Megalodon
The Megalodon is a dangerous species of giant shark that roams the open waters of the Sea of Thieves, preying on player ships. There are five types of Megalodon species with varying colours and rarity.
They were first introduced as a time-limited encounter for The Hungering Deep, returning as a permanent encounter, with additional species, in the Shrouded Spoils update.
The Encounter
Megalodons are vicious predators that appear around player ships on open seas. A Megalodon encounter begins when the tense Megalodon music starts playing, after which, the Megalodon appears out of the deep sea behind the ship and starts swimming closely until the ship sails out of its hunting grounds or the Megalodon is defeated. Each Megalodon spawns with a unique personality, with ranging aggression, sometimes passive until provoked.
A Megalodon will attack the ship by charging at and biting the ship, which is accompanied by a tense chorus of violins. This bite attack can cause 1-5 holes in the ship's hull depending on the ship's size. Defeating a Megalodon takes around 10-13 cannonball hits on a Sloop, around 15-18 cannonball hits on a Brigantine and around 30-32 cannonball hits on a Galleon. Sloops and Brigantines also take less damage from the Megalodon's bites.
Players wishing to get rid of a Megalodon may sail close to Outposts, Islands, Seaposts or Shipwrecks, the Megalodon will turn away and patrol the area where it first appeared.
Megalodon Species
There are five species of Megalodons, each variant having distinguishing colours. Their markings (scars, stripes, etc) may vary per encounter.
| Icon | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
Hungering One | Blue variant with green eyes, and sometimes light-blue fin. |
|
Crested Queen | Dark purple variant with purple fins and eyes. |
|
Shadowmaw | Dark grey variant with red fins, and orange eyes. |
|
Ancient Terror | Mossy-yellow variant with yellow fins and eyes. |
|
Shrouded Ghost | Pale white-gray variant with peach-coloured fin and eyes. Extremely rare. Nighttime light makes its body appears much darker and can be confused for the Crested Queen or Shadowmaw. Its peach-coloured fins are the safest way to identify it. It has a chance to spawn in any of the same locations as all other Megalodon species. |
Rewards
Upon defeat, a Megalodon of any type will leave behind a variety of treasure where they died. Players sailing as a Trading Company Emissary will also earn a notable amount of Emissary Grade Reputation (with the exception of Reaper's Bones Emissaries).
All Megalodon variants have the same treasure pool:
- 4-6 pieces of Megalodon meat
- 5-12 random Treasure items
- Regular, Shipwrecked, Ashen, and Cursed Treasure Chests
- Skeleton Captain’s Chests
- Stronghold Chests
- Crates of Ancient Bone Dust
- Regular and Ashen Trinkets
- Regular and Ashen Trade Good Crates
- Regular and Ashen Bounty Skulls
- Skeleton Captain’s Skulls
- Stronghold Skulls
- Mermaid Gems
- Collector's Chests with Gold and other small Treasure
Previous Events
- During The Hungering Deep campaign, players could defeat the Hungering One to earn the Hungering Tattoo Set, Shark Bitemark Scars, and Hungering One Figurehead.
- During The Hungering Deep Anniversary Event, players could kill 3 Megalodons to earn the Drum of the Deep.
- During the Hunters of the Deep event, players had to earn Shark Teeth as points via completing Megalodon or Shark related challenges to unlock Shrouded Ghost Hunter Set ship cosmetics.
Notes
- A Megalodon's difficulty is scaled to the size of the ship it spawns to attack.
- A Megalodon will remain near the area where it appeared and not leave its range.
- The Megalodon's bite attack is the main threat of the encounter. Landing consecutive cannonball shots (2 on a Sloop, 4 on a Brigantine, 6 on a Galleon) on a charging Megalodon's mouth will disrupt its charge, cancelling the bite attack entirely, or lessening its damage to the hull/negating knock-back effects.
- A Megalodon's bite does as much damage as a shark bite and knocks the player back.
- Dying to a Megalodon's bite gives the Blue Flame of Fate, same as other sharks.
- Sharks will appear near the body of a defeated Megalodon.
- Cursed Cannonballs have no effect on Megalodons.
- Megalodons can be harpooned in order to position the ship into a more fitting position to attack it or it can be used to travel more quickly as the Megalodon will drag ships around at astonishing speeds when harpooned.
- Skeleton Ships and Skeleton-operated land cannons will shoot at Megalodons. The Megalodon may then focus on the skeletons rather than the player. A Megalodon has no way of attacking skeletons that shoot at it from Island cannons, leaving them swimming and charging close to the island until the skeleton gets lucky enough to kill the Megalodon.
Commendations
| Commendations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Commendation | Requirements | Rewards |
 | Hunter of the Hungering One | Defeat The Hungering One in a chance encounter. | +5   Rewards the Hunter of the Hungering One Title. |
 | Hunter of the Crested Queen | Defeat The Crested Queen in a chance encounter. | +10 Rewards the Hunter of the Crested Queen Title. |
 | Hunter of the Shadowmaw | Defeat The Shadowmaw in a chance encounter. | +15 Rewards the Hunter of the Shadowmaw Title. |
 | Hunter of the Ancient Terror | Defeat The Ancient Terror in a chance encounter. | +25 Rewards the Hunter of the Ancient Terror Title. |
 | Hunter of the Shrouded Ghost | Defeat The Shrouded Ghost in a chance encounter. | +50 Rewards the Hunter of the Shrouded Ghost Title. Unlocks the Shrouded Ghost Figurehead in the Ship Customization Chest, and the Spectre of the Sea Trophy for purchase. |
 | Legendary Hunter of the Hungering One | Defeat The Hungering One in a chance encounter 50 times, as a Pirate Legend. High Seas only
| Rewards the Legendary Hunter of the Hungering One Title. |
 | Legendary Hunter of the Crested Queen | Defeat The Crested Queen in a chance encounter 50 times, as a Pirate Legend. High Seas only
| Rewards the Legendary Hunter of the Crested Queen Title. |
 | Legendary Hunter of the Shadowmaw | Defeat The Shadowmaw in a chance encounter 50 times, as a Pirate Legend. High Seas only
| Rewards the Legendary Hunter of the Shadowmaw Title. |
 | Legendary Hunter of the Ancient Terror | Defeat The Ancient Terror in a chance encounter 50 times, as a Pirate Legend. High Seas only
| Rewards the Legendary Hunter of the Ancient Terror Title. |
 | Legendary Hunter of the Shrouded Ghost | Defeat The Shrouded Ghost in a chance encounter 5 times, as a Pirate Legend.
| Rewards the Legendary Hunter of the Shrouded Ghost Title. |
Trivia
- The The Hungering Deep official summary was: "Something old, fast and hungry is surfacing. Follow the trail of riddles and rumours. We hope you live to tell the tale."
- Megalodons are sometimes called 'Megans', by the community.
- The Deckhand Guess for Gold Competition from August 22nd, 2019 stated that 11 Shrouded Ghosts were killed between the 21st and 22nd of August, 2019.
- The Deckhand Guess for Gold Competition from January 28, 2019 stated that 7,857 Megalodons were killed between January 22nd - January 23rd, 2020.
Patch history
- 2.8.3 (June 15, 2023)
- 2.8.0 (March 16, 2023)
- 2.4.1 (January 20, 2022)
- When a Megalodon attacks a player's ship, it should no longer intersect with the ship and cause it to be thrown into the air.
- Defeating a Megalodon when it is close to a ship should no longer cause the ship to be thrown into the air.
- Upon encountering a Megalodon, it should no longer become stuck when following close behind a player's ship and should change direction before attacking.
- Megalodons pursuing ships should now navigate more smoothly around the rocky arches found out at sea.
- 2.4.0 (December 2, 2021)
- Defeated Megalodons will now have seagulls circling all dropped floating Treasure, marking its location until it is retrieved or sinks.
- Megalodons in pursuit of players should less frequently collide with Islands and run aground.
- 2.0.15 (May 27, 2020)
- Sloop Megalodon Encounters – Megalodons encountered while on a Sloop are now less likely to attack if not provoked.
- 2.0.14 (April 22, 2020)
- Defeating emergent threats such as Megalodon will now result in higher-value loot drops and increase Emissary Reputation gains for Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, Merchant Alliance, and Athena's Fortune.
- 2.0.5 (July 17, 2019)
- Megalodons now drop Mermaid Gems.
- 2.0.4 (June 19, 2019)
- Improved Kill Contribution for Megalodon Encounters – Participation tracking has been improved for players and crews engaging in Megalodon encounters. Damaging the beast now counts towards killing it even if the player or crew subsequently leaves the encounter. Players will find that unlocking Commendation progress for winning these encounters is now much more consistent.
- 1.4.0 (November 28, 2018)
- Added Megalodon varieties: the Hungering One, the Crested Queen, Shadowmaw, Ancient Terror, and the Shrouded Ghost.
- Added rewards for defeating Megalodons.
- 1.1.5 (July 4, 2018)
- Multiple Megalodons will no longer spawn in the same zone.
- Megalodon encounter music will no longer be heard on the[Ferry.
- 1.1.3 (June 20, 2018)
- Readded the megalodon along with making it spawn randomly and having different personalities as well.
- 1.1.2 (June 13, 2018)
- Removed The Hungering One.
- 1.1.0 (May 29, 2018)
- Introduced The Hungering One as a special event raid encounter.