Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update Patch Notes – Arena, The Hunter’s Call & More

SHORES OF GOLD – RELEASE NOTES

With the Anniversary Update, we’re introducing a series of interconnected Tall Tales for you to enjoy. Explore the stories of those who live on the Sea of Thieves as you embark upon a quest for a fabled lost island. This addition of Tall Tales – Shores of Gold brings with it a whole host of new gameplay additions that you’ll discover during this grand adventure.

Starting Your First Tale – Begin your adventure by visiting the Mysterious Stranger at any Outpost tavern. Beside the Stranger you’ll find a quest book which you can vote on with your crew to begin the Tall Tale.

Tall Tale Quest Books – Starting a Tall Tale will drop a quest book into your radial menu. You’ll need to use this to progress through the Tall Tale.

Enchanted Tools – As you journey through various Tall Tales, you may gain the use of Enchanted Tools to help overcome puzzles and solve mysteries. These won’t replace your own items but will be selectable from the quest radial for use during that Tall Tale.

Collector’s Chests – That’s right, you can now find chests that open! These Collector’s Chests act as a convenient place to store valuable items.

Skeleton Lords – Introducing Skeleton Lords, imposing foes clambering out of the oldest legends into the present day. Meaner than any of the bony marauders you’ve fought so far, these intimidating adversaries can only be encountered by following the Tall Tales as they unfold.

Reviewing your Tale Progress – A new Tall Tales section has been added to the Reputation pages, detailing your progress through each Tale in Shores of Gold. Once a Tale is unlocked, use the ‘More Info’ button to find a reminder of where to go to begin your next Tale.

Shores of Gold Commendations and Rewards – New adventures mean new Commendations! Along with tracking your progress, the new Tall Tales Reputation page hosts a range of Commendations to unlock and rewards to earn as you progress through the Tales. Look closely as some Tales award a new ‘Cursed’ effect to bestow upon your pirate…

THE ARENA – RELEASE NOTES

The Arena is a new Sea of Thieves experience designed to complement the existing Adventure. It allows players to dive straight into on-demand competitive play against other crews. Offering a challenging test of teamwork and strategy, The Arena provides a uniquely action-focused new way to enjoy the world of Sea of Thieves.

Welcome to The Arena – To get you started, you’ll be given an introduction to The Arena by DeMarco Singh himself, providing you with advice on how to compete.

The Sea Dogs Tavern – The Sea Dogs operate out of their own special tavern, built as a gathering place for all pirates keen to participate in contests of courage and expertise. When playing The Arena, you’ll spend any downtime between contests in this tavern, where you can explore, drink and chat with other challengers.

Arena Locations – The Anniversary Update introduces six Arena locations, each with two layouts, hand-picked by Lesedi and DeMarco to ensure the most gratifying of contests.

These maps are:

• Leave Us a Lone
• Spoiling for a Fight
• Kraken’s Brawl
• Wanderer’s War
• Plunder for All
• Call of the Marauders

Sight of the Damned – As The Arena is far too fast-paced for jaunts on board the Ferry of the Damned, it introduces the all-new ‘Sight of the Damned’. This causes your viewpoint to slowly spin above and away from your body, allowing you to stay in the game and communicate tactically with the rest of your crew.

The Sea Dogs Trading Company – The Sea Dogs are run by Lesedi and DeMarco, twins and rivals who embody the spirit of The Arena: lively and sometimes heated competition tempered by mutual respect. As you compete in contests, your standing with the Sea Dogs will improve, unlocking special Sea Dogs Cosmetic Rewards and Titles.

Sea Dog Commendations – Obtain accolades for your exploits in The Arena. Achieving certain feats will unlock Commendations and titles for your pirate to wear proudly as a sign of competitive prowess.

Glorious Sea Dog Cosmetics – You won’t just find glory in The Arena, you’ll find spoils too! The Glorious Sea Dog set is a symbol of honour, pride and fighting spirit. Show your enthusiasm for all three of these things by purchasing this set from the Sea Dogs Tavern.

THE HUNTER’S CALL – RELEASE NOTES

Plenty More Fish – Sea of Thieves has had an influx of wildlife! There are many variations of fish populating the seas which can be caught by meeting specific fishing conditions and using the right bait. Check The Hunter’s Call Commendation screen for a few initial hints!

Let’s Get Fishing! – Fishing is a popular pirate pastime, since it can be enjoyed on islands or aboard ships and can result in a fine meal if you’re any good at it. Reel in a fish (being careful not to snap your line) then try showing off your catches to The Hunter’s Call.

Grab your Rod – Fishing would be difficult without a fishing rod, so you’ll find one added to your inventory. If your standard fishing rod isn’t quite snazzy enough, fear not – shops on the Sea of Thieves are now freshly stocked with rods to suit all pirate tastes.

That’s Bait – If you’re planning to go fishing, bait would be a great help. You’ll find grubs, leeches and earthworms in resource barrels across the Sea of Thieves. Each will help you meet certain conditions to catch even the rarest of fish.

Become the Hunter… – Whether you’re taking down giant beasts like the Kraken or hunting smaller prey such as chickens, creatures will now drop raw meat ready for cooking. Keep an eye out while salvaging as you might even find some in shipwrecks or on Skeleton Ships.

…Or the Gatherer – A variety of different restorative food types are now available to pirates. While you’ll find your trusty banana is now a little less satisfying, rarer fruits will replenish more health.

Get Cooking! – You’ll now find cooking spots on ships and at campfires throughout the world. Demonstrate your culinary prowess with any ingredients you can get your hands on! But be careful, as overcooking food will reduce its effectiveness… and its value.

Cooking to Perfection – With raw bananas replenishing a base level of health, you’d expect a well-cooked piece of food to do more. Cooking something to perfection will provide a period of health regeneration, shown as a ring around your health bar. Now you can whip up a meal before battle to get an advantage over your rivals! Again, avoid overcooking to obtain best results.

The Hunter’s Call Commendations – A brand new Company means brand new Commendations for you to collect. Get rewarded for fishing, hunting and cooking as you work your way up through the ranks and into Merrick’s good books.

The Hunter’s Call Rewards – Many tales of Merrick’s own ship, The Killer Whale, are told throughout the Sea of Thieves. Now your pirate and vessel can look just like the infamous ship and its crew! Climb the ranks of The Hunter’s Call to earn Killer Whale items and liveries along with a range of new Tattoo and Makeup options from Merrick and his extended family.

ANNIVERSARY UPDATE – RELEASE NOTES

New Front End Menu – New ways to play provide a host of new options! When you load in to Sea of Thieves, you’ll now be able to choose between The Arena and Adventure.

What’s New Section – Want the latest on what’s happening with Sea of Thieves? Make sure you check the What’s New section on the front end menu. This will be regularly updated with advice and feature additions to keep you in the loop.

Expanded Ship Damage

Time to start honing your cannon skills, because landing an accurate shot now means more than ever. With this update, you can target various areas of your opponent’s ship to devastating effect:

Hit the Hull – When targeting your enemy’s hull, repeated impacts in the same place will increase the size of the holes created. These holes speed up the rate at which a ship fills with water and take longer to repair!

Collapse the Mast – Landing a fine shot on another ship’s mast will send the mast crashing down onto the deck of the ship, slowing its speed. The mast will have to be raised and patched up with wood to secure it back in place.

Drop the Anchor – Targeting the capstan will drop the anchor and damage the capstan pegs. The pegs will need to be repaired before the anchor can be raised at the original speed.

Wipe Out the Wheel – Targeting a ship’s wheel will destroy the spokes, reducing the effectiveness of turning the ship. Repairs to the wheel will be needed to regain the ship’s original turning speed.

Man the Harpoons

The Shipwrights have finally delivered those harpoons we ordered! Each ship now has two harpoon guns fitted to the bow, introducing a huge range of tactical options for The Arena and Adventure alike.

Stick Around – Latching on to a rival crew’s ship in the heat of battle or using the environment to enable some advanced sailing tactics are just two ways to gain an edge on the seas.

Get Me Out of Here – Does a crewmate wish to make a hasty retreat, or do you need to remove a rival pirate from the fray? Use the harpoon to pluck them from the battle and bring them back to your ship.

Shoot the Loot – Harpoons are great for looting too! Retrieve treasure from the sea, from land or even from another pirate’s clutches. Don’t forget to yell “Yoink!” as you pinch that plunder.

New Cosmetics

Feel Like Strutting your Stuff? – The brand-new Parrot set is definitely for you. This colourful collection includes an outfit, a full set of items and a ship livery and is available to purchase from all reputable in-game shops.

Other Improvements

Just Browsing – Finding that specific hat you’ve been eyeing up has never been easier. There are now category filters at all the shops to help you browse by a specific category of item.

Counting Stock – Adjustments have been made to the Resources inventory. Resource limits are now shown at the top of the inventory grid for cannonballs, Cursed Cannonballs, food, wood and bait.

Improved Barrel Inventory – The barrel inventory has been expanded to display a 4×4 grid of items rather than a 3×4 grid.

Going the Distance – The distance at which players can see their crew’s gamertags has been doubled, while the distance at which players can see non-crew gamertags has been halved.

Accessibility Improvements – The ‘Let Games Read to Me’ accessibility options for Xbox One and PC are now available. These are currently supported for players with their language and region set to English US.

Combined Notifications – When cashing in multiple items at once, UI pop-ups will now combine the rewards into a single pop-up rather than queuing them individually.

High Dynamic Range – Support has been improved for HDR-compatible screens on PC. Players can access a ‘HDR Calibration’ page within their Settings to calibrate the brightness of the display.

Fight with Honour – When attacking with your cutlass, striking the environment will no longer trigger a three-hit combo chain.