Guide to Ghost Ship Voyages
Brand new Order of Souls Voyage type
With the Haunted Shores update, a spooky new enemy type has entered the Sea of Thieves. Captain Flameheart has summoned Ghost Ships from the Sea of the Damned to cause havoc across the seas, haunting islands we pirates would like to travel to. Luckily, the Order of Souls is giving out voyages to hunt them down, and remove these spectral threats!
For a breakdown of every feature in the Haunted Shores update, click here
How do Ghost Ships work?
There’s a number of key differences between Ghost Ships and other ship types.
- Ghost Ships don’t “take damage” or fill with water. Instead, they have a set number of “hit points”, and after sustaining enough cannonball hits to ANYWHERE on the Ghost Ship, it will vanish in a small explosion that rocks your ship (Gunpowder Barrels don’t work!)
- You can’t board a Ghost Ship, it has no visible crew, and it does not crash into rocks or islands
- Although an individual Ghost Ship is easy to defeat, they attack in large numbers, sometimes having as many as 11 present at the same time!
- Ghost Ships sail in circles around a single large island that they are haunting, either all in different paths, or in formations around a formation leader. Formation Leaders can survive more hits, and defeating them defeats all of the ships that flank them, and drops treasure in the water.
Ghost Ship Attacks
Ghost ships have a number of unique attacks that make them formidable. The encounter is essentially a “sailing challenge”, with many ships sailing in different paths, you will need to maneuver successfully to not sail into the ships and to avoid their cannon fire.
- Disastrous Collision!- You can’t collide with Ghost Ships, instead they will phase right through you as you’d expect a ghost to do. However, whenever they do this it deals MANY holes of damage to your hull- avoid this at all costs!
- Phantom Cannonballs and Flaming Phantom Cannonballs- these operate identically to regular cannonballs and firebombs, but are visually represented by a flying hooded spirit.
- Wraith Cannonballs- these are visually represented by the screaming face of a ghost. On impact, they do heavy damage, rocking the boat and potentially disrupting your course, and dealing multiple holes of damage (similar to a Megalodon bite)
- Ghostly Mines- If you sail in the path behind a ship, it will drop “mines” into the water. These explode when touched by anything (players, harpoons, and of course your ship) and act like a Gun Powder Barrel explosion. They also detonate automatically after several seconds.
Order of Souls- Ghost Ship Voyages
To combat these new threats, the Order of Souls is offering up a new kind of voyage- not only will they send you after land-based skeleton captains like they always have, but now they can instead send you after these sea-based enemies
- You must be Level 25 in the Order of Souls to purchase a Ghost Ship Voyage.
- Duke the Bilge Rat located in every tavern is offering up a free Ghost Ship voyage this month to allow lower leveled players to give it a shot- his voyage is equivalent to a Level 40 Order of Souls voyage
- When you vote to begin a Ghost Ship voyage, you receive one map that directs you to one island. Sail there, and you’ll see a large fleet of Ghost Ships ready to be hunted!
Difficulty
As you level up in the Order of Souls, you gain access to more difficult variations of the voyage. Every voyage will be structured the same- but the higher your level, the more ships you will face and have to defeat in Wave 1, and the more formations of ships and formation leaders you’ll have to face in Wave 2.
Wave 1: Roaming Ships
The battle begins with a number of basic Ghost Ships appearing and sailing in circles around the island, all having their own unique paths. There will be more ships on higher level voyages.
- Each of these basic ships only requires 3 hits to defeat. Each ship will respawn shortly, so the total number of ships will not dwindle in this wave
- The wave ends automatically after a certain number of ships have been defeated, and the higher level the voyage, the more are required. All the ships will teleport away at this point
- Ships have a chance of dropping Supply Crates of the Damned upon defeat. You’ll see these marked at sea by ghosts circling above, and they contain wood planks and cannonballs to help you continue the fight
Wave 2: Formations and Leaders
The second wave consists of Formations of Ghost Ships, with a Formation Leader being flanked by 2–3 basic Ghost Ships. The higher level the voyage, the more Formations will appear here- think of them like Captains on regular Skeleton Voyages.
- Formation Leaders are marked by different sails from the basic ships, and they are always at the center of a group of several ships. They take more hits to defeat, and this number depends on the level of your voyage
- If you defeat a Formation Leader, the surrounding ships in their formation will retreat. If you are not close to the formation, they will teleport to bring themselves closer to you.
- Formation Leaders drop loot in the water upon defeat. Read more about this loot down below in the “Commendations and Rewards” section.
Commendations and Rewards
Loot
- Loot dropped by Ghost Ships will be marked floating in the sea by ghosts circling above it, so it’s easier to spot. They also take longer to sink than regular loot.
- Storage Crates of the Damned: These will drop occasionally from defeating basic ships in the roaming waves 1 and 3, or by defeating a Formation Leader. They contain wood planks and cannonballs, but unlike regular Storage Crates, they can be sold to the Merchant Alliance. ~2000 Gold
- Captain Skulls of the Damned: One of these may drop with each Formation Leader defeated. Can be sold to the Order of Souls for ~2400 Gold
- Skulls of the Damned: These can be sold to the Order of Souls for ~1200 Gold each.
Formation Leaders should drop ~3 of these items.
Commendations
“Commendations” are challenges in the Reputation tab that will reward you for interacting with these Ghost Ship encounters. These Commendations can all be found added to the Order of Souls Reputation Tab, and will increase your Order of Souls reputation, and some earn exclusive Titles.
Scourge of the Damned Grade I-V: Defeat Ghost Ships
United Against the Damned Grade I-III: Defeat Ghost Ships whilst in an Alliance
Voyager of Damned Souls Grade I-V: Complete Ghost Ship Voyages
Hunter of Damned Captains Grade I-V: Sell Captain Skulls of the Damned
Locked Cosmetic Rewards
Temporarily in Duke’s Shop, but also permanently in the Shipwright’s shop on every outpost, there are new sails locked behind commendations for these Ghost Ship encounters:
Ghost Captain Sails- Can only be purchased after completing the Hunter of Damned Captains commendation
Tips for the Battle
Here’s just a couple more bits of information you might want to keep in mind:
- Emissaries: Completing this voyage, picking up the skulls, and putting them on your ship will reward you with Emissary Grade, but be warned- being surrounded by these hostile threats might make you an easy target for Reaper’s Bones ships nearby
- If a ship is heading towards your broadside and about to collide, keep firing! Some shots may count as hitting the ship even as it phases through you
- Try to gather supply crates whenever they drop- you’ll need the supplies, and they’re worth gold too! Also make sure to stock up a bit before the battle starts
- ALL CANNONBALL TYPES EFFECT GHOST SHIPS THE SAME. That includes Chain Shots, Blunderbombs, Firebombs, and Cursed Cannonballs. They all count as “one hit” when fired from a cannon (and do nothing if thrown by hand!)
These Order of Souls bounties are an on-demand “taste” of the more epic Burning Blade World Events- don’t forget to check out our Guide to that Battle as well to help defend the seas from Captain Flameheart himself!
Check out our full breakdown of new content in the Haunted Shores update.
