When stating an Arena match, which is just 15 minutes, all players and teams will be at the Sea Dogs Tavern. When the match begins, its a sprint to the first purple beacon where the chest is located. Whomever grabs it will be consistently shown in-world by a bright, purple beacon. As a result, everyone will be after them. Their goal is to turn the chest back in while everyone elses goal is to take the chest and turn it in themselves.
All players from all teams will begin in the lobby. Here, new cosmetic items, weapons, and supplies can be purchased for the contest ahead. From the lobby, all players will automatically be loaded into the contest on one of the six different teams. Then, its every crew for themselves! Whomever earns the most Silver by completing tasks like killing enemy players, discovering chests, turning in chests, and more, wins the match and the associated gold!
Ship Tactics[]
While useful for Arena, these tactics can be used to a great effect in Adventure Mode as well!
As mentioned in the previous section, you want to raise your Capstan as quick as possible to get ahead on other players. Generally, you never want your Anchor to be dropped in Arena as it will make you an easy target for other Ships. Conversely, this means that when engaging other ships you will want to target their Anchor first to stop their ship from maneuvering. This can be done by sending a Boarder over to their ship to drop it for them and keep their crew from raising it. If a Ships anchor is already lowered, you can aim and shoot Cannonballs or Chainshot around the Capstan area to prevent the team from raising it and breaking its pegs off. Alternatively a Boarder can use Blunderbombs to prevent more than one person raising an Anchor. Setting Fire to an Anchor with a Firebomb can also buy time to stop the Enemy from raising their Anchor.
There are some situations where you can let your Anchor drop, but you must make sure there are no Ships even remotely close enough to take advantage of your inability to move. One of these situations would be when you need to turn your ship around quickly in open seas with an Anchor turn. For this, you need the Helmsman to turn the Wheel completely to the desired direction and have the teammates drop the Anchor while the ship is moving. You must communicate this, as an Anchor turn is only as effective as the number of people willing to pull it up again. Anchoring is also an option if you need to make a quick stop at a Sea Dog turn-in Seapost and cannot raise the Sails in time or if you have little time left in the match. Again, you need to be wary of other ships using your lack of mobility against you. If you are alone by an Island and need to stop your ship from moving, you can also lower the Anchor and manage the Sails before raising, but make sure you are in safe waters. At all other times, it is not advisable to drop Anchor in an Arena match.
You must also be attentive and ready to defend your Anchor from enemy Boarders. Instead of anchoring, you should pull up your Sails to stop the ship from moving as you can set sail by simply lowering the Sails and not have to deal with raising the Capstan first. Try to have at least three repaired or healthy Anchor pins on a Galleon for quick Anchor raising.
Another tactic for Anchors is to prime them. Once you raise or let go of an Anchor, you can catch it and manually lower or raise it inch by inch. This is called Anchor priming or preparing the Anchor and can be useful when coming close to a destination where a quick and precise stop is required.
In Duo Sloop Arena, if you kill both of the enemy Players of a Crew, you should have enough time to raise their Anchor and sail them into Rocks or Islands for holes or simply away from a strategic location before they come back to disrupt their progress.
After raising the Anchor, getting your Sails down and angled correctly is your second priority at the start of a match. You should ideally have at least two people on board to manage Sails in a Galleon Crew, as it is significantly slower to do alone. Two people raising or angling the same Sail will double the speed of any actions. To get the most speed out of your ship, you will want to angle the Sails with the Wind at all times. If you are sailing into the direction of the Wind, it is advisable to go for “Dummy Sails”, that is, having your sails straight into the wind, as it will cut directly through the waves and improve your speed by a little bit. If you can spare some speed, the Middle Sail can be slightly raised, so that the Helmsman can see better. You will need to practice the timing of raising Sails before you get to a destination. When you close to your destination and want to slow down, you will want to raise the middle sail first (advisably with two people) as this counts for the most speed due to its size. Generally the front or back sail will be raised right after and one or the other will be left down for maneuvering until stopping and also raising the last sail. In most cases, the Helmsman will order the raising of the Front Sail before the Back Sail, dealing with the latter themselves. However the Front Sail can be left last if you need to move the ship for Harpoon play, because the front sail is closer to the Harpoons. Many players like to prepare “Combat Sails” for Ship to Ship combat between Galleons, which is either the Front or Back Sail fully lowered and the other half-raised. This placement offers the best maneuvering conditions for a Galleon.
Be mindful that the Masts can be broken down by 3 direct Cannonball hits or a single Chainshot. A broken Mast will hinder your mobility by one Sail on a Galleon or completely stop the Ships movements of a Sloop. While on a Sloop, getting a sail up and running is very important, you can leave one or two Sails broken on a Galleon if you are in a difficult situation and only need to move out of a Cannons range. The Sails can be fixed on the seas or when you are in safety later. Therefore, if you see cracks in the Masts, you should repair them with Wooden Planks when in safe waters.
When in Ship Combat, try to use Chainshot on Enemy Ships Sails to easily hinder the movements of their Ship. Breaking all the Masts of a Ship essentially anchors them in place. A broken Mast needs to be pulled up from the Sail Length Cleat, which can also be sped up with two people. This action will also pull up the sailcloth so you need to lower it again after fixing the mast.
If a Boarder has enough free time and an enemy Ship is unanchored, they can lower the Sails of the Ship to sail it away from strategic points or sail it into Rocks or Islands to get the Ship stuck and create holes.
The Helm (or Wheel) is both the most necessary and often the most difficult part of the ship to take control of, especially in Galleon matchups. The job of the Helmsman can be greatly improved by having a designated Deckhand on board of the ship to help the Helmsman with the Sails, Cannons, Repairs, Capstan and Harpoon while the Helmsman can focus on steering the Ship and giving out commands. Without a deckhand, the Ships maneuverability will suffer greatly as the Helmsman will have to do the job of two people alone. Ideally it is best to have the Helmsman on the Wheel at most times, so that they can position the ship while the rest of the crew is dealing with the Sails or Repairs. Also, be mindful that when going through Storms, having one player holding the Wheel steady is an absolute necessity unless you are willing to risk lowering your Anchor. Taking on any ships in a Storm that are not prepared to steady their Ship will give you an advantage. Helming on a Sloop isnt as difficult, as it is fairly easy to maneuver and sail Solo, but be careful as you can easily be shot off the side of the Ship if a Cannonball hits you at the Helm.
Be mindful that the Wheel can also sustain damage from Cannonballs and Chainshot, making it harder to turn the ship if left unrepaired. Aiming for the enemy ships Wheel should not be the primary objective, but can help to hinder their ability to maneuver their Ship. This will often set them sailing in a undesirable trajectories until the Wheel is fixed. Make sure to prioritise fixing your own Wheel with Wooden Planks if it is damaged.
The Harpoon is something you want to master as soon as possible for Arena, as it is a very powerful tool for mobility, Combat and Chest or Crew-mate retrieval. The Harpoon can be tricky to aim because it shoots high. You can predict the destination of the Harpoon by imagining a cross-hair at the exact middle of your screen. With enough practice, you will start to gauge the exact spot where the Harpoon will hit. Luckily, Glorious Sea Dog Chests are large and easy to grab, but wave and ship movement can still make harpooning difficult, so be sure to get some practice in!
If your teammates dig up any Chests on an island, its good to have the Ship nearby, so that your Crewmates can leave the Chests on the shores to be picked up with the Harpoon. You can also retrieve your teammates and even enemy Pirates with the Harpoon. If your teammate is bringing the Chest to your ship, you can tell them to turn their back to the Harpoon while carrying the Chest, so that you can pick up both them and the Chest at once.
Harpoons are also very good at precise maneuvering of your ship. When you are close to Islands or larger sea structures like Rock formations, you can essentially perform an Anchor Turn without dropping the Anchor by having the Helmsman turn the Wheel to the desired side and having a Deckhand pull the ship around the corner by harpooning any solid surface structure. You can also utilize the Harpoon to pull your ship closer to an Island or away from it. The surrounding area of all Islands has shallow water, so you can use the Harpoon to turn your ship around quicker by having one of your Deckhands shoot the ground below water with the Harpoon and pull you to a desired position.
The Harpoon is also valuable at keeping up with other ships or positioning your ship around them. Try to grab moving Ships with your harpoon to catch up speed or pull yourself closer. The Harpoon has to be pulled in constantly to get closure, because a slack Harpoon will easily disconnect with its target. Interestingly, an anchored Ship harpooned to a sailing Ship will pull the other ship behind with you, effectively also anchoring them. When positioned right, you can have one crewmate Harpoon the back of a turning Ship and pull it, keeping the Ship in range of your Cannons and away from the other teams Cannons.
Anyone handling a Harpoon has to be careful, since they are immobile and make for easy targets for Cannons or Weapons. A Harpoon latch can be disconnected by damaging the Harpoon itself with any Weapon, Throwable or Cannonball. If you get Harpooned by another Ship, try to shoot at it or throw a Blunderbomb towards it to make it let go.
There is also a Harpoon on each Ships Rowboat. If your Ship is stuck, but there is something to Harpoon behind it, you can use the connected Harpoon Rowboats Harpoon to pull your Ship in reverse.
Ship to Ship Combat is more streamlined in the Arena game mode, as you have neither Cursed Cannonballs nor Gunpowder Barrels, so you have to rely on careful maneuvering, Boarding and Cannon fire. When approached by enemy ships, or when approaching one yourself, try to position your Ship with your sides either in front or behind their ship. This is fairly easy to achieve if the enemy ship is Anchored so try to get your Boarder on their ship, ready to lower the Anchor and guard the enemy team from picking it up or raising it. On a Galleon, if you can get all four crew-mates on each Cannon to aim at and barrage a ship at range, then you are more than likely to sink the enemy ship very quickly. This is an ideal scenario though. In real Arena fights, you will have to guard yourself from enemy Cannon fire, have someone on Repairs and lose Deckhands to Boarders or boarding. Nonetheless, try to have at least two people on Cannons for maximum efficiency.
If you are close to an enemy Ship, but do not have the necessary mobility to get to the right angle, have one of your crew-mates grab the opposing ship with a Harpoon. The Harpoon is ideal for pulling your ship out of the enemy Ships Cannon range or into your own, to keep up in speed with their ship or to simply stop them from moving. You can also pull your ship closer to an escaping Ship and allow for boarding opportunities.
On open seas you have to take the wind position to account and manage your Sails accordingly. Since all Ships share their typing in Arena matches, your maneuverability is equal, but correctly angled Sails can make just the right difference to get away from, or catch up with a less-skilled enemy crew. Use this knowledge against other teams.
Also note that if you want to guard the Sea Dog Seapost turn-in points, it is more advantageous for you to wait for your target to approach you, than it is for you to sail toward them, as they can easily pass you by, losing you the game.
If you are being chased by an enemy Ship and want to lose them, try to get your Boarders on their Ship unnoticed and have them Anchor that Ship, or simply keep the crew busy and away from managing their Ship.
A good crew will always keep an eye out for Mermaids and swimming sounds to spot Boarders and guard their ladders. Make sure you do this as well! Keeping an eye out for Boarders and guarding your ladders should be a top priority as a successful Boarder can easily cost you the game.
The Helmsman and Boarder should communicate ship positioning as sometimes you might need an angle ahead of the enemy ship, so your Boarder can try to Cannon themselves off and catch the moving ships ladder.
When it comes to Cannon fire there are three different spots that you want to aim at depending on the situation. A good Helmsman will know how to call out the right spot:
Remember that each Cannonball that hits an enemy ship is worth +40 Silver. Every shot that is not taken is a potential 40 Silver lost so try to take pot-shots and fire at difficult angles. Cannonball points are very lucrative in Arena and sometimes simply stopping your ship next to an idle or anchored ship and emptying all your cannonballs at it can get you enough points to win a game. You have 594 Cannonballs on a freshly spawned Ship (396 on a Sloop). If you hit every single one of those cannonballs, you can get 23760 Silver on a Galleon or 15840 Silver on a Sloop. A clever Helmsman can position your ship either right next to an opponents ship, or just out of range and have the crew offload their cannons on the top deck so that the opposing ship wont sink. If all four players are firing at the same time on a Galleon, you will make 1600 Silver if you each hit all 10 cannonballs.
You can also use Cannons on Islands, Forts and the Sea Dog Outposts, so make sure you have Cannonballs with you even when youre off your ship.
When it comes to launching people from Cannons, you can have one player aim the other to help them land a shot more precisely.
You can shoot Firebombs out of Cannons, however they are better saved for close combat on Ships as each Ship has a small stock of these and Cannon shots may not be as accurate at causing the intended damage. Firebombs are less effective against Sloops, as it can easily be extinguished, however, it can be effective on a Galleon as the longer Fire is left unchecked there, the more difficult it becomes to get rid of and the more helping hands it requires. Remember not to use Firebombs in Storms, because the rain will immediately put out any fires, making the bombs near useless.
Blunderbombs can be used with Cannons to blast Ship Hulls and sway Ships off-course. Shooting the back of a ship can make the Ship turn and crash into yours, allowing for boarding opportunities. Shooting the front of a ship can push the Ship away from Cannon range.
Chainshot are very valuable, as they will immediately break any Mast, Capstan or Wheel that they hit. The downside is their lower firing arc and distance, requiring precise aim.
If you feel like your Cannon fire isnt as up to snuff as youd like, you can practice the firing arc, angles and movement in Adventure mode by trying to hit adjacent islands or rocks when at sea.
You have plenty of Supplies on board of your ship. Each Arena Galleon is packed with 198 Cannonballs per Barrel, 2 Firebombs, Chainshot & Blunderbombs per Barrel, 198 Wooden Planks, 198 Coconuts per barrel and a limitless Ammo Chest, so make sure you have your pockets full and your weapons loaded before getting into any fights. It is good to call out a reminder to get Supplies right after you get your anchor up and the sails down. If boarders are confident enough, they can try to board other ships to steal their supplies. A good time to do this would be right at the beginning of a game if adjacent ships are slow enough to get their anchor up. The Barrels that spawn on islands have the same contents as Adventure Mode Barrels (with the exception of Cursed Cannonballs), so you can stock up on better Fruit and even Bait when looking for Chests. Be mindful that Sea Dog Chest turn-in points have no Supply Barrels of any kind, but they do have Cannons on each side so it is advisable to take Cannonballs with you if you can line up a shot from them. It is also advisable to familiarise yourself with the placements of the Ammo Chests on Islands and Forts. Players cannot get any additional Throwables or Chainshot from Barrels, so these need to be either stolen from other Ships or reacquired once a Ship sinks.
Resource management is not as important in Sloop Arena, since the amount of Resource items per Ship is the same as in Galleon Arena and the Sloop takes up to 4 times less supplies to manage than a Galleon. With just one Cannon, but 198 Cannonballs, a crew has more than enough firepower to last them the entire match. The only Resource Item to take note of in Sloop Arena would be the 4 Firebombs, Chainshot and Blunderbombs (2 in each Barrel). Players should carry these in their inventories, as these are limited in supply and can be used against you when boarded.
Firebombs are essentially useless in Storms, because the Rain quickly extinguishes any started fires. They do deal some damage to Players, but they are better off saved for causing wide-spread Fires.
When it comes to Food, it is also possible to catch Fish and kill Animals or Sharks for their meat and cook it on Stoves on your ship or islands. While this is time consuming, it is a valid tactic when you have nothing else to do while sailing as this will give your close combatants the valuable boost of health regeneration. This should not be considered as a tactic for every game, as there is rarely time for getting meat in Arena games, only do this if you know you have enough time to kill.
As a side-note, it is also possible to get different kind of Bait from Barrels on Islands or dug up from the ground. Bait is quite useless in Arena when it comes to catching fish, as none of the different fish types provide any additional health benefits. It is, however, possible to eat bait to regain small amounts of health and make your pirate sick. Vomit can be used as a diversionary tactic against foes at Close Combat, although its rarely effective. Other than that, Bait heals for 10% health and you can have 10 of it in hand (with additional 1 on the Fishing Rod), so if the sick does not bother a player, they can use it as extra Food.
Rewards[]
At the end of the match, Crews are rewarded Gold and Reputation with the Sea Dogs based on their placement:
| Rewards | |
|---|---|
| Placement | Gold |
| First | 6,000 |
| Second | 5,000 |
| Third | 4,000 |
| Fourth | 3,000 |
| Fifth | 2,000 |
SEA DOG CHANGES COMING // SEA OF THIEVES – The Tavern is changing owners!
Revealed during the Sea of Thieves 2022 Preview Event, The Arena is officially coming to an end as it simply isn’t a mode played by most players. Rare says it was a tough decision to come to, but the right one for the future of the open-world pirate game.
“Firstly, this was an extremely tough decision, but we firmly believe it’s the right one to allow us to focus on our plans for the central free-roaming Adventure mode,” Rare writes in a blog post. “Despite the efforts of a hugely talented team, The Arena unfortunately never met the goals we originally had for it – either in creating a genuine alternative way to play Sea of Thieves with a competitive spin, or a short session experience if you didn’t have the time to commit to an open-ended Adventure session.”
The Arena will officially close at the start of Season Six, which is slated to begin on March 10, 2022. Those who have played in The Arena before and have reached or passed Sea Dogs rank 5 will receive the following ship cosmetics:
Anyone who has reached Sea Dogs rank 50 will receive The Good Boy ship cosmetic as well. The cutoff point for these rewards has already passed so if you havent already hit either of these ranks, you won’t be receiving the associated rewards.
Rare says that only 2 percent of its players’ time is spent in The Arena on a consistent basis and since the start of that mode, that hasn’t really changed. The studio also says it might understand criticism that it didn’t invest enough into The Arena to make it a worthwhile mode, but Rare says The Arena never became popular enough of a mode in Sea of Thieves for them to focus creative efforts there, so it didn’t. “While we’re incredibly proud of where the game is now and the decisions we’ve made since launch back in 2018, we look back at The Arena with pride mixed with regret that we didn’t manage to reach the wider audience that would have allowed us to keep building upon its foundations. We learned a lot from the launch and development of The Arena, but one thing that really stands out is that launching a competitive mode is a far bigger investment and requires a far bigger creative focus than we realized going in. Despite sharing a lot of the same mechanics as Adventure, it is an entirely different experience, and one that would have required a huge amount of mindshare and development effort to stand alongside it – and given the disparity of audience sizes, it just became impossible to justify.”
Development on Sea of Thieves’ Arena actually halted in December of 2020, something Rare announced at the time. However, in updating Adventure mechanics and adding quality of life improvements, the team has to bring those things over to the Arena mode, too, which presented a workload that wasn’t worth it. “As a result, The Arena has required considerable development work just to keep it functioning in its base state, and would continue to represent a significant ongoing workload for us – which is ultimately what leads us to the decision we’ve shared with you today. We understand that this will be a huge disappointment to our small but dedicated community of Arena-focused players. We want to say thank you to everyone who has played and supported The Arena, from those who have just dabbled to those who have run competitive events and built up communities, such as the Notorious Arena League and Sea of Champions. It has been genuinely incredible to see the skill level of some of the players who sprang up around The Arena, and how this played out in the spirit we love to see: with fairness and respect for each other always at the forefront. You are a wonderful and creative community and we’d love to work with you on moving forward in a world without The Arena.”
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