Sea of Thieves

Secrets of the Banished: Act 3

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.

Ashen Garrisons

Flameheart’s forces have constructed two new Ashen Garrisons deep within The Devil’s Roar. Crews are tasked with assaulting these heavily fortified skeleton strongholds to crack open the Treasuries and reap the rewards within.

Crews must navigate perilous waters and scale the outer walls to begin their assault, then battle across the ramparts, unlocking access to the Guardhouse before they can enter the central Garrison structure.

With the main door unlocked from within the Guardhouse, crews must then battle through waves of Flameheart’s forces defending the inner Garrison before dispatching the Custodian of the Treasury to unlock access to the Treasury and the riches held within.

Servant’s Oath Garrison and King’s Chalice Garrison have unique layouts, and crews can find new Lighthouse Logs held within lockboxes in each Garrison.

Crews can sail directly into The Devil’s Roar to assault these new Ashen Garrisons, or begin a Raid Voyage for their chosen Trading Company from the Quest Table and dive on demand to earn Company-specific rewards.

Chest of Bones Mega Stash

For the duration of Act 3, Ashen Garrisons will have a chance for their Vaults to be boosted by a Chest of Bones Mega Stash, replacing the contents of the Treasury with an immense treasure pile of significantly higher value including a stash of Ashen Chests of Bones.

Both emergent Ashen Garrisons and on-demand Raid Voyages can result in a Mega Stash. However, the chance of this boost is much higher when encountering an emergent Ashen Garrison in the world.

Ashen Garrisons taken on in Safer Seas always provide the same treasure and will not be boosted by a Mega Stash.

Act 3 Commendations and Rewards

Act 3 introduces new Adventures at Sea Commendations, challenging crews to take on the fearsome Ashen Garrisons. Completing these Commendations unlocks access to the Dark Skies ship set and weapons, Forsaken Ashes Makeup, ‘The Ghostly Writer’ Painting and Garrison Gatecrasher Title.

Crews completing Act 3’s Deeds can also earn the Ashen Garrison Sails to commemorate their feats.

Chest of Fortune

During Act 3, the Chest of Fortune will return to the Fort of Fortune Vault.

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Gameplay Improvements

Increasing Player Sightings on the Seas

Crews diving to an experience from the Quest Table will now find they can emerge within sight of other ships on their new server. This allows servers more space to bring in crews and maintain the target of six ships on a server.

Servers that experience a low population for prolonged periods of time will now be more reactive in moving crews onto busier servers. Servers that recognise their low population can now migrate crews who are travelling across the seas at faster speeds and no longer have to wait for ships to become stationary, ensuring they can safely migrate all crews when required.

As part of this update, these changes to the experience will be monitored and tweaked where necessary in the live game. Players may therefore experience changes to these systems outside the usual game updates.

Message in a Bottle Balancing

Crews discovering a washed-up Message in a Bottle should now more commonly locate green bottles containing Quest Maps for the various Trading Companies. Coral and Smuggler’s variants are now a much rarer find.

Self-Righting Ship Buoyancy

Ships that capsize due to reckless behaviour by their Captain or through discovery of a rogue Black Powder Barrel will now right themselves at sea and consistently return to an upright position in order to continue sailing.

Chest of Bones Map Visibility

The Chest of Bones is no longer made visible to others on the ship’s Map Table, providing opportunities for sneakier tactics.

Gold Hoarders Voyages

The Gold Hoarders’ Raid on a Sea Fort Voyage is now available at Company rank 15 (previously 25).

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!