One of the most prominent features in the new update is the addition of the Smuggler’s League, which sells new items and provides an on-demand voyage service for players. Observant Sea of Thieves players must find six new hideouts scattered across the game map to gain access to the Smuggler’s treasure and new gameplay features.
Players will also be excited for the return of Reaper’s Bones Rowboats, a detonating version of the standard rowboat that will now be a permanent addition to the game after being absent for several seasons.
This update is massive, and the changes to the game are too numerous to break down completely. See the complete list of modifications, courtesy of Rare, down below.
Sea of Thieves Season 17 Update Patch Notes
The Smugglers’ League
The Smugglers’ League have sailed in from unknown waters and established six Hideouts across the islands of the Sea of Thieves. Visit these new locations to learn more about The Smugglers’ League and cash in Smugglers’ treasure.
Smugglers’ Route Run
The Smugglers’ League now provide an on-demand Voyage from the Quest Table, tasking crews with covertly transporting dangerous and fragile high-value goods.
The Smugglers’ Route Run will always direct players down the same treacherous pathway marked on the ship’s map, where other opportunist crews may lie in wait…
Messages in a Bottle
For the duration of Season 17, any Message in a Bottle discovered outside The Devil’s Roar will offer a sneaky Smugglers’ Run along a route hidden from the map, providing lucrative rewards.
Black Powder Barrels
The Black Powder Barrel is a powerful new explosive item that can be sold to The Smugglers’ League at their Hideouts.
This barrel is held upright, making it an easier target, but is also reinforced for increased durability. The barrel will show visual signs of damage before it explodes, dealing more damage than a Stronghold Keg and with a considerably wider blast radius.
Each Black Powder Barrel has a long 10-second fuse, allowing for more devious traps to be laid.
Smuggling Skeleton Ships
Skeleton Ships have recovered valuable Smugglers’ League treasure items and weapons, and are now stockpiling them on board in addition to their usual rewards.
Skeleton Ships are now guaranteed to have a Black Powder Barrel aboard, and a high chance of rare items like the exotic rum crates favoured by the Smugglers, Skulls of Siren Sorrow and Ashen Winds Skulls.
All roaming and ambushing Skeleton Ships encountered on the seas contain these new Smugglers’ League treasures, while the Skeleton Fleet world encounter remains unchanged.
Smugglers’ Shipwrecks
Crews setting sail may now discover these smuggling vessels sunk while transporting their precious cargo. While these wrecks are rarer than traditional shipwrecks, their rewards are worth the detour!
Smugglers’ Shipwrecks contain an assortment of high-value treasure in addition to their usual rewards, with unique ship journals that can be returned to The Smugglers’ League and an assortment of weapons including devastating Black Powder Barrels.
Players diving down to a Smugglers’ Shipwreck will find handy air bubbles throughout the ship to help them while exploring.
For the duration of Season 17, the Reaper’s Chest and Reaper’s Bounty are now exclusively found within sunken Smugglers’ Shipwrecks and no longer found within the Fort of the Damned.
Smugglers’ Caches
As some of the Smugglers’ vessels have been lost at sea, caches of their goods have now begun washing ashore on islands. Finding them will reward eagle-eyed crews with various Smuggler treasures and resources.
Reaper’s Bones Rowboats
These returning Rowboats have been refitted with reinforced Gunpowder Barrels and can also be found with a cannon or harpoon attached. They can be rowed, docked and repaired just like standard Rowboats, but detonate after taking enough damage or when the fuse is lit.
While now a permanent addition to the seas, these Rowboats will appear more frequently for the duration of Season 17.
Smugglers’ Tide Commendations and Rewards
A range of new Smuggler Commendations have been added this Season to provide an additional challenge to players. Explore these from the newly rebranded Adventure at Sea Commendation tab in the Pirate Log.
The Smugglers’ League now offer access to themed clothing and ship rewards along with a range of Trinkets and a mischievous Black Powder Barrel Disguise, unlocked through their Commendations. These items will arrive over the course of Season 17 and can be found in Outpost shops once unlocked.
Season Overview Menu
A new Season Menu has been introduced, showcasing the new content set to arrive this Season and helping players track their progress and earned rewards.
The Overview tab breaks the Season into three Acts, highlighting the content coming throughout these three months of updates. Players can view the content, progress and available rewards.
The Deeds & Rewards tab introduces challenges to complete during each Act. Completing these will earn players a boost to their Season progression along with a few time-limited rewards.
With this new approach to Seasons, the old Weekly, Monthly and Seasonal Trials and Daily Deeds have now been retired.
Season 17 Rewards and Plunder Pass
Progressing through the 100 levels of Renown in Season 17 will reward players with Master of the High Seas clothing items and unique Season 17 rewards, alongside time-limited Fabled Fins collectibles. Head to the Seasons profile page to browse the new rewards and check your pirate’s progress!
Pick up a Plunder Pass to gain access to a plethora of additional unlockable cosmetics from the Rare Regalia collection, including a ship set and selection of themed clothing, all individually earned by raising your Renown. Purchase a Pass in-game through the Pirate Log or Pirate Emporium, or via the Pirate Emporium webpage, Microsoft Store, PlayStation Store, Steam Item Store and now Battle.net Shop!
Season 17 Emissary Ledger Rewards
This Season, the Guild Emissary Ledgers offer the ‘Moonrise Mariners’ Painting, ‘The Unseen Deal’ Ornament and the Guild of Crafty Contrabandists Title to Guilds who represent them well and perform proudly in the Ledgers.
The Hunter’s Call Emissary Ledger now offers the Call of the Seas Wheel and Cannons along with the Assailant of Treacherous Targets Title. These new rewards are earnable by Hunters representing the Company as Emissaries.
Chest of Fortune
The Chest of Fortune remains within the Fort of Fortune and crews can now earn the next Grade of the Fortune’s Favour Commendation, unlocking access to the Regal Fortune Lantern, Spyglass, Compass and Bucket.
Reaper’s Chests
Crews chasing down the tell-tale beacon of the Reaper’s Chest or Reaper’s Bounty can earn the next Grade of the Reaper’s Riches Commendation, and start unlocking access to the Regal Fortune Banjo and Drum.
Pirate Emporium
Show off your personal style with purchases from the Pirate Emporium! Pick up exclusive cosmetics such as ship liveries, costumes, weapons, pets and emotes using your Ancient Coins, purchasable with real money. Head to the Pirate Emporium page to browse and buy the latest additions!
Players can now purchase additional Pirate Profiles, unlocking access to multiple pirate slots from the Pirate tab in the front-end menu. Each pirate will have their own journey with separate progression, rewards and visual customisation.
Players can open up these extra profiles by purchasing a Pirate Deed, either from thePirate Menu or the Pirate Emporium, where bundles of three Deeds can also be purchased at a discount. Once a Deed has been purchased, players can create and customise a new pirate.
Pirate Appearance Potions can now be used on individual pirates through the Pirate Menu.
Rare 40th Anniversary
Sea of Thieves studio Rare is celebrating 40 years of making games, and the festivities include a range of Ruby-themed cosmetics rolled out for pirate players to pick up in various ways!
Login Bonus
Players will receive the Rare Ruby Eyepatch for free when arriving on the seas at any time between Season 17 launch day and September 1st.
Outpost Stock
Appropriately colourful new items are now on offer in the Outpost shops: the Ruby Celebrations Eyeshadow, Lipstick and Makeup along with Red Buckled Boots, Red Sailor Bandana and Red Stitched Shirt.
Pirate Emporium
Available to buy until the September update, the Ruby Reaper’s Mark Sails put a special anniversary spin on this classic time-limited design.
Microsoft Rewards
Players can acquire the Rare Ruby Hat as a redeemable item through Microsoft Rewards.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can get access to the Rare Ruby Emote through the XGPU Perks programme.
Season Ten Legacy Cosmetics
Cosmetics previously available during Season Ten have arrived in the Outpost shops and can now be purchased with Doubloons!
Players can purchase the Intrepid Explorer clothing set, plus the Intrepid Explorer Bobbed Hair, Braided Hair and Beard. The Compass of Nuanced Navigation, Spyglass of Skilful Steering and Bucket of Eternal Cooking are also available.
Pirate Legends can purchase the Larinna Tribute Tattoo.
The time-limited Gilded Sovereign items, however, remain exclusive to players who participated in Season Ten.
Gameplay Improvements
Improved Controller Keybinds
Players on controller now have the ability to use separate keybinds for a range of actions. These actions can now be customised independently or share a button: Secondary Interact and Swap Weapons, Secondary Interact and Reload, and Primary Interact and Reload.
These keybinds can be customised in the Controller Settings Menu, with the default remaining as Y on Xbox controller and Triangle on DualSense™ wireless controller, and can be reset to default if changed at any time.
Cross-Region Matchmaking Improvements
Following the release of Cross-Region Matchmaking in 3.4.1, players now have the choice to opt out of this feature and return to only matchmaking within their home region.
Players are free to change this setting either in the front-end settings or in-game during a session, and this will take effect when next attempting to matchmake into an experience such as Faction Battles, Voyages, entering the Tunnels of the Damned for Tall Tales or scuttling a ship.
When playing in a crew, if any player has chosen to opt out of Cross-Region Matchmaking, that will prevent the crew from migrating across regions during their session.
Support for additional regions has been added in France, South Africa and India, providing lower-latency servers for players in those regions and additional Cross-Region Matchmaking routes for nearby locations.
Performance Improvements
Following the prior rebuild of the Sloop, Brigantine and Galleon, this update now allows the game client to utilise the system to smooth out how other ships are loaded when approaching them at a distance, stabilising framerates while sailing.
Hit Registration Improvements on Animals
Players attacking various animals like chickens and pigs with melee attacks will now experience improved hit registration, dealing more consistent damage to targets.
Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage Notifications
Players who have their Skull of the Banished stolen by a rival crew will no longer be notified with a pop-up notification. This ensures consistency with how stolen items are handled across the wider experience.
The Devil’s Roar Balancing
Further improvements have been made to volcanoes, ensuring that players caught on an island about to erupt can more predictably plan their escape. After a volcano starts to smoke, the time before it erupts has now been reduced slightly as a result.
Events
Season 17 Community Weekend (August 30th – September 1st)
Your favourite 48-hour event is back for Season 17! Enjoy free gifts, pose at Picture Walls, solve puzzles as you seek Pop-Up Plunder, and make use of reward boosts thanks to the Community Emissary Grade raised by watching Sea of Thieves streamers on Twitch.
As a bonus goal to tie in with Rare’s 40th anniversary celebrations, reaching a cumulative community total of World Events completed during Community Weekend will unlock the Ruby Legend Figurehead for everyone.
Find out more in August’s This Month in Sea of Thieves article, and stay tuned for a full rundown closer to the date!
Fixed Issues
Gameplay
Players taking damage soon after healing to full health will no longer find their health bar becomes hidden even though they are not at full health.
Voyage notes pinned to the ship’s mast now require players to be much closer and facing the note before being able to interact with it, preventing accidental use.
Skeletons killed by a thrown knife will no longer leave behind an invisible surface that prevents players from attacking enemies behind it.
Improvements have been made to boarding audio effects to prevent players muffling certain effects when repeatedly attempting to give an item while grabbing the ladder.
Ships that are beached in shallow waters around islands can now be consistently sunk by rival crews. Once sufficient damage has been dealt to a ship, even if the ship is unable to fill with water, it will be considered sunk and destroyed.
During a Faction Battle, a ship that is sunk due to heading into the Devil’s Shroud now consistently causes the match to end and loses the encounter.
Bone piles belonging to the Order of Bone and Blade should no longer appear on lava where they cannot be dug up.
Ashen Lords in combat will now continue to actively attack players using a nearby cannon.
Followers of the Flame Voyage
If players are moved to another server during the Followers of the Flame Voyage, the Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons will now continue to behave as expected.
Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons revived near the dig site will no longer seem to disappear.
Reaper’s Chests Unsealed
Unsealed Reaper’s Chests and Chests of Bones that have been depleted will no longer show bones inside the chest.
Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons should no longer start following allied players if the unsealed Reaper’s Chest is not nearby.
Cannon of Rage
Players approaching a deployed Cannon of Rage will now find the interactions have been repositioned to make the weapon easier to load, fire and retract.
Retracting a Cannon of Rage no longer causes it to briefly disappear.
Players joining a session in progress should now see deployed Cannons of Rage in their correct state.
Environment
Improvements have been made to the environment beneath Skeleton Camps to prevent players from using a Grapple Gun to leave the designated area.
A range of island improvements have been made to prevent players becoming stuck within the environment.
Mysterious journals found on Crescent Isle should now all be readable.
Visual and Audio
Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons now move smoothly when following players or walking while holding weapons.
When Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons appear, the visual effects now show consistently.
Dropping a Chest of Bones or Reaper’s Chest no longer causes the audio effect to be heard at extended distances.
Players will now consistently hear their pirate gasp for breath when resurfacing if they had begun to drown.
Crews with the Regal Fortune Wheel equipped will now find it appears visually correct after being fully repaired.
When performing the Grog Shaker Emote, the audio effects can now be heard fully.
Ancient Phantoms encountered during the Search for Ancient Secrets Voyage should now consistently have audible voiceover when subtitles are shown.
The image on the Crate of Immaculate Diamonds now appears at the correct orientation when placed on the ground.
Players wearing the Oyster’s Prize Eyepatch will now find the eyepatch is hidden when performing a disguise.
Players’ hands will now appear correctly when performing the Target Hide Emote.
Text and Localisation
‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players using non-English languages will now find interactions on the Headless Monkey are translated.
‘Captains of the Damned’ – Captain Jack Sparrow’s subtitles will now be shown fully when speaking.
‘Lords of the Sea’ – The voiceover and subtitles shown during this Tall Tale now match correctly.
Players using replaced gamertags will now see Half-Stew Jean’s name spelled correctly.
Players using Russian language settings should now find the Dire Dark Warsmith set name has been changed to better differentiate it from the original Dark Warsmith set.
Performance and Stability
Further improvements have been made to game stability to reduce scenarios where players unexpectedly exit the game or become disconnected from their session.
