How to Sail Solo in Sea of ​​Thieves

Sea of ​​Thieves is meant to be played as part of a crew. You and a few friends pillage and plunder the seas (and other players) as a team. However, that’s not the only way to sail the seven seas. If you’d rather sail solo, you can also take to the oceans on a smaller, more maneuverable ship. Life as a pirate without any help can be particularly tough — you have no backup in case of emergencies, and if you encounter a crew of other players, you’ll be at a disadvantage.

However, it is possible to succeed on the high seas, all alone, if you play to the strengths of working alone. You’re smaller, faster, and stealthier than other crews and the galleons you might encounter. If you play it smart, you can win battles, escape emergencies, sneak past enemies, and plunder a ton of loot. Use these tips to maximize your effectiveness as a solo buccaneer.

Sail on safer seas

A long awaited addition to Sea of ​​Thieves was the Safer Seas mode. In this mode, you can play solo or with just a team of teammates, without having to worry about other players interrupting your pirate adventures. This mode doesn’t have all the content of the normal mode and you earn less rewards for what you do achieve, but it’s by far the best way to get your sea legs and learn how to live the pirate life solo or as a team.

Make short trips

Every time you collect gold, complete a journey or collect a bounty in Sea of ​​Thievesyou risk losing it. If someone attacks you and kills you, shall take your stuff with you. If your ship sinks, you have a limited window to grab what you had on board before it ends up at the bottom of the sea near your ship. So every time you complete an objective, you become vulnerable.

When playing solo, try to complete each voyage as quickly as possible. Take the shortest route possible and spend as little time on open water as possible. Have a plan for which outpost you’ll go to after completing your mission and how to get there quickly. If you find yourself on the run, it’s best to try to turn in everything you have before you get killed. Your ship and life can be replaced, but your supplies won’t be there when you return.

Dark running

If you’re completely alone on a sloop, you’ll want to avoid conflict. Other ships with larger crews might enjoy fighting on the high seas, but if you’re alone, stealth is usually your best option. The first step to remaining undetected is to turn off all of your lanterns so that you’re less visible at night. (As we note in our ship combat guide , this is a good idea anyway.) This won’t make you completely invisible, but a larger ship looking for other players to plunder might miss you from a distance.

There are other steps you can take to make yourself as invisible as possible. You can hide from other ships that you see by placing islands between you and them, and you can raise your sails when you disembark so that your ship is less noticeable. Take whatever steps you can to make yourself harder to see in any circumstances — you’ll live longer.

Always be ready for a quick escape

In general, any crew is most vulnerable when their ship is stationary on an island. You’re visible to other crews while you’re busy on the island, making it a good time for them to set up an ambush. Most players know that when a crew isn’t on their ship, they’re likely to be collecting valuables worth stealing. That’s why it’s important to take precautions every time you leave your ship to keep it (and yourself) safe.

First, it’s a good idea to practice approaching an island at a slow speed so that you can park close to it. Instead of zooming in and relying on dropping your anchor, try clipping your sails as you approach to come to a stop at a desired location. Unless you’re dealing with storm conditions, your stationary boat won’t drift much once you’ve raised your sails, so you usually won’t need an anchor to keep your empty boat from moving. In fact, you’ll want to leave your boat with the anchor up, rather than down, in most cases. It’s much faster to board your boat and drop your sail to escape than it is to stop and weigh anchor. Leaving your vessel with your sails up also makes it much less visible, and you can enhance that effect by using the island, rocks, and other natural cover to hide from distant binoculars.

On an island, hide anything you plan to take with you on the beach, but in bushes where it won’t be easily spotted by passersby, and don’t load it until you’re ready to leave, so no one can jump on your ship and steal your stuff while you’re not there to stop them. Finally, check the horizon before you leave your boat and when you return to it before you leave, so you won’t be caught unawares if you’re not ready.

Automatic pilot

While steering the ship may seem like an important task without a crew member to take the helm, you don’t always have to be at the helm of your ship. If you’ve set sail for an island and it’s far away, set your sails and wheel to steer the boat straight and take care of your business elsewhere.

Take advantage of the crow’s nest to get a better view of the sea. From there you can look out for enemy ships, shipwrecks to plunder, abandoned supplies and treasure chests on the shoreline. It’s also a beautiful view. Just make sure to keep an eye on where your ship is going and watch out for unknown rocks.

Aim low for the attack

Just because you’re on a relatively vulnerable ship doesn’t mean you’re defenseless. The Sloop is generally at a disadvantage in ship-to-ship combat, but under the right circumstances your Sea David can take down a Sea Goliath. The Sloop has cannonballs stationed on the deck, making it possible to reload quickly. If you get into a good firing position, you can quickly destroy an enemy ship, perhaps even sinking it if the crew isn’t on the ball. Remember, when shooting at enemy ships, you should try to hit them below the waterline. Deck damage doesn’t have much of an effect on a ship’s performance, though it is possible to hit gunners with cannonballs and kill them outright. What you really want to do is flood enemy ships. It will slow them down, pull crew away from the guns to force them to make repairs, and generally cause chaos.

If you’re on the offensive and not in a chase scenario, use your increased maneuverability to get behind the enemy ship, or try to circle around it, depending on the situation. If you can get the positioning right, you can keep your broadside and weapons trained on the enemy at all times, while taking away their ability to hit you easily. If you’re forced to periodically face their broadside, drop off the deck and use that time to go below and repair any incoming damage, then return to your weapons if they can’t fire back.

Use storms

Storms make it difficult for any ship to go about its normal business, and if you’re in a combat scenario, heading into rough seas can be a lifesaver. Storms affect steering, mess up compasses, damage hulls, and create huge waves that make it difficult to fire cannons accurately. They also drop rain on ships, causing their holds to fill with water, albeit slowly. You can often solve these problems faster on a solo run than the big boys, so know that a storm can be a useful tool to help you get away in times of need. It’s better to take some damage from big waves than to get shot at by cannons.

Playing dirty

Lone pirates are natural assassins and/or burglars. As a lone pirate with a small, maneuverable ship, you’re ideally placed to sneak aboard other ships and rob them blind if you’re quick and clever. Boarding an enemy ship can confuse an unexpected enemy crew, and once you’re in the hold of another ship, there’s a chance to do some damage. For example, many players will grab powder kegs from islands with the plan of using them as depth charges against anyone pursuing them. If you find barrels in an enemy hold, they’ll become bombs that you can detonate to sink your opponents and throw them into chaos. Even boarding and stabbing a few people can be enough to confuse the enemy when you need (or want) to create some chaos.

You can also potentially mess with opponents you don’t want to completely mess with. If you’re sneaking up on an enemy ship in a location you need to be at, try setting their sails and letting their ship sail without them. The distraction can be useful in getting what you want, and against a single player it can send them away from an outpost or island you want to explore, reducing the chance of you getting killed along the way.