Gaming
Games
Get the treasure with our Sea of Thieves Skeleton Fort tips guide
Fight through the hordes and earn the rewards with these top tips.
If, as a kid, you dreamed of becoming a pirate when you grew up (then got a kick in the teeth when you realised it was impossible), then banding up with your pirate crew and knocking back countless cups of grog, singing sea shanties and navigating your ship through the rough seas in Sea of Thieves might just satisfy your dampened childhood ambitions. But, for many players, hunting down treasure is what scratches that itch the most.
Sure, you can follow the traditional route by solving puzzles and answering riddles to obtain your loot but there’s a far more satisfying way to nab plunder – fighting your way through Skeleton Forts. Here, you work together with your crew (and sometimes even rival crews) to take down hordes of enemies for the reward of four treasure chests.
Interested? Here are five tips to help you and your band of ferocious sea rovers secure the coveted pirate booty.
1. Find a Skeleton Cloud
Look for the clouds in the shape of a skull
© Rare / Microsoft
Skeleton Clouds are huge, ominous clouds in the shape of a skull with piercing green glowing eyes. They are visible from anywhere on the entire map and guide you to the position of a Skeleton Fort island. You’ll know you’ve reached the correct island when skeletons attack your ship with arrows and cannons.
You can either dodge their fire or use your own cannons and long-range weapons to pick off the enemies from a distance but either way, make sure you dock at the island safely with your ship in good health so that you can use it as a respawn point if you or your fellow teammates die. Remember to make use of the ammo chest to replenish bullets before venturing out as the last thing you want is to run out in the middle of a fight and have to abandon your crew temporarily whilst you run back to your ship.
2. Stick together as a team
Make sure to bring three other players with you – whether they’re your friends or through matchmaking – as Skeleton Forts can prove difficult with less team members.
Then, ensure you’re all stocked up with healing items and assign different roles to each player: two to attack the hordes on the beach and two to attack from the ship, having one pick off skeletons with their sniper rifle and one to use the cannon. The teammate on the cannon can also fire themselves quickly to the island using said unit if needed by the crew on the beach, or they can have the sniper aim the shot for better trajectory.
The pair on the ship should also keep an eye out for oncoming ships and repair your ship with the bucket and wooden planks should it take damage somehow.
3. How to defeat the different enemy types
Use melee attacks on the white skeletons
© Rare / Microsoft
There are five types of enemies you’ll face in a horde battle, the first being the generic white skeletons you encounter regularly throughout the game. Like normal, you simply use gun or melee attacks to swiftly take them out.
Then there are skeletons covered in melted gold which can prove a little annoying as they are invulnerable to melee attacks. You can use your guns instead of your sword but it is recommended that you preserve your bullets for the boss and use your bucket to throw water instead as getting them wet exploits their weakness. Rainfall also works in your favour to weaken them.
Green skeletons covered in algae growths will appear sometimes – they have a weakness to melee attacks, but they are strong against water attacks, so water thrown from the bucket and rainfall won’t do much here. Again, you can use firepower but it is recommended that you save your ammo for later encounters.
Black skeletons are the most frustrating enemy of the bunch as they’re almost invincible unless in direct light. To defeat them, lure them towards torches or use your lantern to encase them in light so they turn into regular white skeletons which can be easily defeated.
The last enemy is the Stronghold Captain, the boss of the Skeleton Fort and a tougher version of the captains you sometimes encounter during normal gameplay. This formidable foe has a bunch of health but can be taken out more easily if you and your teammates gang up and unleash a hell of bullets. He drops the Stronghold Key upon defeat, which is then used to unlock the vault and obtain the treasure.
Beat the Stronghold Captain to get the key to the door
© Rare / Microsoft
4. Beware of other rival crews
You might think you’re free from harm once you’ve beaten the horde and kicked the Captain’s butt but you’re wrong. As Sea of Thieves is an open-world multiplayer game, this means that other crews can be encountered at any time and being at a Skeleton Fort is no exception.
Sometimes other teams will band up with you to defeat the horde and will willingly split the loot in the vault with you fairly, but it isn’t uncommon for them to turn on you right at the last second in an attempt to bag all the treasure for themselves. Even if you’re alone the whole time, nothing is stopping a band of rival pirates invading the island once the coast is clear and snatching your loot without doing any work. To help avoid this, have one of the two people on the ship keep lookout so they can sink any rival boats, taking away their respawn point so they can’t return easily to fight you.
5. Leaving the island doesn’t mean you’re safe
Beware of the kraken
© Rare // Microsoft
So you’ve successfully looted the island, stored the four treasure chests onto your ship and you’re in high spirits as you’re sailing to an outpost to reap the rewards. Maybe you’re even singing a sea shanty or two with your crew out of sheer joy. Just don’t forget to stay vigilant – just because you’ve cleared the Skeleton Fort, it doesn’t mean your journey back won’t end in tears if you’re not careful. Not only can other players chase you and hunt you down at an attempt to pilfer your plunder, there’s also a Kraken on the prowl which can attack randomly.
If encountered, the menacing beast will attack you and your crew with its eight deadly tentacles, lifting you into the air and slamming you down hard onto the deck, which also causes a ton of damage to the ship itself. Sometimes it will even launch you into the open water, putting you at danger of shark attacks as you hastily swim back to your boat.
To defeat this formidable foe, make sure you pelt it with cannonballs at every opportunity, aiming at the tips of its tentacles for maximum damage. Using your sniper rifle for more precision works well here, too. Sometimes it’ll wrap a tentacle around the ship, in which case melee attacks work best as you can get up close and personal and simply slash away. Just make sure to nominate a teammate for ship repair duty in case your vessel starts taking in water – the last thing you want is for your hard-earned treasure to end up at the bottom of the ocean.
