Sea of Thieves lets players suit up as a pirate and embark on high seas adventures in a quest for treasure! But no loot comes without risk of combat. While other pirate crews are the most unpredictable and certainly, have the potential to be the most dangerous, the in-game AI enemies can pose their own problems too.
The main criticism of Sea of Thieves is the sheer lack of depth in content and progression, and this holds true to an extreme when it comes to the game’s NPC population. There’s really only one enemy type on quests or in Skeleton Forts (the raids of Sea of Thieves) and these are skeletons. Most voyages and the game’s only fort type involves just skeletons but there are different types with their own attributes. When in the water there are sharks and when in a ship there are Krakens, but those are self-explantory.
Here’s our quick guide to Sea of Thieves’ enemy types and their weaknesses – along with some dos and don’ts.
Sea of Thieves Skeleton Types and Weaknesses
Skeletons are the only enemy type in Sea of Thieves but come in several varieties. They all only appear on land and cannot enter water beyond the depth of their legs. Some come with swords, some with ranged weapons, and some even eat bananas to heal themselves, while others can use cannons at forts.
Regular Skeletons – The standard, basic, bone-looking skeleton can spawn in small groups on almost any island. During quests or Skeleton Fort raids, they appear in waves wearing blue bandanas. They can be taken down easily with one shot from any ranged weapon or one lunge with a sword/cutlass.
Gold (Armored) Skeletons – These juggernaut skeletons can be intimidating since they’re nearly invulnerable to conventional combat. Thankfully they are the slowest moving and are very weak to water, which makes their gold armor rust. If it’s not raining, lure them to a body of water or throw a bucket of water at them and then fight them.
Shadow (Black) Skeletons – These ghost-like skeletons with glowing eyes cannot be killed in the shadow of darkness, so if it’s nighttime, pull out a lantern to force their physical form where they essentially become regular, weak skeletons. During the day, these Shadow Skeletons don’t pose any special threat.
Green (Plant) Skeletons – The unique, nature-covered skeletons are fast and aggressive, the opposite of Gold Skeletons. Keep them away from water since it heals them. A sword is most effective.
Skeleton Captains (Bosses) – At the end of a Skeleton Fort raid, and on Order of Souls Voyages, Skeleton Captains will appear. These boss-style characters have unique names above their heads in red text and can absorb a lot of damage. You just have to grind them down with your crew if ship cannons and red barrels aren’t available for the fight.
For all skeleton encounters, take out the ranged ones first (and focus on skeletons manning cannons if your own ship is within firing range). The easiest strategy is to have crew mates lure groups of skeletons near your own ship cannons and even better, to use red gunpowder barrels to one-shot any group of skeletons.
Once players hit legendary levels, there’s talk of “Skeleton Lords” and we hope to see AI-controlled ships helmed by skeletons or better yet, new enemy types all together. Stay tuned for more!
Next: How to Quickly Earn Gold in Sea of Thieves
