Highlights
- PVP and alliances in Sea of Thieves can be risky, but offer unique role-play opportunities with the new Burning Blade ship.
- Players can engage in factional PVP battles with ship customization, representing Reapers or Pirate Legends for fun role-playing.
- Update 3.1.0.1 changed the Burning Blade World Event to prevent alliances, encouraging more balanced and exciting PVP gameplay, which can be further enhanced through role-playing.
PVP and forming alliances in Sea of Thieves are often risky business, as any seasoned pirate sailing the seas will know. As one of Sea of Thieves’ unwritten rules, some of the dangers of PVP include forming an alliance with another player whose intentions may not always be honorable, as is the risk that comes with role-playing as a pirate. Of course, alliances can sometimes work out favorably, enabling players to share the spoils of adventure. However, they could also encourage sandbox-friendly things like role-play, especially with the introduction of one of Sea of Thieves’ best features in Season 13, the Burning Blade ship. While some players see it as OP and are forming alliances to defeat it, this could be a positive thing with the chance for PVP to shine in a different light.
Sea of Thieves' PVP is known to be challenging and is not necessarily favored by all players, hence other options like Safer Seas. While PVP and alliances can be tricky, the Burning Blade sets the stage for some unique ship battle role-play. It puts the rivalry between the Reapers and the Pirate Lord front and center, giving players a massive moving target to either sink or control. There are also rewards for either decision and the opportunity to support or pick fights with one another in a potentially role-playing way.
Related
Sea of Thieves Releases Update 3.1.0.1 Patch Notes
Rare releases the latest patch notes for update 3.1.0.1 for Sea of Thieves, detailing changes made to the action-adventure sailing game.
How Players Can PVP Role-Play With The Burning Blade In Sea Of Thieves
While the rivalry between the Reapers and the Pirate Lord was explored in previous seasons, like in Lost Sands, that rivalry hasn't yet emerged into full-blown factional PVP ship battles. Sea of Thieves’ Burning Blade World Event could be an opportunity for players to role-play their chosen faction in practice and visually so, taking that rivalry to a whole new level. To reflect their chosen faction, players could also decorate their pirates and ships to become a unified fleet on the seas, such as the Legendary Set for Pirate Legends or Skeleton Curse for Reapers. Indeed, Sea of Thieves recently shared a hilarious video on X of a Ghost Curse crew role-playing a hold-up of two Reapers leaving a Skeleton Camp.
Role-Playing Sea Of Thieves' Burning Blade With Ship Customization And Pirate Outfits
On the flip side, there’s also the possibility of competitive role-play, with Reapers taking on each other to fight for control of the ship for the opportunity to impressw Captain Flameheart. Equipping Sea of Thieves ship cosmetics and pirate outfits representative of these factions could also be a good visual cue for other players to indicate their intentions, in addition to the alliance function. Similarly, mischievous pirates could also trick others into a false sense of security by their appearance – players are, after all, playing as pirates.
Of course, ship and pirate customization are just one way players can have fun in Rare’s pirate sandbox with the return of Captain Flameheart. As ever, the Sea of Thieves community has been coming up with ways to have fun with the Burning Blade, such as flipping it upside down using explosive barrels. That said, it is a powerful ship to take down, especially for some Sea of Thieves solo players when taking on bigger or more experienced crews. This alone could be a good reason to try teaming up, with the option to channel a bit of role-playing along the way.
Sea of Thieves update 3.1.0.1 changed the Burning Blade World Event so that players crewing the Burning Blade cannot form alliances with other players, which could make it more balanced.
Of course, some players might not necessarily want to work with others to beat the Burning Blade, so fortunately, it is possible to defeat it when playing solo, albeit often more challenging. However, its high-powered design could potentially encourage other players to work together, which could be an exciting and positive thing for Sea of Thieves PVP in the long run. Of course, it remains to be seen what happens with the Burning Blade as time goes on and how the story of Captain Flameheart's return continues.
Sea of Thieves
Adventure
Systems
- Top Critic Rating:69/100 Critics Recommend:36%
- Platform(s)
- PC , PlayStation 5 , Xbox One , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X
- Released
- March 20, 2018
- Developer(s)
- Rare
- Publisher(s)
- Microsoft Game Studios
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Crude Humor, Use of Alcohol, Violence
- How Long To Beat
- 130+ Hours
- X|S Enhanced
- Yes
- File Size Xbox Series
- 89 GB (December 2023)
- Cross-Platform Play
- PC, PS5, Xbox One & Xbox Series X|S
