It’s likely every player of Sea of Thieves, released on March 20, 2018, for PC and Xbox One, has briefly glimpsed an item they’ve never seen before being carried by another player, in screenshots, or on a ship (as an upgrade). Some items on this list will take months of grinding or farming before a player is given the opportunity to get (often purchase) them.

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Almost all of these items require spending your hard-earned gold to get, and some of them are so expensive that players will have to save up their gold for a long time. Others were part of limited promotional offers from Rare or Microsoft – some of which are no longer valid.

Updated on July 14th, 2022, by Jeff Drake: One of the great aspects of pirate games is the seemingly endless amount of loot in the game-world for the player to find and acquire. Few pirate games take searching, or grinding, for specific loot as seriously as Sea of Thieves. There are cosmetic sets for the player and their ship, new weapons, upgrades for the player's ship, sellable goods, collectable items, and titles of commendation. On top of all this is the fact new content is introduced into Sea of Thieves from time to time. This update, in an effort to keep this list current, has added four additional entries - which still only begin to scratch the surface of the rare items available.

24 Soulflame Set

Soulfire Set Sails in Sea of Thieves

The Soulflame Set is a promotional cosmetic set for the Halloween Event, which is titled The Fate of the Damned. The most impressive part of this set is the ship sails. The Collector's Soulflame Sails are dark blue with uneven gray borders, the fore and aft sails have a stylized flaming brazier, while the main sail has the "mask of a Soulflame Captain" (pictured above).

This set is unlocked after completing the Fort of the Damned 25 times; however, it's not as simple as playing through the mission 25 times. For each attempt, the player needs to provide one Ritual Skull and six Flames of Fate (six gems of different colors). This makes the Soulfire Set one of the rarest cosmetics in the game.

23 Deep Ocean Crawler Set

Ocean Crawler Wheel in Sea of Thieves

The Deep Ocean Crawler Wheel is a set of cosmetic changes for the player and their ship. The theme is reminiscent of Davey Jones' style from the Pirates of the Caribbean films. This Deep Ocean Crawler set is a more exclusive version of the Ocean Crawler set items; which are themselves difficult to obtain.

Unlocking the Ocean Crawler set requires collecting sets of ten for the Mermaid Gems. The Mermaid Gems are also quite rare, see entry #19 for details. After collecting these sets of ten gems, the player still needs to purchase the Ocean Crawler items, and the Deep versions are almost twice the price as the standard ones.

22 *Kraken Cannons

The Kraken Cannon in Sea of Thieves

The Kraken Cannon is a cosmetic variant of the ship's cannons that can be purchased at the Shipwright Shop for 69,550 gold. That is, after killing ten Karkens and earning the Legendary Kraken Hunter Commendation. Killing one Kraken is tough, but killing ten of them is going to take the player awhile, since the appearance of the Kraken is random - and only between World Events.

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When fighting a Kraken the player is advised to use the ship's cannon if possible, aim for the mouths on the tentacles, and having a cutlass equipped can save the player from being swallowed by one the creatures mounts.

21 Shrouded Ghost Figurehead

Shrouded Ghost Figurehead in Sea of Thieves

The Shrouded Ghost Figurehead is one of the most coveted in the game. Getting this figurehead requires a little bit of luck and a lot of work from the player. Unlocking this white shark figurehead requires killing the creature in the game known as the Shrouded Ghost; which is a rare white variant of the megalodon.

Encountering the Shrouded Ghost is a matter of chance, and defeating this beast is a matter of being good at ship combat. There are numerous variants of the megalodon. The Shrouded Ghost is distinguished by the peach-like color of its fins. Fortunately, this figurehead doesn't need to be purchased after being unlocked.

20 Inky Kraken Blunderbuss

The Kraken Blunderbuss in Sea of Thieves.

There are a lot of variants of the blunderbuss (a shotgun-like firearm) in Sea of Thieves. One of the rarest is the Kraken Blunderbuss. This weapon is easily recognizable by its pinkish color, yellow tiger’s eye gem, and the beak-like metal spikes that run down the length of the top and bottom of the gun barrel.

This rare weapon is easy enough to find – it can be purchased at the Morrow’s Peak Outpost. The problem with acquiring the Kraken Blunderbuss is its price tag; it will cost you 85,050 gold to purchase this weapon on the black market.

19 Mermaid Gems

One of each of the Mermaid Gems in Sea of Thieves

Mermaid Gems are rare gems that can be sold for a nice profit. There are three types of these gems; sapphire, emerald, and ruby. Sapphires are worth 1,000 gold, emeralds are worth 1,500, and rubies are worth 2,000 gold.

There are several ways to find these valuable baubles. The first is to scout islands in search of a Mermaid Statue. These will need to be destroyed in order to get the gem, and they will fight back. These can also be given as treasure when defeating a sea threat (like Megalodon), found at shipwrecks, Skeleton Forts, and Fortress Vaults. Every now and then these gems can be found on the shoreline of an island - but don't count on finding one this way.

18 Silent Barnacle Set

The Silent Barnacle Set in Sea of Thieves

This rare and expensive cosmetic set requires some Final Fantasy level grinding; actually, in this case it's a combination or farming and grinding. The reward is the rarely glimpsed Silent Barnacle Set. This set has a sorta Davey Jones in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies feel; all the items have barnacles on them. The eye patch is a large barnacle with a strap.

To unlock this set, a player needs to collect and sell 300 Shipwrecked Chests to Gold Hoarders. These aren't uncommon to find, but collecting 300 of them will take a while since they're usually found one at a time. The cosmetics in this set are among the most expensive in the game too, the full Silent Barnacle Ship Set costs 1,512,000 gold.

17 Deckhand Sails

The highly sought-after Deckhand Sails in Sea of Thieves.

These are pretty rare sails to see hanging from the mast of a ship. The Deckhand Sails, painted red with a large white open hand flanked by two white diamonds, look like the sails of an orc vessel. However, these are very special sails only given out to a few players.

Getting these sails requires a player to be a Deckhand – which is the name given to the game’s global community moderators. This is not easy. First, Rare only has deckhand openings periodically. Second, this is something that will actually require some work. Moderators (Deckhands) have duties they need to perform.

16 Cutlass Of The Ashen Dragon

The Cutlass of the Ashen Dragon in Sea of Thieves.

This extremely cool pirate cutlass is a favorite among players – those who have managed to get hold of one anyway. The Cutlass of the Ashen Dragon has a blackened blade with a fiery image of a serpentine dragon going down the blade.

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This glowing dragon does make the player noticeable from a distance, but that's a small price to pay for the prestige factor this blade gives the player. This weapon is obtained after achieving the Tomes of Curses Collector commendation. This commendation is earned after a player finds and sells all five of the Tome of Curses.

15 Siren Gems

Sirens attacking in Sea of Thieves

Siren Gems are similar to Mermaid Gems. There are three types; sapphire, emerald, and ruby. Their values are identical to the mermaid gems as well. These are a little harder to come by than the Mermaid gems though.

To get a Siren Gem you generally need to defeat one of the three different types of Ocean Crawlers. Ocean Crawlers are creatures made by the Sirens for the purpose of attacking their enemies on land or ship. Sometimes after defeating a Siren it will drop a Siren Gem as a reward, so always search the area after an encounter with one of these terrors of the deep.

14 Legendary Flintlock

There are two types of players that use the Legendary Flintlock. Those that want other players to know they are an accomplished player, and those that are not trying to maintain a low profile. With its gold accents, including a large gold chain that connects the end of the grip with the barrel, this flintlock variant stands out.

Getting this legendary weapon requires reaching Legendary reputation in a minimum of three of the following; Gold Hoarders, Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls, The Hunter's Call, or Sea Dogs. Also, a player needs to have 250 first-place Arena wins as a Pirate Legend.

13 Ghost Tankard

The Ghost Tankard in Sea of Thieves.

The Ghost Tankard is a very rare drinking vessel that requires two conditions to be met before unlocking. First, you must find and sell fifty Gilded Relics of Ancient Fortune to the Mysterious Stranger that hangs out in the taverns, or to the Servant of the Flame at The Reaper’s Hideout.

These relics are very rarely encountered. Second, players must reach Legendary reputation in at least three of the following companies; Merchant Alliance, The Hunter's Call, Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, Sea Dogs, Or Reaper's Bones). When these two conditions are met, players must still pay a little over 6,000 gold to buy the Ghost Tankard at the Athena’s Fortune Shop.

12 Eye of Reach Of The Ashen Dragon

The Eye of Reach of the Ashen Dragon sniper rifle in Sea of Thieves

For those of you new to this game, the Eye of Reach is essentially a sniper rifle. Well, it is as close to sniper rifle as you're going to get in a game set during the golden age of piracy. There are a lot of variants (cosmetic variants) for the Eye of Reach; however, there are few that are as hard to get, or as impressive in appearance, as the Eye of Reach of the Ashen Dragon.

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Like the other Ashen Dragon items, the Eye of Reach has a color scheme that starts red and becomes a bright, almost neon, yellow. To get this weapon you need to collect and sell all five of the Tomes of Resurrection - which is going to take you a while.

11 Ghost Pocket Watch

Looking at the Ghost Pocket Watch in Sea of Thieves

Getting many pieces of the Ghost set requires a secondary objective. For the Ghost Tankard it's collecting the Gilded Relics, but The Ghost Pocket Watch requires the player sell 50 kegs of Ancient Black Powder. These kegs aren't commonly found while playing - so getting fifty will take a while. Here's the thing, the player has to sell the kegs; meaning make it back to a port in one piece.

Because this in the Ghost set it also requires a Legendary reputation in the companies listed for the Ghost Tankard. The Ghost set is an incredibly expensive cosmetics set. The full Ghost ship set, alone, costs 3,050,000 gold. Ouch.

10 Triumphant Sea Dog Hull

This hull is recognizable by the blue and orange stripes the run down the length of the hull (near the top). It is an incredibly drawn-out process to unlock this item. First, you need to acquire, and have equipped in the Arena, the Glorious Sea Dog Anchor, Wheel, Figurehead, and Cannons while competing in at least 200 competitions.

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Getting each of these required items involves spending some gold and having a certain reputation level with the Sea Dogs. Once this is accomplished the player still needs to spend 300,000 gold to purchase the hull. This is one of those rare items that many players do not feel is worth the effort.

9 Triumphant Sea Dog Hat

The Triumphant Sea Dog Hat in Sea of Thieves

This blue and red hat is technically a cosmetic, and not an item (that are enhanced by cosmetics). However, this item is so rare it deserves to be included on this list. Like all cosmetics, the Triumphant Sea Dog Hat doesn't provide any benefit - other than the prestige of being able to show off this incredibly rare item.

This is not a simple, or cheap, cosmetic to obtain. Players need to win 100 times in the Arena to unlock this hat. If that isn't hard enough, players also need to be wearing at least 5 other pieces of the Triumphant Sea Dog set. When this is all accomplished, the player still needs to pay 58.480 gold.

8 Triumphant Sea Dog Figurehead

This item is perhaps a little harder to unlock than the previous item, the Triumphant Sea Dog Hull. The figurehead at least looks nice and is easily recognizable, but it’s up the each player to decide if it’s worth the effort.

During Arena play you need to have the Glorious Sea Dog Anchor, Wheel, Figurehead, and Cannons equipped while winning at least 100 contests – not just participating, but winning. As stated in the previous entry, these required items take some time to assemble. Like the Triumphant Sea Dog Hull, the Figurehead cost a whopping 300,000 gold - making it one of the more expensive items in Sea of Thieves.

7 Gilded Phoenix Sails

The Gilded Phoenix Sails in Sea of Thieves

While sailing the high seas, how often have you seen a ship with white sails with a golden phoenix? Never? You're not alone. These rare sails are very fetching, but require some real-world effort in order to obtain. The creators of Sea of Thieves have a program called the Creator Crew in which players are encouraged to join and stream their pirate adventures online.

If you want these impressive sails you will need to join the Creator Crew and stream one of your gaming sessions for at least five minutes. So, it will cost you a little time and effort, but they can be acquired for free - unlike a lot of games' additional content.

6 Sapphire Blade Boots

The Sapphire Blade Boots in Sea of Thieves

Next time a player is heading out on the high seas, they can impress the other players present by wearing their Sapphire Blade Boots. Getting this extremely rare cosmetic is going to take a while; at least the player gets this item without spending any gold, they have to pay with their precious time instead.

There is a program available to players of Sea of Thieves called Insider Programme. This program allows players to sign up and serve as testers for various upcoming updates and expansions. There are many items players can get by participating in this program. The Sapphire Blade Boots require participants to play as an Insider for at least one hour a week - for 154 weeks.

5 Box Of Wondrous Secrets

Finding a Box of Wondrous Secrets buried on the beach in Sea of Thieves.

This is possibly the rarest item in the game that can still be acquired. The Box of Wondrous Secrets is a large black box, tied-up with thick rope, with a large red wax seal and vivid yellow markings on its side. Selling this item will get the player 25,000 gold – a pretty hefty sum. This makes it one of the most valuable items in Sea of Thieves.

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This item can be found at Devil’s Roar; it can be found either on land or in the water. This area can take a long time to explore for even groups of players, and there is only a tiny chance of actually finding one. This item is so rare that even long-time players admit to never finding one. Happy hunting!