How to Play Sea of Thieves Solo: Play Lone Wolf – Beginners Guide

Xbox Game Studios” 2018 swashbuckling action-adventure game, Sea of Thieves, had always been meant to be played as part of a team. Together with your scallywag shipmates, you get to plunder and terrorize the seas and unsuspecting targets, as you had always fantasized while watching the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie.

That said, there are a number of players who prefer to sail solo. Just being alone with your thoughts at sea can be an appealing idea at times, too. While it’s not an impossible feat to pull off, it does require a certain amount of skill and the right knowledge.

We’ve got an all-new, detailed guide to help you understand the pros and cons of playing Sea of Thieves solo, and how you can go about doing it effectively.

Playing Sea of Thieves Solo Lone Wolf: Beginners Guide

The greatest challenge you will face when sailing on your own as a lone pirate in a smaller, but the faster ship is that you will have no backup in case you get into a sticky situation. You will also have to deal with the disadvantage of numbers if you happen to come across a ship full of opponents. However, where’s the fun without stepping out of your comfort zone and accepting more significant challenges?

Being a lone wolf has its own unique advantages. You will be tinier, faster, and sneakier than the large groups of enemies you face. You can slip out of dangerous situations, give your foes the slip, and loot treasures without being noticed. If you can master these skills, you will be thriving as a solo pirate faster than you could have ever imagined!

Know your Ship Well

This is the first and most important thing to do. As a solo pirate, you will have only one constant and loyal companion with you – your Sloop. This ship is smaller, and its parts are put more closely together. However, you could have trouble sailing with it if you are not familiar with it. First of all, you must learn to sail if you do not know how to. You should notice the angling and setting ropes intended for your sails and yardarm near the ship’s stern. You will find the capstan right behind the helm. And obviously, you will know where the cannon and barrels of resources are. Remember that you will not have much time to look for things in a crisis, so make sure you do your homework beforehand.

Practice to Sail Straight

When sailing solo, you will have to manage your ship’s sail length, angle, navigation, and anchors yourself, with no help whatsoever. If you keep a check on all of these things, you should not have much of a problem doing it. Remember that the gold-trimmed handle is the most useful thing on your solo journeys. You will usually find it in the middle when you have turned to your maximum possible potential, or if you position your wheel right in the center. Watch out for the latter scenario, because it will start vibrating as a warning. Your Sloop will stay its course, and you will have sufficient time to disembark and go about your business.

Keep your Voyages Short

In Sea of Thieves, your job is not completed after plundering gold, finishing a voyage, or obtaining a bounty. You need to constantly be alert because your opponents can steal it after attacking you and putting you to the sword. If your ship goes down, there is only a narrow opportunity for you to retrieve your treasures before they sink to be bottom of the ocean with the remains of your ship. Thus, you can see that you’re at risk whenever you accomplish a mission.

This is an important point to keep in mind when you are sailing solo. You must attempt to finish every voyage in the shortest possible time. Also, try to avoid the open waters as much as possible. Decide beforehand what outpost you will go for after having accomplished your objective, and how you can reach there fast. If you end up being chased by enemies, we recommend surrendering anything you possess before they put you to death. Your ship and life are replaceable, but your belongings will be gone by the time you come back.

Darkness is your Ally

Ships with large crews aboard generally tend to prefer launching themselves head-on into the thick of battles in the sea. However, as a solo pirate, your best bet is to avoid engaging in violence as much as possible. In fact, stealth is the preferred mode for you to operate in. A general rule of thumb in Sea of Thieves is that reducing visibility at night is a useful tactic. You can achieve this by extinguishing your lanterns, which will help you give enemies the slip. You can also move out of the line of sight of other ships by putting islands between them and yourself. Also, you can also try putting up your sails upon disembarking. This will make your ship less noticeable. As long as you take appropriate measures to keep yourself off the radar, you will have better chances of surviving solo.

Trust your Intuition and Double-Check Everything

Remember that you are an alone pirate sailing away in the vast, open seas. And we’d like to remind you that those seas aren’t exactly safe or friendly. You have nothing but your skills and instincts to survive. In case your inner alarms go off for any reason, trust them, and adequately investigate the source of your suspicion.

If you just stopped by an island and heard what sounded like a little bump on the hull, go check it. If you heard an ominous creaking sound just outside your ship, guess what? Go check it! That little bump could turn out to be a crack that will result in your ship getting flooded and sunk. That creaking could be coming from an undead skeleton that will ambush and slaughter you once it gets the opportunity. Therefore, learn to trust your instincts and don’t compromise with your safety.

Have a Swift Escape Plan Prepared Beforehand

A ship’s crew is at most significant risk to attacks when their vessel has dropped its anchors near an island. Your enemies spot you clearly while you are engaged in activities on the island. Apart from that, they have a good opportunity to lay out a trap for you when your return. To add insult to injury, they will be all set to plunder the treasure that you will, as they very well know, be bringing back to your ship. Keep this danger in mind, and always take precautions beforehand before you leave your ship. It could very well save not only your riches but your life as well.

Listed below are some of the steps you can take to protect yourself in this situation:

• Try to develop the habit of slowing down as you get closer to the island and park your boat next to it. It is better to cut your sail at this point to glide to a halt in a convenient position, rather than simply dropping your anchor as you dart up to the island.
• As long as the weather isn’t stormy, your boat will stay more or less still after you have pulled up the sails. Therefore, your anchor will not have much of a role to play in that regard. It’s generally preferable to leave your boat after lifting the anchor, rather than dropping it. This tactic will come in handy if you need to make a swift escape. It’s always faster to hop aboard your boat and lower your sails, rather than pausing to lift your heavy anchor.
• By leaving your ship’s sails raised up, you also make your vessel less apparent to prying eyes. If there are boulders, island trees, and other natural objects to cover for you, the result is even more enhanced.
• When you are on an island, make sure you conceal your valuables safely in bushes. And do it in a manner that they are not easily noticeable to anybody nearby. If you bring them back to the beach, do not load them onto your ship until you are ready to depart. In this way, you can deprive your enemies of the opportunity to hijack your ship and plunder it in your absence.
• Before leaving your ship and after coming back to it and preparing to leave, make sure you scan the horizon just in case. This may warn you in advance of any impending ambushes or traps waiting for you.

Agility can be a Life-Saving Virtue

Although your single-sail Sloop is nowhere as fast as a gigantic ship with its engines at full throttle, you do have an important edge over those guys – your tiny boat is much more agile and maneuverable than their massive galleon. You can shake off ships chasing you by zigzagging your Sloop through rocks or around islands. This will make it extremely difficult for your pursuers to get their bulky vessel past those obstacles safely. Thus, you will largely negate their Advantage of speed. Your boat will be able to take turns effectively, even at half or quarter sail. With patience and enough practice, you can learn how to control your speed as per the demand of the situation.

Your Sloop also has a tighter radius of turning. As a result, your would-be attackers will find it difficult to take a defensive position against you on their galleons. If you get the chance and are feeling daring enough, you can try making a sharp turn and smashing your boat headfirst into your foes” ship. This will wreck the latter considerably, while you will be able to get away with much lesser damage that you can fix quickly. Hopefully, this will cause enough damage to your opponents to hinder their speed, giving you ample chance to escape. Apart from this, you can even pull off a dynamic emergency brake-like turn by dropping your anchors while your wheel is turned. This will enable you to change directions swiftly and take cover behind nearby boulders.

Rely more on Defense than Offense

Despite being comparatively more prone to damage, your Sloop has its own significant defenses as well. Admittedly, it may not fare very well in face-to-face combat against a larger ship. However, it can demolish even the toughest opponents when the circumstances are in your favor. For example, your cannonballs are positioned on your Sloops” deck, which enables you to reload them remarkably fast. Once you get yourself into a convenient attacking position, you can unleash hell upon your opponents” galleon. Unless they react fast and effectively, you even have a chance of sinking their ship.

Aim below the waterline of your enemy’s ship. Unless you are aiming to take out the guys operating the cannons, firing at the ship’s deck does not help much. By targeting the area beneath the waterline, you can cause water to flood into the ship and send many of them running to repair the resulting damage, making them easier to attack.

If you do take up an offensive stance, you can put your superior agility to good use by flanking or circling your opponent’s ship, based on the circumstances. By positioning yourself broadside, you can constantly keep your foes in your line of fire, while ensuring that you yourself are not an easy target. If you do get into their line of fire, move away from the deck and utilize that time to repair your boat. You can rejoin the fray when you are in a favorable position again.

Work on Pulling off Drive-by Drop-offs

Keep in mind that an empty boat is an expendable asset. You can obtain a new boat if yours gets taken down, without much of a hassle. All it will cost you is the time needed to sail back towards your destination. Therefore, we recommend not hesitating to sacrifice your boat if you need to grab some treasure while being pursued or assaulted by enemies. As you come close to an outpost island, make sure you keep your vessel straight, and its sails lifted and spread out. Now disembark near a beach or dock, and remain underwater for as long as possible.

Try to exit from the front of the boat if your enemies are hot on your trail. This will reduce the possibility of them noticing that your ship is now empty. They will simply continue firing uselessly at it. This will usually give you sufficient time to escape. However, you should be prepared to make a mad dash for the finish line if need be. It is advisable to choose an outpost where you know the precise position of the vendor you have to meet. This will make it easier for you to head straight for your goal with the treasure.

Never Stop Stocking

A crisis can strike anytime when you are out in the seas, whether solo or with your shipmates. Of course, this goes double for the former situation. Therefore, we recommend routinely looking for barrels of supplies on every single island you step foot on. Being well-stocked whenever you are out in the sea will enable you to conveniently recover health, repair damages, and keep your weapons equipped with ammunition. Before disembarking from your ship, make sure you discard everything in your stores and restore your personal supplies on the island. By doing this, you will ensure that you possess sufficient supplies on your boat in case your enemies strike. A couple of spare planks, bananas, and ammunition in a tight corner can literally save you from the gaping jaws of death.

Try to use Storms to your Advantage

It is extremely hard for a ship to do anything properly when being tossed about in a storm on the seas. That applies not only to your ship but your enemies” ships as well. Thus, if you find yourself stuck in a losing battle, then moving towards the stormy seas can potentially save you from an inevitable demise. Storms can wreak serious havoc on a ship’s steering, hulls, and compasses. They can stir up gigantic waves that make it difficult for gunners to handle the ship’s cannons. The vessel’s holds get slowly but steadily flooded with copious amounts of seawater.

As a lone pirate, you will be able to deal with these issues on your little Sloop more effectively than the scallywags in massive galleons. If you can handle the winds and waves with grace, you can save yourself from the pain of being blasted to smithereens with cannonballs. Learning how to use storms to your Advantage can really help you gain the upper hand in Sea of Thieves. Remember to watch out for the lightning, though. It can cause serious damage if it hits your barrels, so make sure to keep them safely below the deck.

What to do if you go Overboard?

Continuing with the storm scenario, you can imagine how hard it is to deal with a ship that is swaying madly in the turbulent waters. At the same time, you try to handle the sails, navigation, and urgent repairs all by yourself. As such, you can find yourself thrown overboard at times. When this happens, there’s no need to panic because the programmers kindly included the character of a helpful merman who will be there to help you in this time of need. Locate the blue smoke emerging from his flare and approach him. He will help you get back on your ship’s deck pronto.

Learn to Play Dirty with your Enemies

Hey, you are a pirate, after all. And history recognizes lone pirates for their legendary thieving and killing skills. You can use your tiny, agile boat to your Advantage in this regard. By positioning it conveniently, you can get aboard your enemies’ ships unnoticed. If you’re fast enough, you can literally strip their ship bare before they can do anything. They will have to scurry for their lives as you flit in and out of their ranks, stabbing at them. It is many pirates” fantasy to retrieve barrels of gunpowder from the island and deploy them against pursuers.

Conversely, if you manage to slip into the enemy ship’s hold, you can wreak some serious havoc on your opponents. Blowing up any barrels of gunpowder, you find there can damage the ship enough to sink it. Your panic-stricken foes will not even have the chance to think of doing anything.

You can also use this opportunity to deal with tougher enemies that are too dangerous to engage in a face-to-face conflict. If you manage to get yourself aboard their ship in a convenient place, try pulling up their sails. Watch them panic as their vessel sails away, leaving them behind. You can use this diversion to your Advantage to acquire whatever you need. It can set off an alone player from an outpost or island you need to visit. This way, you will be at a lesser risk of being attacked en route.

Do not Hesitate to Accept Defeat

Remember that even champions will lose out at times. Even after you do everything right and give it your best shot, inevitably, your opponents will outsmart you, sink your ship, and slaughter you mercilessly sooner or later. You can lose your treasure and even your life to unfavorable situations or mishaps. Things can go sideways because you missed a tiny but critical factor during a critical stage of the battle.

Learn to take all of this in your stride and just a part of the joy of being a pirate. Remember that you are playing solo in a game that has not really been intended for it. Even as part of a crew, both victories and defeats are unavoidable part and parcel of the overall experience. Sea of Thieves is all about enjoying the swashbuckling and crazy adventures on the seas rather than worrying about accomplishing as many objectives as possible.

So now, get those sails up and prepare to dominate the waters in Sea of Thieves! We hope you find our guide helpful as you venture out on your journey in this wonderful game! Check out Games, iPhone Tips and Tricks, PC tips and tricks, and Android Tips and Tricks for more. Participate in our $150 giveaway contest by subscribing to our YouTube Channel. Feel free to leave any feedback or queries, down below with your name and e-mail ID. Happy Gaming.