The Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update is now live. Players can look forward to new single-player and multiplayer content, as well as more activities. Let's take a look.
First up, it's Tall Tales - Shores of Gold. This new string of quests sees players searching for a fabled lost island. Shores of Gold brings various new items, gameplay tweaks, and the imposing Skeleton Lords for players to battle. Along with these new adventures are new Commendations to acquire. The new Tall Tales Reputation page displays a range of new Commendations to unlock and new rewards to earn. To begin this new content, simply visit the Mysterious Stranger at any Outpost tavern and examine the quest book beside the Stranger.
Multiplayer fans can look forward to The Arena, an on-demand PvP mode that pits player crews against each other. The Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update adds six Arena maps for players to compete in. Battling in the Arena will earn players reputation with a new faction called the Sea Dogs Trading Company. As a player's reputation improves, more cosmetic rewards and titles are unlocked.
The Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update also adds three new skills: Fishing, Cooking, and Hunting. Players will now find cooking spots around the world, as well as places to fish, while wild creatures will now drop raw meat for cooking. To get started on any of these, access the new Hunter's Call Commendation screen for some initial hints. There's more to these disciplines than the basics, of course. Rarer food replenishes more health, and overcooking food can reduce its value and efficacy. A perfectly-cooked meal will cause health to slowly regenerate, making a well-cooked meal ideal before a fight.
Finally, Rare and Microsoft have introduced a whole bunch of quality-of-life improvements and gameplay tweaks in the Anniversary Update. Players can now target different parts of ships for massive damage. Harpoon guns have been fitted to each ship for a wider range of tactical options. The Anniversary Update for Sea of Thieves adds all this plus new menus, new cosmetics, and new shop sorting filters. There's way too much to list here, so check out the full patch notes to find out what's changed. The Anniversary Update clocks in at 8.55GB for base Xbox One (and Xbox One S) owners, while the Xbox One X and Windows versions are a little bigger at 8.90GB.
You can plunder the Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update for free (how else would pirates acquire booty?) right now. In the meantime, here's what TechRaptor thought of the game during its maiden voyage in March last year and we recently looked at its state in advance of the Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update.
Will you be getting stuck into the Sea of Thieves Anniversary Update? Let us know in the comments below!
