Skeleton Lords
Skeleton Lords are a type of Skeleton, often found as Boss Encounters in Sea of Thieves.
Story
Skeleton Lords are cursed individuals who were formerly human pirates, but for one reason or another became cursed, transforming into their Skeleton Lord forms. Unlike other Skeletons, Skeleton Lords retain most of their memories and their human conscience and have more autonomous and unique purposes. They can be seen as commanders of lesser Skeletons, innately possessing mastery over them as well as the knowledge of Skeleton Glyphs.
Types of Skeleton Lords
Some Skeleton Lords are fought during Boss Encounters, such as in Tall Tales and Raids. Skeleton Lords all have a large health pool (varying depending on Crew size) and possess high-damage abilities. They can swap between a Cutlass and Pistol, except for Lord Graymarrow during Revenge of the Morningstar who uses a Pistol and Blunderbuss, create a large damaging shockwave that pushes any Pirates back in the air, summon additional Skeletons to aid them, and Teleport through the ground when surrounded.
Boss Encounters
Tall Tales Boss Encounters
The following Skeleton Lords can be fought against during Tall Tales. They share their moveset with slight visual differences. The health of these Lords is dependent on the Crew size or the number of people attempting to fight them.
- Captain Briggsy: Encountered during The Cursed Rogue Tall Tale. Briggsy was a legendary pirate that sought the Shores of Gold. After finding the island, she became trapped, slowly falling under the skeleton curse. She became infamous across the Sea of Thieves for being a Skeleton Lord and desperately searched for a cure to the curse. She was finally put to rest by the players during the Tall Tale. She later makes another appearance during The Secret Wilds Adventure.
- Graymarrow: Encountered during Revenge of the Morningstar Tall Tale. Graymarrow is a ruthless Skeleton Lord that sought the Shores of Gold, with the power to bind his enemies' souls to ensure they cannot return via the Ferry of the Damned. After stealing a Shroudbreaker Stone from the crew of the Morningstar, he lay in hibernation, waiting for clues of the Shroudbreaker to appear.
- The Gold Hoarder: Encountered during the Shores of Gold (Quest). The pirate known as Rathbone; it is unclear if he became cursed due to his insatiable greed or by sitting on a throne deep within Tribute Peak. The Gold Hoarder is a fearsome Skeleton Lord, founder of the Gold Hoarders Trading Company, on an endless quest for plunder, replacing parts of his decaying body with the gold from the Treasures he collects.
Fort of the Damned
The Fort of the Damned Raid Encounter has the Ghost of Graymarrow as a boss. The Ghost, while silent, shares most of its moves with the live Captain Graymarrow from the Tall Tale. The Ghost of Graymarrow drops a Fort of the Damned Key, which opens the Fort Vault that holds various high-value Treasures.
Skeleton Fort Encounters
The Skeleton Fort World Event can spawn one of three Skeleton Lords as the final boss. These Lords have the same moveset as the Tall Tale Skeleton Lords, but different animations. They drop a Stronghold Skull, Skeleton's Orders leading to a Rag and Bone Crate and the Stronghold Key which opens the locked Fort Vault.
- The Mutinous Helmsman - A Lord with a wheel tied to their back.
- The Two-Faced Scoundrel - A Lord with two heads and a red beard.
- The Duchess - A Lord with a posh dress, jewellery and hairstyle.
Ashen Lords Encounters
The Ashen Winds and Fort of Fortune World Events can spawn one of the four Ashen Lords loyal to Captain Flameheart. They have a unique Fire and Ash-themed moveset and are much more talkative than other Skeleton Lords. The fight has three phases, each giving the Lords access to more powerful attacks. The Lords drop an Ashen Winds Skull that can be used as a Flamethrower type Weapon, or sold. The fight also rewards Players with roughly 15 Devil's Roar Treasure Items.
- Old Horatio - Flameheart's Shipwright and fleet recruiter.
- Warden Chi - Flameheart's Prison Warden and Executioner.
- Captain Grimm - The Architect of Flameheart's Lairs and the Fortress Islands.
- Red Ruth - Flameheart's Alchemist and Weaponsmith.
Other Skeleton Lords
- Captain Flameheart Senior - A powerful Skeleton Lord and the central antagonist of the game. He bound his soul to his skull to cheat death so he could be brought back to power by his followers when the time was right.
- Captain Flameheart Junior - Flameheart Senior's son, drawn to the Sea of Thieves by the stories his father would tell him when he was young. Became a Skeleton Lord by drinking from a mysterious chalice offered to him by the Cap'n in exchange for Junior's allegiance. Eventually took on the moniker of The Servant of the Flame and now resides in the Reaper's Hideout, working to further his father's agenda.
- Wanda (Captain Warsmith/The Masked Stranger) - Former Weaponsmith at Golden Sands Outpost. She became cursed from experimenting on a cannon from Flameheart's ship, the Burning Blade, creating Cursed Cannonballs in the process. As Captain Warsmith, she rebelled against the Outposts, captaining the Sandman's Revenge during Cursed Sails but was defeated in battle. She would later return as the mysterious Masked Stranger, overseeing the construction of the Reaper's Hideout and Flameheart's initial return. Wanda would eventually abandon her allegiance to Flameheart in favour of joining the Cap'n as part of his Dark Brethren.
- Cap'n - Perhaps the most mysterious of all Skeleton Lords, very little is known about him. He met Flameheart Junior and told him that he was once Captain of the Burning Blade before Flameheart Senior took the ship for himself. The Cap'n also seems to have a deep hatred for other Skeleton Lords.
- Jewelled Rover - A jewel-encrusted Skeleton Lord formerly known as Sarah Bates; she became cursed from the Ashen Jewels plundered from the wreck of the Burning Blade. She possessed the ability to command other skeletons, which she used to attempt a takeover of the Sea of Thieves. Her plan to do so failed, leaving her remains--and the Ashen Jewels--on Sailor's Bounty.
- Silas Norridge (Lord Guardian) - A jewel-encrusted Skeleton Lord, like Sarah Bates, cursed by the Ashen Jewels. Driven by the belief that his ruling the Sea of Thieves would improve the lives of pirates across the sea, he organised his oath-bound followers to attempt to conquer the Sea of Thieves during the Burning War.
- Herald of the Flame (formerly Stitcher Jim) - Found exclusively in the final chapter of The Herald of the Flame Adventure, the Herald is an Ashen Lord born from an Ashen Cursed Stitcher Jim drinking from the cursed chalice and was tasked to assist in the resurrection of Captain Flameheart at the Time of Resurrection.