If you’re a treasure hunter, you’re going to need to get your hands dirty! Some of the best loot in the game is guarded by fearsome adversaries who have sunk many inexperienced crews. So if you want to succeed where they failed and sail away with a bounty beyond your wildest dreams, you’re going to need to fight tooth, nail, and pegleg to do it. But let’s see who puts up the biggest fight among the toughest bosses you can face in Sea Of Thieves.
10. Skeleton Captain
To start off the list we have the humble Skeleton Captain, defined by the red name above its head. These Captains can be found on islands around the world. The difference between these and normal Skeletons is how much health they have. A normal Skeleton takes about 3 hits to kill with your sword, these take about 16. Just keep slashing away and chances are you won’t even get hurt. It’s absolutely worth killing these Captains, as they drop Villainous Bounty Skulls which are worth a pretty penny – and even more so if you have an Emissary Flag for the Order Of Souls.
9. Ashen Guardian
Ashen Chests contain Tomes that unlock Achievements and Commendations. Interested? If you want a shot at getting these chests, fighting an Ashen Guardian is a great way to do it! The fight is pretty similar to a Skeleton Captain, but these guys have a bit more health. Upon defeat, an Ashen Guardian will drop a Villainous Bounty Skull, and either a Riddle or Treasure Map. If you complete that map, that Ashen Chest is yours. But your pirate brute force won’t be enough to open it, and you’ll need a special Ashen key as well.
8. Ashen Keymaster
The Ashen Keymaster is rarer than the Ashen Guardian, and the fight is identical. But upon death it drops (you guessed it) an Ashen Key! You’ll need those keys to open Ashen Chests. But don’t worry if you can’t find one of these Keymasters (they really are rare) since you can buy a key from Larinna at any Tavern instead.
7. Megalodon
Once upon a time, this beast terrorized the Sea Of Thieves. Nowadays, it’s more of a nuisance. But there’s definitely a right way and a wrong way to go about the encounter if you don’t want to become fish food. The Megalodon can show up in a few different colors but the fight itself is the same. This is also an encounter you can choose to run away from – if you sail close to an island, the Megalodon will leave you alone. If you want to tackle this giant shark you’ll want as many of your crew on cannons as possible, and shoot on sight. Anyone who can’t get on cannons can shoot the Megalodon with something like the Eye Of Reach or even the new Trident. The Megalodon can be hard to track if your ship is on the move too. So coming to a stop in open water is a good idea. Use your sails to do this in case you need a quick getaway! The Megalodon only has 1 attack, a powerful charge that will punch holes in your hull and can throw any crew on deck into the ocean. You won’t be attacked in the water, either, as the Megalodon would much rather munch your entire ship down. But you’ll need to deal with any damage quickly! If your crew is accurate you can stun the Megalodon with a few well-placed cannon shots while it’s charging. If you keep the damage under control and keep landing those cannon shots, victory and a decent bounty of treasure will be yours. Also, legend has it that an extremely rare ghostly Megalodon haunts the seas – so make sure you keep an eye out for it!
6. Skeleton Lords
If your crew is brave enough to take on a Fort, beware that you’ll be going toe to toe with this powerful boss as well. A Skeleton Lord stands between you and a vault of treasure at Forts – and they shouldn’t be underestimated. If you know what to expect, your crew will be victorious in this encounter. Skeleton Lords have a lot of health, so don’t rush. Attack when you can and do it from a distance. There will always be an ammo crate somewhere on the Fort, so try and lure the boss over to it. Once you’ve done that, it’s a case of just dancing around and shooting. The Skeleton Lord can send you straight to the Ferry of the Damned if you fight up close. So don’t get into sword range unless you really need to. As long as you have food, there’s only one attack you need to be careful of: a stomp attack that will throw you across the island. Don’t sweat it if you die here, as you can use it as an opportunity to check your surroundings for any other Pirates that may want your Fort loot for themselves. If you’re struggling to fight the Skeleton Lord like this, another tactic is to try and lure it towards your ship. You won’t be followed into the sea, as they’ll usually just stand on the shore. And no matter how strong they are, nothing can stand up to a cannon! Another thing you can use (which got added into the game recently) is a Trident of Dark Tides. These do incredible damage to the Skeleton Lords, so give them a go if you can!
5. Skeleton Ship
No matter how good you are at avoiding other ships, eventually a Skeleton Ship will rise from the depths to fight you. These are dangerous – and will follow you to the ends of the earth if you don’t take them out. Skeleton Ships come in 2 flavors: Sloop or Galleon. And although mechanically the fights are the same, there are a few things you need to know if you don’t want to lose all your treasure to Davy Jones Locker. First of all, Skeleton Ships don’t play by the rules. They can speed up and slow down at a whim like they have motors. Attacking their masts does nothing. So you want to use good ol’ cannonballs in this fight. The odd Cursed cannonball is fine as well – but you may want to save them for real Pirates. You’ll also need a steady helmsman in this fight, and the goal is to keep the Skeleton Ship in cannon range while keeping out of theirs as much as possible. Skeleton Ships break the rules whenever they please. So keep your ship at half-mast for more control. Open fire with cannons as often as you can, and try to blast holes all over their hull. This is very important against Galleons since they have 2 decks. If you want to sink those quickly, aim below the waterline any chance you get. Skeleton Ships can land shots the average pirate can only dream of. So have your bucket and planks ready. If you’re getting overwhelmed here, one great tactic is to hit their deck with cannonballs or firebombs. If nothing is manning their cannons, you’ll get a chance to recover. Always keep in mind that Skeleton crews never bail water, they only patch holes. So don’t rush, play it safe. Once you see their ship grind to a halt and sink, make sure you stop nearby. Sit back and wait for your loot to rise to the surface!
4. Kraken
This terror of the deep is scary, intimidating, and has sunk countless ships. Once you know how to handle it though, its screeching is the worst thing about this encounter. The Kraken will only attack when there are no other world events up, and you can’t avoid this fight either. If the water around your ship starts to go black, it’s already too late. And this is what you do to handle that situation: Your priority is to shoot the tentacles when they come up. This can be tricky, as your ship can’t move much, and sometimes you just have to wait for targets to come into range. Unfortunately for you, the Kraken has a few nasty attacks. It can grab your ship which will damage your hull. As tempting as it is, it’s pointless to try and cut a grabbing tentacle. Your best bet is still to shoot anything that comes into range. Its most dangerous attack is one that can suck up your crew right off the deck. You can use your cutlass to break free eventually, but the Kraken will usually throw you when you do. This is bad because you can’t repair any damage – and if your whole crew gets swallowed, you’ll probably lose the ship. Make sure you’re chatting with your crew, and if there’s only one person left on board, they should stay below deck patching holes until someone returns. The encounter will end when you destroy enough tentacles, or when your ship slowly drifts out of the area. Sadly, the Kraken doesn’t have deep pockets. So you’ll get minimal treasure from defeating it – although Kraken Meat is one of the best food items in the game!
3. Ashen Lord
If you want to know what’s at the center of that big scary red tornado on the map, it’s one of these. And they pack a hell of a punch! Three different Ashen Lords can spawn for this event. They all look a little different, but the fight is the same. To start this one off, you want to park your ship a good distance away from the island and launch yourself to the fight in a cannon instead. I’ll get into why in a bit. The Ashen Lord is brutal and has a few attacks. It also raises armies of Skeletons. Granted they only take a couple of hits with the cutlass, but these can do a ton of damage if they gang up on you! Plus the Ashen Lord has two of the most annoying attacks in the game: One where any nearby water will boil and hurt you, and another where the area is engulfed in thick fog, making it almost impossible to see (let alone shoot). Actually, about shooting… The safest way to damage the Ashen Lord is by shooting it. The Blunderbuss does the most damage, but it’s risky. If you want the safer option use the Eye Of Reach. There’s always an ammo crate that never runs out near the boss – make finding that your top priority. After dealing enough damage to the Ashen Lord, they’ll kneel, letting you get a few swipes in with your Cutlass. This will happen 2 more times in the fight, and on that last time, you win the encounter. The final part of this fight is where you need to be extremely careful. Remember I said to park your ship far away? Well the Ashen Lord can make it rain fiery rocks when they’re close to death. These rocks can kill you in a single hit – and if you park too close, chances are your ship will get hit too. And if you’re not there, it’ll sink. As for tactics, the best thing to do is stock up with food, shoot as much as you can, and don’t worry about dying. If you die, you’ll end up back on your ship anyway – and you can just keep throwing yourself at the encounter until you win! The rewards are well worth it, as treasure is thrown all over the place – including the sought after Ashen Winds Skull that sells for 10,000 Gold!
2. Skeleton Fleet
I hope you’re ready for a challenge, as these final bosses in our list are where things get very tricky. The Skeleton Fleet is a fun but tough event where you’ll be ambushed by three waves of Skeleton Ships. These behave like standard Skeleton Ships, but sometimes 2 arrive at a time – and that’s enough to test even the most seasoned pirates. There’s no set pattern here. So expect to fight a mix of Sloops and Galleons. The final wave always has an extra tough ship too. But if you win, you’re treated to quite the bounty! This event is definitely worth your while if you can take the heat. And what if you can’t take the heat? Well here’s some tips to help out: First off, just as with standard Skeleton Ships, raise your sails to half-mast. This gives you more control and lets you engage on your terms. Remember that the enemy ships never bail, they only patch holes. So take your time. This event usually appears near a rock formation too. So if you’re struggling, make your way towards those. Enemy ships struggle to navigate around these so they’ll crash and do all sorts of crazy things while they try to get a clear shot at you. If you do this, you may even get the ships to collide with each other, which does incredible damage. Is this strategy a little ‘cheesy’? Maybe. But there are no laws on the Sea Of Thieves, so why should this boss fight be any different?
1. Flameheart
Oh boy, this is the big one. Flameheart likes to trash talk throughout the entire fight. And well, he kinda has the firepower to back it up. This encounter demands a skilled crew. And unlike the Skeleton Fleet, there’s no real way to cheat this one. Flameheart commands an armada of Ghost Ships and isn’t afraid to sacrifice a few to send you to the Ferry of the Damned. The most important thing to understand is what you’re up against. First of all, the Ghost Ships: You only want to use cannonballs against them, and they take 3 hits to sink. These Ghost Ships use their own special ghost cannonballs too. And they come in three different types. The green ones are like normal cannonballs, the yellow ones set your ship ablaze, and the big loud screaming one is like a flying barrel bomb. If this hits you, it’s all hands on repairs until things are under control. And you DO NOT want to follow these ships under any circumstance since they drop ghost barrel bombs. And above all else, avoid ramming into the Ghost Ships, as they’ll leave unscathed all while they punch a crazy amount of holes through your hull. It’s not all bad news, though. Hit and run tactics work really well against the entire armada. Raise your sails a little for more control, take potshots at the ships on the edges, and work your way around. If your helmsman is good enough to keep you away from big groups Ghost Ships, you can take the armada down one ship at a time. After you’ve knocked out a few Ghost Ships, a Boss Ship will spawn, protected by a few other Ships. These take a lot more shots but you can deal with them the same way. Once a Boss Ship is defeated, they’ll drop some cool glowing treasure, along with storage crates with more cannonballs and planks. At the end of the 3rd wave, the Boss Ship will take a ton of hits to sink. But if you’re victorious then your efforts will be rewarded with mountains of treasure & special cannonballs you can’t find anywhere else! A fitting reward for a skilled crew.
