Sea of Thieves is cooking in 2024: New weapons are coming for the first time since launch along with the scariest world event yet and wild new traversal methods

20.03.2024 - 21:43 / gamesradar.com / Jordan Gerblick

Through the rest of 2024, Sea of Thieves is making arguably the biggest changes to the base game since launching in 2018, including new weapons for the very first time in the game's six-year run.

Rare let loose a massive development update in the form of a 20-minute video previewing everything coming to Sea of Thieves in 2024, and quite frankly, there's an intimidating amount of new and massive additions. The content is broken up into Season 12, Season 13, and Season 14. Season 12 kicks off the gargantuan year of new content alongside the game's PS5 release on April 30.

The first major highlight are Season 12's new weapons: the Double Barrel Pistol, which can fire two individual shots back to back or be charged up for one powerful blast, and the throwing knives. Rare says the Double Barrel Pistol "sits between the pistol and the blunderbuss in terms of range and power," while the Throwing Knives can be hurled at enemies for "high damage." Just be careful with your aiming, as they can get lodged in the environment and used in an act of retaliation from your enemy.

OK, those additions alone are already literal game-changers and will dramatically impact the high seas meta, but Season 12 is also adding a new short-range, wide-spread cannonball called the Scattershot and a new throwable that spawns skellies on an enemy ship that are only friendly to the thrower. 

Oh, and how could I forget about the new Wind Caller consumable. This is yet another traversal and practical game-changer taking the form of a conch that blows wind to make you sail faster than ever before. It can also be used to yeet your enemies off cliffs, power your rowboats, put out fires, and propel you through water when you're swimming. This. Changes. Everything.

Starting with Season 12, there will be ziplines installed across "a range of islands" including outposts and skeleton forts that'll allow for much quicker traversal when you're in a pinch. Alternatively, you'll also be able to walk a literal tightrope or glide along your harpoon's rope to reach destinations. And yes, you can carry gunpowder barrels with you, which means "destinations" translates directly to "enemy ships" in this case.

Further down the road, Season 13 will add what looks and sounds like the wildest, scariest world event in Sea of Thieves' long history. It's called the Burning Blade, and it brings back Captain Flameheart and his titular ship in its most terrifying incarnation. The massive warship comes packing 10 cannons and a front-facing fireball launcher  - the first front-facing ship weapon in the game - and if you survive its fury, you can either sink it for presumably rare loot, or better yet, if you're a Flameheart supporter, commandeer it with a literal