Getting Started in Sea of Thieves
Sea of Thieves has no gear progression. Every pirate on the sea has identical health, identical weapons, and identical cannons, so everything you earn is cosmetic and every fight is decided by skill. Run the Maiden Voyage first, take a Sloop if you are sailing solo or as a duo, and remember that treasure is worth zero gold until you physically carry it to an outpost and sell it. Sink with a full hold and your loot floats at the wreck in plain sight for about five minutes, free for anyone nearby to take.
Sea of Thieves drops you into a shared world with a ship, a compass, and no instructions. Most new players expect the sailing to be the hard part. The real adjustment is a game that never rewards you with power.
Why does nothing you earn make you stronger?
There is no gear progression at all. A pirate on hour 3,000 has exactly the same health pool, sword, flintlock, and cannon damage as a pirate on hour one. Gold and reputation buy cosmetics, ship liveries, and titles, and nothing else.
That single design choice explains most of what feels strange early on:
- Losing a fight costs you loot, never levels.
- A veteran crew beats you through positioning and cannon accuracy, not stats.
- Grinding does not close a skill gap. Practice does.
Once that clicks, the game reads very differently. Every hour goes into your own hands, not a character sheet.
Which sea mode should you start in?
Three modes exist, and picking wrong will either bore you or bury you.
| High Seas | Safer Seas | Custom Seas | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Other crews on your server | Yes, up to four other ships | No, you sail alone | Invite only, up to six crews |
| PvP | Yes | None | Whatever the host sets |
| Gold and reputation | 100% | 100% | None at all |
| Trading Company cap | 100 | Rank 25 | No progress earned |
| Reaper's Bones and Athena's Fortune | Yes | Locked | No progress earned |
| Emissary flags | Yes | No | Host-configured |
| Tall Tales | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Pirate Legend reachable | Yes | No | No |
Safer Seas pays full gold and reputation. This changed in patch 3.2.2, up from the 30 percent the mode paid before. The tradeoff is a hard rank 25 cap on every Trading Company. That cap is what stops Safer Seas being a risk-free grind to Pirate Legend.
Start in Safer Seas if you want to learn the ropes without a Galleon appearing on the horizon. Move to High Seas once you can sail, patch holes, and read the sky, because rank 25 arrives faster than you expect and everything past it lives in High Seas.
Do the Maiden Voyage before anything else. It is the built-in tutorial, it takes about 15 minutes, and it is a hard requirement for unlocking Hourglass PvP later. You can replay it any time from the main menu.
Which ship should you pick?
Crew size decides this more than anything else.
| Ship | Crew | Masts | Cannons | Take it when |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sloop | 2 | 1 | 2 | Solo or duo. Best upwind speed and the tightest turns |
| Brigantine | 3 | 2 | 4 | Trio. Middle speed at every wind angle and quick to crew |
| Galleon | 4 | 3 | 8 | Full four. Most firepower, slowest to turn |
A Sloop sailing dead into the wind will outrun a Galleon doing the same. A Galleon with the wind behind it or across its beam will run down anything, since the patch 3.0.2 rebalance handed it the crosswind advantage too. Sailing away from a bigger ship means pointing straight upwind, and that one rule saves more new crews than any other.
Do not take a Galleon with two people. You will spend the whole session running between three masts and eight cannons, and any crew you meet will be doing it with four.
How do you actually make money?
You carry it. Physically. Every piece of treasure is an object you pick up, walk across the deck with, and hand to an NPC at an outpost. Nothing auto-collects, and nothing banks itself.
The loop is:
- Take a voyage from a Trading Company, the quest board, or your captain's table.
- Sail to the island and dig, fight, or deliver whatever the voyage asks for.
- Load the loot onto your ship.
- Sail back to an outpost and sell it to the right company.
Step 4 is where new players lose everything. Loot on your deck is worth nothing and is fully lootable by anyone who sinks or boards you. Sell in batches instead of hoarding for a big final run.
Sinking does not put your treasure anywhere safe. It floats back up at the wreck and sits on the surface in plain sight for about five minutes, then sinks and despawns. Trade Good Crates float longer, closer to fifteen. Anyone in the area can scoop it off the water in that window and sell your whole haul under their own name. The crew that just sank you is usually still there watching it surface.
The Trading Companies at a glance
Six companies take reputation, and each wants a different kind of loot.
| Company | Buys | Reputation cap |
|---|---|---|
| Gold Hoarders | Locked chests and artifacts | 100 |
| Order of Souls | Cursed skulls from skeleton captains | 100 |
| Merchant Alliance | Cargo, livestock, trade goods | 100 |
| The Hunter's Call | Cooked fish and meat | 100 |
| Reaper's Bones | Nearly everything, at the Reaper's Hideout | 100 |
| Athena's Fortune | Athena's treasure, via the Mysterious Stranger | 100 |
Level 100 is not the ceiling. Passing it moves a company into Distinction, and the Distinctions run to V, so the real track is five times the number in that column.
Two more factions work differently. Bilge Rats pay in Doubloons and commendations, not reputation, and the Smugglers' League deals in contraband out of eight hidden, booby-trapped hideouts with no reputation track at all.
Selling a Gold Hoarders chest to Reaper's Bones works, and the gold is the same. The reputation goes to Reaper's instead. The catch-all has limits though: Reaper's refuses Smugglers' League contraband, which only the League's own hideouts accept, along with Hunter's Call fish and meat and most quest items.
New player traps that cost you hours
Flying an Emissary flag too early. Flags need rank 15 with a company and multiply your rewards up to 150 percent at Grade 5. They also show your ship to every Grade 5 Reaper's Bones emissary on the map, and those crews hunt flags for a living. Fly one when you can defend it.
Hoarding for one giant sell. Four hours of loot on deck is four hours you can lose in one bad fight. Cash out every hour or so.
Fighting the Kraken or a Megalodon on purpose. Neither drops loot worth the damage early on. Sail away. They do not chase forever.
Assuming the rank 25 cap is far away. In Safer Seas it is not, and the last 75 levels of every company live in High Seas. Pirate Legend needs level 50 in three companies, so the cap sits directly across that path.
Ignoring the wind. Sails have three positions and an angle. A crew that trims sails properly moves noticeably faster than one that leaves them dropped and straight.
Your first session, step by step
- Run the Maiden Voyage from the main menu.
- Load into Safer Seas on a Sloop.
- Take a Gold Hoarders voyage from the outpost. Riddle maps teach navigation better than X-marks maps.
- Dig up the chest, load it, and sail straight back. Sell it.
- Repeat until you can raise and lower sails, angle them to the wind, drop and raise anchor, and read your map table without stopping the ship.
- Switch to High Seas and expect to be sunk. It is not personal, and you lose nothing but cargo.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does gear or leveling make you stronger in Sea of Thieves?
No. Every player has identical health, weapons, and cannon damage regardless of hours played. Gold and reputation buy cosmetics, ship liveries, and titles only, so skill decides every fight.
Can you become a Pirate Legend in Safer Seas?
No. Safer Seas caps every Trading Company at rank 25, and Pirate Legend needs level 50 in three companies. Athena's Fortune and Reaper's Bones are locked out of Safer Seas entirely, so the Legend path only exists in High Seas.
How much gold does Safer Seas actually pay?
The full 100 percent, the same as High Seas. It was raised from 30 percent in patch 3.2.2, and the rank 25 Trading Company cap was added as the balancing tradeoff.
Which ship is best for solo players?
The Sloop. It takes two crew, has one mast and two cannons, turns tightest, and has the best speed sailing dead into the wind. Escaping a larger ship means sailing straight upwind, which is exactly where the Sloop wins.
What happens to your treasure when your ship sinks?
It floats back up at the wreck and sits on the surface for about five minutes before it sinks and despawns. Any crew in the area can collect it off the water during that window and sell your entire haul under their own name. Sell in small batches so one sink never costs a whole session.
What to Read Next
- Ships and Sailing. Sail trim, wind angles, anchor turns, and the crew roles that keep a ship moving.
- Ship Combat and Damage Control. Cannonball types, cursed shot, boarding defense, and the repair order that keeps you afloat.
- Trading Companies and Reputation. All eight factions, the 100-level reputation track, promotions, and emissary grade multipliers.
- Voyages and Treasure. Every voyage type, what each treasure item sells for, and the fastest selling routes.
- World Events and Raids. Every sky signal decoded, what each event drops, and which ones are PvP magnets.
- Fishing, Cooking, and The Hunter's Call. All 10 fish families, bait requirements, and cook timings.
- Tall Tales. Every story campaign, chapter counts, and commendation rewards.
- PvP and the Hourglass of Fate. Unlock requirements, faction choice, and how streaks and stash grades pay out.
- Last Ship Standing. Six-Sloop battles in the Seas of Sailor's Grave, shrinking Battle Bounds, and Allegiance by placement.
- Pirate Legend and Endgame. The Legend path, Athena's Fortune, Captaincy, and Guilds.
- Safer Seas and High Seas. Full mode comparison and exactly what each one locks.
- Custom Seas. The private session toolset, world controls, and win conditions.
- Crossplay and Platforms. Steam versus Game Pass versus Xbox versus PS5, and how to filter your lobbies.
- Seasons and Events. Season 20, Renown, the Premium Tier, and what has been vaulted.
- Achievements Overview. All 293 Steam achievements, the rarest, and the platform split.
- Achievements: Voyages and Factions. Reputation milestones, emissary grades, and the Pirate Legend achievements.
- Achievements: Combat and PvP. Sinking, boarding, cannon feats, and Hourglass Allegiance.
- Achievements: World Events and Tall Tales. Forts, Fleets, sea monsters, and story campaigns.
- Tips and Tricks. Short mechanics the guides cover in passing, from the sword lunge to keg defense.