# Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition Sea of Thieves Release Notes - 3.5.2 - Product: Sea of Thieves: 2026 Edition (https://whatsnew.fyi/product/sea-of-thieves-2026-edition) - Vendor: Rare Ltd - Date: 2025-10-16 - Original notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1172620/view/658213406635982993 - Permalink: https://whatsnew.fyi/product/sea-of-thieves-2026-edition/releases/2025-10-16-sea-of-thieves-release-notes-3.5.2 What's New is an index, not a publisher: every entry below links to the vendor's own release notes, which are the authoritative source. Entries are labelled where they are hand-curated sample data, pre-releases, or drawn from a secondary source such as a developer blog. Reuse: the summaries, labels and curation here are © What's New. Quote freely with attribution and a link back; wholesale republication of the corpus is not permitted — terms: https://whatsnew.fyi/terms. The vendors' own release notes remain their publishers'. --- - **added** — Reaper Fortresses now appear as upgraded Skeleton Forts with devilish traps, reinforced defences, and a menacing Skull Cloud visible across the waves - **added** — Players must battle through surrounding Ghost Ships before engaging Phantoms and Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons at Reaper Fortresses - **added** — Defeating the Master of Arms at Reaper Fortresses awards the Skull of Arms, which unlocks a nearby Weapons Cache - **added** — Pirate Legends can begin Legendary Raid Voyages for Athena's Fortune on High Seas from the Quest Table - **added** — Reaper Fortresses during Act 3 have a chance for their Vaults to be boosted by a Mega Stash with significantly higher-value rewards - **added** — Act 3 introduces new Adventures At Sea Commendations that unlock Brethren's Masquerade ship set items and new Trinkets - **added** — Crews completing Act 3 Deeds can earn the Banner of Bone and Blade Ornament - **added** — The Chest of Fortune now resides in Reaper Fortress Vaults during Act 3 - **added** — New Pirate Emporium items including Alter Ego Ship Collection, Alter Ego Weapon Bundle, Skeleton Toucan, and other cosmetics - **added** — New Outpost stock includes Orange Resolute Hull, Sails, Flag, and Lucky Rover weapons across multiple categories - **changed** — Players can now retrieve items from allied skeletons more easily by hitting them with a Grapple Gun or harpoon from any angle - **changed** — System-level CPU performance optimisation reduces framerate drops and provides smoother gameplay - **changed** — Server-side optimisations improve performance in managing treasure items floating in water - **changed** — Sea of Thieves now offers a Second Chance Policy allowing some players banned for lesser infringements under the old enforcement policy to return - **fixed** — Further improvements made to the display of Captained ship names on the Ship's Crest, Captain's Logbook, and Banners after crew server migration - **fixed** — Players can no longer throw blunderbombs or other throwables instantly after firing a ranged weapon - **fixed** — Throwables targeting the rear hull of a Galleon now consistently impact the hull surface instead of passing through to land inside the ship - **fixed** — The Legendary Guild Emissary Ledger reward for Season 17 has been updated to The Unseen Deal - **fixed** — Ships diving beneath the waves with skeletons on board now cause them to gracefully be destroyed - **fixed** — Skeleton Lords no longer take knockback or become stunned when hit with Ashen Winds Skulls, Obsidian Ashen Winds Skulls, or the Horn of Fair Winds ##### Smugglers’ Tide: Act 3 New blood brings new opportunities as The Smugglers’ League settle into the shadows of the Sea of Thieves! To learn more about this Season’s headline features, head over to our dedicated [Season 17 page](https://www.seaofthieves.com/season-17). **Reaper Fortresses** - Skeleton Forts across the seas have been upgraded to Reaper Fortresses with devilish traps and reinforced defences. These new encounters will be signalled by a menacing new Skull Cloud visible across the waves. - With these Fortresses now an active battleground between The Reaper’s Bones and the Dark Brethren, players looking for loot must battle through the surrounding Ghost Ships before making landfall and taking on both Phantoms and Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons. - During the siege, defeating the Master of Arms will award players with the Skull of Arms. This serves as the key to a nearby Weapons Cache, providing useful munitions and supplies to help turn the tide. - Crews will encounter these new Reaper Fortresses emergently in the form of regular World Events. Pirate Legends can also begin a Legendary Raid for Athena’s Fortune from the Quest Table. - For the duration of Act 3, Reaper Fortresses have a chance for their Vaults to be boosted by a Mega Stash, replacing the contents with an immense treasure pile of significantly higher-value rewards. - Both emergent Reaper Fortresses and on-demand Athena’s Fortune Raid Voyages on High Seas can award a Mega Stash. However, the chance of this boost is much higher when encountering an emergent Reaper Fortress in the world. **Smugglers’ Tide: Act 3 Commendations and Rewards** - Act 3 introduces new Adventures At Sea Commendations, challenging crews to take on the deadly Reaper Fortresses. Completing these Commendations unlocks access to items in the Brethren’s Masquerade ship set, along with the ‘Brethren of Shadow’ and ‘Gaunt and Gnarled’ Trinkets. - Crews completing Act 3’s Deeds can also earn the ‘Banner of Bone and Blade’ Ornament to commemorate their feats. **Chest of Fortune** - During Act 3, the Chest of Fortune will reside in the Vaults of Reaper Fortresses and can only be obtained by overcoming these newly contested battlegrounds. ##### Pirate Emporium Show off your personal style with purchases from the Pirate Emporium! Pick up exclusive cosmetics such as ship liveries, costumes, weapons, pets and emotes using your Ancient Coins, purchasable with real money. Head to the [Pirate Emporium](https://www.seaofthieves.com/pirate-emporium) to browse and buy the latest additions! **New Items – Now in Stock!** - Alter Ego Ship Collection and Ship’s Crest - Alter Ego Weapon Bundle - Alter Ego Costume Set - Alter Ego Concertina - Skeleton Toucan - Crimson Crypt Cabin Bundle - Expanded Jack O’ Looter Collection: Collector’s Figurehead, Collector’s Sails, Ship’s Crest, Trinket and Lantern - Expanded Silver Sepulchre Collection: Double Barrel Pistol and Throwing Knives - Pocket Bat Emote - See No Evil Emote (free!) ##### Outpost Cosmetics **New Outpost Stock!** - The shipwrights have restocked with the new Orange Resolute Hull, Sails and Flag. - The Outpost weaponsmiths now offer the Lucky Rover Pistol, Cutlass, Blunderbuss, Eye of Reach, Heavy Sword and Rapier. ##### Gameplay Improvements **Retrieving Items from Skeletons** - Players can now retrieve items being held by allied skeletons more easily. Hitting the skeleton anywhere with a Grapple Gun or harpoon will retrieve the item, even if the skeleton is facing away from the player. **Performance Improvements** - This update includes a system-level optimisation to CPU performance across the whole experience, to reduce the frequency of framerate drops and provide a smoother framerate during gameplay. - Further optimisations have been made to the way treasure items floating in water are managed, to improve performance on the server. ##### Updates **Second Chance Policy** - Following the recent [enforc _[Truncated at 4000 characters — full notes: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1172620/view/658213406635982993]_