2.7.0

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Battle breaks out across the Sea of Thieves in Season Eight! But this is a conflict that you can wade into at your own discretion: all pirates wishing to take sides will find two distinct Factions clashing on the open sea as this Season begins. Get the full story in the Content Update video below, with bonus viewing available in the reveal livestream and the Season Eight Deep Dive...

Now read on for details on not just the Battle at hand but everything else landing in this substantial update, from a new Plunder Pass and 100 free levels of Seasonal rewards to the latest accessibility improvements and bucketloads of fixes and adjustments!

## The Battle for the Sea of Thieves

Conflict now rages between the Guardians of Fortune, loyal to the Pirate Lord and his allies, and the Servants of the Flame, followers of the newly emboldened Captain Flameheart. Those of each Faction can hunt the other at will, bringing ship combat on demand to the Sea of Thieves...

**Choosing a Faction**

* Crews who wish to join the Battle for the Sea of Thieves must choose a Faction to fight for: the Guardians of Fortune or the Servants of the Flame. Crews are free to fight for both Factions in order to access the full range of rewards, though only one Faction can be represented at a time.
* Head to the Captain’s Table and rotate the Hourglass of Fate to your chosen Faction, then vote to join the Battle for the Sea of Thieves.

**Hunting the Opposition**

* Crews looking to go on the offensive should unfurl the War Map on the Captain’s Table, vote to begin Battle and then sail to open waters. The ship will dive beneath the waves in search of a willing opponent.
* Steel your resolve and prepare to fight in your Faction’s name – Battle is imminent! Once a suitable opponent has been found, your ship will breach the surface with the rival in sight and Battle will commence.
* Crews are contained within a Battle area, visible from the ship’s map. Crews who flee from the fight will find their ship subjected to an explosive fate and their rival declared the victor.

**Allegiance Streaks**

* Crews successful in sinking multiple foes without being sunk themselves will build an Allegiance Streak, boosting the Allegiance earned from each encounter. Building an Allegiance Streak will cause your ship’s glowing visual effects to grow with each win, wrapping the hull to show off your formidable feats.
* Ships reaching an Allegiance Streak of four will become a Faction Champion, visible on the map for all to see. Faction Champions can continue building their Streak for as long as they dare!
* Pirates becoming Faction Champions are also offered the choice of battling crews larger than their own, selected from the War Map.

**Treasure Grade**

* Pirates who have joined a Faction can still earn Allegiance without hunting opposing crews, though they must be prepared to defend their hoard: after joining the Battle for the Sea of Thieves, the more treasure is amassed and kept safe on board, the higher the ship’s Treasure Grade.
* Crews who defeat attacking Faction crews while defending their treasure will earn more Allegiance for each ship sunk.

**Leaving the Battle**

* Crews can leave the fight from their Faction’s table at an Outpost (or The Reaper’s Hideout if playing as the Servants), and will be awarded Allegiance and gold based on their success.
* The value of a crew’s Hourglass of Fate from successful battles, Treasure Grade and Emissary Grade reached will all increase the rewards earned when cashing in at the Outpost.

**Captaincy Alignments and Rewards**

* Captains of the Sea of Thieves have access to two new Alignments within the Ship’s Log: The Guardian and The Servant. Captains who pick a side and progress through the relevant Milestones can earn Trinkets, Ship’s Crests and a range of other decorative options themed around their Faction.

**Guardians of Fortune Commendations and Rewards**

* Within the Reputation tab, pirates loyal to the Pirate Lord can show their Allegiance to the Guardians of Fortune, a new Faction complete with Commendations and rewards.
* Earning Allegiance for the Guardians of Fortune will unlock access to the Protector Figureheads, a set of ornate carvings of the Pirate Lord, becoming more embellished as pirates progress.
* Loyal pirates can also gain access to Guardian Ghost, Mysterious Stranger and Magpie’s Wing cosmetics and even the returning Legendary Curse from within the Pirate Legend Hideout shops, locked behind Commendations and Allegiance.
* Guardians reaching Allegiance level 100 who also hold the mantle of Pirate Legend will be granted access to a new area to explore within the Pirate Legend Hideout. Within this secret area, those loyal to the Pirate Lord will earn the right to the Blessing of Athena’s Fortune, changing them into a ghostly form.

**Servants of the Flame Commendations and Rewards**

* Within the Reputation tab, cutthroat pirates loyal to Captain Flameheart can show their Allegiance to the Servants of the Flame, a new Faction complete with Commendations and rewards.
* Earning Allegiance for the Servants of the Flame will unlock access to the Servant Figureheads, a set of grim carvings of Captain Flameheart, growing in grandeur as pirates progress.
* Servants reaching Allegiance level 100 along with The Reaper’s Bones rank 75 will be granted a new shanty, which can be played at the Reaper’s Hideout to unlock access to a secret underground area. Those willing to dedicate themselves to the Servants’ cause can take part in the Ritual of the Flame, transforming them into an undead skeleton pirate.
* Within The Reaper’s Lair, the Bonesmith offers a range of customisations for fresh bones, offering new heads, torsos, legs and bone colours locked behind Commendations and Allegiance.

**Battle for the Sea of Thieves Achievements**

* New Xbox and Steam achievements can be unlocked by joining the fight. A total of 200 gamerscore is available to earn from this update, and these achievements will remain in the game indefinitely.
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## Season Eight

A new Season means 100 new levels to climb by raising your Renown, with rewards along the way – and an optional Plunder Pass adding even more. New Ledger prizes can also be earned by Emissaries for all Trading Companies, not just Athena’s Fortune and The Reaper’s Bones!

**Season Eight Progression and Rewards**

* Season Eight offers a refreshed progression path with Trials and Deeds for new and experienced pirates alike. Weekly, monthly and Seasonal goals all reward players for exploring the Sea of Thieves.
* Players can capitalise on the introduction of the Battle for the Sea of Thieves this Season to earn Renown by defeating opposing Faction ships!
* Progressing through the 100 levels of this Season will reward pirates with Cursed Bone cosmetics, new to Season Eight along with weapons of the Damned.
* Pirate Legends or those who become a Pirate Legend during Season Eight can also earn Flameheart’s Hat and Cutlass.
* Completing tiers of Seasonal progression will also award unique Titles, allowing players to display their success for all to see.

**Season Eight Plunder Pass**

* Purchase Season Eight’s Plunder Pass to gain access to a plethora of unlockable, never-before-seen rewards, all available to earn by climbing the levels of Seasonal progression.
* Plunder Pass purchasers this Season can earn the full Ravenwood Ship Collection, including Collector’s Figurehead and Sails.
* For those looking to truly transform themselves, the Ravenwood Costume can also be earned, evolving as players progress through the Season.
* Along with the wealth of new cosmetic rewards, Plunder Pass purchasers can earn 750 Ancient Coins in Season Eight – added to the 250 earnable through Seasonal progression, that’s 1000 Ancient Coins in total!
* The Season Eight Plunder Pass is available to purchase in-game through the Pirate Log or Pirate Emporium, from the Microsoft Store or Steam Item Store.

**Season Eight Emissary Ledger Rewards**

* Representing the Gold Hoarders in their Emissary Ledger can now earn players the Tribute Peak Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
* Players seeking out the secrets of the Order of Souls can earn the Relic of Darkness Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
* The Merchant Alliance honour their high-performing Ledger representatives with the Merchant Ambassador Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
* Flying the flag of The Reaper’s Bones and earning a high rank in their Ledger can earn players the Masked Renegade Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy.
* Legendary pirates representing Athena’s Fortune in their Ledger can earn the Magpie’s Glory Banjo and Hurdy-Gurdy to demonstrate their dedication to the Pirate Lord.

## Pirate Emporium

Have you earned a king’s ransom during your time on the seas? Show it by splashing out on the sumptuous new ship set and matching crown. Alternatively, get back in touch with your feral side as the Night Wulf Costume and Weapon Bundle are shipped in from the dark heart of the jungle...

**King’s Ransom Ship Bundle**

* Go for gold with a livery inspired by fables of wildly wealthy seafaring royalty when you purchase this ship bundle. Excludes Collector's variants.
* Pirates who only need the bare essentials can purchase or browse just the core components of the palatial King's Ransom set in an Essential Ship Bundle.

**King’s Ransom Crown**

* The earliest and most extraordinary Sea of Thieves myths mention a golden skeleton king and his long-lost crown. Which can now be yours for a price...

**Night Wulf Costume**

* The bestial, near-unstoppable Wulf of legend makes a fine role model for sabre-rattling sea reavers.
* When wearing this costume, give voice to your untamed rage or simply lament banging your elbow on the capstan by performing the Wulf Howl Emote.

**Night Wulf Weapon Bundle**

* With this set of four deadly weapons, strike with the fury and speed of the fabled Wulf.

**Rare Wares Trinket Bundle**

* A collection of three decorative Trinkets inspired by tales of wild adventure from worlds beyond the Shroud.

**Freebie Sparkler Emote**

* Not suitable for arson or attacking, just wholesome sparkly nighttime magic.

**Time-Limited Festival of Plenty Pet Outfits**

* These food-themed pet outfits are back for a limited time. Head to the Pirate Emporium to dress your pet up for dinner!

**Time-Limited Festival of Plenty Instruments**

* Have fun and give thanks to your crew and allies, as these tasty instruments are also back for a limited time!

**Wulf of War Bundle (Store Only)**

* Available only from the Xbox, Microsoft and Steam Stores, the Wulf of War Bundle contains the Night Wulf Costume and all four weapons in the Night Wulf Weapon Bundle, along with 550 Ancient Coins to spend in the Pirate Emporium and a free bonus of 25,000 gold. Head to the Microsoft Store or Steam Item Store to find out more.

**Black Friday Sale**

* With a special Friday fast approaching, check back into the Pirate Emporium for fabulous discounts from November 24th to November 29th (10:00 UTC).
* Pirates will find deals on a wide range of sets and items, along with a freebie emote and the return of the Golden Skull Sails for a limited time!

## Gameplay Improvements

**Cursed Cannonball Balancing**

* Cursed Cannonballs are now more scarcely discovered in island barrels, washed-up crates and Rowboats.
* Cannonball Crates of the Damned now only award a single Wraith Cannonball due to their immense power.
* The effect duration of green Cursed Cannonballs that affect other players have now been shortened across the board.
* Players are now limited to holding only five Cursed Cannonballs at any given time.

**Emissary Warning**

* Crews representing a Trading Company as an Emissary will now be shown a notification to remind them that while more rewards can be earned by doing so, they should also expect to become a valuable target for other crews.

**Front End Messaging**

* The game’s front end notifications sent from *Sea of Thieves* Support now convert to the player’s local time zone.

## Outpost Cosmetics

**New Hairstyles and Beards**

* The Outpost clothing shop now offers players hairstyles and beards from the Forsaken Ashes set, with the Forsaken Ashes Singed Hair and Forsaken Ashes Frazzled Hair as well as the new Forsaken Ashes Beard. All can be purchased with players’ hard-earned gold.
* For pirates looking for a ‘cooler’ look, the Up ‘n’ Down Hair, Topknot Hair and Craggy Beard available from the clothing shops may be more their style.

## Events

**Twitch Drops**

* Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Eight with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to *Sea of Thieves* social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active, some for Partnered streamers and some for all streamers, allowing players to earn a selection of new and classic items from the Eastern Winds Sapphire, Rising Morningstar and Frozen Horizon sets.
* Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.

## Accessibility

**Tooltip Narration**

* Tooltips that appear on-screen when interacting with items can now be narrated, providing improved accessibility for those with low vision.
* With text-to-speech narration already enabled, players can enable tooltip narration within the Language Settings along with configuration options to allow players to define how much of the tooltip is narrated. For more information, head to the Accessibility guide on our support site.

## Fixed Issues

**Gameplay**

* Players taking fatal damage aboard their ship shortly before entering the Tunnels of the Damned are now returned to life upon arrival in the Tunnels.
* Players drowning while entering the Tunnels of the Damned are now returned to life upon arrival in the Tunnels.
* ‘Swim Up’ can now be assigned to any key and not just the spacebar.
* When players return from the Sunken Kingdom, friendly merfolk carrying treasure will now resurface closer to their ship.
* Wreckers now appear at shipwrecks while on Lost Shipment Voyages, and while exploring a Shipwreck Graveyard as part of the Legend of the Veil Voyage.

**Captains of Adventure**

* When browsing the Shipwright’s Captaincy shop, Voyages that the crew are unable to acquire will now show as locked.
* Players purchasing or discarding Captain’s Voyages will now find the Captain’s Bookcase visually changes.
* The Crossed Harpoons Trinket now appears correctly when placed on board the ship.
* Completing the Emissary Voyages for each Trading Company now correctly progresses the appropriate Voyage Milestones.
* Completing Emissary Voyages no longer progresses ‘Discovered Quests Completed’ Milestones.
* Players should now consistently find the ‘Islands Visited’ Ship Milestone will progress when setting foot on an island.
* Completing Wayfinder, Ghost Ship or Lost Shipments Captain’s Voyages will now update the correct Milestones.
* When leaving and returning to the ship during the Trinket section of the Captaincy tutorial, the Pirate Lord will now be present during his voiceover.
* Completing Quests from discovered Messages in a Bottle in The Devil’s Roar will now progress ‘Devil’s Roar Voyage Quests Completed’ Milestones.
* The ‘Provisions Sold to the Hunter’s Call’ Milestone now only progresses when provisions are sold.

**Pirate Emporium**

* The Bleakheart Banshee Costume visual effects should now be consistently seen by other players.
* Pirates of all body shapes and sizes will find the head of the Spinal Costume no longer appears squashed.

**Environment**

* Small items dropped on Rum Runner Isle are now more visible to players instead of appearing beneath the sand’s surface.
* Players can no longer walk through rocks on the north side of Plunder Valley.

**User Interface**

* Players swapping from mouse to controller input will now find the menu selection consistently follows the actions of the controller.

**Accessibility**

* Players enabling ‘Let Games Read to Me’ will now find the ‘Narrate Change Only’ setting is now enabled by default for new players.

**Visual and Audio**

* While sailing on a Sloop, players should no longer hear a creaking audio effect repeating from the rear canvas.
* Icons for Reaper’s Chests and Fort Keys on the ship’s map now appear at the correct size when playing on console.
* When the Festival of the Damned Lantern is turned on, there are no longer visible issues with the glowing crystals.

**Text and Localisation**

* The ‘Scuttle Ship’ notification shown when crews experience repeated defeats by other crews now displays text correctly across all languages.
* Navigating the ship selection menu within the front end will now display text correctly across all languages.
* The Captained ship selection screen on the front end now displays the value for ship restoration correctly across all languages.

**Performance and Stability**

* Scenarios where crews are stacking large amounts of treasure on board a ship or decorating an island now have optimised server performance, reducing latency, lag spikes, rubberbanding and server correction during gameplay.
* Improved server stability to reduce scenarios where crews are removed from a game session.

## Known Issues

**Visual Issues Underwater Following Battle**

* After diving beneath the waves to find a rival crew in the Battle for the Sea of Thieves, players visiting the Sunken Kingdom may experience visual issues when swimming into the depths.

**‘Gold Earned’ Milestones**

* Crews earning gold by cashing in an Hourglass of Fate following a Battle will find the ‘Gold Earned’ Milestones do not currently progress.

**Reduced Server Performance**

* Players may experience scenarios where they encounter ping spikes at random while playing, resulting in rubberbanding or client stutters. While improvements were most recently released in update 2.5.3, the team continue to work on further improvements for future updates.

**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 small improvements continue to be delivered during our regular updates, we are continuing to investigate and identify further improvements to the player combat experience.

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 Series X: 7.81 GB
* Xbox Series S: 5.07 GB
* Xbox One X: 7.81 GB
* Xbox One: 5.07 GB
* Microsoft Store: 7.54 GB
* Steam: 6.98 GB