Sea of Thieves’ 14th season is almost upon us; Rare has confirmed it’ll be bringing a whole bunch of new stealthy treats to its multiplayer pirate adventure on 17th October.
When last we heard hints of Season 14, it was all the way back in March, when Rare laid out its content plans for 2024. And while today’s release date announcement was a little light on specifics – a proper season breakdown video is scheduled to arrive soon – we do at least have some idea of what it’ll bring thanks to that early showing.
As per March’s roadmap, Season 14 is all about introducing a stealthier, more mischievous style of play to Sea of Thieves, with new additions – assuming plans haven’t dramatically changed – set to include a crouch ability, plus the power to hang off the side of ships, even stuff yourself into a chest and scuttle around undetected.
That’s on top of a new multi-purpose blow dart that’s able to lure skeletons to specific positions, trigger bamboozling sound effects, and more, as well as the ability to place spring traps in the world. Most excitingly of all, though, pirates will be able to whizz about the place (or reel stuff in) using the new grappling gun tool.
The grappling gun is the one of the few parts of Season 14 that did get a proper mention during Rare’s latest news showcase, with production director Drew Stevens outlining some of the limitations Rare has put in place to make it fairer for smaller crews.
Essentially, pirates won’t be able to use the grappling gun to bypass sideladders and gain easy entry to the sloop or brigantine – that is, grapple directly onboard from the sea or grapple onboard from above – but it can still be used to reach sideladders and to reposition alongside ships during a chase. These limitations don’t, however, apply to the galleon, with grappling guns now giving those larger crews new vulnerability points.
An additional combat-related tweak PvP crews will need to keep in mind is that, as of Season 14, a ship’s armoury can only be used by its own crew. That means invading crews will need to plan tactically before heading into combat.
And finally for the Season 14 tidbits Rare is currently willing to share, Outposts are getting new items for pirates to spend their hard-earned gold on: wrap-style shirts, the casino-themed Lucky Hand ship set and weapons, plus the Rusted Skulls clothing, makeup, accessories, and tattoos.
Ahead of Season 14’s PlayStation 5, Xbox, and PC arrival on 17th October, Sea of Thieves will host another Gilded Voyages event, running from 10th to 17th October, giving players the opportunity to score “boatloads” of valuable loot on behalf of the Gold Hoarders, Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls, and Athena’s Fortune. Additionally, a weekend of Sea of Thieves Twitch Drops is scheduled from 17th-21st October, with the Season Sailor Pistols, plus Sage Sea Dog Shovel and Drum, all up for grabs.