2.0.10

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December’s update has arrived! Festival of Giving is our last Monthly Content Update for the year, seeking to bring a little festive fun to the Sea of Thieves. As is traditional, we’ve wrapped up the latest wave of changes in a brand new Content Update Trailer.

For a full breakdown of what the Festival of Giving brings to the table, have a read of the latest release notes!

## Festival of Giving

The Outpost taverns have been dressed in jolly decorations - it’s time for the season of giving! Mysterious Gifts of unknown origin have appeared throughout the Sea of Thieves, and Stitcher Jim has tasked crews with retrieving them. Rewards are on offer for delivering them to his beloved, currently camped near the wreckage of Merrick’s ship on the Uncharted Reef, now being referred to as The Reapers’ Hideout.

Jim is also becoming increasingly fascinated by the secrets held within the Ashen Tomes. With rumours of a new volume of Tomes, skeleton crews have become even more protective of their cargo, securing them inside Skeleton Forts protected by deadly Skeleton Lords!

* **Gift Seeker Voyages** – Skeleton crews have begun to seek out the scattered Gifts and hoard them at Skeleton Forts. Stitcher Jim offers players Gift Seeker Voyages to investigate the Forts and retrieve these gifts, but beware – rumours tell of the vicious Mutinous Helmsman protecting the hoard…

*All Gift Seeker Voyages are time-limited for the duration of the Festival of Giving update.*

* **Gift Seeker of Legend Voyage** – Pirate Legend crews are tasked with a more deadly Voyage to retrieve guaranteed high-value Gifts. While the stakes are higher, Legends must prepare to face off against a harder encounter with both the Two-Faced Scoundrel and The Duchess defending their hoards.

*The Gift Seeker of Legend Voyage is time-limited for the duration of the Festival of Giving update.*

* **Washed-Up Gifts** – Players will now find both Humble and Generous Gifts washed up around the world!

* **Mercenary Commendations and Rewards** – A range of Mercenary Commendations are available to unlock by participating in the Gift Seeker Voyages offered by Jim, earning players Doubloons to spend in the Black Market.

*All Mercenary Voyage Commendations, Doubloons and Title are time-limited for the duration of the Festival of Giving update.*

* **Ashen Skeleton Forts** – Crews warn of ominous Red Skull Clouds appearing on the horizon. By engaging with these Skeleton Forts, crews will fight through enemy waves and encounter Ashen Key Masters or Ashen Guardians before finally facing a Skeleton Lord! Upon their defeat, Skeleton Lords will not only drop the Fort Key but a set of Skeleton Orders leading to a stash hidden somewhere nearby. In addition to regular Fort rewards, crews will find guaranteed Ashen Chests along with Gifts to be returned to The Reaper’s Hideout!

*The Ashen Skeleton Forts will become a permanent addition to the world after the Festival of Giving update, allowing players to encounter this threat at any time.*

* **Ashen Guardian and Ashen Key Master Sightings** – These Ashen Skeletons continue to patrol The Sea of Thieves, but their Skeleton Orders now have the potential to reward players with Gifts along with Ashen Chests buried deep in the sands.

*The Ashen Guardians and Key Masters will become a permanent addition to the world after the Festival of Giving update, allowing players to encounter this threat at any time.*

* **Ashen Treasures Commendations and Rewards: Volume 2** – Stitcher Jim and the Outpost stores both have new stocks of Ashen cosmetics, rewarding players for collecting the next volume of Ashen Tomes hidden inside recovered Ashen Chests. In the Festival of Giving update, players can recover Tomes of Power, allowing access to new Commendations and Cosmetics including items from the clothing, weapon, item and ship sets. Players will continue to find Tomes of Curses to allow access to previous Ashen cosmetics.

*All Ashen Treasures Commendations & Rewards will become a permanent addition to the Outpost Stores after the Festival of Giving update.*

* **Ashen Treasures Achievements** – A range of Xbox Achievements have been added for unlocking in-game Commendations. A total of 35 gamerscore is available to earn from this update, and these achievements will persist in the game for future updates.
	+ Tome of Power I [5G]
	+ Tome of Power II [5G]
	+ Tome of Power III [5G]
	+ Tome of Power IV [5G]
	+ Tome of Power V [5G]
	+ Tome of Power Collector [10G]

## New Player Onboarding

New pirates continue to break through the Shroud and discover the vast expanse of [The Sea of Thieves]]. These fresh-faced folks need help finding their sea legs and must be introduced to the Outpost locals and Trading Companies…

The Maiden Voyage provides players new to Sea of Thieves a safe space to learn about the world they’re about to reach. Taking place on a new Island, the Maiden Voyage will teach players actions from the basics such as eating Food and using a Cutlass, through to Sailing their Ship and facing off against their first threats out at sea.

* **The Maiden Voyage** – Follow the guidance of the Pirate Lord to pick up basic controls, then explore a new Island on the border of the Devil’s Shroud. When you're ready, head out to sea for the first time, breach the Shroud and enter The Sea of Thieves. New Pirates are directed to complete the Maiden Voyage before being granted access to Adventure and Arena modes.

* **Something for Seasoned Pirates?** – While the Maiden Voyage is aimed at introducing new players to the world of Sea of Thieves, seasoned pirates may also choose to explore this new Island for any secrets it may hold. Players will always have access to the Maiden Voyage from the main menu.

* **Maiden Voyage Commendations and Rewards** – New Commendations are available for pirates uncovering the secrets hidden on Old Sailor Isle. Unlock the Pirates Lord’s Jacket and Magpie’s Fortune Sails as part of your journey through the Devil’s Shroud.

Once the Shroud is broken, new pirates arrive on The Sea of Thieves ready for their first Voyage. The Gold Hoarders [[Trading Company] now offers all new recruits an Onboarding Voyage to help teach them the ropes, from voting on Voyages to retrieving Treasure.

* **Mysterious Stranger Introduction** – Upon awaking in the Outpost Tavern, players are now introduced to the Mysterious Stranger before being directed to the Gold Hoarders Trading Company to begin their first Voyage.

* **‘X’ Marks the Spot Tutorial** – All Gold Hoarders representatives now offer an introductory Voyage, teaching players the basics of Voyages and how to find that elusive ‘X’ before returning with the Treasure. New players can visit the Gold Hoarders on any Outpost to pick up their first Voyage!

## Pirate Emporium

With fresh goods smuggled into the Sea of Thieves each month, the Pirate Emporium has been restocked with rare goods and festive treats. Head to the Emporium from the Sea of Thieves main menu before jumping into the game, or at an Outpost via the store above the Order of Souls tent!

* **Festival of Giving SALE!** – Spreading the festive cheer, the Pirate Emporium offers a range of discounts across older inventory items with discounts on Pets, Outfits, Ships and Emotes!

*This Festival of Giving Sale is time-limited for the duration of the Festival of Giving update, so snatch up these bargains before they’re gone!*

* **Festival of Giving** – Got that festive feeling? The Pirate Emporium is celebrating with a range of sensationally seasonal options. Pick up some festive Weapons as well as Pet Outfits for your Pets!

*These Festival of Giving items are time-limited for the duration of the Festival of Giving update, so snatch them up before they return to the vault!*

* **Festival of Giving Discount Bundles** – For this month only, you can pick up discounted bundles for the Parakeet and Barbary, each dressed in a festive outfit.

* **Kraken Pet Outfits** – The popular Kraken-themed outfit, now for your loyal companion! Each Pet can now dress to match its owner with this classic set. Go to the pet section of the Pirate Emporium to purchase an outfit before heading to the Pet Chest to equip it.

* **Pirate Legend Pet Outfits** – Pirate Legends can pick up something exclusive this month, with the introduction of the Pirate Legend pet outfits! Go to the pet section of the Pirate Emporium to purchase an outfit before heading to the Pet Chest to equip it.

* **Bilge Rats Persona Bundle** – Always felt a little out of place when surrounded by those serious pirate types? Looking for a spot of adventure, and maybe some trouble along the way? Pick up the Bilge Rats Persona Bundle, providing a fresh set of core Emotes with big Bilge Rats attitude!

* **Storytelling Bundle** – A range of new storytelling Emotes has been added, providing players with expressive tools for embellishing their tales. Show your crew how you sneaked onto a rival ship and destroyed their Gunpowder Keg – or tell them about that monster Fish you nearly caught!

* **Hide and Sneak Bundle** – The Hide and Sneak Bundle offers a new set of Emotes for stealthy pirates. Looking to sneak onto a rival’s Ship and hide away, waiting to strike? This Bundle contains both serious and silly options for your stowaway antics, with an Emote given away for FREE! When using these emotes, your Gamertag and Title will be hidden automatically for as long as you stay silent. However, should you speak up your gamertag and title will quickly reappear, so keep quiet to stay hidden!

* **Crab Dab Emote** – The latest craze sweeping the Sea of Thieves, or perhaps some form of ancient crab worship? Whatever your reason, represent your love for crabs with this new dance Emote.

* **SpecialEffect Charity Sails** – A new Charity tab has been added to the Pirate Emporium, offering items available for Ancient Coins on behalf of a great cause. Purchase the Noble Pathfinder Sails and all proceeds from the purchase are donated to SpecialEffect (www.specialeffect.org.uk). Visit www.seaofthieves.com/charities for terms and conditions!

* **Festival of Giving Bundle (Store Only)** – Available only on the Xbox and Microsoft Stores. Share in the festive celebrations with the Festival of Giving Bundle. With four fun emotes to help you settle into the festive season, four food-themed weapons to show to your rivals, plus 1000 Ancient Coins and free bonus Gold - you’ll be ready to share the season of giving! Head to the Store to find out more!

## Black Market

Stitcher Jim is in good spirits and has refreshed the Black Market with a range of new items. With the introduction of the Aristocrat Clothing Set, completion of the Mercenary Equipment Set and the eerie Nightshine Parrot Set Ship, he’s sure he has something to tempt you for your coinage.

Also, Jim vowed to make good on Duke’s promise and has now delivered! Introducing the Black Market Archive, where all previously released Black Market cosmetics are available to purchase.

* **Aristocrat Clothing** – Introducing the Aristocrat Clothing Set! The Aristocrat Jacket, Aristocrat Dress and Aristocrat Hat are all available for Doubloons.

* **Mercenary Items** – Also available for Doubloons this month are the remaining Mercenary Set items to help complete the set: the Mercenary Bucket, Mercenary Fishing Rod, Mercenary Lantern, Mercenary Compass, Mercenary Shovel, Mercenary Speaking Trumpet, Mercenary Spyglass and Mercenary Tankard!

* **Nightshine Parrot Ship** – This month gives a twist to the Parrot Ship Set with the eerie Nightshine Parrot Set design. Players can purchase the complete Nightshine Parrot ship set with Gold!

* **Stonewall Imperial Sovereign Clothing** – For those pirates looking to reign over their rivals, this month brings a twist on the Imperial Sovereign Set. Players can acquire the full Stonewall Imperial Sovereign Clothing Set with Gold!

* **Black Market Archive** – Stitcher Jim has introduced the Black Market Archive, providing access to all previously released Black Market items. After their initial Black Market release at a discounted rate, items will be moved to this persistent store and remain on sale, but at full price. Get them early when you can!

## Combat Balancing

The Festival of Giving update brings a range of improvements to Sword combat, with the goal of removing potential exploits while creating a more fluid sword combat experience and better interplay between attacker and defender. To learn more about the reasons behind these changes, read this developer post by Sea of Thieves Design Director Mike Chapman.

* **Sword Miss Cooldown** – When performing a Sword strike and missing an opponent, the cooldown before the player can swing again has been reduced.

* **Sword Stunlock Removal** – When successfully blocking a Sword strike, you will no longer be stunned and unable to move. If you are hit and damaged by a sword strike, the stun duration has now been reduced. However, Skeletons continue to be affected by stun from both blocked and damaging strikes as before.

* **Sword Wield Timing** – When wielding a Sword, the player now has a brief delay before being able to strike. Revised animations have been added to better identify when the sword has reached its idle state and allow the player to strike.

* **Directional Damage Indicator** – When you are being attacked, the Damage effect around the screen now identifies the direction in which the damage came from.

* **Sword Trails** – Wielding a Cutlass and striking your foes once again uses a trail visual effect.

## Updates

* **Portable Ammo Crates** – Portable Ammo Crates can now be found washed up across The Sea of Thieves. These can hold 50 ammo and can be carried to the Ammo Chest found on your ship or on an Island to restock the Ammo Crate’s supply.

* **Storm Lightning Balancing** – The frequency of Lightning strikes hitting players while inside a Storm has been reduced, but wielding your Cutlass will continue to increase the chances of being hit and any subsequent Damage.

* **It Should Just Work?** – Throwing up onto a Fire will now extinguish it as expected!

* **Selling Collector’s Chests** – All Collector’s Chests found across the world or discovered during Tall Tales can now be sold to the Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls or Merchant Alliance Trading Companies once they are empty. Crews are rewarded with Gold and Reputation for each chest cashed in!

* **Fire Visual Effects** – Fire visual effects have been improved on HDR and high-spec machines.

## Fixed Issues

### General

* Bow splashes should now play correctly when your Ship is moving through the water.
* Migrating to a server that contains a Ship with a broken Mast will now show the ship mast in the correct state.
* The red Ashen Ship Cloud now has an appropriate red reflection on the sea below.
* Resolved an issue causing player loadouts to become corrupted upon loading into the game and immediately purchasing an item, resulting in the next visit to the Ferry of the Damned (or game restart) resetting the loadout.
* The 'Allow Friends to Join Me' setting no longer prevents the sending of invites. Instead it just prevents friends from joining your crew without an invite.
* The glow from Cursed Cannonballs no longer lingers around the player when they stow the cannonball.
* Tall Tales - ‘The Shroudbreaker (Quest)’ - Resolved missing localisation for collecting pages from the Ancient Chest.
* Tall Tales - ‘The Fate of the Morningstar’ - The Enchanted Lantern no longer takes on the player’s Flame of Fate colour.
* Tall Tales - ‘Shores of Gold (Quest)’ - Players returning to the Gold Hoarder’s Treasure Room while the cutscene is playing will now be able to experience the cutscene.
* Resolved texture issues on the Wailing Barnacle Spyglass and Forsaken Ashes Wheel.
* Vibrant Two-Tone Hair Dye has been returned to the Pirate Hideout Store.
* Cancelling out of Repairing the Ship’s Wheel or Capstan no longer plays damage VFX/SFX.
* Raising a dropped Mast then lowering the sails will no longer cause the mast to clip through the Ship.
* Players will no longer become stuck if they pick up an Item while casting the Fishing Rod.
* Switching to a Sword while aiming a gun now shows up correctly from the perspective of another player.
* The Reaper’s Chest beam no longer persists for a couple of seconds where the chest was picked up.
* Resolved animation issues with certain body types when performing the Jump Sit Emote.
* Fished items can now be placed inside the Collector’s Chest.
* Shooting a Mermaid Statue with a Blunderbuss now produces the correct sound effect.

### Tall Tales – ‘The Seabound Soul’

* Ambient Skeletons can no longer spawn in the time between starting the Tale and the beginning of the cutscene.
* Leaving the Ancient Tomb between opening the sarcophagus and taking the skull will no longer cause the tomb door to remain closed.

### The Arena

* Further reductions to wait times in the Glorious Sea Dog Tavern.
* Crews are now able to score points up until the very end of the contest.
* Crews are no longer able to hand in Sea Dog Chests after the contest has ended.

### Pets

* Pets can no longer be placed in or retrieved from a Pet Cage when the cage is closed.

### Fort of the Damned

* The Fort of the Damned Vault door is now locked when migrating to a new server. If you migrate after opening the Fort of the Damned, the Vault stays open on your new server, allowing you to retrieve your rewards.

### Fire

* Attempting to stow a Firebomb while charging a throw will now correctly stow the firebomb and not prevent players from switching Weapons.
* When throwing a Firebomb, other players can no longer take it from you.
* Smoke VFX will no longer always render in front of fire VFX when the Fire is closer to the player.
* Throwing a Firebomb while held by a Kraken tentacle now works as intended.
* Firebombs no longer cause a Ship or Gunpowder Keg to ignite when exploding underwater.
* Firebombs no longer set Fire to players above water when exploding underwater.
* Rum Crates, Fauna and Explosive Barrels will now take damage if they are on the Harpoon of a burning Ship.
* Self-dousing yourself now consistently plays splash VFX.
* Players can no longer throw two Firebombs in quick succession, causing other players to see two explosions.
* The charring effect can now be applied to the Mast on the Sloop.
* Being set on Fire no longer forces you to exit a barrel UI screen.

## Known Issues

* **Pets** – Pets can become stuck in motion on your ship when returning from the Ferry of the Damned – Some players may find that on returning from the Ferry of the Damned their pet can become stuck unable to follow the player

* **New Player Onboarding** – Joining a crew in progress can cause your player to load into an unloaded island – As a New Player, if they have yet to complete the Company Onboarding – joining a crew in progress can cause them to load into the world incorrectly and arrive at an unloaded island

* **Tall Tales - Sailor of the Shores of Gold Title Not Unlocking** – Some players may find that after having completed the Seeker of Grand Adventure Commendation, they are not awarded the Sailor of the Shores of Gold Title.

* **Cosmetics** - Equipped Cosmetics do not persist between sessions – Some players may find that after equipping cosmetics then leaving the game, upon their return those cosmetics will no longer be equipped.

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

## Download and Installation

The Download size of the 2.0.10 Patch is:

* Xbox One: 5.54 GB
* Xbox One X: 8.59 GB
* Windows 10: 8.59 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.