Sea of Thieves

What officially changed

Improved Faction BattlesSeason 19 kicks off by overhauling the Hourglass of Fate, later promising a festival-themed Event and a new battle mode for Sloop crews! To learn more about this Season’s headline features, head over to our dedicated Season 19 page.Shrinking Battle BoundsDuring a Faction Battle, the Battle Bounds will now shrink in size at set intervals during the encounter to discourage fleeing, encourage more exciting battles and ensure fights are brought to a climactic end.The starting battle size remains unchanged, allowing crews the space to test their rivals. The area will then shrink twice during the battle, bringing crews together, before settling on an intense final area – where the only option is to fight to become the victor.Crews will be notified on-screen and hear clear audio cues when the Battle Bounds are changing. These are also clearly visualised at all times, both on the water’s surface and on the Ship’s Map.Crews pledging to a Faction and making a defensive stand on the High Seas against rivals will now find that if they are located nearby or purposefully hidden within the bounds of an island, the shrinking Battle Bounds will consistently force them further out into open waters for the final battle area.Faction Storage CratesWhen entering a Faction Battle, ships low on supplies will now find a Faction Storage Crate near the mast to help their crews get straight into the fight with sufficient resources to be competitive.Upon diving to a battle, the crew’s current supplies spread across any barrels, Storage Crates, player inventories and loaded cannons will be tallied against a minimum threshold. A Faction Storage Crate will then be provided that resupplies resources for any item found under the threshold.Automatically Raising Emissary FlagCrews