Sea of Thieves patch notes 1.2.4 introduces new inventory system and cursed cannonballs
Published , by Sam Chandler
Players who have been eagerly awaiting the introduction of cursed cannonballs into the wild can finally begin toying with their enemies thanks to Sea of Thieves version 1.2.4. This patch has a whole lot of changes coming to the world, including a drastic overhaul of the way barrels function, a new Bilge Rat adventure, and a new emerging threat in the form of skeleton ships.
Sea of Thieves Patch Notes 1.2.4
Probably the most controversial update to hit Sea of Thieves so far, and it’s all due to the new and improved barrel inventory system. In order to fetch items from a barrel and put items into a barrel, players will need to open up a resource barrel to see what’s inside. While this adds an additional step to gathering supplies or filling a ship, it allows barrels to contain more than one item. Rare has stated they are listening to community feedback, so we could see further refinement of this new system.
Cursed cannonballs have also been released into the Sea of Thieves, giving players a dangerous new tool to use against AI threats as well as other players. These cursed cannonballs are fairly common, so players should have no trouble experimenting and building new strategies. We’ve got a handy guide on all cursed cannonball types so players can start thinking about how to use them in combat.
Another point worth mentioning is that crate-based quests (banana, wood, and cannonballs) have received a frequency increase and now reward a greater sum of gold. This should help players looking to earn that one Sea of Thieves Achievement, you know the one.
Through the ill deeds of Captain Warsmith and her subsequent defeat, the accursed power she sought to control has now been unleashed upon the Sea of Thieves. In recognition of this major event, the Bilge Rats are rewarding pirates who seek out and use these cannonballs against skeleton crews and other ships.
Cursed Cannonballs - These magical cannonballs can now be found in barrels and crates around the world. There are 11 different types of Cursed Cannonball to discover, each unleashing a unique curse on players and ships.
The Flag of The Reapers Mark - A mysterious power has been harnessed from Wanda’s Lab and now awaits in the Flag Box of every ship. The Flag of the Reaper’s Mark is a new cursed flag that reveals the location of any ship that dares to fly it. The location of these ships will be shown on all other ships’ maps, but specific ship types and Alliance status will remain a mystery.
Inventory Quick Menu - Pressing the TAB key or the Menu button on your controller now shows two new options: ‘Equipment’ and ‘Resources’. From here players can equip themselves with the items they wish to use.
Barrel 2.0 – Barrels in the world have been upgraded and can now contain more than one kind of item. Barrels on ships will still remain single item barrels.
The Wailing Barnacle Weapons - The Pistol, Eye of Reach, Blunderbuss and Cutlass are now available to purchase with Doubloons from Duke. These items are time-limited for this Bilge Rats Adventure, so purchase while you can before they are removed on September 12th.
Bilge Rats Titles - Complete Cursed Crews Commendations to unlock three new Pirate Titles: Bearer of the Reaper’s Mark, Master of Cursed Iron and Legendary Cursed Voyager. These titles will unlock straight into your Vanity Chest for maximum bragging rights.
Bilge Rats Commendations & Doubloons - There are 16 new Cursed Crew Commendations available to unlock and the progress screen shows the number of Bilge Rat Doubloons each one rewards. There are to a total of 150 for this event, 90 for Standard Commendations and 60 for Legendary Commendations. Players have until September 12th to earn Doubloons by completing these Commendations.
Updates
Emergent Skeleton Ship Battles - The accursed skeletons and their salvaged ships now sail the seas, posing a continued threat to the world. Periodically, a skeleton ship cloud may be seen on the horizon, heralding a ship battle location and the chance to seize the plunder aboard.
Bang For Your Buck - Prices will remain at their Cursed Sails reduced price in all shops to celebrate victory for the Outposts!
Beached Treasures - Banana Crates, Cannonball Crates and Wood Crates will now wash up more frequently on beaches.
Supply & Demand - Banana Crates, Cannonball Crates and Wood Crates have an increased value when sold to the Merchant Alliance.
Message in Bottles - Banana Crates, Cannonball Crates and Wood Crates are now more likely to be part of Voyages discovered in a Message in a Bottle.
Map Table Alliance Flags - Alliance flag colours for both your ship and allied ships now appear on your map table’s off-screen marker.
Commendation Changes - Some Commendation requirements have been rebalanced. This change was made due to community feedback. Players who have met the new conditions will need to complete the requirement one more time to trigger the Commendation.
Controller Sensitivity - Sensitivity settings have now been doubled. The new '5' sensitivity is equivalent to the previous '10'. Players may have to adjust their settings when they next launch the game.
Shop Purchase Updates - The flow of purchasing items from shops has been improved, featuring some shiny UI updates.
Light It Up - Lanterns must now be lit in order to trigger riddle steps.
Hair & Beards - New animations have been added to the Vanity Chest when trying on beards and hairstyles, to better show them off!
Performance Improvements
Fixed a server memory leak which was causing lag on busy servers on occasion.
Multiple server and client crash fixes. We are constantly reviewing the performance and stability of each patch and providing performance optimisations and stability improvements.
Fixed Issues
The Kraken has been unleashed upon the seas once again.
Alliances can now contain more than two crews.
When offered an Alliance by multiple crews, acceptance now only allies you with the closest ship.
Merchant Crates no longer display an incorrect maximum capacity when being filled.
Titles from shops are correctly removed when purchased.
Viewing the Brigantine from a far distance no longer makes its crow's nest appear to be on the front mast.
Skeletons will no longer dash through and get stuck in walls, causing issues with hidden skeletons in Forts and Order of Souls voyages.
Players can no longer scuttle their own ship and teleport chests back to their new spawn point.
Players can no longer glitch through the hull of the Brigantine to enter the ship.
The Brigantine stairs have been updated to stop players getting stuck underneath them and ejected from the ship.
Cannon explosions will no longer randomly be heard out of nowhere during normal gameplay.
Players on PC will now be able to select 'Options' after being invited to a game.
Corrected clipping issues with the Hunter Shirt, Hunter Pocket Watch and Bone Crusher Tankard.
Known Issues
Bounty Skulls which are washed up on islands cannot be picked up. We have a fix for this coming in a future update.
Players can come back from the Ferry of the Damned as a skeleton. We have identified the issue and we're working on a fix.
Merchant Alliance crates which sink will not float to the surface and cannot be picked up.
The Hunter Jacket & Trousers are incorrectly Purple. This will be corrected to red in a future update.
Update 1.2.4 is certainly impressive, fixing a lot of problems and bringing to the game a few new tools for players to use. Be sure to check out the Shacknews Sea of Thieves guide and walkthrough for more comprehensive Sea of Thieves coverage.