Servants of the Flame, a new Faction complete with Commendations and rewards.
  
• Earning Allegiance for the Servants of the Flame will unlock access to the Servant Figureheads, a set of grim carvings of Captain Flameheart, growing in grandeur as pirates progress.
  
• Servants reaching Allegiance level 100 along with The Reaper’s Bones rank 75 will be granted a new shanty, which can be played at the Reaper’s Hideout to unlock access to a secret underground area. Those willing to dedicate themselves to the Servants’ cause can take part in the Ritual of the Flame, transforming them into an undead skeleton pirate.
  
• Within The Reaper’s Lair, the Bonesmith offers a range of customisations for fresh bones, offering new heads, torsos, legs and bone colours locked behind Commendations and Allegiance.

Battle for the Sea of Thieves Achievements

New Xbox and Steam achievements can be unlocked by joining the fight. A total of 200 gamerscore is available to earn from this update, and these achievements will remain in the game indefinitely.

• Nigh Unsinkable! [40G]
  
• You Gotta Fight [10G]
  
• A Sunken Century [50G]
  
• Blessing of Athena’s Fortune [50G]
  
• Ritual of the Flame [50G]

[h3]Season Eight
[/h3]

A new Season means 100 new levels to climb by raising your Renown, with rewards along the way – and an optional Plunder Pass adding even more. New Ledger prizes can also be earned by Emissaries for all Trading Companies, not just Athena’s Fortune and The Reaper’s Bones!

Season Eight Progression and Rewards

• Season Eight offers a refreshed progression path with Trials and Deeds for new and experienced pirates alike. Weekly, monthly and Seasonal goals all reward players for exploring the Sea of Thieves.
  
• Players can capitalise on the introduction of the Battle for the Sea of Thieves this Season to earn Renown by defeating opposing Faction ships!
  
• Progressing through the 100 levels of this Season will reward pirates with Cursed Bone cosmetics, new to Season Eight along with weapons of the Damned.
  
• Pirate Legends or those who become a Pirate Legend during Season Eight can also earn Flameheart’s Hat and Cutlass.
  
• Completing tiers of Seasonal progression will also award unique Titles, allowing players to display their success for all to see.

Season Eight Plunder Pass

• Purchase Season Eight’s Plunder Pass to gain access to a plethora of unlockable, never-before-seen rewards, all available to earn by climbing the levels of Seasonal progression.
  
• Plunder Pass purchasers this Season can earn the full Ravenwood Ship Collection, including Collector’s Figurehead and Sails.
  
• For those looking to truly transform themselves, the Ravenwood Costume can also be earned, evolving as players progress through the Season.
  
• Along with the wealth of new cosmetic rewards, Plunder Pass purchasers can earn 750 Ancient Coins in Season Eight – added to the 250 earnable through Seasonal progression, that’s 1000 Ancient Coins in total!
  
• The Season Eight Plunder Pass is available to purchase in-game through the Pirate Log or Pirate Emporium, or the Steam Item Store.

Season Eight Emissary Ledger Rewards

• Representing the Gold Hoarders in their Emissary Ledger can now earn players the Tribute Peak Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
  
• Players seeking out the secrets of the Order of Souls can earn the Relic of Darkness Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
  
• The Merchant Alliance honour their high-performing Ledger representatives with the Merchant Ambassador Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
  
• Flying the flag of The Reaper’s Bones and earning a high rank in their Ledger can earn players the Masked Renegade Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
  
• Legendary pirates representing Athena’s Fortune in their Ledger can earn the Magpie’s Glory Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy to demonstrate their dedication to the Pirate Lord.

[h3]Pirate Emporium
[/h3]
Have you earned a king’s ransom during your time on the seas? Show it by splashing out on the sumptuous new ship set and matching crown. Alternatively, get back in touch with your feral side as the Night Wulf Costume and Weapon Bundle are shipped in from the dark heart of the jungle...

King’s Ransom Ship Bundle

• Go for gold with a livery inspired by fables of wildly wealthy seafaring royalty when you purchase this ship bundle. Excludes Collector's variants.
  
• Pirates who only need the bare essentials can purchase or browse just the core components of the palatial King's Ransom set in an Essential Ship Bundle.

King’s Ransom Crown

• The earliest and most extraordinary Sea of Thieves myths mention a golden skeleton king and his long-lost crown. Which can now be yours for a price...

Night Wulf Costume

• The bestial, near-unstoppable Wulf of legend makes a fine role model for sabre-rattling sea reavers.
  
• When wearing this costume, give voice to your untamed rage or simply lament banging your elbow on the capstan by performing the Wulf Howl Emote.

Night Wulf Weapon Bundle

• With this set of four deadly weapons, strike with the fury and speed of the fabled Wulf.

Rare Wares Trinket Bundle

• A collection of three decorative Trinkets inspired by tales of wild adventure from worlds beyond the Shroud.

Freebie Sparkler Emote

• Not suitable for arson or attacking, just wholesome sparkly nighttime magic.

Time-Limited Festival of Plenty Pet Outfits

• These food-themed pet outfits are back for a limited time. Head to the Pirate Emporium to dress your pet up for dinner!

Time-Limited Festival of Plenty Instruments

• Have fun and give thanks to your crew and allies, as these tasty instruments are also back for a limited time!

Wulf of War Bundle (Store Only)

• Available from the Steam Store, the Wulf of War Bundle contains the Night Wulf Costume and all four weapons in the Night Wulf Weapon Bundle, along with 550 Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium and a free bonus of 25,000 gold. Head to the Steam Item Store to find out more.

Black Friday Sale

• With a special Friday fast approaching, check back into the Pirate Emporium for fabulous discounts from November 24th to November 29th (10:00 UTC).
  
• Pirates will find deals on a wide range of sets and items, along with a freebie emote and the return of the Golden Skull Sails for a limited time!

[h3]Gameplay Improvements
[/h3]

Cursed Cannonball Balancing

• Cursed Cannonballs are now more scarcely discovered in island barrels, washed-up crates and Rowboats.
  
• Cannonball Crates of the Damned now only award a single Wraith Cannonball due to their immense power.
  
• The effect duration of green Cursed Cannonballs that affect other players have now been shortened across the board.
  
• Players are now limited to holding only five Cursed Cannonballs at any given time.

Emissary Warning

• Crews representing a Trading Company as an Emissary will now be shown a notification to remind them that while more rewards can be earned by doing so, they should also expect to become a valuable target for other crews.

Front End Messaging

• The game’s front end notifications sent from Sea of Thieves Support now convert to the player’s local time zone.

[h3]Outpost Cosmetics
[/h3]

New Hairstyles and Beards

• The Outpost clothing shop now offers players hairstyles and beards from the Forsaken Ashes set, with the Forsaken Ashes Singed Hair and Forsaken Ashes Frazzled Hair as well as the new Forsaken Ashes Beard. All can be purchased with players’ hard-earned gold.
  
• For pirates looking for a ‘cooler’ look, the Up ‘n’ Down Hair, Topknot Hair and Craggy Beard available from the clothing shops may be more their style.

[h3]Events
[/h3]

Twitch Drops

• Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Eight with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to Sea of Thieves social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active, some for Partnered streamers and some for all streamers, allowing players to earn a selection of new and classic items from the Eastern Winds Sapphire, Rising Morningstar and Frozen Horizon sets.
  
• Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.

[h3]Accessibility
[/h3]

Tooltip Narration

• Tooltips that appear on-screen when interacting with items can now be narrated, providing improved accessibility for those with low vision.
  
• With text-to-speech narration already enabled, players can enable tooltip narration within the Language Settings along with configuration options to allow players to define how much of the tooltip is narrated. For more information, head to the Accessibility guide on our support site.

[h3]Fixed Issues
[/h3]

Gameplay

• Players taking fatal damage aboard their ship shortly before entering the Tunnels of the Damned are now returned to life upon arrival in the Tunnels.
  
• Players drowning while entering the Tunnels of the Damned are now returned to life upon arrival in the Tunnels.
  
• ‘Swim Up’ can now be assigned to any key and not just the spacebar.
  
• When players return from the Sunken Kingdom, friendly merfolk carrying treasure will now resurface closer to their ship.
  
• Wreckers now appear at shipwrecks while on Lost Shipment Voyages, and while exploring a Shipwreck Graveyard as part of the Legend of the Veil Voyage.

Captains of Adventure

• When browsing the Shipwright’s Captaincy shop, Voyages that the crew are unable to acquire will now show as locked.
  
• Players purchasing or discarding Captain’s Voyages will now find the Captain’s Bookcase visually changes.
  
• The Crossed Harpoons Trinket now appears correctly when placed on board the ship.
  
• Completing the Emissary Voyages for each Trading Company now correctly progresses the appropriate Voyage Milestones.
  
• Completing Emissary Voyages no longer progresses ‘Discovered Quests Completed’ Milestones.
  
• Players should now consistently find the ‘Islands Visited’ Ship Milestone progresses when sailing their ship towards islands.
  
• Completing Wayfinder, Ghost Ship or Lost Shipments Captain’s Voyages will now update the correct Milestones.
  
• When leaving and returning to the ship during the Trinket section of the Captaincy tutorial, the Pirate Lord will now be present during his voiceover.
  
• Completing Quests from discovered Messages in a Bottle in The Devil’s Roar will now progress ‘Devil’s Roar Voyage Quests Completed’ Milestones.

Pirate Emporium

• The Bleakheart Banshee Costume visual effects should now be consistently seen by other players.
  
• Pirates of all body shapes and sizes will find the head of the Spinal Costume no longer appears squashed.

Environment

• Small items dropped on Rum Runner Isle are now more visible to players instead of appearing beneath the sand’s surface.
  
• Players can no longer walk through rocks on the north side of Plunder Valley.

User Interface

• Players swapping from mouse to controller input will now find the menu selection consistently follows the actions of the controller.

Accessibility

• Players enabling ‘Let Games Read to Me’ will now find the ‘Narrate Change Only’ setting is now enabled by default for new players.

Visual and Audio

• While sailing on a Sloop, players should no longer hear a creaking audio effect repeating from the rear canvas.
  
• Icons for Reaper’s Chests and Fort Keys on the ship’s map now appear at the correct size when playing on console.
  
• When the Festival of the Damned Lantern is turned on, there are no longer visible issues with the glowing crystals.

Text and Localisation

• The ‘Scuttle Ship’ notification shown when crews experience repeated defeats by other crews now displays text correctly across all languages.
  
• Navigating the ship selection menu within the front end will now display text correctly across all languages.
  
• The Captained ship selection screen on the front end now displays the value for ship restoration correctly across all languages.

Performance and Stability

• Scenarios where crews are stacking large amounts of treasure on board a ship or decorating an island now have optimised server performance, reducing latency, lag spikes, rubberbanding and server correction during gameplay.
  
• Improved server stability to reduce scenarios where crews are removed from a game session.

[h3]Known Issues
[/h3]

Visual Issues Underwater Following Battle

• After diving beneath the waves to find a rival crew in the Battle for the Sea of Thieves, players visiting the Sunken Kingdom may experience visual issues when swimming into the depths.

‘Gold Earned’ Milestones

• Crews earning gold by cashing in an Hourglass of Fate following a Battle will find the ‘Gold Earned’ Milestones do not currently progress.

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: 6.98 GB

With our latest decision point Adventure ‘Return of the Damned’ building to a crescendo at the time of writing, pirates across the seas will be eager to find out how their own efforts have changed the course of history. Well, just like last time when we announced the outcome of the Outpost offensive in ‘Lost Sands’, we’re hauling a host of developers into the tavern for a live revelation of the results. Followed by enthusiastic discussion and hopefully no brawling.

This stream is taking place on Friday, November 18th at 4pm UTC (check your local time here) on our Twitch channel, so mark your calendars in ink, blood or mango juice depending on what’s to hand, and we’ll see you there!



As you may have gathered from the title of this article, that’s not the only thing we’re squeezing in. With Sea of Thieves Season Eight set to launch on November 22nd, why would we not take this opportunity to debut the full content update trailer and show you what’s coming your way in a few days? You won’t want to miss this blowout of the battles ahead.

Our most recent episode of Sea of Thieves News offered a stream tease too, while also showcasing comics telling the story of a figure who’s been blazing a trail across the seas and some new accessibility features coming up in Season Eight.

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]

The battle begins soon as Sea of Thieves Season Eight breaks cover, but before then, we’ll see you live on Twitch to find out together what the future has in store. Not only will there be familiar Rare faces chatting about the Adventure outcome and Season Eight’s offerings, we’ll also be turning to some popular Sea of Thieves Partnered streamers to see what they’re most excited about. Join us for all the action on Friday, November 18th at 4pm UTC!

The fourth Spotlight Showcase instalment is here! It’s been a while, dear readers, so we’ve got three whole months of Spotlights to catch you up on. There’s a brilliant cast of seafaring characters ahead (including our fourth ever Legend Spotlight), so settle in and enjoy this trip down community lane.




First, cast your minds back to August, when we caught up with artist and meme queen Nomezilla for a Community Spotlight. We asked about the development process for her wacky designs, such as the stylish Strawberrybeard, and the story behind her ‘Infernal Galop’ music video. She also shared her love of motorcycles and tales of taking her – frankly adorable – trio of dogs on hikes.




For a Creator Spotlight in August we had none other than NateaCuiki. She discussed how her nocturnal habits allowed her to engage with people on both sides of the Atlantic, including the passionate Spanish-speaking community of Sea of Thieves players. On the subject of streaming, she shared some of her struggles and her best advice for anyone else also thinking of creating content.




Then caught up with a Legend who’s been sailing since the Closed Beta back in 2018: Sir Lotus. Lotus is a Boatswain and a true veteran of the seas, so we sat down with him to find out about challenges faced in the last four years, his journey to Legend and some considerations for other up-and-coming Pirate Legends. He was also keen to set the record straight on a certain incident…




Moving into September, we had another Community Spotlight for you, this time with renowned artist Crewgles! Known for his fine work as part of the ever-friendly Arrt Club, Crewgles also spoke about how his passion for architecture has led to another level of appreciation for the wild and varied structures of Sea of Thieves. Do you know how many bricks you can find in-game?




Next we headed to Australia to speak with another wildly talented Arrt Club participant for our next Community Spotlight: Zookie. She shared the first piece of Sea of Thieves art she did and the touching story behind it, as well as dropping a few hints about what she might be working on next. If you’re a Flameheart fan, Zookie’s definitely one creator to keep an eye on!




We kicked off October by returning to the green-tinged world of Creator Spotlights in the company of streamer Kaidawrath, to hear all about her treasure-hoarding shenanigans. Alongside her record of burning more than 4000 innocent pineapples, she spoke about the responsibility of having an audience and why it’s important not to get discouraged when you’re first starting out.




And finally we come to the last Community Spotlight of October, where we caught up with TheCloudBee to hear how she’s bringing together her passion for gaming and her work as a charity ambassador. As she’s also a formidable helmswoman with experience in countless contests, we of course had to get all her best tips for manoeuvring across the Sea of Thieves.

And thus concludes the latest Showcase! The last three months saw some fabulous members of the community sharing their thoughts, so be sure to check out the full versions of all of these interviews at the links. If you’re looking for more, then don’t forget you can find the full archive of Community, Creator and Legend Spotlights on the Sea of Thieves website. Or if you’re interested in a more abridged collection, there’s always the previous Showcase instalment!

That’s all for now, but we’ll have plenty more Spotlights in the weeks and months ahead, so keep a weather eye on the horizon. Until then!

We’ve done it. We’ve finally arrived at the spookiest of seasons! October brought all the ghouls, goblins and ghosts that any self-respecting pirate could ever want. After all, who doesn’t love the spiderweb/pumpkin aesthetic?

Taking its lead from the shifting seasons, Sea of Thieves also had an eventful month. You might have noticed that there was a brand new Adventure – or perhaps you were too busy getting ready for the later Tricksters and Treaters Event? What we do know is that with so much going on, trying to keep track of it all would test any pirate, so settle in and let’s review everything that went down in October 2022.

[h3]Content Update
[/h3]
The big news in October was of course the arrival of ‘The Herald of the Flame’, Sea of Thieves’ eighth time-limited adventure. Players were treated to the return of the wily Stitcher Jim, finally emerging from his self-imposed exile with a menacing new look. Together with the Pirate Lord’s allies, players from across the sea came together to strike back against the Reapers and bring down their plans.

Putting down an undead and on fire pirate from an old prophecy feels like it should have been more than enough excitement for the month, but we weren’t done! Towards the end of October, we embraced the spooky spirit with an all-new Tricksters and Treaters Event. The task was simple: either act as a Treater, burying treasure for other players to find, or embrace the pranking as a Trickster and steal everything not nailed down on other people’s ships – all with exclusive cosmetics and Titles on the line.

And, lest we forget, the most important part of any spooky season: the costumes. The Pirate Emporium was flooded with new seasonal cosmetics, including the ultra-slimming Spinal Costume. After all, why fight with the skellies when you can become one? For any players partial to a bit more coverage – or, you know, skin – the Graveyard Gladiator set offered a nice, fleshy alternative. Wait, that came out wrong. Look, free pumpkin juggling!

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]News and Features
[/h3]
With ‘The Herald of the Flame’ Adventure to explore, we of course dropped a new Adventures Ahead article to remind you of the tale of Stitcher Jim. We weren’t about to let the seasonal spirit go unsung either, so the latter half of the month saw both an eerie Emporium sale and the release of the new ‘Spooky Selects’ soundtrack entry. Remember, drifting through the cold moonlit waves, accompanied only by ghostly shanties of long-gone pirates, can absolutely be self-care and you shouldn’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

The Community Hub got no less than three sets of updates on what our crafty community have been creating, and as always, we had fortnightly Spotlights throughout the month. We started with a Creator Spotlight on renowned Twitch privateer Kaidawrath, speaking about how her platform grew from humble origins. Then for our Community Spotlight we turned to TheCloudBee to discuss her charity work and what it takes to become a fearsome helmswoman.

Continuing the charity theme, Sea of Thieves teamed up with SpecialEffect on October 7th to help level the playing field for gamers with physical disabilities. For #OneSpecialDay, we donated 100% of Sea of Thieves’ net proceeds on Steam to support their incredible work. Thank you to everyone who got involved and helped to raise money for the cause!




[h3]Videos and Streams
[/h3]
We couldn’t kick off a new Adventure without giving you some trailers, could we? ‘The Herald of the Flame’ cinematic trailer landed early in the month, with the launch trailer just a few days later. Before you had a chance to rejoice and/or dread the return of dear Jim, episode 9 of the official podcast also dropped to answer some of your burning questions and offer up hints about what’s in store for Sea of Thieves’ future.

With the Tricksters and Treaters Event rapidly approaching, John couldn’t resist giving us a spine-tingling edition of Sea of Thieves News. Then once the Event landed, we turned our attention to Twitch and the Tavern of Terror stream to watch as our assembled crew scrambled to uncover a traitor in their midst. There was… mixed success. (Seriously though, is that horizon advancing too quickly for anyone else?)

Twitch Drops once again made their mark in the middle of the month, and on October’s very last day we casually dropped the first trailer for the Adventure awaiting in November…

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Social Channels
[/h3]
Way back in September we got fashionable with the first ever #StyleOfThieves competition, and October brought things to a generous conclusion for its debut Season. Piracy has never looked so good. Elsewhere, we raised a toast to Age of Empires as it celebrated its 25th anniversary, building the team their very own ship with a unique colour scheme and inspirational name.

Now, deep breath. Lots more to cram in. Okay? Go. At the start of the month, we invited you to get into the spirit and it took off from there. For the artistically minded, there were two seasonally themed #SoTShot challenges: Striking Skeletons and Frightening Photos. Arrt Club prompt attempts were made in-house, while over on TikTok, our sound designers tried out something a little different for our Megalodon friends.

Our #TriviaTuesday bursts helped to fill in some background on the ‘The Herald of the Flame’ Adventure, while an impromptu geography challenge ended with a surprisingly in-depth discussion about apostrophes. Players’ treasure-burying alignment was called into question, and of course the other side of the Tricksters and Treaters Event coin was the opportunity to send us a tweet and get tricked or treated by the Jack O’ Looter!




So that was October. Phew. What a month. Did we miss anything? If any of this passed you by, don’t forget you can keep up to date with all Sea of Thieves news as it happens by following us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube or Twitch, or joining the official Forums or Discord. This month’s already shaping up to be packed with goodies of its own, so stay tuned, stay spooky and have a great November!

[hr][/hr]
[h3]Previously in 2022: [/h3]
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: September 2022 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: August 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: July 2022
Sea of Thieves Round-Up: June 2022 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: May 2022 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: April 2022 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: March 2022 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: February 2022 Sea of Thieves Round-Up: January 2022

The Time of Resurrection has arrived, and the infamous Skeleton Lord Captain Flameheart is about to return to the seas – as long as his loyal followers within The Reaper’s Bones are able to complete their long-awaited ritual! Elsewhere, the Pirate Lord’s allies have concocted a rival scheme in an attempt to banish Flameheart for good, placing Captain Pendragon’s life on the line to do so.

Now players must decide whether to ally themselves with Belle or the Servant of the Flame, supporting their chosen side in a battle that spans the Sea of Thieves. It will be pirates, not prophecies, that determine whether Flameheart or Pendragon stands triumphant when the dust settles, with the other consigned to exile. Either way, the future of the Sea of Thieves hangs in the balance...

[previewyoutube][/previewyoutube]
[h3]Fight for the Forts
[/h3]

Both sides require the energy of Dark Relics to successfully compete their rituals, specifically Bewitching Dolls. These hotly contested items can be found sequestered around six Sea Forts scattered across the Sea of Thieves, and must be delivered directly to either Belle or the Servant of the Flame, depending on your allegiance. But there’s a catch...

The Bewitching Dolls draw their power from the Sea Forts that house them, and their effectiveness is greatly increased when your chosen side is in command of the Fort – something you can establish by flying their banner from its flagpole, fighting your way through Phantoms to get there if necessary.

Handing in a Doll at a time when all six Sea Forts are under your side’s control is the most efficient way of assisting in the ritual, while leaving Forts unclaimed will diminish the relic’s effectiveness. Beacons above each Fort will indicate which side, if any, currently holds them.

Forts actively held by the enemy will limit the Dolls’ power, so crews will need to think carefully about their actions – is It better to attack and claim another Fort, defend those you already control or make a dash to hand in your Bewitching Dolls? The choice is yours.




[h3]All Dolled Up
[/h3]

Crews will need to undertake the Adventure to receive a fresh flag from their chosen side and claim a Sea Fort, but existing flags can be taken down by any passing pirate, allowing crews to sabotage their opponents’ efforts at any time while the Adventure is live.

Similarly, players can scour the Sea Forts for Bewitching Dolls (or seek to steal them from other unwary players) at any time, whether or not they’re actively pursuing the Adventure, so there’s plenty of space for sailing skulduggery and tricky tactics. And keep an eye out for Soulflame Captains within the Forts: should you find and defeat one, its remains can be used to enchant a Bewitching Doll, greatly increasing its worth to Belle or the Servant of the Flame.

However you decide to approach this fateful fight, everyone will have an opportunity to sway the final outcome. For a primer on the forces at play and the circumstances that led to this tipping point, be sure to read our latest Adventures Ahead article. ‘Return of the Damned’ is now underway, and following its conclusion, the results of this cliffhanger community choice will be revealed in a special livestream event! The Adventure itself concludes on November 17th.




[h3]Find Out More
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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!