Rare's Sea of Thieves is no stranger to limited-time events. From promotions that tie-in with upcoming Xbox games, to events that are seasonal, Sea of Thieves is always being updated with new content. In December of 2020, Sea of Thieves introduced a "Grogmanay" event, a clever play-on-words of the Scottish' "Hogmanay," meaning the last day of the year.
Well, Grogmanay is back this year, with even more challenges and rewards to unlock. The event has already started (beginning on December 27), and runs until January 11, so there's still plenty of time to grab all of the cosmetic items being offered for free. The minimal effort required to grab these cosmetics is more than worth it.
What Rewards Players Can Unlock
The first cosmetic reward players can grab is the "Grogmanay Event Flag," which is completely free for all players who take part in the event. All a player needs to do is head over to Larinna, and take the item from her.
After picking the flag up, players can then start to unlock the other cosmetic rewards offered in the event. There are four in total, each one unlocked after completing a specific number of challenges.
The first reward players will unlock (after completing just one challenge) is the "Bilge Rat Celebration Tattoo," a large back piece that takes the appearance of two tankards clashing into one another. This tattoo pairs well with the "Bilge Rat Celebration Makeup," which is unlocked after completing two Grogmanay challenges. This cosmetic places a stylized golden tankard underneath the player-character's eye.
After completing four of the six available challenges, the player is rewarded with a new tankard. The "Grogmanay Annual Tankard" functions identically to a standard one, but has a unique visual appearance, appearing golden, with an etching of two tankards clashing on the side.
Upon completing all six of the Grogmanay challenges, the player is given a new title of "Celebration Celebrity." These cosmetic rewards may be a little simple, especially when compared to last year's "Frostbite Cannon," "Order of Souls Bucket," and "Paradise Garden Cannon Flare," but the challenges associated with unlocking this year's rewards are much easier.
How These Rewards Are Unlocked
To unlock all of the cosmetic rewards available in the 2021 Grogmanay event, players will need to complete six challenges. These challenges can be done in any order, but all of them require the player to drink three tankards of grog, wait for the effects to kick in, and then complete the task at hand.
The "A Staggering Success" challenge tasks the player with drinking three tankards, and digging up a treasure chest (three times), all while suffering the effects of Sea of Thieves' drunk mechanic, which causes the player's screen to go blurry while their character stumbles and loses balance.
"Dropping the Ball" will have the player land three hits on an enemy ship while drunk, "Drowned Sorrows" sees the player defeat 10 Ocean Crawlers while drunk, "Sick Burn" has the player defeat twenty skeletons with firebombs while drunk, "Dinner and Drinks" tasks the player with catching a snake, pig, and chicken while drunk, and the final challenge, "Chunder the Sea," asks players to defeat a shark while drunk. None of these challenges are particularly difficult, so unlocking all of this year's Grogmanay cosmetics is more than doable before January 11.
Taking Part In Grogmanay Voyages
If players are looking for a classic Sea of Thieves treasure hunt, then Larinna has some special Grogmanay tasks just for them. With every new challenge that's beaten, a new Grogmanay voyage is unlocked. These voyages are simple "X Marks the Spot" quests that should lead players to a nearby island. Digging in the correct spot will reward players with a crate of ten "Toast of Friendship" fireworks.
Sea of Thieves is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.