AI Crewmates in Sea of Thieves – Something thats been on my mind for a while.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    Discussion
    I love SoT, but solo slooping is a misery. The game technically allows it, but most of the community treats SoT as multiplayer-only for a reason. Running a ship alone isn’t “hard but rewarding”, it’s just exhausting. One mistake and everything collapses at once.

    On bigger ships it’s better but could be a lot greater. A galleon with four players already feels thin. Anything less and it feels empty, lifeless, and borderline unplayable. You’re steering, managing sails, repairing, bailing, watching the horizon, and firing cannons all at the same time. PvP especially is brutal. You’re not outplayed, you’re just outnumbered mechanically.

    AI crewmates would fix that without ruining the game.

    You’d hire basic crew to fill roles:

    • Cannoneer to man cannons

    • Repair crew to patch holes and bail water

    • Helmsman to sail to a set location on the map

    • Deckhand to manage sails and anchors

    They wouldn’t replace real players. They’d be a lot slower and dumber. A real crew would always be better. But they’d handle the boring survival stuff so solo and duo players can have a helping hand.

    • Make solo play viable instead of punishing

    • Make ships feel alive instead of empty

    • Let players sail ships they actually like so solo players could sail a gally

    • Reduce burnout without dumbing anything down

    Don’t want AI? Don’t hire them. Simple. But having the option would open the game up to way more people.

    It’s also not like this would be some impossible system to build. We’ve already seen AI crew behaviour in-game. During A Pirate’s Life you literally have Jack Sparrow manning cannons and helping in fights. Skeleton ships and the Burning Blade already have skeleton crews steering, repairing, and firing cannons. The groundwork clearly exists. This wouldn’t be inventing AI from scratch, it’d be refining and player-controlling systems that are already in the game.

    What do you guys think?

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  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    But they’d handle the boring survival stuff so solo and duo players can have a helping hand.

    Those boring survival stuff is most important. That like kid getting a Self Driving car and they dont even know how to drive...

    Don’t want AI? Don’t hire them. Simple

    Works both ways. Dont like sailing solo? Think its hard to do? Boring tasks? Get other players, join other crews to do those things...OR...dont worry about it.

    My thought. AI cannons. They are hit or miss wild and they attack anything. So how if you wanted to "befriend" a crew deal with AI attacking everything.

    Or AI wasting cannon balls? What happens if they repair when you didnt need to or save planks?

    Helmsman to sail to a set location on the map

    Deckhand to manage sails and anchors

    So at this point, you just dont wanna play....have game play for you.

  • Spectergames706
    Master
    Insider

    Or they could just add solo only servers…

  • Flashkannon5118
    Sailor

    This is kind of already the way they're headed - from the skeleton helpers on islands to the bone callers to the obsidian skeletons to the opened reaper chest, some simple auto-ai "crewmate" skeletons would be a mercy. Obviously you'd need to limit slots, but having them around would be nice. You wouldn't need them to do anything outlandish, and I can agree that firing cannons can be a problem, but just having something to help speed up an anchor pull/sail furl, patch holes, or move a big loot pile to or from the rowboat would be good for a solo player. Perhaps a specialty blowdart? It would be extra funny of that worked on an enemy player ship - give players more reason to use the blowgun instead of more traditional options.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @burnbacon
    You’re mixing up maintenance with skill. The skill in Sea of Thieves is decision-making, positioning, and timing — not spamming bucket and plank animations. A 4-man crew already offloads roles and no one says they “aren’t playing.”

    “Just get other players” ignores time, preference, and the fact solo play already exists — it’s just punished. AI wouldn’t replace players, they’d be slower, limited, and optional.

    Stuff like cannons wasting ammo or attacking everything is tuning, not a blocker — skeleton ships and story NPCs already handle targeting, repairs, and sailing. This isn’t the game playing itself, it’s stopping solo players from juggling six jobs at once.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @spectergames706
    Solo-only servers dodge the issue instead of fixing it. The problem isn’t other players, it’s that running a ship alone in Sea of Thieves is mechanically overloaded. You’d still be steering, repairing, bailing, sailing, and fighting solo — just with less PvP. AI crew fixes the ship workload itself, keeps the shared world intact, and doesn’t split the playerbase.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @flashkannon5118
    Yeah, that’s the real issue. Solo slooping isn’t just slower or tedious, it’s mechanically stacked against you. In Sea of Thieves, bigger crews can do multiple critical actions at once and a solo player physically can’t. AI crew wouldn’t make solos stronger than real crews, it would just stop every fight being decided by crew count instead of decisions.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    In Sea of Thieves, bigger crews can do multiple critical actions at once and a solo player physically can’t.

    Never seen a fully functioning Galleon Crew, they always fight each other, while Solo crews can..Do everything without worry.

    All comes down to the player. What is important to manage and what to just let happen.

    AI crew wouldn’t make solos stronger than real crews, it would just stop every fight being decided by crew count instead of decisions.

    Solo Player with AI crew.
    Solo player can freely leave the ship to board while an AI controlled ship..does everything, while the Full Galleon has to manage everything...
    or leaving your "defenseless ship" near a shrine and have it auto defend once a 'enemy player' appears or another npc threat.

    Seems ok...sure why not.

  • PotatoSord
    Marauder
    Insider

    It would be nearly impossible for them to balance the AI companion difficulty. It would either make it impossible to play without one as a solo, always intentionally putting yourself at a massive disadvantage by not using it, or it will be completely useless and no one but absolute swabbies would ever use it.

  • PotatoSord
    Marauder
    Insider

    @baby-gronk9975 "skeleton ships and story NPCs already handle targeting, repairs, and sailing." and they do it so badly that any player who is even half awake can sink them without a second thought. The skeleton ship has like 5 or 6 skeletons on it doing stuff and they still sink easily.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @burnbacon
    That’s kind of my point though. A real crew already does those things in parallel. AI doing basic survival tasks just lets solos operate on the same mechanical level, not exceed it.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @potatosord
    Skeleton ships being easy is the point. They prove AI can handle baseline ship tasks without being too competitive with real players. That’s exactly where AI crew should sit.

    Balance isn’t “AI useless vs AI mandatory” — that’s a false dilemma. Plenty of games balance optional helpers by making them slower, capped, and bad at prioritising. In Sea of Thieves, a real crew would always outperform AI.

    The goal isn’t to replace players, it’s to stop solo players being mechanically outnumbered. If someone chooses not to use AI, that’s no different than choosing to sail understaffed now.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    In Sea of Thieves, a real crew would always outperform AI.

    Last few complaints I see are those who are tired of Skeleton ships attacking and even sinking them. Proven...these players can't handle AI.

    The goal isn’t to replace players, it’s to stop solo players being mechanically outnumbered.

    Or, these solo players who feel this way can do what the game encourages. Play with other players. As hurtful that sounds, that is the idea and design of it, play with friends or heaven forbid...randoms can build on it.

    A good Solo players knows the in and outs of there ship and know what to do before it happens. Never under pressure and know when to cut the rope.

    Plenty of games balance optional helpers by making them slower, capped, and bad at prioritising.

    Maybe, but I cant hand pick a single game where its Player vs Player with AI side kicks. But those games are built around that, SoT is about Player interactions, joining a crew of other pirates.

  • PotatoSord
    Marauder
    Insider

    @baby-gronk9975 Which means that if I don't want to play with the AI helpers, I am worse off, making the game worse for people who don't want those kinds of training wheels. It doesn't need them because adding them has to be balanced on a razors edge, on one side they would be underpowered, and on the other they would make playing without them a stupid decision. I do not want to play with them. That's what I'm saying. Many players do not want that in any way at all, but adding it to the game would either force players to use it to keep up or risk it be useless and I don't understand how you can't see that.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @burnbacon
    Skeleton ships being easy to sink actually proves the point. Even with 5–6 AI doing tasks, they’re still worse than players — which is exactly why AI crew wouldn’t replace real crews.

    The “either useless or mandatory” argument is a false binary. Games balance optional helpers all the time by making them slower, capped, and bad at prioritising. A real crew in Sea of Thieves would still outperform AI every time.

    Saying “good solos aren’t under pressure” ignores mechanics. No amount of skill lets one player repair, steer, shoot, and board simultaneously. That’s not mastery, that’s crew count.

    And “just play with others” isn’t a design counter — solo play already exists. The question isn’t whether SoT is multiplayer-focused, it’s whether solo players should be mechanically outnumbered by default.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @potatosord
    This “razor’s edge” argument assumes AI has to be either mandatory or useless, which just isn’t true. In Sea of Thieves, real crews already outperform skeleton ships because coordination beats automation — that’s the point. AI being bad at prioritising doesn’t make it impossible to balance, it makes it predictably worse than players.

    Not wanting to use AI doesn’t mean others shouldn’t have the option. A 4-man galleon already gives a mechanical advantage and no one calls that “training wheels.” AI doing basic survival tasks doesn’t make solos stronger than crews, it just stops fights being decided purely by headcount. If someone refuses to use an optional system and is worse off, that’s a choice — not bad design.

  • das16148
    Castaway

    I agree we need ai crew for solo players. As soon as possible

  • Smuntface
    Captain
    Insider

    Gotta be honest here;
    Having lil' robots doing only simple tasks for us ... slowly and no better than a skelly ... doesn't exactly sound game breaking.
    But I can't say I'm enthused.

    I think there would HAVE to be some simple exemptions to their behaviour. e.g. They can't bucket. And they cannot repair holes as quick as a pirate.
    I feel if they could bucket and fix holes fast, you'd have a situation where a solo piloting any ship may simply leave their ship without fear of sinking at any time.

    My concern is not with noobs or the ability/sensory-impaired pirates benefitting from this, it's more about those with top-tier PvP skills.
    I would like to think the game is designed to be naval-based, and I'm concerned this may simply make the meta more boarding-centric than it already is.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @smuntface
    That’s a fair concern, and honestly we’re mostly on the same page.

    slow, skelly-level helpers with exemptions

    That’s exactly the kind of limitation I’m talking about. If AI can’t bucket effectively, repairs slower than a pirate, and can’t hard-save a ship, then a solo still can’t abandon their ship without risk. They’re just less likely to instantly lose because two things went wrong at once.

    On the PvP side:
    If top-tier players board more aggressively, that’s already happening because crews cover the ship while one boards. AI wouldn’t enable a new strategy, it would let solos do what real crews already do in Sea of Thieves, just worse.

    As long as AI:

    can’t fully prevent sinking

    can’t out-repair pressure

    can’t replace naval decisions

    then naval combat still decides fights. It just stops solos from being mechanically outnumbered by default.

  • das16148
    Castaway

    How do we know the developers will see this idea and implement it into the game ??

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    @das16148

    Well, they "Say" they always read everything or least get the notes from someone who does read Requests.

    But they have to think as well, "Would this change the core gameplay" Players with AI helpers...that isnt how they wanted the game to be, they want players to play together..

  • das16148
    Castaway

    Yeah, it’s a great game with a lot of potential if the developers actually listened to the community. And with all these ideas including ai, even 1-2 ai npcs it could really change the game in a positive way. I play solo sloop and it’s just too much facing ships that have 3-4 players and when your forced to do many different jobs at once it becomes unplayable

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @das16148
    Yeah, I 100% agree with this. Even 1–2 very limited AI doing slow, basic tasks could help without breaking the game. Solo slooping in Sea of Thieves isn’t just harder, it’s mechanically stacked against you when facing 3–4 players who can do everything at once. As long as AI can’t bucket efficiently or hard-carry repairs, it wouldn’t remove naval pressure, it would just stop solos from being overwhelmed by pure crew count.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    Solo slooping in Sea of Thieves isn’t just harder, it’s mechanically stacked against you when facing 3–4 players who can do everything at once.

    That why, its more encouraging to Join or allow players to join you. So your not Solo.
    and those 3-4 players "do everything at once" Apparently...Ive never had or seen a Gally or Brig function like this.

    As long as AI can’t bucket efficiently or hard-carry repairs, it wouldn’t remove naval pressure, it would just stop solos from being overwhelmed by pure crew count.

    But players are gonna want AI to do just that, and fight, defend there ship. It wont stop at simply "Repair while I deal with firing cannons" They are gonna want them to fight enemy pirates who board, or shoot for them.

    Its a never ending "Need" until...your sailing the seas with AI player ships only....

  • Smuntface
    Captain
    Insider

    @baby-gronk9975 said in AI Crewmates in Sea of Thieves – Something thats been on my mind for a while.:

    @smuntface
    If top-tier players board more aggressively, that’s already happening because crews cover the ship while one boards. AI wouldn’t enable a new strategy, it would let solos do what real crews already do in Sea of Thieves, just worse.

    Enables any solo to run a boat in any direction with relative impunity.
    A solo kegging run jumping from the top mast, is suddenly an option where your boat may survive. Not top strategy of course, but it's a fun one.
    And what if your boat was instructed to head to this island? Does your boat then pull up? Slowly circle the island like a skelly boat?
    Could you instruct the robot to circle the boat your attacking in optimal cannon range?
    Interesting how an idea like this might be implemented if it opens up alternative lines of play that may not cost a solo their boat.

    My thought is that any solo could be ultra aggressive, which is fun no doubt, with a chance their boat will not only survive but could possibly auto-pilot to the target they wanted anyway. It may warp the game in a way that a lot of "please-don't-spoil-my-chill" solo players may not appreciate.
    (I'm not one of them)

    @burnbacon said in AI Crewmates in Sea of Thieves – Something thats been on my mind for a while.:

    Its a never ending "Need" until...your sailing the seas with AI player ships only....

    I like forming alliances.
    So having PIRATE boats with robots that automatically fire cannons at another boat is gross. Putrid.
    But I've also learned most pirates shoot first ....

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @burnbacon
    You’re jumping from “basic ship help” straight to a slippery-slope apocalypse. No one’s asking for AI pirates that fight, aim, or hard-carry combat. In Sea of Thieves, real crews already do repairs, sails, and pressure in parallel. Limiting AI so they can’t bucket efficiently, can’t out-repair damage, and can’t fight players keeps naval pressure intact.

    And “just join other players” isn’t a balance argument — it’s a social workaround. Solo play already exists; the issue is that it’s mechanically outnumbered. This just stops fights being decided by crew count alone, not skill.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @smuntface
    I think you’re jumping a few steps past what anyone is actually asking for. No one’s arguing for smart autopilot combat ships, optimal circling, or AI that meaningfully fights players. In Sea of Thieves, real crews already let one player board while the ship stays alive — that’s not a new strategy, that’s the baseline.

    The idea is limiting AI to survival assistance, not tactical control: slow repairs, basic sail/anchor help, zero combat against players, no autonomous cannon use. If a solo leaves their ship for too long, it should still sink — just not instantly because they’re outnumbered mechanically.

    If AI ever reaches the point where ships can fight, chase, or defend themselves, then yeah, that’s crossed the line. But that’s a design choice, not an inevitability. Slippery-slope arguments assume the worst implementation instead of discussing a constrained one.

  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    In Sea of Thieves, real crews already let one player board while the ship stays alive — that’s not a new strategy, that’s the baseline.

    Unless your a bigger ship vs a smaller ship, so everyone leaves the big ship to board the smaller ship. No worries.

    The idea is limiting AI to survival assistance, not tactical control: slow repairs, basic sail/anchor help, zero combat against players, no autonomous cannon use. If a solo leaves their ship for too long, it should still sink — just not instantly because they’re outnumbered mechanically.

    But playerbase has proven, you give them one small tiny thing. Carrot. They are gonna want and demand more.
    "Why cant the AI do this? Why cant AI do that?" You are introducing something, limited but knowing the players. Will want everything that can be done with it.

    If AI ever reaches the point where ships can fight, chase, or defend themselves, then yeah, that’s crossed the line. But that’s a design choice, not an inevitability.

    and were back to why its No good. Nobody wants to sail Solo, hire AI. Now sit back, relax and....enjoy the sailing simulator.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @burnbacon
    This keeps turning into a slippery-slope argument. “Players will always want more” isn’t a balance issue, it’s a design choice. Sea of Thieves already draws hard lines everywhere — no solo galleons, no NPC boarding, no auto-aim cannons. AI limited to slow survival assistance only doesn’t turn the game into a sailing simulator, it just stops solos from losing instantly due to crew math. If it ever crossed into fighting, chasing, or defending on its own, I’d agree it’s bad — but that’s not what’s being argued.

  • MisereNZ
    Captain
    Insider

    @baby-gronk9975

    An single AI skelly for solo sloopers would be ok and not game breaking. It should not helm at all only repair, bucket, put out fires, raise fallen mast, fire cannon but just one action per 30 seconds and cost a % of gold. It can block attacks but not defend more than that. If it dies you get a notifcation, respawns twice as long as a human.

  • Baby Gronk9975
    Sailor

    @miserenz
    Doesnt sound too bad, i would definately agree with this. Would make solo slooping a lot better imo.

  • Smuntface
    Captain
    Insider

    @baby-gronk9975 said in AI Crewmates in Sea of Thieves – Something thats been on my mind for a while.:

    @smuntface
    I think you’re jumping a few steps past what anyone is actually asking for. No one’s arguing for smart autopilot combat ships, optimal circling, or AI that meaningfully fights players.

    Not necessarily, and it's kinda in the game already.

    I'm simply pointing out current programmed behaviour of the Skelly Boats, cos if you want our robots to sail to a location(s) on the map, their programming may likely be a cut-n-paste from current Skelly boat behaviour.
    As you're the one who suggested robots to sail the boat and fire cannons back in post #1, I think it would be helpful to differentiate how you would like these robots behave differently from a skoop or skalleon crew.

  • MisereNZ
    Captain
    Insider

    @baby-gronk9975 said in AI Crewmates in Sea of Thieves – Something thats been on my mind for a while.:

    @miserenz
    Doesnt sound too bad, i would definately agree with this. Would make solo slooping a lot better imo.

    Yup, my reasoning here is we already have bone callers and chest of bones etc for pvp defence. Adding an extra skelly that does all those things would be a little OP. BUT having something that would repair during a storm or allow players to send the sloop off when they cannon to islands to restock/tuck without worrying about the ship getting a tier 1 hole and sinking would be ok. Something that would fire a cannon when another ship approaches would let new players do dig ups etc on islands and keep an ear out for approaching ships.

    However, this feature is still way down my wish list.

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