Things are about to get lively on the Sea of Thieves! After spending far too long as giant, trash-talking disembodied head, the nefarious Captain Flameheart finally makes a proper return to Rare’s multiplayer pirate adventure next Thursday, 25th July – and he’ll be terrorising players with his formidable fire-belching warship as Season 13 gets underway.
As Rare explained earlier this year, that warship, The Burning Blade, serves as a new roving world event out on the waves, giving players the opportunity to go head-to-head against its awesome firepower if they so choose. The Burning Blade is officially the most powerful ship in Sea of Thieves, sporting ten cannons, the ability launch Ashen Roar balls of fire from its flaming bow, and a sizeable crew of obsidian skelet ons to deal with. But if players manage to defeat it in battle, they have a choice: sink it in defiance of Flameheart or pledge their allegiance to the dread captain and become the new crew of The Burning Blade, temporarily at least.
Players that choose to do Flameheart’s bidding and man The Burning Blade will get some assistance from its former obsidian skeleton crew, which’ll be useful as other players – who can always see the vessel on their map – move in to try and take control themselves.
But what can you do as the new crew of The Burning Blade? Well, that ties in with Season 13’s other new feature: Skeleton Camps. These are located throughout the Sea of Thieves, built by obsidian skeletons in order to extract mysterious artefacts from ancient temples hidden deep below the earth. Any crew, regardless of their allegiance, can approach active Skeleton Camps to ride the lift down into their depths and solve the puzzles within, but Flameheart has a special task for those commanding his vessel.
Each underground temple contains a crypt that’s only accessible by scrutinising star charts and finding constellations hidden on their star-speckled ceilings. Get one open, though, and you’ll uncover a half-finished ritual started by Flameheart’s nefarious Reapers, who’ve been using corrupted Orbs of Secrets to extract knowledge from the Ancients buried inside. Crews in charge of The Burning Blade can then complete the ritual, collecting the secrets of the Ancients, and increasing the value stored within their ship.
Players on The Burning Blade are free to visit as many Skeleton Camps and complete as many rituals as they dare while they still have control of the warship, but if the risk from other players starts to feel too great, they can return to Captain Flameheart at the Reaper’s Hideout and cash in their bounty for gold and Reaper’s Bones reputation.
And for players that choose to oppose Flameheart, things work a little differently. For starters, when crews not in command of The Burning Blade enter Skeleton Camps, they’ll need to scupper rather than complete the half-finished ritual, requiring them to defeat waves of vicious obsidian skeletons. And if they succeed, they can grab the Orb of Secrets, taking it to a Trading Company at an outpost in order to sell it for profit.
There’s a little more to this side of things, however; if players who oppose Flameheart defeat The Burning Blade during its world event and let it sink rather than take control, they’ll be awarded the Blade of Souls – a powerful weapon imbued with fiery attacks that increases in value for each ritual completed. This can then be turned into a Trading Company to earn gold and reputation when the risks start to feel too great.
Tying all this together are a bunch of new Commendations and rewards. There’s a new Burning Blade ship set to unlock by completing rituals for Flameheart, for instance, as well as new Skeleton Curse customisation options that sufficiently ranked Hour Glass Battle players can use. Players that choose to sink The Burning Blade, meanwhile, can work toward unlocking obsidian weapons and clothing, plus the Obsidian Bone Crusher captain’s cabin decorations and ship set.
Alongside all that, Season 13 promises 100 more levels of seasonal progression and a new tier of premium rewards for those that buy the optional Plunder Pass. Additionally, players can purchase new toucan pets from the real-money Pirate Emporium when things get underway next Thursday, 25th July, on PC, Xbox, and PlayStation 5.
And if you’re wondering what’s next, we already have a pretty good idea. Rare’s 2024 Sea of Thieves roadmap confirmed Season 14 will round out the year with new features enabling stealthier forms of play. Expect the likes of spring traps, blow darts, crouching and sneaking, plus the ability to silently hang off the edge of ships or scurry around disguised as treasure chests to trick unsuspecting crews. Oh, and there’s a grapple gun on its way too…