Sea Of Thieves is getting skelly-head flamethrowers next week
You'll be able to find them in a new "unique" event
Have you ever wanted to just lop off a skeleton's head and use it as a flamethrower? It's never even been a thought that's crossed my mind, but Sea Of Thieves seem to be letting us do exactly that in next week's update. They're part of the new Ashen Winds update, which is arriving on Wednesday the 29th of July. Be cautious, though, using up the flame inside your skelly head will make it worth less gold. Hm, money? Or setting my friends on fire? Now that's a tough choice.
Ashen Winds was supposed to drop this week on July 22nd, but due to "technical issues" it was pushed back. This followed some pretty rough server problems the game had over the weekend, which resulted in loads of players not receiving any gold, reputation or progress for their pirating. Unfortunately, for anyone who played between July 15th and July 21st, those rewards can't be recovered at all. To make up for it, Rare are giving everyone who played during that time 60,000 gold and 200 doubloons. It might not bring back your Tall Tale progress, but it may cushion the blow a little.
Server dramas aside, we know a little bit about what to expect in the Ashen Winds update thanks to last week's Sea Of Thieves News episode. The game's lead designer, Andrew Preston revealed the brand new Ashen Winds skull. This is a skull you can sell to the Order Of Souls faction for rep and gold, or you can have much more fun with it, and wield it as a flamethrower. It's worth noting that the more fire you spew from it, the less it'll be worth. But who cares? I'm getting me a flamethrower.
These hot new skulls are linked to a new "unique" event. We don't know much about it yet, other than the fact it probably involves large red tornadoes like the one in Sea Of Thieves' Tweet below. Odds are it'll involve decapitating some skellys like most other encounters in the game, but I am curious how they'll make it stand out from your usual skeleton forts and island scuffles.
Last but not least, Sea Of Thieves is getting some much-needed adjustments to how damage is dealt with your cutlasses and guns. You'll no longer be able to deal damage through ships - like shooting someone through the deck or wall, for example. This means that players who like a bit of PvP will no longer be able to catch others through a surface that should absolutely not allow damage through, which is a very welcome change.
We've got a few days before all this excitement kicks off now, so why not sit back, relax, and take in some of Sea Of Thieves' lovely sights in the meantime? If you're lucky, you might even spot the green flash at sunset.
And in case you missed it, Rare gave us another look at their gorgeous new game Everwild last night. Come watch the trailer and fall in love with all the delightful creatures that I hope we can make friends with soon.