Sea of Thieves is cooking in 2024: New weapons are coming for the first time since launch along with the scariest world event yet and wild new traversal methods
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The first major highlight are Season 12’s new weapons: the Double Barrel Pistol, which can fire two individual shots back to back or be charged up for one powerful blast, and the throwing knives. Rare says the Double Barrel Pistol “sits between the pistol and the blunderbuss in terms of range and power,” while the Throwing Knives can be hurled at enemies for “high damage.” Just be careful with your aiming, as they can get lodged in the environment and used in an act of retaliation from your enemy.
OK, those additions alone are already literal game-changers and will dramatically impact the high seas meta, but Season 12 is also adding a new short-range, wide-spread cannonball called the Scattershot and a new throwable that spawns skellies on an enemy ship that are only friendly to the thrower.
Oh, and how could I forget about the new Wind Caller consumable. This is yet another traversal and practical game-changer taking the form of a conch that blows wind to make you sail faster than ever before. It can also be used to yeet your enemies off cliffs, power your rowboats, put out fires, and propel you through water when you’re swimming. This. Changes. Everything.
Starting with Season 12, there will be ziplines installed across “a range of islands” including outposts and skeleton forts that’ll allow for much quicker traversal when you’re in a pinch. Alternatively, you’ll also be able to walk a literal tightrope or glide along your harpoon’s rope to reach destinations. And yes, you can carry gunpowder barrels with you, which means “destinations” translates directly to “enemy ships” in this case.
Further down the road, Season 13 will add what looks and sounds like the wildest, scariest world event in Sea of Thieves' long history. It’s called the Burning Blade, and it brings back Captain Flameheart and his titular ship in its most terrifying incarnation. The massive warship comes packing 10 cannons and a front-facing fireball launcher - the first front-facing ship weapon in the game - and if you survive its fury, you can either sink it for presumably rare loot, or better yet, if you’re a Flameheart supporter, commandeer it with a literal skeleton crew that can fire at enemies and repair your ship, kinda like Jack Sparrow’s NPCs from the Pirates of the Caribbean update.
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Season 13 will also add Skeleton Camps featuring ancient temples for pirates to explore, solve puzzles in, and of course, secure valuable loot. A neat little twist with these is that, if you’re in control of the Burning Blade, you can go about collecting loot, including the new Orb of Secrets that increases the Burning Blade’s Tribute, without interference from skellies on the island. In contrast, you’ll need to be prepared for a “combat focused” situation if you dock on the island in a ship that isn’t the Burning Blade.
Finally, Season 14 is Rare’s attempt to cause utter chaos on the High Seas. “Season 14 is being designed with mischief at its heart,” the studio says. This season will add “increased stealth capabilities and new ways to prank players,” along with the grappling gun that you’ll be able to use to grab loot from afar and board ships at very precise points.
There’s a reason Sea of Thieves is still one of thebest Xbox Series X gamesyou can play today.
After scoring a degree in English from ASU, I worked as a copy editor while freelancing for places like SFX Magazine, Screen Rant, Game Revolution, and MMORPG on the side. Now, as GamesRadar’s west coast Staff Writer, I’m responsible for managing the site’s western regional executive branch, AKA my apartment, and writing about whatever horror game I’m too afraid to finish.
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