It’s hard to believe that Sea of Thieves set sail five years ago. What began as an ambitious opne-world of plundering and exploration has expanded into a rich experience with tons to uncover.
Microsoft and Rare have unveiled their Season 9 update and what will be in store for pirates on the open seas. The six minute video outlines it all, but below I’ll list some of the highlights aimed at helping players who have been online for years, or are logging in for the first time.
High (Seas) Five!
The festivities get going this weekend, running March 17-22.
All players who sail the seas from March 17–22 (10am UTC) will also be awarded the celebratory Lustrous Legend Figurehead.
The shiny gold and red will stand out above the rest to be sure, but that’s not the only thing in store for the 5-year mark. If you’ve been hoarding some gold recently, the coins will go further with a number of big in-game sales, and some free items like emotes.
Spit and Polish
As far as gameplay goes, Season 9 of Sea of Thieves will bring some new chests to uncover and some hard-to-find treasures. A new Skull of Destiny can be found and will unlock the undead riches of a new Fort of the Damned Event. Details on this are sparse at the moment, but expect some epic plundering opportunities.
A Captain’s logbook will now keep track of alot more information. This includes helpful information like islands visited, ships sighted, and even sea monster battles. For an on-again off-again Sea of Thieves player myself, notes like this are a welcome addition as it can be cumbersome from time to time trying to navigate the open seas with a smaller party.
Forts and Fleets will see some updates. Fort encounters will have difficulty and enemy scaling matching with crew size, that way you won’t feel so outnumbered if you’re heading in with a crew of two instead of four for example. Meantime, the Ghost Fleet returns, and waves of enemies on board Skeleton Fleets will spawn a little slower, allowing for more successful stealing and plundering.
And as with any seasoned based game like this, a new pass is available that will have a number of rewards including:
- Progressing through the 100 levels of this Season will reward pirates with the Prosperous Privateer cosmetics, new to Season Nine along with time-limited Gilded Age rewards.
- Legendary pirates or those who become a Pirate Legend during Season Nine can also earn the Legendary Bone Hunter Jacket and Spyglass.
Another thing to make note of if you have a Steam Deck on hand: Sea of Thieves is now Steam Deck Verified!
Full patch and release notes can be found on the official website.
