2.0.17

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Ashen Winds releases today, a year since our regular monthly content updates began! The winds of change usher in a new threat this month in the form of Ashen Lords, scorched souls hellbent on wreaking havoc across the Sea of Thieves...
Read on to learn all about the Ashen Lords and the rewards available for taking them down, along with a wealth of wide-ranging gameplay improvements, new accessibility options and everything up for grabs at the Black Market and Pirate Emporium!

## ASHEN WINDS

Through the treachery of Stitcher Jim and the efforts of all those pirates duped into helping him, Captain Flameheart has amassed the Tomes, Jewels and other ritual ingredients needed to raise up his most loyal followers as fiery Ashen Lords.

 **Ashen Lords**

* Four new cursed Skeleton Captains known as Ashen Lords enter the Sea of Thieves. Their appearance as an emergent threat on an island is signified by a fiery tornado on the horizon.
* Ashen Lords’ attacks include knockbacks, lunges, breathing fire, hurling flaming rocks and plunging a player’s world into ashen darkness.
* The Ashen Lords have one more trick up their skeletal sleeves for players who reach the final stage of the encounter, known as ‘Roar of the Devil’. You’ll know it when you see it...
* Geysers will erupt when an Ashen Lord is defeated, unearthing treasure for all who braved the encounter in addition to the Ashen Winds Skull.

 **Ashen Winds Skull**

* The Ashen Winds Skull isn’t just a trophy for the Order of Souls – it doubles as a deadly weapon. Players can wield it like a flamethrower, setting fire to nearby rivals, skeletons and ships!
* The Ashen Jewel inside each Ashen Winds Skull dims as its devastating power is drained. Keep in mind that these skulls are worth a lot less to the Order of Souls with their power depleted.

 **Ashen Winds Commendations**

* New Commendations have been added which will grant players rewards such as new Titles, the Ashen Winds Skull Sail and a range of Ashen tattoos.

 **Ashen Winds Achievements**

* New Xbox and Steam achievements can be unlocked by progressing through the new in-game Commendations. A total of 40 gamerscore is available to earn from this update, and these achievements will remain in the game indefinitely.
	+ *Hunter of Captain Grimm [10G]*
	+ *Hunter of Red Ruth [10G]*
	+ *Hunter of Old Horatio [10G]*
	+ *Hunter of Warden Chi [10G]*

 **Ashen Winds Events**

* If Daily Bounties and the Gold Rush multiplier aren’t enough to fill your nautical calendar, head to the dedicated Events Hub for more information on the live events included in this update – including Skull Sweep!

**Please note that the Ashen Expeditions event has now been retired to the vault.**

## PIRATE EMPORIUM

It’s as busy as ever at the Pirate Emporium this month, with brand new stock and a little something special underway to mark the occasion of Rare’s 35th anniversary.

 **Sail? Sail… Sale!**

* For the duration of the Ashen Winds update, ship bundles and parts in the Rare Heritage Collection are discounted in celebration of Rare’s 35th anniversary!
* Free Giveaway Emote - You’ll find the new Heel Click emote available for free in the Pirate Emporium.
* Ashen Curse Collector's Pets - These exotic pets were scorched by The Devil’s Roar and transformed with an Ashen Curse!
* Kraken Cat Outfits - Looking for a new outfit for your little monster slayer? Look no further than the Kraken Outfits, available for all breeds.

 **Storytelling Bundle**

* These six new emotes show your pirate deep in conversation or retelling an eventful tale to your crew!

 **Character Emotes Bundle**

* Ever felt like taking up work at the Outpost and leaving the sea for others to conquer? With these emotes, you can act just like your favourite Outpost characters wherever your journey takes you.

 **Bargain Pet Bundles**

* The Cat’s Meow Bundle, Parrots Aplenty Bundle and Monkey Madness Bundle each offer three pets along with outfits for them all to wear!

 **Mau Kraken Discount Bundle**

* For this month only, players can pick up a discounted bundle with their favourite little black cat dressed in a ferocious Kraken Outfit.

 **Ashen Creatures Bundle (Store Only)**

* Available only from the Xbox, Microsoft and Steam Stores. This bundle contains two premium Collector's pets touched by the Ashen Curse, 1000 Ancient Coins and a free 25,000 gold bonus for use in the Outpost shops! Head to the Microsoft Store or Steam Item Store to find out more.

## BLACK MARKET

Duke is holed up at the tavern waiting for the chaos on the Sea of Thieves to blow over, but he hasn’t forgotten to source some new wares in exchange for pirates’ hard-earned gold and Doubloons…

 **Fearless Bone Crusher Equipment**

* Strike fear into the hearts of your enemies this month with the Fearless Bone Crusher Bucket, Compass, Fishing Rod, Lantern, Pocket Watch, Shovel, Speaking Trumpet, Spyglass and Tankard, all purchasable with Doubloons!

 **Nightshine Parrot Equipment**

* Spend some gold to acquire the Nightshine Parrot Bucket, Compass, Fishing Rod, Lantern, Pocket Watch, Shovel, Speaking Trumpet, Spyglass and Tankard before they head to the Black Market Archive!

## Gameplay Improvements

 **Dealing Damage Through the Environment**

* All melee and ranged weapons are now prevented from dealing damage through the solid surfaces of the ship. This means players can duck behind the mast for cover during a ranged weapon face-off, or sink below deck to use the environment and some quick footwork to gain an advantage in sword combat.
* Shots from ranged weapons can still pass through ship railings, stairs and decking grates, providing tactical opportunities to engage rival players on different levels of the ship.

 **Inactive Ships in The Arena**

* If a rival crew leave an active contest, their ship now begins to sink instantly, preventing any further silver gain from damaging it.

 **World Event Encounters**

* The frequency of Ashen Lord encounters is increased for the duration of the Ashen Winds update.

 **Skeleton Ship Restocking**

* Defeating a Skeleton Ship will now reward players with a storage crate containing food, wood and cannonballs.

 **Skeleton Fort Waves**

* New waves of skeletons appear much more quickly after the horn is sounded.

 **Swapping Between Emotes**

* Players now retain access to the Emote Radial while performing an emote, allowing them to switch to another emote easily.

 **Mute Voice Chat Keybind**

* Players are now able to set a keybind for the ‘Mute All Other Crews’ option, allowing faster access to muting others when needed.

 **Barrel Inventory Mouse Navigation**

* Opening a barrel inventory will reset the mouse cursor to the centre of the screen. This setting is now configurable within the Accessibility Settings under ‘Recenter Mouse in Menus’.

## Updates

 **Korean and Polish Support**

* Sea of Thieves now features Korean and Polish localisation across the entire game.

 **‘My Crew’ Visibility**

* The in-game crew management menu will now show players that take up a slot in a crew even if they are not currently in-game. This should better visualise players who are still in the process of joining a game or lost their connection but have a reserved slot.
* The option to invite friends will now be disabled if the crew is full.

 **Emissary Meter**

* The Emissary meter in the corner of the screen display now has a revised circular design.

 **Emissary Wallet**

* When representing as an Emissary and cashing in rewards, this shows the base value along with the bonus value earned from the Emissary multiplier.

 **Settings Screens**

* Updates have been made to Gameplay and Accessibility Settings screen layouts to improve navigation.

## Accessibility

 **Single-Stick Control**

* The ability to play with a single analogue stick can now be enabled in the Accessibility Settings menu. This assigns movement and turning to one analogue stick chosen by the player, as well as enabling auto-centre for the camera, auto-float and fixed position interaction points.

 **Auto-Centre Camera**

* While the auto-centre camera is enabled by default when using single-stick controls, this feature is available separately from Accessibility Settings. Options are provided to configure the delay before centering, along with the camera movement speed.

 **Auto-Float Accessibility**

* Auto-float is enabled by default when using single-stick control and can also be toggled on separately. When enabled, players will always float automatically to the water’s surface. Note that this does prevent swimming down through water.

 **Accessibility Settings Reset**

* The Accessibility Settings menu now has a reset option to change all accessibility options back to their default values.

 **‘Let Games Read to Me’ Improvements**

* When the ‘Let Games Read to Me’ option is enabled, there are now enhanced narration instructions while navigating menus and settings.
* Status messages in menus such as ‘Reporting for Duty’ and ‘Searching the Seas’ along with error message pop-ups are now narrated to improve accessibility.
* Each radial menu has also received enhanced narration and will identify the current selection along with the number of options on the radial menu.

 **Speech-To-Text Override**

* Within the Accessibility Settings menu, players can now override the Xbox platform setting and enable speech-to-text.

 **Default Settings for New Players**

* New players entering Sea of Thieves will now find that the ‘Text Chat in Menus’ setting is enabled by default, ensuring that players who require speech-to-text for their experience will now receive messages while navigating in-game menus. Existing players will not have their settings changed.

## Fixed Issues

 **Gameplay**

* When a player is in the water and a mermaid has appeared, the mermaid will now remain until the player’s ship reaches a much closer proximity.
* Ashen Key Masters will now emergently spawn on islands.
* Killing a player shortly after they are revived and then reviving them again will no longer cause animation issues.
* The Ghost Lantern now casts a green light over the surrounding area.
* Obstructions to visibility while using the Blighted Cannons have been removed.
* Emissary Grade meter UI now shows for players who join a crew of active Emissaries.
* Fixed progress tracking for Curse of the Foul Grog and Curse of the Dancing Demon Commendations.
* Fixed progress tracking for Commendations tied to handing in common and uncommon Athena's Treasures.
* The ‘Mute All Other Crews’ option will no longer mute crewmates on Windows 10.
* Players will no longer lose the ability to communicate when using in-game voice chat.
* Crew slots occupied by players who exit to desktop on Windows 10 will no longer stay active.

 **Combat and Hit Registration**

* Improved chainshot hit registration on ship masts.
* Improved projectile and melee hit registration across all areas of the Sloop.
* Improved hit registration when players are engaged in melee combat while swimming on the surface and underwater.
* Gunpowder Kegs being carried by rival players while they climb a ladder can be blown up.
* Improved hit registration when attacking rival players who are standing on a ship’s yardarm.
* The Rowboat now blocks any melee attacks from below.
* Blunderbombs and firebombs can used at any depth during underwater combat.
* The ship’s wheel now only blocks shots fired at its central wooden structure.
* The rear walls of the Sloop around the hatches now block projectiles fired through the hull.

 **Radial Menus**

* Quick Select will now correctly equip the previous item held when wielding a weapon or holding nothing.
* Items equipped via hotkey will be remembered when next using Quick Select.
* There is now a contextual Non-Verbal Radial when climbing up the ladder to the crow’s nest.
* Fixed on-screen message delay when Quick Selecting a non-verbal communication phrase from the radial.
* When reconfiguring the Non-Verbal Radial to not use the A Button or the Space Bar, players are now able to jump.
* The Non-Verbal Radial will now display the correct phrases when holding a pet.
* The radial manager keybinding names are now consistent with the setting names.

 **Ghost Ships**

* Treasure dropped by a sunken Ghost Ship and the phantoms that circle it will persist if a player migrates to a new server.
* The bounty target location in an active Ghost Ship Voyage will refresh if the player migrates to a new server during a Ghost Ship encounter.
* Flameheart’s taunts to players colliding with Ghost Ships will only play for the crew whose ship is being damaged.

 **The Arena**

* The Arena vote tally layout has been changed to be more visible.
* After muting a player in a rival crew in The Arena, they now stay muted even after other players join their crew.

 **Visual and Audio**

* Fixed instances of instruments playing without audio when switching between instruments or shanties.
* Scraping a boat against a surface should no longer cause the grinding audio effect to persist after sailing away.
* Placing ghostly loot on a Rowboat docked to a ship will no longer cause the ghostly effect to stutter when the ship is moving.
* Players swimming underwater during Tall Tales and Ghost Ship encounters will be able to hear Flameheart’s voice more clearly when he speaks.
* Previously set volume settings now persist when returning to the front end after leaving the game.
* Collision has been improved on walls alongside the wooden walkway in the Pirate Legend Hideout.
* Updated Sea of Thieves boot-up image.
* References to ‘Sail Hoist’ on sail interaction points and the Pirate Chat Radial have been changed to ‘Sail Length’.
* Ghosts Ships now consistently trigger an implosion effect when destroyed.
* Fixed brightness of light reflected off a spyglass when looking at loot and other players at night.
* Opening crates now plays a sound.
* The camp on Cannon Cove is no longer illuminated at night.

 **Accessibility**

* The ‘Game Transcription Override’ setting now persists across sessions.
* Improved text visibility for longer reward item names in the contextual Non-Verbal Radial.
* When using ‘Let Games Read to Me’ upon returning to the front end after playing, the screen is now narrated.
* When using ‘Let Games Read to Me’, the narrator will no longer loop in the ‘Choose your Experience’ screen before the Maiden Voyage, or if a player backs out from Crew Setup.
* When using ‘Let Games Read to Me’, changing the keybindings in the Settings menu will now be narrated correctly.

 **Performance and Stability**

* Steam – pressing Alt+Tab in-game no longer causes long pauses when returning to the game.
* Steam – performance has been improved around Outposts and world event encounters for lower-spec machines.
* Performance optimisations implemented to reduce texture loading issues on Devil's Thirst for lower-spec machines.
* Improved server stability when players are using Quick Select to return to their last used equipment.
* Improved game stability when returning to a ship where a player is simultaneously being revived.
* Players experiencing a corrupt installation on UWP or Steam will now be notified by a pop-up when attempting to launch the game.

## Known Issues

 **Players Impacted Following Server Migration**

* We are currently tracking a number of player-impacting issues which can occur following a server migration. These include crews migrating near Outposts finding themselves moved to a location where another ship is already present, and issues with ship interaction points following a migration.

 **Increased Latency and Server Correction**

* In cases of high server density, some servers can exhibit performance hits leading to increased latency. This may result in lag spikes during gameplay, rubberbanding and server correction.

 **Ranged and Melee Weapon Hit Detection**

* In areas of intense action, players may find themselves firing shots or landing strikes that do not cause damage to their targets. While improvements continue to be delivered during our content updates, this continues to be a key priority for the team.

 **Stuck UI Menus**

* When interacting with a barrel and moving quickly through its inventory, players may find that the barrel’s state is not updated as items are removed. Players can also experience the Game Options becoming stuck on-screen when exiting a barrel in this state.

To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.

## Download and Installation

**Download size:**

* Xbox One: 6.17 GB
* Xbox One X: 6.5 GB
* Windows 10: 6.5 GB
* Steam: 4.47 GB

Xbox Installation Instructions can be found here.

PC Installation Instructions can be found here.

## Forum Discussion

You can discuss these release notes in the Forums here.

You can leave your feedback on the game in general here.