Guide to Captaincy in Sea of Thieves

Oh to be a Pirate Captain

“Captaincy” is finally here in Sea of Thieves Season Seven, a long-awaited feature that gives players greater ownership of their Ship and new ways to progress and be rewarded. It’s a complex new feature, which is why we’ve prepared a handy walk-through guide to explain it all!

What is “Captaincy”?

Players now have the option to spend in-game gold to buy and own their very own ships. This unlocks new forms of progression, new ways to customize the ship, and even new perks that are exclusive to Captains, or players sailing on a “Captained Ship”

Become a “Captain” and own a “Captained Ship”

On the front end menu when players are getting ready to Set Sail, a new option is available labeled “My Ships”, where pirates can purchase ships and view the ships they own.

NOTE: You can still set sail the same as always without purchasing a ship. Purchasing and owning a Ship of your own is OPTIONAL

To start, you can purchase 1 of each type of ship for in-game gold:

• Sloop- 250,000 gold
• Brigantine- 375,000 gold
• Galleon- 500,000 gold

Once purchased, you have to give your ship a Name. You can use up to 20 characters in the name, and of course it will not allow the use of profanity or other banned words.
ONCE YOU SUBMIT A NAME FOR YOUR SHIP, IT CANNOT BE CHANGED FOR FREE.
To rename a ship, you must purchase a Ship Renaming Deed from the Pirate Emporium, similar to purchasing a Pirate Appearance Potion.

After selecting your ship, you can invite friends or join an open crew and set sail! Of course, the whole crew must sail on one player’s ship, so you’ll have to agree on whose ship you’ll be sailing on today.

Upon setting sail for the first time on a Captained Ship, you’ll need to complete an in game Tutorial in which the Pirate Lord will christen your ship, and explain the benefits of Captaincy.

Attributes of a Captained Ship

Before we get into the perks, rewards, and progression associated with Captaincy, here are a few details you may be wondering about how Captained Ships work:

• Sinking is not The End: Just because you’ve purchased and named your ship, doesn’t mean it’s one of a kind and can be lost. Just as it always has been, if your ship sinks it will respawn fresh and you can continue as normal!
• Persistency between Sessions: The damage that a ship takes during play, such as repaired holes, scuff marks on the hull, or burn marks from fires, will persist between sessions. You can repair this damage at the Shipwright for a small fee, and this will even repair active holes in the hull, but there is a cool down period before another repair can be done. Ticks made on the Map Table also persist between sessions, but supplies stored in the barrels do not.
• If the Captain leaves the Session: If the Captain who owns the ship is disconnected, they have a short grace period in which to rejoin their session as per normal without any penalty. After that period, or if the Captain quits voluntarily, the ship will be converted to a “non-Captained Ship”, and changes to the ship will no longer be saved for the next session.
• Owning Multiple Ships: To start, you can purchase 1 of each type of ship size. In order to buy a second ship of the same size, you’ll need to progress that ship to “Legendary” status in the new Ship Milestones progression system (more on that below).
• Dismantling a Ship: If you wish to remove an owned ship, you can choose to Dismantle it on the front-end menu. This is an irreversible decision that will lose any progress that the ship has earned!

Perks of sailing on a Captained Ship

Sailing on a purchased or “Captained” Ship (whether it’s yours or another player’s) yields certain exclusive benefits for all members of that crew.

• A Proper Title: The Ship’s Name appears carved into the name plate crest on the ship. Other crews that look at your ship through a spyglass will see your ship’s name pop up on a customizable Title Banner

• Saved Loadouts: Captains can spend money to “lock in” cosmetic choices to the ship so they automatically are equipped each time you play. You can still swap these out during the session, but they will revert back to what loadout you’ve “saved” the next time you sail.
• Save Time Selling to Sovereigns: The Sovereigns are a new group on the outposts with an elaborate purple tent on new docks. Captained ships have the exclusive perk of being able to sell outpost-loot to the Sovereigns, who will then instantly deliver them to the appropriate Trading Company at no extra cost. This is like a “Fast Delivery” station for loot, and even includes a rowboat docking point, harpoons, and a pulley platform for easily moving loot around.
  When selling something that can go to any company, like Mermaid Gems, it will be sold to a randomized company unless your crew is an Emissary, then it will be sold to that company.
  NOTE: The Sovereigns will NOT accept loot on behalf of the Reaper’s Bones, you have to hand deliver that to the Reaper’s Hideout

• A Chronicle of your Voyage: Captained Ships have a “Captain’s Log” sitting on the voyage table, which will chronicle the things a crew has achieved during a session. It can also be customized by the Captain to display several impressive achievements that ship has accomplished in the past.
  The Captain’s Log will wash up as a loot item when a Captained Ship sinks, allowing another crew to sell it to the Reaper’s Bones. They are more valuable the longer that crew has been sailing that session without sinking:
  Noteworthy (0–6 days) — 300 gold
  Accomplished (7–14 days ) — 2,500 gold
  Remarkable (15–19 days) — 10,000 gold
  Extraordinary (20+ days) — 25,000 gold

• New Shipwright Options: Captains have several new options at the Shipwright. In addition to paying to repair the ship’s damage and cosmetic marks, Captains can purchase supply restocks that will deposit directly into their barrels, including Wood, Cannonballs, Throwables, Fruit, Meat, and Bait. Captains can also purchase new cosmetics for their ships here (more details below) as well as purchase “Captain’s Voyages”

• Captain’s Voyages and Milestone Progression: Finally, Captained Ships have the freedom to purchase and partake in “Captain’s Voyages”, which offer more control over the type, difficulty, and length of company voyages they will take on with their crew. In addition, a brand new progression system called Milestones tracks both what individual Pirates achieve on captained ships, as well as accomplishments of Ships themselves.
  Read our detailed Guide to Captain’s Voyages and Milestone Progression here for more information on these two new features

Captaincy Customization

Along with owning your own ship, Captains have a plethora of new ways to customize that ship to their liking. By default, only the Captain has permission to change these options, but they can open up those permissions to the crew in the game settings. Some of these cosmetics are locked behind progression in the new Milestone system: Click HERE for more information!

Cabin Cosmetics

Captained ships can now customize many decorative aspects of the ship interiors. This includes the Rugs, Table, Bed, and Drapes, and exclusively for crews on a Galleon also includes Captain’s chair, Chandelier, and Curtains. These options are found in the Shipwright chest in the new section labeled Ship Decorations, and more of these cosmetics can be purchased from the Shipwrights. A number of Ship Decorations are locked behind individual Pirate Milestones.

Trinket Time

All around the ship from empty shelves to blank walls, pirates can now adorn the space with unique Trinkets to show off their taste and their accomplishments. Some simple Ornaments exist in a variety of styles that are already unlocked for all players, while more prestigious Trophies are locked behind individual Pirate Milestones or other Commendations, and let you show off things you’ve achieved in the game.

Ship Milestones

While the above options are unlocked by individual player progress, a number of things can be customized about a Captained Ship and are locked behind that Ship’s progress. Unique titles and banner designs for when others see your ship upon the waves, unique nameplate crests, achievements to display in your ship’s Captain’s Log, and even unique Flag designs are all tied to your Ship progressing through different Milestones!

Now you’re primed and ready to set sail as a Pirate Captain! Don’t forget to check out our deep dive into Captain’s Voyages and the Milestone Progression System for more details on those features, and follow us on Twitter @GoldenSandsBlog to keep up with everything going on in Sea of Thieves!