Release Notes
2.5.0
The latest Season is upon us, with brand new content set to drop throughout! Season Six solidifies six new Sea Forts for on-demand combat encounters, offers another time-limited Adventure to embark upon and sets expectations for an upcoming Voyage exclusive to Pirate Legends. Get a first look at it all in action in the official Season Six trailer!
Ready for more detail on Season Six’s launch features, along with the closure of The Arena and the latest quality of life tweaks, accessibility additions and fixed issues? Good. Because here we go...
Sea Forts
The ghostly memories of Spanish naval Sea Forts sighted in the wake of ‘Shrouded Islands’ have now fully manifested within the Sea of Thieves. Pirates and their crews are welcome to approach, enter and – if they can – clear a path to the loot inside!
Season Six
In addition to the emergence of Sea Forts, Season Six launches with another 100 levels of Renown-based progression and stacks of rewards to earn as you go. Emissary Ledger rewards aren’t forgotten either, and the new Plunder Pass is not just packed but neatly themed!
Closing The Arena
Also taking place at the start of Season Six is the closure of The Arena. From March 10th 2022, this mode will no longer be available in Sea of Thieves. Find out more below, and get the full story behind this decision in our Saying Goodbye to The Arena news post.
Pirate Emporium
In contrast to the peaceful Plunder Pass it’s rowdy in the Emporium this month, with the Islehopper Outlaw theme encompassing a ship set, costume, weapons and even a banjo. New emotes arrive to suit your posturing needs too, and there’s one for free as always!
Events
Twitch Drops
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Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Six with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to Sea of Thieves social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active for Partnered streamers, allowing players to earn more items from the Twilight Hunter set. Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.
Gameplay Improvements
Quick Cycle Map
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Players can now quickly cycle through maps or Mysterious Notes within the Quest Radial. When holding a map or note in hand, use the ‘A’ or ‘D’ keys or Left/Right on the controller D-pad to cycle through all those available.
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These keybinds share the same controls as turning Tall Tale Quest Book pages, and can be re-bound within the game settings.
Scuttle Ship Reminder
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Players who are defeated by another crew three times in quick succession will now be shown a reminder of the option to scuttle the ship and move to a safer location. Pressing the Menu button then leads directly to the Crew Management menu to begin the vote to scuttle.
Emergent Threat Balancing
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Throwing water at Gold Skeletons to rust them now makes them vulnerable for longer. While rusted, these skeletons will also take additional damage from all ranged weapons and explosives!
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Shadow Skeletons exposed to light are now made vulnerable for longer, allowing crews to capitalise on their weakness.
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Siren Leaders and Siren grunts below the waves should now use ranged attacks more frequently than their melee scratch attack.
Skeleton Ship Battle Locations
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With the arrival of new Sea Forts in each region, Skeleton Ship World Events have now been consolidated and these World Event battles will now only appear in a single location near the centre of the world.
Outpost Cosmetics
Sandy Corsair Sea Dog Set
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The Outpost clothing shops now stock the Sandy Corsair Sea Dog clothing set, available to purchase for gold.
Past Season Gameplay Emotes
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Larinna now offers two previously Season-locked emotes for purchase with Doubloons. Players willing to part with a large number of Doubloons can purchase the Barrel Disguise and Rolling Dice emotes!
Accessibility
Visible Fish Names
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When players are fishing, the names of any fish rising to the surface to take a nibble of bait are now displayed for easy identification. While this feature is enabled by default to improve accessibility for all players, it can be disabled by adjusting ‘Show Nameplates Above Fish’ in the Settings menu.
Shop Narration
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When ‘Let Games Read to Me’ is enabled, navigating through shops will now also narrate the player’s wallet balance to improve ease of purchasing.
Updates
Dynamic Resolution on Xbox One X
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On Xbox One X consoles, Sea of Thieves will now dynamically scale resolution in order to maintain a smooth 30 frames per second experience during periods of high activity.
Changing Game Language
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Xbox players can now choose a preferred game language from within the game settings to override the language set on the console itself.
Fixed Issues
Gameplay
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When progressing through Tall Tales or Siren Shrines, players approaching mechanisms previously used by other players will now see them in the correct location and position.
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When players sit in a Rowboat, interaction prompts for nearby seats and objects are no longer shown as they cannot be interacted with until the player stands.
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When players holding a Cargo Crate attempt to hand it in to the incorrect character, the tooltip now emphasises the correct hand-in location.
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Players who have been vomited on twice are no longer immune to fire damage.
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The achievements entitled A Rare Delicacy and Night Bite should now unlock when completing the required criteria.
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New pirates equipping a shovel for the first time will now be shown the Burying Items tutorial.
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Players can now redeem purchased commodities with the Merchant Alliance representative at Morrow’s Peak Outpost.
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Within the Settings menu, the ‘Swim Up’ controller binding should no longer display within the keyboard binding area.
Sunken Kingdom
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Players disconnecting and rejoining the game with treasure stored in a Sunken Merfolk Statue will now once again be able to retrieve it from the surface.
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Players searching for the Breath of the Sea will no longer find that it disappears if they take an extended amount of time to complete the Voyage.
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Retrieving treasure from a Sunken Merfolk Statue within the Treasury of Sunken Shores should no longer place items where players cannot retrieve them.
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Players should no longer find areas within the Treasury of the Lost Ancients where they can clip into the geometry and fall under the world.
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Players can no longer step through a small gap in the environment within the Treasury of the Lost Ancients to access the Vault early.
Environment
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The lantern hanging above the Sloop’s map table should no longer be accidentally used when players are attempting to interact with the map table.
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Players can now freely explore the ruined tavern at Golden Sands Outpost without becoming stuck on debris.
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Pirate Emporium audio effects can no longer be heard at Golden Sands Outpost.
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Graymarrow should no longer become stuck in a tree while navigating the Fort of the Damned.
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Skeletons should no longer become stuck in the geometry on Shark Fin Camp.
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Ashen Lords using lunge attacks should no longer be prone to getting stuck inside rocks.
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Players moving around the Sea Dog Tavern should no longer find themselves jittering on certain areas of flooring and stairs.
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Pets should now be able to move freely around the Pirate Legend Hideout without becoming blocked.
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Players should no longer be safe-teleported on Mermaid’s Hideaway when jumping into the environment.
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Improvements have been made to skeleton navigation on Keel Haul Fort to prevent skeletons becoming stuck within the environment.
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Grass should no longer be seen mysteriously poking through the floor and walls of various Outpost taverns.
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Players should no longer become stuck inside ruined trees on Morrow's Peak Outpost or Ashen Reaches.
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Players opening Glitterbeard’s Hideout should no longer be snagged by the environment when moving inside.
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Swimming at various locations around Golden Sands Outpost should no longer cause players to intersect with geometry and be flung into the air.
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‘A Pirate’s Life’ – Players should no longer be able to bypass the sidequest to reach the locked ship and rewards inside.
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‘Captains of the Damned’ – Players following Captain Jack Sparrow through the village should no longer find themselves jittering when standing near him during his speech.
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‘Captains of the Damned’ – Players should no longer find locations around the Spanish Fort in Chapter Two where they can become stuck.
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‘Captains of the Damned’ – Players can no longer become trapped between the roots of a tree in the Bayou.
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‘Dark Brethren’ – Players can no longer avoid the battle with the Ocean Crawlers by navigating over the coral structures in Chapter 4.
Visual and Audio
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Players equipping the Ashen Curse should now find that their eyes correctly display the effects of this fiery curse.
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When players perform actions that can earn Seasonal Renown repeatedly, the UI notifications should no longer become stuck within the notification window.
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Pets no longer stop dancing if one musician in a band stops playing.
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Players will no longer experience rubberbanding when attempting to move diagonally with a keyboard while afflicted by a limp.
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When the Skeleton Fort at Shark Fin Camp is active, crews descending to the Shrine of Hungering should no longer hear overlapping music within the Shrine.
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The shop and vanity chest icons for the Eyepatch of the Silent Barnacle now better match the item’s colour scheme.
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Players of all body sizes holding a reversed speaking trumpet should now appear visually correct when observed by other players.
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After climbing inside the Notorious Reaper Cannons, other players should now see the player nestled snugly in the cannon.
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Siren Leaders in Siren Treasuries now play their death animation effects when defeated.
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‘The Sunken Pearl’ – The stone face waterfalls no longer have water visual effects pouring out of the side of the statues.
Accessibility
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When using ‘Let Games Read to Me’, the start screen should now be fully narrated.
Performance and Stability
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Server stability has been improved, reducing scenarios where crews are removed from a game session.
Known Issues
Ranged and Melee Weapon Hit Detection
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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.
Download and Installation
Forum Discussion
Looking For Crew?
Looking for new crewmates? We've got a bunch of places you can visit to seek out like-minded pirates, so sail on over to these official Sea of Thieves hangouts: