I join Exareric for some high seas adventure, and after we stock our ship, we set sail for an active Skull Fort. As we approach we see a Galleon and a Brig circling the fort trading fire. We probe a bit to see if we can help one of them sink without much success. Eventually, the Galleon sinks, and we engage the brig. We’re doing a good job of it until we get too close to the fort and a lucky skelly shot knocks both of us off our ship, which is now stuck turning in a tight circle preventing us from getting to it or a mermaid. We watch with sadness as she sinks after taking fire from both the brig and the fort.

After spending so much time, we figure we need to go back and get our treasure. We respawn on our new boat and immediately set sail back. Right as the fort comes into range, the skull cloud disappears. They beat the fort, take the key and run. We give chase, but their brig is faster than our sloop and we can’t catch them.

We change tactics. I cannon over to the fort and hide (the vault is still full and closed) and Exareric sails away, making them think we’ve given up. I find a nice spot and sleep. I watch them come in, circle for a bit, send over a scout, who searches but fails to find me. Then they dock and open the vault. I wait patiently. Our plan is to wait till they load Bertha and then at the right moment, snipe it and wreck their boat.

They load their ship unawares and then I see it. They put it on the shore to load it last. I ask Exareric to start to sail back so they see him on the horizon and panic.

Then they grab the Stronghold Gunpowder Barrel and bring it aboard. I jump up and run down to the shore holding my trusty Eye of Reach. I see a member of their crew climbing the ladder to the crow's nest with the Barrel on his back. I stop, take aim, and fire.

I get hit registration marks, but no explosion!?

At this point they know I’m there. The pirate that was climbing the ladder immediately slides down. I reload and take _another_ shot. Again I get hit registration marks, but no explosion. He jumps overboard and they set sail.

We failed. We give chase, but they are not giving up and sail away from us at full sail knowing we’ll never catch up.

As a consolation of wasting our time, we engage a nearby Skellion. We didn’t think it through since our boat was poorly stocked as it was respawned. It takes literally every cannonball and every plank to sink it. We have 3 holes that we can’t patch and have to bail continuously to stay afloat.

To top it off, the Skellion only drops a skull and a crate of gemstones.

We limp to Morrow’s Peak, sell our meager treasure and call it a night.

Sometimes, it’s hard to be a pirate.

(Still was a good time. Thanks to Exareric for being a good crewmate and being a good sport about all the shenanigans.)

Clip starts from where I jumped down and failed: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/453647314?t=01h15m31s

“Fair winds and flowing seas”

Find me on Twitter:

Chenzo (@1Chenzo) | Twitter

Or join us on Capt. Logun’s Keelhauled PodCast Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/V7Cd4Kp

https://www.chenzorama.com/sea-of-thieves

Scramms and I are approaching our 2nd fort of the evening. From a distance, we see a Galleon is docked up alongside it and a sloop is also approaching the island and will arrive before we get there.

Moments later the Galleon is gone. We assume it was sunk by the sloop. We continue in and begin to take fire from the Skeleton-manned cannons. The sloop, which never docked, turns and engages us also. We pass the sloop trading fire. They try sending a boarder, but Scramms knocks him off. I begin to repair the ship but run into another enemy. She gets a couple of quick slices on me before I can block. Then a third pirate appears and cuts me down.

It was the galleon’s crew which apparently didn’t go down with their ship.

Things get worse as I return from the Ferryman, I hear the distinctive hiss of a barrel. Our barrel from our crow’s nest. It detonates right before I spawn killing everyone on our ship, dropping our mast, and filling our hull full of holes. Worse, we’re in range of the fort’s cannons which are firing non-stop.

This tale doesn’t end here.

I’m bailing and patching as best I can trying to keep us afloat. Scramms respawns and helps and gets the mast back up and we just able to limp away out of range and finish repairing.

We didn’t sink.

After a quick discussion, we decide to go right back to take the fort. The enemy sloop is docked and while Scramms circles the island, I cannon over. It’s taking skelly cannon fire and I get onboard and slay the pirate patching the holes. There’s a second pirate onboard too but he’s afk. And then dead.

With a little help from the cannons from our boat, we manage to sink the sloop and dock safely and finally have the Fort to ourselves.

This tale doesn’t end here.

As we’re happily killing the Fort’s Skelly’s, I notice a Skeleton ship sailing closer and closer to the fort. It doesn’t turn, beaches itself on the island, crashes into our ship and aggros. Scramms and I quickly return to our boat and open fire on the beached ship. Scramms bails water into their boat and I am able to hit them with a Ballast Ball. They spin and get free of the island and promptly sink once they’re in deep enough water.

I use a found rowboat to row out and pick up a couple pieces of loot from their sunken wreck while Scramms returns to the fort.

This tale doesn’t end here.

We defeat the fort’s guardians and get the vault key, but right at this moment an enemy Brig appears and is flying towards us at full sail. Down to our last 8 planks, we repair our wheel, bring the key aboard and set sail without any of the vault treasure.

They chase us but we keep turning into the wind and keep them behind us. Everything is going according to plan until the Kraken shows up. The worst possible luck! We hit her inky water and come to an almost complete stop and have to fight her while the Brig is given a chance to catch up.

In what must be the fastest I’ve ever slain a Kraken, Scramms and I are able to defeat her and turn our boat away from the brig just as she fires a boarder over to us. The ink clears and we start moving again. The boarder gets up the ladder but a couple of quick slashes knock him off.

We sail away from the brig again and with some expert sailing from my Pirate friend we get far enough away from the enemy that they lose interest and sail off.

We sail to Keel Hauled, open the vault, load up and are able to sell the loot without any more trouble.

“Fair winds and flowing seas”

Find me on Twitter:

Chenzo (@1Chenzo) | Twitter

Or join us on Capt. Logun’s Keelhauled PodCast Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/V7Cd4Kp

https://www.chenzorama.com/sea-of-thieves

One evening, I was sailing on a Galleon with DrnknnMunky, el Jefe Esteban and TNProfessor. the plan was to help Drnkn get his Roar Mercenary Voyage completed. Our galleon was lightly stocked so we decided to stop at a Skull Keep, which lay along the route to the Roar.

As we are approaching the fort, we spy a Brig, seemingly on an intercept course. We thought not much of it and just sailed right in and docked at the keep and prepared to go and gather supplies. We not going to bother them if they didn’t bother us. They’re probably just sailing to the nearby outpost. Merely passing by, perhaps.

But as we were prepping the ship to load, this brig swings around the fort and opens fire with no warning. Our crew immediately returns fire as I jump into their path and swim over to “say hello.” I board their ship and immediately attack but get struck down. Before I perish I let my crew that I only count 2 of them on board.

While on the ferry, I learn why there was a missing enemy crew member. TNProf lets us know that we were kegged — the missing 3rd crewman from the brig must have swum below the waves and brought a powder keg under our hull.

But it was poorly placed and there are not many holes which are quickly patched. When I return to the ship, our cannons are still firing at the enemy. After a quick look on their deck, I dive back over to the brig which is stopped VERY close to us. I board and slay them before they can finish patching and guard their ship until it sinks. They are no more.

After it’s over, we laugh and wonder why they were so adamant on trying to attack a larger foe when el Jefe notes that the fort vault is open with some trinkets left inside. Ah, they must have run with the good loot and left the rest and we ran into them coming back for it. While it’s not the priciest pieces, loot is loot and we happily bring it aboard.

And then, just as we were about to depart, el Jefe notices the telltale green glow of a skull coming from one of the fort’s towers. He swims over to investigate and low and behold: The all fort’s treasure all stockpiled up in the tower.

We assume the brig’s crew defeated the skeletal guardians of the fort but lost their ship during the battle. Then perhaps one of them stayed on the island hiding the treasure while the other two went to get their new boat. We just happen to be stopping at the fort right when they were getting there to recover their hidden treasure. (I thought I had noticed a mermaid in the water as we arrived.) The man left back on the island was the one who used a barrel from the fort to try to take us out.

Even though we only originally stopped for some supplies, we did get to practice one of my favorite pirate behaviors: Treasure Acquisition and Redistribution.

To end the night, we very excellently completed the mercenary voyage, sunk a skelly ship (in a matter of 90 seconds) and sold all the loot. I wish all my voyages went as smoothly.

“fair winds and following seas”

Find me on Twitter:

Chenzo (@1Chenzo) | Twitter

1. Use a sloop, not a brig
2. Stock Up
3. Prioritize bailing
4. Run from Skeleton Galleons against the wind
5. Raise sails and turn your wheel to fight the Megalodon
6. Hide treasure instead of leaving it unattended
7. Cancel quests that aren’t worth it

After solo slooping for a while now, and after this latest Shrouded Spoils update and it’s frequent encounter rate, I thought some of these new tips would be helpful for all my Solo-Sloop brethren and sistren out there.

If you haven’t read my original how to Solo Sloop, you can go here and check it out:

How to Solo Sloop in Sea of Thieves

An addendum to the quick and simple guide on how to play Sea of Thieves by yourself. Seven MORE steps to keep you safe while voyaging during the Shrouded Spoils event and beyond.

Now, on to the tips on surviving alone on the Sea of Thieves:

1. Use a sloop, not a brig

You may be tempted to use Brigantine solo. You think, I can control the brig just fine. It’s still small enough to run about on deck easily, and it will go faster than the sloop. It might even look more threatening to other pirates out there. I mean, why not?

Because you’re wrong.

I’ll give you a couple of reasons why, but the primary one is that the AI threats scale to the boat you’re on. This means that a meg chomp does more damage to a Brig than a Sloop. So a Sloop will have an easier time repairing and fighting than Brig, which in turn will have an easier time than the Galleon.

Other reasons are: The sloop also has a tighter turning radius, quicker rudder action, and is faster to repair.

Protip: you can look over the balcony behind the wheel of a sloop and see your map without walking down into the captains quarters. Set your map to your destination and you can steer yourself acurately around the seas with ease.

2. Stock Up

Before you set out on your adventure, fill your boat with supplies. Check every barrel on the outpost you start at. Gather as many bananas, planks, and cannonballs as you can. Fill your boat up with these.

You can’t patch your boat without wood. You can’t fight another ship with no cannonballs. You can’t cronch without bananas.

Also, while you’re sailing to wherever, stop at islands on your way and pillage any barrels you find. Unmanned forts are wonderfully full of barrels just waiting to be pillaged. They also tend to be full of gunpowder barrels. These are handy for many reasons, just be sure to put gunpowder in your crows nest in case a stray shot detonates them.

(drop it like bombs behind you.)

Pro tip: Get a rowboat if you see one. Rowboats are lifeboats. If your ship gets sunk and you find yourself (and all your hard earned treasure) floating in the sea, a rowboat becomes a lifeboat.

The AI enemies will ignore it. So while that Skeleton Galleon managed to sink your ship, they didn’t manage to sink your spirits and you’d be able load up your treasure and hopefully row to safety.

3. Prioritize Bailing

If you’re running from a galleon and you’re boat is getting recked, get pointed into the wind, make sure you’re going straight, and then just bail like your life depended on it (because it does… well, at least your boat and treasure.) And if the boat is not complete swiss cheese, you’ll be able to keep your boat afloat.

Once you get the water to knee-high below decks, you can quickly try to get a plank on a hole and then get back to bailing; Get it to knee-high, board up a hole, repeat.

You’ll be surprised how long you can keep a sloop above water with just a bucket.

4. Run from Skeleton Galleons against the wind

You’re done for the night and you just want to get to an outpost to sell your loot and then the next thing you know is a skeleton galleon rises up next to you; what do you do? You do the same thing you do when it’s human pirates, sail into the wind.

Just like regular galleons, you’ll be able to slowly get away. Also, you’ll be them behind you and hopefully outside of their guns’ targeting arcs.

If you’re already going into the wind when they appear, turn the opposite direction of them and make a tight 360. Unfortunately, during this maneuver, you’ll be within targeting range of them and could get hit by a cursed cannonball but you’ll need to risk it.

Alternatively, if a meg shows up and gets aggressive, turn and sail WITH the wind. Just try to get outside its hunting range and repair any holes that might be chomped out of your ship. Be aware when you’re running from a meg that if/when it charges, get below decks to prevent yourself from getting blasted off your deck. You can’t repair your boat when you’re not on it.

But… you can beat Meg solo:

5. Raise sails and turn your wheel 3/4 of the way when fighting the Megalodon/Kraken

It’s possible to fight and win against a Megalodon in a sloop alone. When you have one circling you, raise your sails completely, and then turn your wheel about 3/4 of the way in the direction the meg is circling you. This way your guns are on target for as long as possible. Then just open up with your cannons. If you’re well stocked you should be able to defeat her with a couple dozen well-placed shots.

She’ll take some chomps out of your boat and you’ll need to bail and repair, but the time between attacks should allow this and time to blast her. As stated above, if you see her charging try to get below decks do you don’t get knocked completely off and allow your boat to sink.

Pro Tip: You can use your pistol or eye of reach to damage her as well, specially when she’s swimming around outside your cannons. Even better, you can have both pistol and Eye of Reach equipped and get some extra shots off.

(I’ve not fought the Kraken alone, but this method worked for me and a friend, I’m not sure how easy it is. I’ve heard it’s possible.)

Thanks to Captain Logan from the Keelhauled podcast for the turning tip!

Keelhauled: A Sea of Thieves Podcast

6. Hide your treasure on an island instead of packing it all into your boat

Once you get to a higher level with the Gold Hoarders, you’ll be getting maps with 4 or 5 X’s on it. And on larger islands, this might take you a little bit of time to find and dig up.

The problem arises when you find a chest, load it on your ship and then wander out of sight of your ship. Then you find another chest, bring it back to your boat. Then after you leave and third time and spend 5 minutes finding a chest, fighting skels and digging it up and get back to your boat, it’s sunk and your first 2 chests are already onboard the enemy Galleon that’s shown up.

Think like a pirate, and while we can’t bury our treasure, we can hide it. Find a bush or a nook and cranny to hide your treasure before you load it on your boat. You can place it in a bush or around a set of barrels or something. Preferably near shore for easy loading.

Pro Tip: Place your chests right on top of each other as well. So they take up as little space as possible.

Then when you’ve found your last chest, go and grab your hidden chests quickly so you’re always ready to run when you need to with minimal monetary loss.

7. Cancel Quests That Aren’t Worth It

Get a map with 1 treasure chest on it? (or worse, did you get a riddle quest on an island larger than the country of Brazil?) Cancel it and get a new one. Order of souls quest for 1 pirate captain on Old Faithful Isle? Cancel it. The loss of a couple hundred gold is worth it if you can get a quest for 4 captains on Lonely Isle.

Time is money and rep. Why spend 30 minutes digging up one chest, when you can spend 40 digging up four?

Merchant quests are just as terrible. Ones with Pigs are even worse. I recommend getting snake or chicken quests that ask for at least 1 gold animal. They tend to sell for the most gold (black animals are a close second.) If the quest doesn’t have them I cancel it and try again.

Then I sail to the island that has the beasts I want that is closest to the drop-off. I built an interactive map to help me (and you) find the animals you:

Unofficial Interactive Sea Of Thieves Map

Pro Discussion: I’ve heard theories about getting merchant quests, collecting the baskets from them and then canceling that quest. You do this a couple of times and fill up your boat with snake, chicken and pig baskets. Next, sail to an animal infested island, fill up your baskets with gold animals, then sail to an outpost.

Once there, keep buying merchant quests that require the animals you’ve got and you’re already done.

In my opinion, this seems like it will take too much time and cost too much in just thrown out merchant quests. Time is money.

In closing, I’d just like to remind you, while you’re solo slooping, there’s a non zero chance of getting sunk or murdered or both. Over a long enough timeline, it’s inevitable. Assume you’ll sink. Turn in treasure often to minimize loss. Play some music with your boat as it goes down.

Respawn. Get a new Sloop. Set sail anew.

Reader Tips:

AntiPrincess has a good point here. Use Skeletons as unwitting crewmates? Smart.

AntiPrincess78 on Twitter

@1Chenzo @KatTruewalker @SeaOfThieves 3: Try to park near but out of range of on island skelly cannons. Don't kill the skellys on the cannons.They are a warning foe incoming ships.

“There are three sorts of people; those who are alive, those who are dead, and those who are at sea”

Find me on Twitter:

Chenzo (@1Chenzo) | Twitter

Watch me sail alone on Twitch:

Whilst me and my mate, Prodaea were anchored at Marauder’s Arch, digging up chests from our Gilded Gold Hoarders quest, we noticed a brigantine circling nearby. She was firing her cannons but at something we couldn’t see. We assumed it were a Megalodon based on her erratic sailing patterns. She didn’t seem interested in us, so we continued our digging while keeping one eye affixed on her position.

Halfway through our X’s, we noticed that same Brig was at full sail and headed straight towards us! We jumped back into our sloop, got her turned into the wind and dropped full sail. As we moved out, we watched our new friends sail right up to our island and raise sails. We had over a dozen chests on our sloop and I figured it would be smart for us to sell it off before we went over and said our friendly pirate hellos. After a quick trip to an outpost, we immediately set sail back to the Brig’s last known position.

The Pirate Lord must have been on our side because right then, a thick fog rolled in that blanketed our approach. From out the fog we crept, catching our friends unawares and ashore. We raised sail and raked their unmanned ship with cannon fire. One of the devils tried to sneakily swim out to our ship and stop us, but my pistol kept him in the water. The other scallywag dropped his sails and attempted to escape. Needless to say, neither the crew nor their ship survived the encounter.

And to our surprise and delight, from the grave of our friends rose 8 villainous skulls, a captains skull, and a ruby. Twas a fine night to be a pirate.

“fair winds and following seas”

Find me on Twitter:

Chenzo (@1Chenzo) | Twitter

1. All other pirates want to kill you. Flee.
2. Turn off all your boat’s lanterns.
3. Scan the horizon for approaching ships. Always. (see #1)
4. Don’t leave your ship unattended for long.
5. Never have the anchor down for more time than it takes to stop your ship.
6. Turn in your treasure often.
7. All other pirates want to kill you. Flee.

This isn’t a ‘how to play SoT’ guide. I’m assuming you know how to sail, and complete voyages. Nor is this a list of reasons on why you’d want to sail alone in a multiplayer game. Nor am I going to tell you what faction voyages to undertake or the best way to make money.

This guide is strictly some rules I follow to be able sail alone and not die (often.)

edit: There’s a small Reddit conversation happening here. I’m going to add some of the Redditors’ better suggestions to the bottom of this post.

1. All other pirates want to kill you. Flee

Every other pirate wants to sink you and take your stuff. Or just sink you. Or just push you off your boat and steal it. Don’t let them get the chance. They can’t sink you if you never let them get close enough.

When you see another approaching ship, flee.

If you’re being chased, sail INTO the wind. The sloop is faster than the other boats while sailing into the wind. So, they’ll either fall farther and farther behind — or if you’re being chased by a sloop, they’ll never catch up.

To get maximum speed while sailing into the wind have your sails FLAT against the wind (not angled.) It doesn’t make sense, but your boat will go faster than your pursuers. (Thanks, tageeboy!)

Pro Tip: If they won’t stop chasing you, set your boat on a clear heading. When they get lined up right behind you, jump off the side of your boat, swim into the path of their boat and try to catch on to their ladder. Get on board, drop their anchor and quickly kill as many as you can. Once your dirty work is finished, you can just jump off and mermaid back, or if they get you, take a ride on the ferry of the dead. Most likely your boat is still sailing along and you’ve removed the threat.

(I’d also like to take this moment to say that in SoT PVP is not griefing. Everyone else you meet is a pirate. Pirates stab things. Things like you.)

2. Turn off your boat’s lanterns.

Seriously… you’re lit up like a pirate christmas tree that’s on fire. At night you stand out on the horizon like a beacon that says “I’m a newb and lost, and please come over here and sink me and take all my stuff”

You won’t have to flee if no one sees you. Snuff those lanterns.

Pro Tip: The villainous skulls green glow is almost as bad as the lanterns and it’s even worse because that green glow means you definitely have treasure onboard. Put them in the hold.

3. Scan the horizon constantly for approaching ships

Your best defense against other pirates is to know they’re coming. If a fully crewed galleon can bring it’s cannons to bear on your sloop, it’s sunk. But that’s also your fault for letting them get close enough. (see rule #1) By scanning the horizon you’ll be able to spot an oncoming enemy. You don’t need to go up in the crows nest. You can just jump up on the canopy behind the wheel and give a quick look.

If you see a ship keep an eye on it, if it starts getting too close, get your sail on.

4. Don’t leave your ship unattended for long

You’re going to have to go ashore to complete your voyages. When you do, try to not let your boat out of sight. If you need to go far from your ship, don’t lollygag and get back ASAP. Nothing is worse than finally catching that pig and coming back over hill to see an enemy Brigantine and the hull of your ship as it rolls over while sinking.

Pro Tip: You can still follow #3 while on land. Scan the horizon to know when you need to book it back to your ship.

5. Never have the anchor down for more time than it takes to stop your ship.

Always have your anchor up. If you need to stop, raise the sails BEFORE you need to stop and drift gently to a halt. If you need to stop suddenly, drop anchor, then raise sails, then raise anchor.

Then when you need to leave, you just drop sails and boom. Moving.

The reason you don’t want the anchor down is that it takes time to pull it up. Time that allows an enemy pirate to get closer to you. So, if you’re following rule #3, and see another ship coming, assume #1, they’re coming to get you. Get in your boat and get sailing.

A stationary ship is much, much easier to hit with cannons or board. Move.

Pro Tip: When you’re stopped, get your boat pointed in an escape direction. Don’t be pointed towards the shore and certain doom; be pointed out towards open sea and freedom.

6. Turn in your treasure often.

Why are you sailing around with 15 captains chests on your deck? Get to an outpost and turn them in. They can’t be stolen once you’ve given them to the gold hoarders.

There are 6 outposts throughout the islands. One’s gotta be close. Go stop at it.

Pro Tip: Are you being chased while you have treasure you need to turn in? Sail close to an outpost, and when you’re right near it, jump overboard with a your loot. Swim to the shore and turn it in while your ship continues to flee on it’s own. Merperson back to your boat after you’ve got your money. (Be aware that your pursuers can see your merperson too.)

7. All other pirates want to kill you.

I mean, it’s the Sea of Thieves. They want your stuff. And your ship. And your life. You are going to get killed. It happens.

Inevitably, at some point you’re going to have enemies on your ship and every time you spawn they kill you. You’re going to feel trapped.

It’s ok.

You lost whatever treasure you had. Let it go.

Scuttle your ship from the Ferry of the Damned.

And if you respawn, perhaps they jumped off your thinking your gone. You’ll spawn on your still sinking ship. They might still be nearby. Unaware.

Find them.

Board their ship.

Be more pirate.

Reader Suggestions:

Kirbyr98: When I get a map with a bunch of X’s, epecially on a large island, and you know you’re going to be there quite a while, I just park my ship and assume it will be found. Instead of loading treasure on the ship as I find it, I just hide it in some bushes until I find them all. Then, if my ship is still alive I’ll load it all at once. If you come back to a mermaid, just take it, sail back on your new ship and pull right up to the bushes you left your loot in. This saves constantly worrying about your ship and you can take your time locating the X’s. I’ve never had anyone find my loot in the bushes, even after they’ve sunk my ship.

Note: If your server merges while your loot is not onboard, you might lose your loot.

SirPantalones notes: watch out for mermaids in the water when heading in for outposts. Getting ambushed by a crew with a scuttled ship after having done everything else right was no fun experience for me. :P

from ValyrianSteelYoGirl: I’ll move the ship around the island so that it’s a quick run between the chests and the ship then utilize the cannons to get to my spots. I’m always keeping an eye on the horizon too. If it’s a riddle and I’m going into a cave for the dig I’ll usually move the ship closest to the cave too.

Part Two is now online. Read it here:

How to Solo Sloop in the Sea Of Thieves Part 2

“fair winds and following seas”

Find me on Twitter:

Chenzo (@1Chenzo) | Twitter

Watch me sail alone on Twitch: