Guide to Ashen Treasures pt. 1-Curses
Locks and Keys upon the Seas
NOTE: Some of the Commendations and Doubloon Rewards from this event are TIME LIMITED and will disappear from the game with the December 11th update! These are marked clearly below
Beginning with update 2.0.9 on November 20th, the latest event is “Ashen Treasures” , a new tab in the Bilge Rats menu with permanent challenges being added each month. Skeletons are guarding a set of ancient Tomes, and have locked them in Ashen Chests, while skeleton Key Masters patrol islands guarding Ashen Keys…
This guide covers:
- Time Limited “Key Seeker” Mercenary Voyages, running from November 20th to December 11th, which include 100 doubloons and 1 title to earn.
- The first set of permanent “Ashen Treasures” commendations, totaling 345 Doubloons and 1 title. This covers emergent skeleton Key Masters and Ashen Guardians, and discovering the 5 Tomes of Curses
Notice:
The Ashen Treasures Tab has been expanded in the Festival of Giving Update on December 11th, the Legends of the Sea Update on January 15th, and the Crews of Rage Update on February 19th, including new challenges and the new Tomes of Power, Tomes of Fire, and Tomes of Resurrection. Check out our Ashen Treasures Guide Pt. 2-Power for these new challenges
What’s the Key to Ashen Treasures?
- New skeleton Key Masters can be found emergently and lead you to uncover Ashen Keys. Skeleton Ashen Guardians can be found emergently and lead you to Ashen Chests
- Ashen Chests and Ashen Keys can be sold separately to the Bilge Rats for doubloons… or if you have both, a key can open a chest, containing dark Tomes, each unlocking a rare cosmetic.
- Ashen Chests, Ashen Keys, Key Masters, Ashen Guardians, Tomes, and the new cosmetics are permanent additions to the game, and come with permanent commendations to earn
- The Bilge Rats are offering limited time voyages and commendations that give faster ways to discover Key Masters and Ashen Guardians without waiting for emergent encounters. (November 20th-December 11th)
Ashen Keys
New emergent “Key Masters” and their crews are now wandering islands throughout the seas. They behave like regular skeleton captains, but are found at random and drop Ashen Keys when defeated. Ashen Keys are a valuable new loot item: you can sell any Ashen Key to the Bilge Rat in the tavern for 5 Doubloons, or you can use it to open an Ashen Chest (more on those below).
WARNING- If your whole crew dies while fighting an emergent Key Master crew, the encounter will despawn and you’ll miss your chance for the Key!
Key Masters and Ashen Keys are permanent additions to the game, and they unlock some commendations in the Ashen Treasures tab on the Bilge Rat menu:
- Defeat 5 Keymasters (+10 Doubloons)
Defeat 15 Key Masters (+20 Doubloons)
Defeat 30 Key Masters (+30 Doubloons) - Sell an Ashen Key (+10 Doubloons)
- Open an Ashen Chest with a STOLEN Ashen Key (+10 Doubloons)
Time Limited: Ashen Key Voyages (Nov 20-December 11)
Ashen Key Seeker Voyages are available for a limited time as a way to find Ashen Keys without relying on random encounters.
The voyage is a Bounty Quest. Completing this bounty drops a Villainous Bounty Skull and a Skeleton’s Orders voyage- don’t forget to pick this up! This map leads you to dig up an Ashen Key. But that’s not all! Digging up the key draws out a Key Master, who will ambush you with his crew and drops another Ashen Key upon defeat!
Time Limited Commendations:
-Complete the Shores of Plenty Ashen Key Voyage (+5 Doubloons)
-Complete The Wilds Ashen Key Voyage (+5 Doubloons)
-Complete the Ancient Isles Ashen Key Voyage (+5 Doubloons)
-Complete all three region’s Ashen Key Voyages (+25 Doubloons)
Ashen Chests
To compliment these Key Masters, there are Ashen Guardians, which are also emergent skeleton captains wandering the game’s islands. Defeated the same way as regular captains, these captains drop Riddle Quests- complete the riddle, and you’ll dig up an Ashen Chest. Like the Ashen Keys, Ashen Chests can be sold to the Bilge Rats in the Tavern for 5 Doubloons, or they can be opened with an Ashen Key to discover Tomes (more on that below).
WARNING- If your whole crew dies while fighting an emergent Ashen Guardian crew, the encounter will despawn and you’ll miss your chance for the Chest!
Other Ways to get Ashen Chests:
- Ashen Ship Battle Clouds- these new red colored ship clouds signify battles against Fire Bomb wielding ships. Defeating all the waves drops multiple Ashen Chests!
- Ashen Skull Fort Clouds- red colored skull clouds signal new Ashen Skull Forts… read all about them in our Ashen Treasures Guide Part 2.
- Roaming/Emergent Skeleton Ships- regular skeleton ships throughout the seas also have a chance to drop an Ashen Chest upon defeat
- The Bilge Rat Black Market offers up a permanent new “Stash” voyage for 35,000 Gold or 30 Doubloons that will lead you to an easy Ashen Chest on the outpost. This is a shortcut, but expensive!
Ashen Guardians and Ashen Chests are permanent additions to the game, and they unlock some commendations in the permanent Ashen Treasures tab on the Bilge Rat menu:
- Defeat 5 Ashen Guardians (+10 Doubloons)
Defeat 15 Ashen Guardians (+20 Doubloons)
Defeat 30 Ashen Guardians (+30 Doubloons) - Sell an Ashen Chest (+10 Doubloons)
- Open 5 Ashen Chests (+10 Doubloons)
Open 10 Ashen Chests (+20 Doubloons)
Open 30 Ashen Chests (+30 Doubloons) - Open a STOLEN Ashen Chest (+10 Doubloons)
Time Limited: Ashen Chest Voyages (Nov 20-December 11)
Legendary Ashen Chest Seeker voyages are available for a limited time from Stitcher Jim in the tavern. These are only available for purchase by Pirate Legends, and offer a faster way to get Ashen Chests.
The voyage contains several maps where you can dig up Ashen Trinkets from the Guardian’s hoard. As you dig these up, you may provoke several Ashen Guardians to strike during the voyage- defeat them, and they’ll drop a riddle map leading to an Ashen Chest.
Time Limited Commendations:
-Complete an Ashen Chest Voyage (+5 Doubloons)
Opening Chests: Tomes and Rewards
When you use an Ashen Key on an Ashen Chest, you find much greater rewards inside. Alongside valuable trinkets or skulls, you might find pouches of Doubloons or Gold that, when picked up, go directly into your totals.
But more importantly, each Ashen Chest contains Tomes. These item must be sold to the Bilge Rat in the Tavern, and doing so earns Doubloons as well as access to exclusive Ashen Dragon cosmetics.
In the first Ashen Treasures update, every chest contained 1 Tome of Curses. As of the Crews of Rage update, chests may now contain 1 Tome of Power, Tome of Curses, Tome of Fire, OR Tome of Resurrection, with a chance of having multiples.
Chests gathered from the Molten Sands Fortress vault during this event are guaranteed to contain a Tome of Resurrection. Other Ashen Chests have an equal chance of any Tome.
For more on the Tomes of Power, Tomes of Fire, and Tomes of Resurrection, read our Ashen Treasures Guide Part 2.
Curses
There are 5 separate Tomes of Curses which you can find at random in these Ashen Chests. The Ashen Dragon items are unlocked for purchase by selling these Tomes, and you can find them on a special page in the Bilge Rat Black Market, or at the appropriate outpost shop for that item. The six items attached to the Tomes of Curses are:
- Ashen Dragon Hat (Sell Tome of Curses I)
- Ashen Dragon Jacket (Sell Tome of Curses II)
- Ashen Dragon Dress (Sell Tome of Curses III)
- Ashen Dragon Hook (Sell Tome of Curses IV)
- Ashen Dragon Pegleg (Sell Tome of Curses V)
- Ashen Dragon Cutlass (Sell all 5 Tomes of Curses)
In addition, there are permanent commendations (and even Xbox Achievements and Gamerscore) to be earned by selling these Tomes, earning you 15 Doubloons each (75 Doubloons Total). Once you’ve sold all 5 Tomes of Curses, you’ll earn 50 Doubloons and a new title: “Scholar of Curses”.
NOTE:
You can sell Ashen Chests after you’ve opened them, and still get 5 doubloons- be careful to make sure you REMOVE the treasure inside and sell it first, or else you’ll lose it when the chest sells!
Final Time Limited Commendations
In the Tavern near Stitcher Jim, you’ll find a note from Duke explaining where he’s gone off to. Read this note and you’ll receive 5 Doubloons.
After you’ve completed ALL the Time Limited commendations listed in this guide, you’ll earn the title “Ashen Seeker” and a bonus 50 Doubloons!
And that’s it!
The Bilge Rats limited time voyages make it easier to track down Ashen Keys and Ashen Chests, and there are some limited time commendations tied to them- but the Key Masters and Guardians are permanent new additions, as are the Tomes of Curses and the cosmetics they unlock!
For more Ashen Treasures commendations and features:
For other Seabound Soul content:
