We’re coming up to a year since Sea of Thieves launched its long-requested private servers, and with that first anniversary looming, Rare has announced it’s making some welcome changes, finally allowing players to earn full rewards while sailing in Safer Seas mode.
Safer Seas, if you’re unfamiliar, provides a means for a single crew of up to four pirates to sail Sea of Thieves’ entire open-world map without the ever-looming PvP threat of High Seas mode. While the absence of other crews means a good chunk of PvP focussed content is unavailable in Safer Seas, players can still tackle emergent PvE events, complete Trading Company voyages, and embark on narrative-driven Tall Tales.
Crucially too, it’s possible to earn gold to spend on cosmetics and to increase Trading Company standing by earning reputation in Safer Seas – but both of these have been capped at 30 percent of the amount you’d ordinarily earn in High Seas until now. That’s made things a bit of a drag for pirates who just want to, say, have a chill time raising funds for a shiny new figurehead away from the hubbub of Sea of Thieves’ main mode.
In a new developer update, however, Rare has acknowledged Safer Seas’ “punishingly restrictive rewards”, admitting they’re working against its intention of providing an “onboarding ramp for new players”. As such, it’ll be increasing the current gold and reputation payout rate all the way up to 100 percent, matching the rewards earned in High Seas. There’s a trade-off, though; the studio is dropping Safer Seas’ level cap down from 40 to 25.