Published , by Sam Chandler
Published , by Sam Chandler
Cursed Sails, Sea of Thieves’ second free content update, has brought a brand new threat to the world for players to conquer, as well as a short and sweet campaign for adventurers to follow. Urged on by Duke the Bilge Rat, players will be tasked with finding the source of the new skeleton ships before it’s too late.
Much like the Hungering Deep campaign, the Cursed Sails campaign gives only a few clues for players to work out and follow. While the investigation at Golden Sands is straight forward, figuring out where to go next can leave some pirates scratching their head.
The first thing players will need to do upon loading into Sea of Thieves is to head to any of the taverns at an outpost and speak with Duke, the Bilge Rat. Here is where players can purchase time-limited items using doubloons.
Player: What’s going on with these banners?
Duke:
We’re being called out! It seems a skeleton captain calling herself Warsmith has united crews of skellies against the outposts! Have a look and you’ll see where they intend to do battle. Good luck to you! As for us Bilge Rats, we’re itching to know what caused all this. Something’s not right. Even I’ve never seen skeletons amass like this! But, I heard the shipwright at Golden Sands knows something about it. When you aren’t busy blasting holes in skelly ships, go see if you can find out the truth! Trust me, us Bilge Rats can smell a story.
Duke directs players to sail over to Golden Sands and speak with the shipwright there about what’s going on. Sharon the Shipwright can be found at the end of the pier, hammering away.
Head to Golden Sands Outpost in the west of the Sea of Thieves and dock at the pier. Sharon the Shipwright will be nearby at her station, speak with her to officially begin the Cursed Sails campaign.
Player: What’s that about Wanda?
Sharon:
SHE’S DISAPPEARED! OR RUN AWAY! I DON’T HEAR MUCH ANY MORE, BUT I’M SURE I HEARD HER RANTING ABOUT THE SKELETON SHIPS. SHE’S LOUD WHEN SHE’S UPSET. SHE’S A BIT… OPINIONATED. RUBS PEOPLE THE WRONG WAY. SO… I DON’T THINK ANYONE’S LOOKING TOO HARD FOR HER, YOU KNOW?? HER SISTER’S WATCHING HER SHOP. WOULD YOU BE A DEAR AND TAKE A LOOK AROUND HER SHOP, LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU FIND? IF THOSE SKELLIES HAVE GOT THEIR BONY HANDS ON HER… WELL, WE LOOK AFTER OUR OWN AT THE SHORES OF PLENTY!
The next step in the Cursed Sails campaign directs players to investigate Wanda’s workshop at Golden Sands Outpost and look for three clues. These clues are hidden in and around the gunsmith shop, located on the west side of the island. Players will need to locate each of these clues and interact with them before the next step of the campaign begins.
Figuring out what to do after investigating Wanda’s workshop and finding all of Wanda’s clues can be a bit tricky for some players, but here’s a hint before you read the next section: follow the footsteps and look to where they point.
The next step, as seen in the Cursed Sails commendations list, is to find Wanda’s journals. To begin this section of the campaign, players will need to follow the footsteps leading away from Wanda’s workshop and see where they point: Crescent Isle.
Sail over to Crescent Isle and look for Salty sitting on a barrel near a bunch of broken barrels. Speak with Salty to learn about the three locations of Wanda’s journals.
Player: Are you… Salty?
Salty:
Are you Salty? Are you Salty? Squawk! Wait, I know that name. I… am Salty! Yes! Why? What’s… going on? Thinking… getting harder. As time goes on… I can’t help but… be more parrot. Something bad happened to me. To Salty! Help me hang on to that… memory. I’m losing my mind! Squawk! Where’s Wanda? Squawk!
Player: How can I help you?
Salty:
Get me a cracker! Sorry, I’ve been very… angry, lately. Something… bad happened to me. I wasn’t always an undead parrot. Me and Wanda, we… had a plan. We talked about it on… Mermaid’s Hideaway. And… I remember being on a big island near Plunder Outpost. Yes, we were going to be rich! But… It’s so… foggy. Seems a lifetime ago. Wanda had a hidden place of her own, between two outposts… Squawk, who’s a pretty boy then?
Player: Were you once a person?
Salty:
Rude! I’m still a person. I just don’t win arm wrestling contests anymore! I’m Salty… thank you for reminding me of my name. I was a… shopkeeper, I think. But I… was changed. By something dark and old. Now I’m a skeleton. And a parrot. This parrot has ceased to be!
These dialogue options point the player toward three islands, scattered across each area of the map. Players who want to figure out where to go should stop reading and skip to the next step when ready.
The first island that Salty mentions by name is Mermaid’s Hideaway, a curvy island on the west side of the Sea of Thieves. Head to the island and look for the campfire near the lagoons to find Wanda’s journal on a bench.
Read ‘It’s real!’
Salty was right. I don’t believe it, but he was right. That old seadog found a treasure that will make us rich! A cannon from Captain Flameheart’s very own shop, The Burning Blade! Who knows what power it holds? A weaponsmith DREAMS of finding such a weapon.
Read ‘Raising our prize’
The cannon is definitely old, but has strangely withstood the ravage of the waves. The tricky part is getting it up from the depths. It’s heavy and obstinate. It has… moods. And it does things to us, makes us drunk, or weak… or angry.
The second island that Salty refers to is Thieves’ Haven, as it is the largest island closest to Plunder Outpost. Sail down to Thieves’ Haven, being sure to circle around the island to where the hull of a wrecked ship is being used as a tent. Wanda’s journal is sitting on the sand beside a campfire.
Read ‘A big idea’
So, we can’t sell the cannon as it is. Maybe to a wealthy captain? But it’s so unpredictable and besides, that’s just one payoff. I’ve had a big idea. I’m a weaponsmith. I can do more with the cannon… unlock it’s properties… make… something NEW. Cursed cannonballs! The peak of my art AND a way to make my fortune! Salty too, I suppose. If I can just manipulate the cursed iron, people will know that Wanda is THE weaponsmith of the Sea of Thieves! Wanda… I hate that name.
Read ‘Unlocking the curse’
Mood of cannon changes. Chaotic. Separate each property with… mystic symbols? Tincture of antimony? Magnetism? Sing to it? No. Test 14: success! One part cursed iron, 7 parts black iron, 1 part rat blood, (illegible). Cannonball made ship drop anchor! Testing has changed ship. Curse spreading? We keep sinking her, she keeps rising. Repairing herself. Can I make more? I’m changing too. Cannonballs affecting me. Flesh falling away. Tried protective charm, no use. How can I buy time to keep working? Test 19: FAILURE. DAMN THIS THING! The iron has a… temper, like Flameheart. Need to test STRONGER mix! Too dangerous… unless I get Salty to do it…
The last journal of Wanda’s can be found in The Sunken Grove, an island sat perfectly between two outposts. After reaching the island, climb to the middle and head down into the sunken grove, the island’s namesake. Down in the central area is a cave with the remnants of a camp, the final journal is on a bench.
Read ‘BLASTED OUTPOSTS’
Curse the BLASTED OUTPOSTS! The heads of trade won’t let us sell our cannonballs! I suspect it’s The Order of Souls’ doing. Too dangerous, they say! ALL MY WORK FOR NOTHING? NO! They will see what dangerous means. THEY WILL IGNORE ME NO LONGER! THEIR RULES, THEIR CODE, MEAN NOTHING! Back to the workshop to make one more batch, then IT’S WAR!
Read ‘NO MORE WANDA’
NO MORE FLESH, NO MORE MERCY, NO MORE WANDA! GOT CANNONBALLS. GOT CURSED SHIPS. GOT CREWS. GOT FURY. JUST LIKE FLAMEHEART. I HEAR HIM CALL! I AM CAPTAIN WARSMITH. I WILL BRING THE OUTPOSTS LOW. I WILL CALL THE COWARDS OUT! DEATH SETS SAIL TONIGHT! HAIL FLAMEHEART!
With all three of Wanda’s journals located, the commendation will unlock and players will be directed to return to Salty on Crescent Isle.
Sail back to Crescent Isle and tell Salty about the contents of Wanda’s journals.
Player: Salty, this is what happened to you…
Salty
Yes… it’s coming back! I was a man… a handsome man! I found that accursed cannon, helped Wanda raise it from the depths. What fools we were! To think we could work with such a dark thing! I bet it was cursed even before Flameheart got his fingerbones on it. And you say she used me to bear the brunt of the curse?! That scheming little… shopkeeper! My head hurts. Leave me to my accursed fate. If you want the last pieces of the puzzle, our workshop’s hidden on Wanderer’s Refuge. Get it? Seemed an amusing place to choose at the time. Squawk.
Player: What will you do now?
Salty
Repeat people, ask for crackers, that sort of thing. I think my mind will be… okay. If I don’t give in. I need a human hobby to keep my mind from drifting. Maybe I’ll start playing dice. If Wanda doesn’t kill us all!
As Salty directed, the next stop is Wanderer’s Refuge, a long island located in the west of the Shores of Plenty. Wanda’s Alchemy Lab, and the five clues to investigate inside, can be found hidden in the tunnel that runs below the middle of Wanderer’s Refuge. Locate the little campfire below the island, across from it is a very small crack in the rock wall. Squeeze through the hole to discover Wanda’s Alchemy Lab.
There are five items inside the alchemy lab that must be found for this section of the Cursed Sails campaign to be concluded:
Once all five items have been found, the next commendation will unlock and players will be directed to return to Sharon at Golden Sands.
Players should set sail to Golden Sands Outpost one last time and speak with Sharon the Shipwright.
Player: This is what happened to Wanda…
Sharon
SHE DID WHAT?! SO… SHE TURNED THIS OLD CANNON INTO CURSED CANNONBALLS. HOPING TO MAKE HER FORTUNE AS A WEAPONSMITH. AND GOT HERSELF, SALTY AND THEIR SHIP CURSED. AND NOW SHE’S RECRUITING MORE SKELETONS AND SHIPS TO WAGE HER LITTLE WAR?! CALLING HERSELF ‘CAPTAIN WARMSITH’. CLEARLY, SHE’S LOST HER MARBLES ALONG THE WAY. IT TRULY IS A SHAME. BUT NOW WE KNOW WHO WE’RE FIGHTING AND WHY. PLEASE, TAKE THESE SAILS AND DEFEND THE SHORES OF PLENTY! DO US PROUD! OR IF YOU’RE MORE OF AN ANCIENT ISLES PERSON, TELL SUE AT PLUNDER OUTPOST ABOUT THIS! IF THE WILDS ARE MORE YOUR THING FOR SOME REASON, TALK TO SANDRA AT DAGGER TOOTH. AND GOOD LUCK OUT THERE, MY FRIEND!
Accepting the sails from Sharon will complete the Cursed Sails, now all that’s left to do is unlock the other new sails and use them when battling the skeleton ships. Make sure you know how to sink skeleton ships, as they put up quite a fight. Swing by the Shacknews Sea of Thieves Guide and Walkthrough for more tips and tricks!