Sea of Thieves has come a long way, despite the rough seas it's encountered earlier on its voyage, and its developers Rare has tons of new content available today. The final monthly update of the year, Update 2.0.10, is sure to spread some holiday cheer with lots of new goodies and holiday cheer.
Festival of Giving
A ship with faring gifts has been sunk, scattering them throughout the Sea of Thieves. Stitcher Jim needs crews to find these gifts to have them delivered to his beloved, the Masked Maiden, who is camped at the Reaper's Hideout.
These time-limited Gift Seeker Voyages task players with retrieving the gifts hoarded at Skeleton Forts, but they are protected by difficult enemies. An even more difficult version is available for Pirate Legend crews, guaranteeing high-value gifts. New Mercenary Commendations will be unlocked by completing these, giving Doubloons and Titles.
Ashen Skeleton Forts maybe be encountered, granting bountiful rewards and guaranteed Ashen Chests. These will be available permanently after the Festival of Giving update, so make sure to prioritize the time-limited voyages.
Washed-up gifts containing all sorts of gifts will also be available scattered throughout the world.
Maiden Voyage
The Maiden Voyage is an addition that finally allows new players, returning players, and players that simply wish to brush up on the basics to practice in a relatively safe environment. Set in a new island, the Maiden Voyage will teach players how to eat food, use a cutlass, and sail their ship to face their first threats out at sea.
The Maiden Voyage will be required for new players to unlock the Adventure and Arena modes. Seasoned Pirates are also recommended to complete the Maiden Voyage to unlock the secrets of the island as well as earn commendations for them. Unlock cosmetics such as the Pirate Lord's Jacket and Magpie's Fortune Sails by completing all of the commendations.
New players will also unlock content from the Gold Hoarder Trading Company after completing the Maiden Voyage.
Pirate Emporium
The Pirate Emporium accessible via the Main Menu or via the Outposts will be having a sale on older items as well as an array of new, seasonal items. New bundles will be available for pets and pet outfits, new emotes, a Festival of Giving Bundle with bonus gold, and finally, SpecialEffect Charity Sails.
Black Market
The Black Market is also stocked with new items. Visit Stitcher Jim (which you'll surely be doing anyway) to view the new Aristocrat Clothing set, more Mercenary equipment, and finally the Nightshine Parrot ship.
The Black Market Archive will also be making available all previously available Black Market cosmetics, at a higher price that is. Grab this chance to get whatever rare cosmetics you missed last time before they close again.
Balance Changes
The update also brings combat balancing, especially for sword combat. The sword miss cooldown has been lowered, and the sword stunlock has been removed. Players will no longer be stunned by successful blocks, and be stunned for a shorter duration when damaged. Skeletons will continue to be stunned just as before. Sword-wielding now also has a brief delay, similar to the delay on guns. Finally, damage from sword effects now indicates where it came from, while player attacks leave a visual effect when attacking.
Find the full release notes here.
The latest Sea of Thieves updates weighs 5.54GB on the Xbox one and 8.59 GB on the Xbox One X and Windows 10.
