SET SAIL
Before you embark on this voyage you would need to know that it’s a long one. In addition, when you talk to Duke at any outpost tavern, he’ll require five commendation coins (called doubloons) to start the journey. So best have a crew and a couple hours ahead of you before setting sail. The voyage comes with four quests. One for each type you’ll receive while playing through the game. 1 Treasure Hunt, 1 Riddle, 1 Mystical, and 1 Cargo Run. So, the rum runner voyage is a bit like a sampler. This is to give new players a taste of the all the adventures Sea of Thieves has to offer. You would usually have to gather them separately (and spend coin for some of the higher-level ones), but with this event its all considered one voyage.
At first glance this seems simple. Do the quests, turn it in. But this is Sea of Thieves and there’s a lot of open water. With the four recent updates Rare has added more content to experience by the time a player has reached their destination. The first updates to the game were bug fixes and feature improvements. The first major free content update ‘The Hungering Deep’ was launched on the 28th of May, and introduced a new quest to defeat the Megalodon along with some new customization and features. ‘Cursed Sails’ brought skeletons to roam the sea, ‘Forsaken Shores’ uncovered a new volcanic region, and the most recent ‘Shrouded Shores’ brings a thick fog across the sea, along a variety of other additions.
Of course, Rare isn’t done yet with offering new content. The much awaited PvP only mode ‘The Area’ is due to be released in early 2019. New voyages, adventures, pets, side activities and a legendary status (called the captaincy update) are all hopefully upcoming updates to the Sea of Thieves.
RUM RUNNER VOYAGE
Throughout the year, the Bilge Rat faction has a series of limited time adventures which offer a variety of quests, loot, and unique clothing, weapon, and item sets. February’s voyage is called the Rum Runner Voyage which coincides nicely with the free trial started on February 6th.
This journey ended up taking a couple of tries, in part because my friend and I were distracted by the newly released Apex Legends and because this voyage took a lot longer than expected. The first quest I decide to tackled was treasure hunting because… well, shiny gold. It’s a pretty simple event, find the island and dig up the treasure. It takes a few tours of the island to find all four chests, but once I do I quickly set off back to the outpost to unload my treasure. Now for the cargo run. I need to pick up six crates from Wild Henry and deliver it to Martha the Fierce. Alright, no problem. Except… Wild Henry is back on the treasure hunt island. So back I go.
Cargo is loaded after some finagling with a row boat and off we go, again. As I arrive at my destination, I spot a squarish shape beneath the water. To my surprise it’s a barnacle encrusted chest. Already pleased with this discovery, I go exploring to try to find this Martha the Fierce, only to discover yet another chest! After searching the island, I stumble on Martha. Of course, she’s half way across from where I dropped anchor. I’m reluctant to trek across the island six separate times, so I return to the helm. I slowly navigate my way across the coast, gently trying to dodge rocks and keep an eye out for skeletons. I sure hope Martha liked the four crates of luxurious clothes (only one slightly wet), the one (parched) plant, and the one (cracked) crate of rum bottles. I make some decent coin and immediately prepare the next course. I let out a heavy sigh when I realize the riddle leads me back again in the direction I just came from. But there’s a voyage to complete so I raise anchor and set sail.
One of the best feelings in Sea of Thieves is when your sails are full of wind and you soar across the sea. I take a moment to admire the detail and beauty Rare has put into the world. The water gleams, the wind breezes past, and slowly the outpost appears on the horizon. I decided to make a quick detour to the nearest Gold Hoarder in order to sell the chests. And I’m glad I did, as the sun sets, a skeleton ship rises from beneath the waves to engage with a passing sloop. I watch the battle with my spyglass, wondering if I should try to circumvent the two ships or simply wait. The decision is made quickly as a glowing megalodon makes its appearance and scares off skeleton ship, before it too dives back into the deep. Quickly, I make my way to the riddle island with the rising of the sun.
The riddle solving takes some head scratching (and a Youtube video) to figure out, but eventually the Chest of a Thousand Grogs is mine. The skeleton hunt is done quickly with some snipping from the deck of the ship and to my surprise the voyage has another chapter. Another treasure hunt. At this point, I’m feeling pretty tired and eager to finish this quest. However, when I reach Thieves’ Haven I have to stop and admire the beauty of the island hideout. The caverns look incredible in the afternoon sunlight, with the rays peaking over the top of the openings. In fitting fashion for the Rum Runner Voyage, the treasure is three Chest of a Thousand Grogs. My pirate, (and my friend who’d graciously come to help), makes their way stumbling and wobbling back to the ship and then to the Hoarder.
CONCLUSION
While the voyage is fun, and you can make a decent amount of gold, especially if you’re a new player, it took nearly four hours to complete. Which, is not an extremely long amount of time if you could save your progress. A player may not have four hours to dedicate to a single voyage and if you can’t complete it you need to reactive the voyage. However, the voyage is a good way to introduce new players to the world and mechanics of Sea of Thieves. To top it off, you’re rewarded with the ‘Loyal to the Coin’ commendation, 50 doubloons and unique sail, hull, and flag customizations. So, it’s a good way to have fun with your friends and make some new ones too while sailing the high seas.