Ghost Fleet
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This article is about ghost fleet world event. For ghost ship voyages, see Ghost Ship Voyages. For skeleton fleet world event, see Skeleton Fleet. |
The Ghost Fleet (also known as the Battle with The Burning Blade) is one of the World Events in Sea of Thieves Adventure Mode, indicated by ghostly swirling tornadoes in the skies. A Ghost Fleet will appear around any Large Island in the three main Regions of the Sea of Thieves. The Ghost Fleet rewards players with a handful of Ghostly Treasure as well as a Cannonball Crate of the Damned with Ghostly Cannonballs inside.
Originally, Ghost Fleet encounters were indicated by the floating head of Captain Flameheart in the sky. Ghost Fleets were temporarily removed from the game during Season Five in Patch 2.4.2, but were reintroduced at the beginning of Season Nine, with a swirling green tornado in the sky in place of Flameheart's floating head.
The World Event
Ghost Fleets are indicated by a ghostly swirling tornado appearing above a Large Island. Any Large Island within 
The Shores of Plenty, 
The Ancient Isles, or 
The Wilds is a valid target for a Ghost Fleet encounter, with the Island in question being encircled by a Fleet of Ghost Ships.
In their original incarnation, Flameheart would taunt Crews while approaching the Ghost Fleet as well as while battling it. These taunts were context-sensitive, and would acknowledge factors such as if Player Pirates had previously fled and then returned to the encounter, or whether or not the Player Pirates were Pirate Legends.
The Battle
Once a Crew gets close enough to the Large Island hosting the event, a Title Card will indicate the activation of the event. The Ghost Fleet consists of four Waves.
First Wave
The first wave features Grunt Ghost Ships that circle the Island. They act like any Ghost Ships, sailing in a set trajectory, shooting nearby Ships with Ghostly Cannonballs and leaving behind Ghost Mines if any Ships got behind them. A Ghost Ship sailing through a Player Crew's Ship will deal significant damage to the Ship's Hull, but leave Players unharmed. Each Grunt Ghost Ship requires 3 hits of any type of Cannonball to dissipate in an explosion that knocked any vessels back. Some defeated Grunt Ships may leave behind ghostly Storage Crates of the Damned with Cannonballs, Wooden Planks, and Fruit in them. Any Ghostly Treasure dropped by Ghost Ships will be indicated by floating Wraiths over its location. The first wave will conclude after 7 Grunt Ships after defeated, signified by all remaining Ghost Ships disappearing into portals.
Second Wave
At the beginning of the second wave, a squadron of two Ghost Captain Ships with the Sails of the Ashen Dragon ships and defending Grunt Ships will appear from additional portals. The Ashen Dragon Ships act identically to Grunt Ships, but are significantly sturdier and take 10 Cannon hits to dissipate. Each Ghost Captain Ship drops an assortment of Ghostly Treasure. The wave will conclude once both Ghost Captain Ships have been destroyed, signified by all remaining Ghost Ships disappearing into portals.
Third Wave
The third wave is identical to the first wave, once again requiring Players to take down 7 Grunt Ships.
Final Wave
In the final wave, Flameheart's own ship, the Burning Blade, will appear along with two Ashen Dragon Captain Ships. All Captain Ships will have Grunt Ships protecting their sides. The final wave only requires the Burning Blade to be destroyed to complete, but Crews may choose to destroy the other Ashen Dragon Ships for additional Treasure. The final wave ends once the Burning Blade is defeated. The Burning Blade is the sturdiest of all Ghost Ships, requiring a total of 24 Cannon hits to defeat.
Rewards
The Rewards of the Ghost Fleet can vary, depending on how many Grunt Ships dropped Storage Crates of the Damned as well as how many Ashen Dragon Ships that were destroyed during the encounter.
Each Ashen Dragon Ship drops:
- 7-9 pieces of Ghostly Treasure, which include:
- Ashes of the Damned
- Skulls of the Damned
- Chests of the Damned
- A potential single Storage Crate of the Damned
The Burning Blade itself drops:
- 15 pieces of regular Ghostly Treasure
- 1 Captain Skull of the Damned
- 1 Cannonball Crate of the Damned
The Cannonball Crate of the Damned is the only way to acquire Ghostly Cannonballs for your own use. The Wraith Cannonballs found inside are like miniature projectile Gunpowder Kegs that leave 4 holes in the Hull and rocks the victim's ship on impact.
The Ghostly Crates can be sold to the Merchant Alliance, the Skulls to the Order of Souls and the Chests to the Gold Hoarders, or they could all be sold to the Reaper's Bones instead.
Flameheart
Prior to the Ghost Fleet encounter's temporary removal during Season Five, Flameheart's disembodied head would be present above the target island as indicator for the encounter. He would continuously taunt any crew within the encounter's active area.
Notes
- Ghost Ships can be hit and equally damaged with any type of Cannonballs (except Ghostly Cannonballs).
- Throwables only damage Ghost Ships when fired from Cannons.
- Ghost Ships cannot be damaged when they are entering or leaving their portals to the Sea of the Damned.
- Ghost Ships can and will fight Skeleton Ships.
- Curiously, when Captain Flameheart would still spectate Ghost Fleet encounters prior to the Event's temporary removal in Season Five, he would also taunt any Skeleton Ships that entered, left, or sunk in the area of the Ghost Fleet.
- If a Skeleton Ship joins the fight, the Skeletons on the Island will try to shoot at Ghost Ships from Island Cannons.
- Uncollected loot still floating in the water may despawn following a server merge.
- Unlike with Skeleton Forts, Skeleton Fleets and Skeleton Ships, Battlegills do not spawn next to Ghost Ships.
Gallery
Promotional image for Haunted Shores featuring the newly introduced encounter.
Patch history
- 2.8.0 (March 16, 2023)
- The Ghost Fleet World Event returns to The Sea of Thieves.
- 2.4.2 (February 10, 2022)
- Removed World Event.
- 2.0.16 (June 17, 2020)
- Introduced.