5 Tiny Weeny Tips that Could Save Your Pirate’s Life in Sea of Thieves.
The Sea of Thieves can be a dangerous place. Wait, did I say “can be”? It’s always a dangerous place. There are skeletons, ghosts and enemy pirates to contend with. All these bastards want is you dead and your loot whisked away. However, in my limited time sailing on these seas, I have a few obvious tips that could really save your skin.
Have canons loaded at all times
Funnily enough, a lot of people leave their cannons unloaded while they do other things. But leaving cannons unloaded can make all the difference. It takes time to reload a cannon ball, so if you are under attack, you waste precious time reloading. If you are using the cannon to shoot yourself towards an island or an enemy ship, make sure you have someone reload the cannon while you’re gone.
There’s also the benefit of technically having 11 cannon balls on hand. The one already loaded in your cannon, and the 10 in your inventory. Sure, one extra cannon ball isn’t always much, but it may come in clutch, or catch enemy ships off guard. And if you’re a Galleon, that’s an extra 8 (4 per side) cannon balls you can fire.
Don’t stack loot
One of the easiest mistakes to make is to have too much loot. not only are ships the most vulnerable when they’re parked and people are running back and forth selling things, but stacking loot makes you a bigger target. Most people leave their treasure on their deck, and this can be seen from far away. Picking up tons of loot also levels up your emissary rank, which is another thing that can turn you into a target. Especially if there are rank 5 Reapers around.
That being said, for the best money-making treasure, you are better off at rank 5 of your emissary as you go to sell everything. If you want to avoid being a massive target, then you’re better off selling everything you have as soon as you hit rank 5. Whether you immediately lower then raise an emissary flag, that’s up to you. But if there are rank 5 Reapers around, you need to be extra careful.
Avoid glowing in the dark
I’ve always been surprised at just how shiny people and ships can be. Sure, all player ships have lanterns on them, but a lot of people also have glowing hulls or luminous sails. Not only does this make you easier to see, but it also makes you easier to recognize, in case you bump into the same ship later on. It’s simply a bad idea to be so obvious during the night. Glowing sails in particular make you stand out like a sore thumb, and leaves you more vulnerable to attacks.
Check Outposts and Hideouts before you start selling
It’s tempting to run straight to the Reapers’ Hideout and immediately start selling. But nefarious people could be hiding on outposts, ready to attack. This can be doubly tedious if you are trying to avoid enemy ships. But sending out a single person as bait, spamming various voice commands, goes a long way when it comes to drawing potential thieves out. Sure, they they may kill the bait and sell your loot, but at least you can immediately get away if someone is waiting for you.
Having a lookout while the rest of your crew sells stuff can also be a great way to avoid danger, or at least have an early warning before you get attacked.
Don’t leave the anchor down
The final and probably biggest sin is having your anchor down for long periods of time. While having your anchor down is a great way to abruptly turn (especially on larger ships), having the anchor lowered is always a potential problem, should you be attacked. If you want to remain motionless, then your best bet is to raise all sails and drift to a stop. Or, alternatively, hitting the anchor and then immediately raising it again.
Why is this? Well, raising your anchor can take a long time, especially if you need to get out of danger straight away. The power of dropping sails and immediately taking to the wind can spare you precious seconds that would be wasted by raising your anchor again.
Well there’s five nice little tips for you. Fingers crossed they’ll help you survive in the Sea of Thieves…