Secrets of the Banished: Act 2
Take on the Eternal Guard, raid Sanctuaries of the Banished and generally risk life and limb returning to The Devil's Roar! To learn more about this Season’s headline features, head over to our dedicated Season 18 page.
Molten Sands Fortress
For the duration of Act 2, Molten Sands Fortress will be the site of a fierce encounter with Flameheart’s forces, and highly sought-after treasure can be seized by crews who dare to take on the challenge.
Crews must first prove their worth to their preferred Trading Company and reach Emissary Grade 5, then claim a unique Emissary Quest from that Company. Emissary Grade progress is accelerated during Act 2 – but crews can still be targeted by prowling Reapers!
This Emissary Quest will lead to a showdown with a formidable Eternal Guard. Valiant crews who defeat the Guard will be awarded the Molten Sands Key, which can either be sold for gold and reputation or taken into The Devil’s Roar to activate the Molten Sands Fortress battle for even greater spoils.
The Fortress battle will be fierce, pitting crews against an army hell-bent on protecting the Vault, including waves of Banished Skeletons, Shadow and Gold Skeletons, imposing Skeleton Lords and even deadly Ashen Lords.
Crews who survive this encounter will uncover a wealth of loot within the Vault, such as Ashen Treasures and the all-important Orb of the Banished. For the duration of Act 2, the Vault at Molten Sands is also the home of the Chest of Fortune.
Act 2 Time-Limited Rewards
Crews taking on Molten Sands Fortress during Act 2 can unlock a variety of time-limited Trading Company-themed Ship’s Crests for representing them as an Emissary. This includes the Hoarders’, Merchants’, Order’s, Hunter’s, Fortune’s and Reaper’s Exiled Ship Crests.
Pirate Emporium
Show off your personal style with purchases from the Pirate Emporium! Pick up exclusive cosmetics such as ship liveries, costumes, weapons, pets and emotes using your Ancient Coins, purchasable with real money. Head to the Pirate Emporium to browse and buy the latest additions!
New Items – Now in Stock!
Lone Night Wulf Ship Collection
Lone Night Wulf Weapon Bundle
Lone Night Wulf Costume
Lodestar Cabin Bundle
Tankard Scalding Emote – Free!
Outpost Cosmetics
New Outpost Stock!
The shipwrights have restocked this month with the tropically themed Palm Resolute Sails, Hull and Flag.
Updates
Cross-Region Matchmaking Improvements
To improve matchmaking times in Oceanic regions when diving to Faction Battles and other experiences, players in Australia will now have their search extended to include crews in Southeast Asia should worthy opponents not be found in their home region.
Players wishing to wait for a match in their home region can opt out of Cross-Region Matchmaking from the Game Settings at any point.
Text Chat in Game Options
The Text Chat option within the Game Options menu has been moved down below Crew Management to improve speed of access to more commonly used options.
Events
Season 18 Community Weekend (January 31st – February 2nd)
Your favourite 48-hour Event is back for Season 18! Enjoy free gifts, pose at Picture Walls, embark on Ashen Message in a Bottle Voyages, solve puzzles as you seek Pop-Up Plunder, and make use of reward boosts thanks to the Community Emissary Grade raised by watching Sea of Thieves streamers on Twitch.
Find out more in January’s This Month in Sea of Thieves article, and stay tuned for a full rundown closer to the date!
Fixed Issues
Gameplay
Improvements have been made to how players attach to, release and climb ladders. Players should therefore no longer experience unintentionally slow movement on ladders and should now consistently be able to grab and release ladders during gameplay.
Within the Hideout at Wanderers Refuge, crews should now find that the Smugglers’ Chronicles offer accurate instructions on how to find a hidden mystery.
Players sitting on the barrel on the lower deck of the Sloop can now consistently be damaged by sword attacks.
Wilting Crates of Plants can now be refreshed by bucketing water directly onto them.
Crates of Cloth will now become sodden when water is bucketed directly onto them.
‘Captains of the Damned’ – The Castaway's cutscene now plays correctly when starting the Tall Tale at Morrow’s Peak Outpost.
The Eternal Guard
Items placed on top of the Eternal Guard’s sarcophagus now fall to the ground when it disappears, rather than hanging in mid-air.
Crews will now earn progress for Deeds requiring them to defeat an Eternal Guard, if during an encounter they defeat themselves by detonating nearby kegs with a thrown spear.
Players summoning an Eternal Guard from their sarcophagus and running away should no longer find the Guard appears in an unexpected location away from the sarcophagus.
Environment
Players should now be able to successfully traverse ladders within the Shrine of Ocean’s Fortune.
Several mysterious Journals on Kraken’s Fall, Devil’s Ridge and Old Faithful Isle have been repositioned to ensure they can be interacted with.
Further improvements have been made to address areas where players could push through the environment into the sea from the Pirate Legend Hideout.
The Sanctuary of the Banished on Cinder Islet now prevents players from seeing beneath the game's map.
Improvements have been made to areas of the environment at the Shores of Gold and Fetcher’s Rest to prevent players becoming stuck while traversing.
‘The Lair of LeChuck’ – Players should no longer be able to use a Grapple Gun to reach unintended areas of the map.
Visual and Audio
Phantoms viewed through spyglasses at Sea Forts will no longer appear or disappear unexpectedly.
Players wearing a disguise will now consistently appear disguised to approaching rivals.
Poison visual effects from the Trident of the Banished now clear correctly after a player is revived.
Equipping the Bonechiller Hull on a Sloop now applies the correct interior colours.
The Stone Islehopper Outlaw Flag now appears correctly once equipped.
Areas where water rises and falls such as Siren Shrines should now consistently display the correct visual effects on the water’s surface when moving.
Pirates of all sizes will now appear to hold and play all types of concertina correctly.
The Castaway seen at her camp on Outposts now appears correctly when viewed from different distances.
Improvements have been made to the Regal Hound Blunderbuss, Tundra Wanderer Blunderbuss, Tundra Wanderer Blowpipe and Tundra Wanderer Grapple Gun to ensure they are held correctly and fired without visual issues.
The Tundra Wanderer Grapple Gun now appears correctly when reloading.
The lift chains in The Reaper’s Hideout now appear at the correct visual quality.
Pirates of all sizes will now appear correctly when wearing the Baleful Bloom Costume.
Pirates wearing the Bleakheart Banshee Costume now wield and fire Double Barrel Pistols correctly.
Players wielding the False King’s Ransom Grapple Gun will now appear correctly when performing various Weapon Pose Emotes.
User Interface
Players browsing their unlocked Disguises in the Vanity Chest should now see their pirate perform the action correctly in the preview window.
Players starting Trading Company Tutorial Voyages at Morrow’s Peak Outpost will no longer see incorrect warnings about sailing in the wrong direction.
Empty Company slots on the Reputation screen now display correctly after opening and closing certain Trading Company pages.
Within the Emporium, the Bonechiller Weapon Bundle now shows the correct artwork with all weapons included in the bundle.
The Wild Rose Eye of Reach now appears correctly when viewed in the Armoury and weaponsmith shops.
PC players joining a crew of console players who prefer to matchmake with others using controllers will now be shown appropriate messaging.
Text and Localisation
Within the Season Overview menu, the names and descriptions for Acts, Deeds and rewards now better support a range of localised languages.
Improvements have been made to localisation quality for Tall Tales when played in Turkish and Korean languages.
Improvements have been made to localisation quality for character dialogue across multiple areas in Korean.
Players using Polish language settings should find localisation improvements to various Commendation names, and clearer instructions when taking on a Voyage of Legends.
Players using Japanese language settings should find localisation improvements to Captained ship renaming screens and delivery tooltips when attempting to hand in cargo.
Performance and Stability
Improvements have been made to server stability to avoid instances where players are disconnected from their session.
Known Issues
To learn more about known issues in Sea of Thieves currently being tracked and their status, head over to our Known Issues support site article.