• Guide

Where to find Ritual Skulls in Sea of Thieves

Getting Ritual Skulls in Sea of Thieves is critical for those players looking to start up the Fort of the Damned or earn some doubloons.

Sam Chandler

January 1, 2020 6:30 PM

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Ritual Skulls are a new type of skull added to the Sea of Thieves loot pool with the Dark Relics update. These new skulls are white with a bloody hand print on the face. Unlike the other skulls players can find, Ritual Skulls are a type of key that can be used or sold. Finding Ritual Skulls can be half the battle, as they’re not exactly common.

Where to find Ritual Skulls

Ritual Skulls can be found from three main sources:

• Skull Stash Voyages
• Ashen Chests
• Skeleton Ships

Skulls Stash Voyages are the single best way to get Ritual Skulls. This voyage type is sold by Duke or Stitcher Jim (depending who’s hanging out in the tavern), for 30 doubloons. While you will need to get a lot of doubloons to make use of this, the voyage points you to where a skull is buried, guaranteeing one in a matter of moments.

Ashen Chests are a new type of chest. These chests look like a standard Collector’s Chest, but with fiery runes carved on the sides and magma fused between the wood. An Ashen Chest can contain many different items including bags of gold and doubloons, Gold Hoarder relics, Tomes, and even a Ritual Skull.

The drawback to this method of getting a Ritual Skull is that it’s a multi-step process with a low chance of getting a skull. To get an Ashen Chest, you must kill an Ashen Guardian skeleton captain, follow its orders to an island, dig up the chest and then open it with an Ashen Key. Ashen Keys are only dropped by Ashen Key Masters. Not a great way of getting a Ritual Skull, but still an option.

Finally, Ritual Skulls can also be found in the loot from Skeleton Ships. Marked by the ship cloud in the sky, found randomly around the sea, or emerging from the depths beside your vessel, Skeleton Ships are a challenging activity in Sea of Thieves. After killing a Skeleton Ship, stick around to collect the loot and you might just find a Ritual Skull.

What to do with a Ritual Skull

For those that are wondering what all the fuss is about with Ritual Skulls, the answer is quite simple. The main use for a Ritual Skull is for activating the Fort of the Damned or being sold for doubloons.

The Fort of the Damned (located at L14) is like a juiced-up Skeleton Fort with a lot more loot. But all this loot comes with a heightened challenge. After collecting all the lantern colors, you will need to use the Ritual Skull to officially start the fort raid.

Finding Ritual Skulls in Sea of Thieves is no easy task. The skulls only drop from a few sources or must be found after purchasing expensive voyages. Depending on your tenure, it’s probably a good option to just buy the voyages. For everyone else, start hunting those Skeleton Ships and Ashen Chests! Take a cannon over to the Shacknews Sea of Thieves guide and walkthrough for even more helpful activity and event guides.

Sam Chandler

Head of Guides

Hailing from the land down under, Sam Chandler brings a bit of the southern hemisphere flair to his work. After bouncing round a few universities, securing a bachelor degree, and entering the video game industry, he's found his new family here at Shacknews as Head of Guides. There's nothing he loves more than crafting a guide that will help someone. If you need help with a guide, or notice something not quite right, you can message him on X: @SamuelChandler