In Sea of Thieves, quality of life updates have expanded over the years and are typically well received by most players in the Sea of Thieves community, helping to create a more enjoyable and satisfying pirate experience and reducing player load and grind. Season 7 launched on 4 August 2022, with captaincy bringing a host of exciting and immersive new features and ways to play as per the 2022 Sea Of Thieves roadmap. Some new features arguably also include quality of life improvements for a more enjoyable and convenient player experience.
For those who may have found some aspects of the game repetitive at times, these features may spark a potential return to the game and show how it is evolving from strength to strength with each seasonal update.
10 Zoom In On Maps
Some players have cried out for the ability to zoom in on treasure maps, like when using the map table, and Rare has delivered in Season 7 with the ability for players to zoom in on maps and notes. When using an Xbox controller, players need to hold the right trigger button to hold up a map or note and click the right stick to zoom in or out.
This ability is helpful for treasure hunting as it can be tricky to locate the exact x-marks-the-spot on islands with more complex features or large designs, like the vast island of Plunder Valley. It's also a thumbs-up for accessibility, giving players more control over visuals.
9 Helpful Harpoons And Pulley Systems
In Season 6, players were introduced to pulley systems for the first time as a quicker means of transporting treasure. Once unlocking the fort Treasure Room, players can place their loot onto the pulley platform, then use a lever to lower it to water level. Players can then use the ship's harpoon or a rowboat for quicker treasure transportation.
Season 7 also brings players a similar system at the Sovereign's tent with a platform, lever, and two harpoons. Both harpoons have a useful 180-degree turn compared to the 90-degree angle of ship harpoons for smooth treasure grabbing and a quick deposit to the Sovereigns.
8 Speedy Sea Forts
The addition of sea fort raids in Season 6 also gave players a different and quicker type of activity in the game, allowing for a speedy treasure haul for solo or crewed ships. Players must raid and ransack a fort for all kinds of treasure, battling waves of phantoms until the Captain appears and drops a Treasury Room key once defeated. There's also an additional storage room key to find unlocking a second small loot stash at the top of each fort.
Although some players might debate how useful the additional wall map is, the fort raids are a helpful addition for a quicker type of treasure run compared to some Voyages and Tall Tales, especially for some solo sailors or those who may be time-pressed.
7 A Quick Sovereign Sale
For Captained ships, cashing in treasure couldn't be easier with the Season 7 addition of Sovereign Tents on Outposts, the location of a new intermediary group where players can sell all kinds of loot at no extra cost.
Combined with the harpoon and pulley system, this makes selling treasure a much faster process, as players no longer need to run around Outposts selling to each Trading Company, like The Order of Souls, vastly reducing player load. For some players, the effort of lugging treasure backward and forwards is all part of the pirate experience, but it's always beneficial to have options.
6 Take And Store It All
The Take and Store All function was released in Season 5 and was hugely praised within the Sea of Thieves community. It enables players to purchase an empty Storage Crate from the Merchant Alliance Trading Company and then press the X button on an Xbox controller to 'Take' all of a barrel's contents without needing to select items individually.
On returning to the ship, players can press Y on an Xbox controller to 'Store' all contents, freeing up space to rinse and repeat. This strategy allows players to quickly loot all island barrels before setting off on their adventures.
5 Throwables For The Win
Throwables are one of the many kinds of cannonballs available in Sea Of Thieves and can help give players the edge in PVE combat, particularly for solo players. A ship comes stocked with a small supply, but for captained vessels as part of the Season 7 update, these are now available to purchase a supply of 12 Firebombs and 12 Blunderbombs from the new Shipwright's Supply and Captain's Voyage Shop for 3,500 gold coins.
Players who prefer to shop in one place can also buy a supply of cannonballs and wooden planks from the Shipwright in addition to the Merchant's Alliance Trading Company.
4 Meat, Fish, And Bait Aplenty
Season 7 also enables Captains and their crew to buy new useful and time-saving supplies from the Ship Wright Supply and Captain's Voyage Shop including meat, fruit, and bait. These are all sent automatically to player ships, so there's no need for player transportation.
Fruit supplies for 3,500 gold include 12 coconuts, 8 tomatoes, 6 mangoes, and 4 sought-after pineapples. For 1,725 gold, a new meat supply includes 4 chicken legs, 4 pork, 4 snake meat, and 3 shark meat, but these all still need to be cooked to avoid hurling into a bucket. For 3,500 gold, there's also a handy supply of fishing bait for catching different types of fish including 10 grubs, 10 leeches, and ten earthworms useful for catching and cooking fish.
3 Empty But Valuable Treasure Chests
Finding an empty treasure chest in the Sea Of Thieves world is always a joy as they are so helpful for lugging around large hauls of treasure. Although sometimes the item placement or selection can be a little fiddly and the chances of coming across them are random, they make storing and transporting treasure easier for all crew sizes. They can also be sold for a bit of extra coin when no longer needed.
It remains to be seen whether players will ever be able to purchase them, perhaps from the Gold Hoarder or Merchant Alliance Trading Companies, as they are undeniably useful for all kinds of voyages and activity.
2 Array Of Ammo Pouches
Season 5 also gave players another quality of life update with small pouches of gold and ammo pouches dropped by some skeletons and ghosts, making life easier and rewarding for players when battling PVE enemies.
This is particularly helpful as ammo chests can be scarce or not always conveniently nearby for players, meaning players don't have to waste time returning to their ship to reload or frantically search an island for ammo chests. It's also appreciated when fighting large groups of enemies for a quick resupply.
1 Voyage Variety
Another Season 7 update that improves convenience is the new types of voyages available for captained ships and crew. Once players have reached certain pirate levels in the game, using in-game gold, they can purchase single, cheaper voyages, or go for much longer or varied journeys with the pricier voyage bundles. For players who are already Pirate Legends, these are all unlocked and available to buy.
In the official Season 7 Deep Dive video, some of the developers spoke about how these new voyages give players more freedom of choice to decide what length and type of voyage they want to commit to, putting time commitment and preferred play style firmly in the player's hands.
Sea Of Thieves is available on Xbox, and PC, and is free on Xbox GamePass Ultimate.