2.5.3

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The past month has seen big news in the form of the Season Seven Captaincy announcement, now mere weeks away. Until then, you can enjoy the fruits of your ‘Lost Sands’ labour as New Golden Sands Outpost begins its recovery, impress people with amber from the Pirate Emporium and pick apart a new stack of adjustments and improvements. And one last time, remind yourself of the features that came front-loaded into Season Six via the trailer below!

Ready to move forward? Then take our hand (not the hooked one, for your own sake) and let us show you exactly what’s new in the latest update...

## Adventures

The fifth time-limited Adventure is here, and following a Megalodon melee in ‘The Shrouded Deep’ and a war of attrition in ‘Lost Sands’, many pirates were probably hoping for some downtime. As was Merrick, but things are rarely so simple on the Sea of Thieves...

**‘The Forsaken Hunter’ (June 30th – July 14th)**

* After recently putting himself on the front line, helping Belle retrieve the Veil of the Ancients and rallying traders and pirates alike in the rebuilding of Golden Sands Outpost, Merrick has gone missing under mysterious circumstances.
* With several days having passed since he was last seen, many are worried about his whereabouts. Speak to Larinna to begin this next Adventure and search for the missing Hunter before it’s too late!
* Pirates who fully complete the Adventure will earn an exclusive Title and a cosmetic reward to serve as a Memento of their quest.

## World Changes

The world of *Sea of Thieves* doesn’t stay still for long, from major regional discoveries down to the smallest island alterations. And with certain Adventures comes a new way to bring about change – driven by the decisions of pirate crews!

**New Golden Sands Outpost**

* After tireless work from all its supporters, Golden Sands Outpost has been saved. Merrick and the Outpost residents are eternally grateful to those pirates who joined their cause.
* The enshrouding fog has lifted and island life is beginning to return to normal, although the scars of battle remain. The residents have begun to make repairs and are more than happy to resume trading!
* However, the Pirate Lord and Golden Sands’ traders will not stop there. They have plans to protect the island from future threats, meaning that more changes will emerge over time.
* To commemorate the rebuilding, all have agreed that the island will from now on be known as New Golden Sands Outpost.

## Pirate Emporium

Bring millennia-old prizes into the present with the Prehistoric Plunderer collection, comprising a ship set, costume, weapons and lantern. You can double dip on new emotes too, and this time it really is your last chance at this Season’s Plunder Pass!

**Season Six Plunder Pass**

* Anyone wishing to take full advantage of Season Six rewards can still buy the Plunder Pass. Any rewards unlocked will become available upon purchase, so players who have raised their Renown throughout Season Six can instantly see their hard work rewarded before the Season ends.
* This Season’s Plunder Pass offers early access to the complete Spring Blossom ship set, the evolving Forest’s Blessing Costume and other items of upcoming Emporium stock, and can be purchased at any time through the Pirate Log, Pirate Emporium, Microsoft Store or Steam Item Store.

**Prehistoric Plunderer Ship Collection**

* Emerging from the depths of time, this ship collection brings the majesty of prehistory to the seas. In addition to the main bundle, a ferocious Collector’s figurehead and Collector’s sails can be purchased separately.
* A Prehistoric Plunderer Essential Ship Bundle is also on offer, including just the core ship cosmetics at a discount.

**Prehistoric Plunderer Costume**

* Studded with dinosaur bones and turning your skin to amber, this costume urges you to let out your finest primeval roar!
* While wearing this ferocious outfit, players can perform the Amber Inspector Emote.

**Weapons**

* Feel the brutal bite of beasts from a land before time with these four fossilised weapons.

**Prehistoric Plunderer Lantern**

* It’s amazing to think the tiny creature encased in this lantern evolves into a mighty Megalodon. Truly, life finds a way.

**Stage Dive Emotes**

* Hide in the most dramatic fashion possible with this set of outrageous yet somehow stealthy emotes.

**Sports Day Emotes**

* Let’s get physical with this selection of athletic emotes. Don’t forget to warm up properly!

**Freebie Rant and Rave Emote**

* This petulant display is often followed by a colourful tirade through the speaking trumpet.

**Fossil Frenzy Bundle (Store Only)**

* Available only from the Xbox, Microsoft and Steam Stores, this bundle contains the Prehistoric Plunderer Costume, Lantern and Weapon Bundle, 550 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.

**Emporium Summer Sale (starts June 24th)**

* Fabulous discounts are available on a range of Pirate Emporium items from June 24th–July 11th. Pirates will be able to pick up sizzling deals on Collector’s Pets and a range of emotes!

## Events

**Twitch Drops**

* Continue to unlock even more cosmetics throughout Season Six with Twitch Drops! Stay tuned to *Sea of Thieves* social channels to find out when Twitch Drops will be active for Partnered streamers, allowing players to earn more items from the Twilight Hunter set. Find out how to link your accounts and more on our dedicated Twitch Drops page.

## Outpost Cosmetics

**Plucky Ruffian Sea Dog Set**

* The Outpost clothing shops now stock the Plucky Ruffian Sea Dog set, available to purchase for gold.

## Accessibility

**Swapping Analogue Sticks**

* Players using a controller can now swap the actions performed by the two analogue sticks using ‘Swap Sticks’ under Input Settings. When enabled, the Left Stick will be used to look around, while the Right Stick will be used to move.

## Gameplay Improvements

**Skeleton Fort Improvements**

* Food Barrels in Skeleton Forts are now stocked with a wider range of food, and each barrel contains a larger supply.
* Barrels holding cannonballs in Skeleton Forts now use the Cannonball Barrel’s visual appearance.

**Island Threat Balancing**

* Skeletons encountered while exploring islands have had their damage slightly reduced.

## Updates

**Emissary Flags and Tunnels of the Damned**

* Following the discovery of a gameplay exploit, active Emissaries passing into a Tunnel of the Damned will no longer drop a broken Emissary Flag upon leaving the server. This is a temporary mitigation which will be replaced by a permanent fix in a future update.

**Pirate Legend Hideout Shops**

* The shop in the Pirate Legend Hideout now offers the Veil of the Ancients Costume to those Legendary pirates who have earned the required promotion. This costume is no longer available from the Pirate Lord.

## Fixed Issues

**Gameplay**

* Players should no longer experience an extended wait time on the Ferry of the Damned before the portal opens.
* Players should once again be able to deliver Fruit Crates and Wood Crates to the Merchant Alliance, and no longer be redirected to Merrick.
* After passing through the Tunnels of the Damned, crews should find that other players they encounter in the world can still be muted when using ‘Mute All Other Crews Voice Chat’ from the Settings menu.
* When a player is sitting at an angle, moving the first-person camera will now have slightly less vertical movement when looking from side to side.
* The ‘Place Map Bundle’ tooltip should no longer be shown on the Captain’s Table when a player is not in possession of a Map Bundle.

**Legend of the Veil Voyage**

* Playing through the Legend of the Veil Voyage and then migrating servers will no longer cause players to lose their progress.
* Treasure items left untouched following a Haunted Island encounter should no longer disappear if the Veil Stone is used prior to collecting the rewards.
* Ancients summoned during the Haunted Island ritual can now be heard speaking during the final battle.
* Purchasing a Legend of the Veil Voyage from the Pirate Lord now displays the correct iconography in the confirmation window.
* Players exploring a Shipwreck Graveyard will now encounter sharks.
* Treasure Crates discovered while exploring a Shipwreck Graveyard should now always be retrievable.
* Improved grammar in the Shipwreck Graveyard quest book pages and tooltips.
* The Veil Stone treasure chest recovered from a Shipwreck Graveyard can now be opened while being held.
* Quest Book pages provided by the Pirate Lord to seek out Belle during a Haunted Island quest now use correct landmark names.

**Environment**

* The pet cage aboard a Sloop has been moved back to give players easier access to the Map Table.
* Players who attempt to jump on the bookcase in a Sloop should no longer be loaded back onto the ship.
* Players should no longer find a floating candle above an interactable barrel at Shark Bait Cove.
* Grog bottles in Old Brinestone Fortress no longer float above the ground.
* Pets can now be placed on the Sloop’s bed.
* When swimming in deep water or flooded rooms, players’ pets should no longer walk around underwater.
* Players should no longer be able to walk through pillars next to the Storeroom in Sea Forts.
* The rug at Mercy’s End Sea Fort should no longer intersect with the floor.
* Players should no longer be able to walk through wooden crates at Imperial Fortress, Traitor's Fate Fortress and Mercy’s End Fortress.
* Players can no longer pass through the hanging barrels near the Treasury room at Imperial Crown Fortress and Old Brinestone Fortress.
* Within the Pirate Legend Hideout, players should no longer be able to push through the sea floor and appear in the open sea.

**Visual and Audio**

* Players should no longer be able to strike at a location where another player may be respawning and hear an audio effect, confirming that player’s location.
* Legendary Luke in the Pirate Legend Hideout now has voiceover lines when speaking.
* Players and pets should now sit correctly inside the Magpie’s Glory and Silent Barnacle Cannons when loaded.
* Equipping the Spring Blossom Figurehead or Collector’s Spring Blossom Figurehead on a Sloop should no longer show floating objects beneath the figurehead.
* During the Maiden Voyage, the Rowboat lantern is now connected correctly to the Rowboat.
* Pets offered food will now move smoothly to the right position before taking a bite.
* The Eternal Freedom Wheel now casts a shadow on the deck.
* While holding an Instrument of the Damned, looking at smoke should no longer cause the smoke to appear in front of the instrument.
* Walking over wooden planks in Old Brinestone Fortress should now cause the correct sound to be heard.
* Players should no longer see an option to sit in mid-air when on the west side dock at Dagger Tooth Outpost.
* Players should no longer encounter oversized projectiles fired from a Trident of Dark Tides.

**Text and Localisation**

* Skeleton Captain names shown on Bounty Quests from the Order of Souls now display correctly in Japanese.
* Description for the Eastern Winds Jade Shovel has been revised.

**Performance and Stability**

* Improvements made to reduce scenarios where players can experience extended black screen loading times when using a mermaid or returning from the Ferry of the Damned.
* Improvements made to the accuracy of a player’s firing location when shooting a ranged weapon. This is intended to improve hit detection across a range of gameplay scenarios where the player is moving while firing.
* Server optimisations made to reduce the frequency of server performance spikes, which can result in players experiencing lag spikes, rubberbanding and server correction during gameplay.
* Server stability has been improved, reducing scenarios where crews are removed from a game session.

## Known Issues

**Reduced Server Performance**

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

**Steam Achievement Unlocking Issues**

* Some Steam players may find that after an achievement is unlocked in the game, it is not unlocked within Steam.

**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: 9.24 GB
* Xbox Series S: 5.36 GB
* Xbox One X: 9.24 GB
* Xbox One: 5.36 GB
* Microsoft Store: 9.3 GB
* Steam: 9.51 GB