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ANCIENT ISLES UNIVERSITY ARTICLE
ON THE WATER
The Water, in Sea Of Thieves is amazing, the thought and detail put into the way it moves and acts is commendable at the absolute least. Its beautiful and majestic, RICH with sealife and amazing underwater visuals. While your sailing at full billow with the current in your back, gliding so smoothly across the crystal blue, it's easy to forget that the sea is also, extremely dangerous.
While your out sailing on your adventures, you will more then likely fall in love with the ocean, as I did.
But in Sea Of Thieves there are more then just pretty sights, on and under the waves.
GIANT threats, that you must always be ready for, when sailing on the deep waters lurk and stalk those at sea.
-The Storm
-The Megalodons (Megan, Meg)
-Skeleton Galleons
-Other players
And..
-The KRAKEN (Karren)
These FIVE main encounters, are what you will come across on your adventures at one point or another. When you find your self face to face with a Megalodon or the storm, it is important to know what to do. They can ruin your day quickly when given the chance, esspecially the Kraken.
First off...
THE STORM
The Storm in Sea of Thieves is an ever present, mushroom shaped, supercell. Following no specific pathway or route, it floats aimlessly over island and ocean making a hard time for anything beneath it.
You dont want to be in one...
Although it's slow moving and not too hard to dodge, it covers a rather large area on the map and in order to avoid it you need a bit of pre-action and some prediction.
If you find yourself unlucky enough to be in its path, whether your voyage leads into it, or it's already too late. The first things you will notice are;
The Clouds
The clouds will tell you where the storm is, by looking for the BIG mushroom shaped cloud with flashes of blue within it and can be seen at all times from anywhere on the map. As it gets closer, you will start to see the misty rain, hammering down beneath the storm cloud and the big outer rings of clouds that circle around the center mass.
The outer rings of the storm are basically your warning signals. If the outermost ring is above your head, you have time to quickly rap up on the island and move on, as you get under the inner ring, it's time to move else it will be too late to get out of it's way it will then start raining gently, this signifies that you are really close to the center area, where it gets the most torrential. You must move or change course IMMEDIATELY.
The Rain
The rain of the storm will start falling at around the inner ring clouds and gets gradually heavier, the closer you are to the storms center untill you end up in so much rain.. you cant see a thing. It will fill your boat with water slowly and sink it if you aren't careful if you dont keep the water levels down you will fill up and sink, so if you're in any sort of rain, keep your bucket handy.
The Center
The Storms center is the most dangerous part. Rain is too thick to see the sun through, Waves higher then Galleons, lightning strikes all around you, even the current of the sea will fight you for wheel control, pulling you left and right steering your vessel in wild loops like your spinning compass thats giving you no bearings. Your boat takes damages in the huge waves as the storm rattles the hull.
You must keep up repairs, bucket water, and hold the wheel steady to get through to the other side. If you can do this, at night without ANY lanterns on, you will receive an achievement.
All in all, from my perspective.
"A good sailor can sail through the storm, but the best sailors avoid it."
THE MEGALODONS (Megan)
Megalodon
Noun
a long-bodied chiefly marine fish with, 3 prominent dorsal fins and scarred skin in a variety of 5 colours. All Megalodons are predators to Pirates, although the 5 kinds tend to feed on wood, paint and human despair.
The Megalodons of Sea Of Thieves are the giant sharks that stalk, circle and attack any vessel it chooses, they are also the most common "spawn-in" encounter (skeleton ship spawns are less common, Krakens are the LEAST common.)
They come in 5 different colours each with their own rarities and commendations, they also drop loot for a successful defeat and its generally something for each faction.
The colours and names are as follows, in order of rarity;
-The Hungering One (Blue, glow: blue)
-Shadow Maw (Black, Red glow: red)
-The Crested Queen (Purple glow: purple)
-The Ancient Terror (Dark Green, yellow glow: yellow)
-The Shrouded Ghost (White/Grey glow: Pink/Orange)
The loot they drop is valued based on rarity, so the higher the rarity, the higher chance on more valuable loot items. The megalodons can drop almost anything trinkets, castaways chests, Devils Roar goods, stronghold chest and skulls, even Skeleton Captain's items, when defeated.
(No Mystery box has appeared form them yet, sorry guys)
Their difficulty also varies based on the ships CAPABLE crew size. (so one pirate on a galleon will take on a shark fit for 4).
So when it comes to facing off with a megalodon you basically have 2 options;
Your first option is..
Run
The megalodon will generally chase you almost anywhere you go, but land. You can escape the Megalodon EASILY by just running a long way and fight her off the whole time.
But the repetitive, near passing of large land forms like islands or big rocks will help it happen quicker.
Passing near rocks and islands will make her disengage for the duration that your boat is in island radius, she will return, even if you wait on land for a while. (you may even see her lurking in the deep waters of the islands surrounds.)
So pass land a few times to keep her off you, she will end up leaving completely after a short while, so keep sailing close to land till she stops popping up again.
Then you have option two...
FIGHT!
attacking
Fighting the megalodon is not as 'Jason Statham' as it sounds, (its in fact cooler coz cannons) but it can be quite hard to do without the correct knowledge, despite the Megalodons being the "simplest" fight.
She will circle your boat at different distances, speeds, directions and depths, at times even diving completely in attempts to hide briefly, but you dont necessarily need to see her to damage her. You can Damage The Beast with any weapon, whether it be Guns or sword, though cannons are most effective.
To take her down you will need 16-21 cannonballs to defeat the megalodon on a sloop, and up to 30-40 on Brig and galleon (Gun fire on top will reduce this number)
With your anchor up, you can steer your boat to keep her in sight of cannons for longer before needing to switch sides However, if you are knocked from the boat you will have to swim after it, as it is pushed away from you with several holes
Use guns when you cant use cannons, they will deal damage but it takes A LOT of bullets, even on a sloop.
NOTE
If you're really intuitive and judge her next lap right, you can even set up a powder keg for her to run into as she circles back around.
Defending
Unlike the Kraken and Skeleton ships, Megan only has the one attack method, "The Bite"
which deals damage based on ship type:
Sloop 2-4 holes
Brigantine 3-6 holes
Galleon 5-7 holes
This attack will also deal damage to any pirate on deck, not quick enough the escape the jaws. The best way to avoid damage to your pirate during a bite, is to be below deck.
You will not take any damage at all, so long as you are WITHIN the boat hull even if your right in the area she bites. This, I have found to be the most ideal reaction, (esspecially solo) because you are already below deck to begin repairs immediately.
But...
If you are of the more HEROIC kind of Pirate, and aren't afraid of a couple teeth. Then with the right angle for cannons, you can DEFLECT a bite if you hit enough cannons during her charge, generally takes 3 shots. She will then alternatively dive under your boat, dealing no damage to your vessel.
NOTE
This is great for saving resources tho it will take some practice to get it right, guns do not work to deflect only cannons will be effective.
SKELETON SHIPS
Players are not the only ones who sail the Sea Of Thieves in search for bountiful plunder. There is another vessel you may have noticed roaming about on the water, The Skeleton Galleons.
These large, well lit Boats with blue and green lights situated up the tall, crooked masts draped with torn, windless sails, are not aggressive in nature, unless you (or they) draw too near (ship, row or swim) or if you fire on them with a cannonball. They will also spawn at random times beside your vessel, though not quite as frequently as the Megalodon. When they spawn they will engage almost immediately with both regular cannonballs, and a cursed cannonball that will differ with each ship.
Each skeleton ship has a small amount of loot on board, (Spawned ones generaly hold more) this can vary from many loot values and types but you will almost always get a little something for your efforts.
Fighting
Fighting Skeleton Galleons, like most things in sea of thieves, is hard at first, and though doable, not ideal solo, they have ALOT of firepower and they wont let up just because your alone. So before you take on your first Skeleton Ship, make sure your ready to take a hammering.
As you engage the key thing to know, is that the skeletons do not bail water. Any water that gets in, stays in till they despawn or you sink them, even with water from your BUCKET. With that said, it's time to attack.
Cannons
You can attack a skeleton ship in more ways then one. Cannons work but, they are only so effective, you may find yourself using a significant amount of ammo, before you start to even see them low in the water so spare your shots for opportunistic moments, like when a Pirate is on board preventing repairs, and use CCBs (Cursed Cannonballs). Cannons work best with strategical use of Cursed Cannonballs to help with getting on board, silencing their cannons to ease some pressure or stopping repairs for a short time. So it would be a good idea to collect as many as you can muster.
Helmsman Elite
The way you sail your ship in any naval combat situation, is a major component when fighting Skeleton Galleons. Knowing where to sail for that perfect ram set up or how to get your boat out of cannon sight, how fast you need to be moving and at what times, all these things are very important. You also have to know how the skeleton ship will react to you, as you manoeuvr.
The decisions made on the helm will make or break the battle and it's important to make use of ALL of your boats abilities, communicate with your crew and keep your boat opperating at its fullest.
Boarding
The purpose of boarding the Skeleton Boat, is to prevent the skeletons on board from repairing and what not, this makes for a steady sink. When getting ready to board a Skeleton Boat, the first step will be getting the correct line up. The Skeleton galleon can move turn and pivot at random, and in an almost unpredictable manner and a poorly planned boarding attempt will have you left bobbing around in the water. The best way, that I have found with getting on board is to have your boat ram them, but you can use the traditional method of boarding from the water using the ladder.
Your boarding crew mate, ideally, should have a gunpowder keg with him to set off some where on the boat, the powderkegs are EXTREMELY effective! You mostly need only the one per ship. So if you going hunting for a few of these Galleons, get a nice count of Powderkegs before hand.
When you eventually do get on board be prepared for heavy resistance the skeletons on board number in the double digits and atleast half are armed with cutlass and blunderbuss so take food! the skeleton ship does have a food barrel, but rarely much to provide. The barrel is located at the front of the galleon, (where the ammo box would be on a player galleon). You will have skeletons spawning infinitely trying to repair and fight you off so stay vigilant.
NOTE
on the bottom deck, at the front of the Skeleton Galleon, is the boats brig. This is an excellent vantage point to bottleneck the skeletons, you can defend a single hole inside there also.
Running
After a while, I'm sure you will have no problems taking them down.
However, if you find yourself in a situation where you know you can't win, or plain just dont want to fight, then there are a few things you can do to get them off your booty. (Pardon the pun).
CCBs(Cursed cannonballs)
Use Anchorballs or Riggingballs, to repetitively slow them down till you leave the zone, though you will need have a nice number (3-5) due to the size of the zone they will chace you through. Each time the curse wares off and they begin to chace you again, hit them with another one, once in range of cannons.
Navigate
Skeleton Galleons are cumbersome, they crash into things like rocks, sandbars, even docks, often. So navigating through dense obstacles, "leeshing" them into islands etc, will force them to steer away at the very least. After a short while they will fall too far behind when getting wedged on land, or even sink from the damages.
Scuttle
If you've got nothing to lose, no resources or what not. Theres always the option to scuttle your boat. Works every time.
GOT 'EM!
When you successfully sink a Skeleton Vessel, you will hear the same sound as any other boat that signifies it's gone. There will also be an audio Queue to end the battle music that signifies victory. (Anyone still on board the skeleton ship as it sinks, may have a little difficulty getting out of the hull, as you have no buoyancy inside a sinking skeleton ship)
As The Skeleton Ship sinks, it will likely drift forward for some distance before Despawning into Davey Jones' Locker, and releasing the loot for you to collect. (So if you dont see your rewards, be sure to look for your loot a short distance ahead of where the SkeletinShip was initially defeated)
NOTE
if you have the opportunity to get your boat ahead of the sinking vessel, you can block the skeleton boat from drifting too far away. This is usefull in a galleon as the take more effort to reposition
THE KRAKEN
The Kraken is so big, it needed it's own thread.
Link is here:
KRAKEN GUIDE
Written by the Ancient Isles University Research Team
Discord: https://discord.gg/dZMzc4E
