While it may not have been the expansive pirate RPG that many fans had wanted, Sea of Thieves was still a solid sea-faring adventure when it released in 2018. Since its release, Sea of Thieves has gotten a whole array of new content, including new guild missions, raids, and new cosmetics. Some of the best cosmetics in the game are those available for the ships.
In Sea of Thieves, each of the ship's core components can be customized. The ship's wheel, figurehead, sails, flag, hull, cannons, and even the capstan can all be customized with the game's various skins, most of which appear as purchasable bundles called "sets". Over the last the three years, Sea of Thieves has had some pretty impressive ship sets.
Sea of Thieves' Most Impressive Base Content Ships
While many of Sea of Thieves' most impressive ship sets were implemented into the game with DLCs and events, some of the game's most attractive ship cosmetics have been in the base game for a long time. These are usually unlocked by leveling up in each of Sea of Thieves' guilds, or by completing specific quests that are available to everyone.
The "Ghost" ship set is by far one of Sea of Thieves' most striking ship designs, with the skin turning the player's entire ship pitch-black, aside from the sails, which sport three spectral emblems that glow amongst the ship's dark exterior. The design of this ship is immediately recognizable to Sea of Thieves veterans, instantly relaying the crew's high level of experience (to unlock the set they have to be a "Pirate Legend") to any players that may be thinking about challenging the ship.
The "Ashen Dragon" set gives players ship sails, a hull, and a figurehead that appear as though they are gently burning, with a fiery orange glow shimmering away on each component. The glow effects of this set make it a truly unique one, but the time it takes to unlock may put some players off. The "Heart of Fire" and "Fire and Ash" commendations are needed, along with Tomes that can be found in Ashen Chests around the world. This means that to get the full ship set, some real luck is needed, as Ashen Chests appear randomly.
While the "Dark Adventurer" ship set may not be the most visually impressive skin in the game, the sheer cost of entry makes it one of the rarest sets currently available in Sea of Thieves. The player must first hit Pirate Legend status by leveling up at least three separate guilds to level 50. They then need to shell out a whopping 37,800,000 gold for the entire set. For comparison, the "Ashen Dragon" set costs 281,900.
The Pirates of the Caribbean DLC Ships
Following a fairly surprising announcement at 2021's E3, Sea of Thieves received a Pirates of the Caribbean crossover, which saw some decent quests added to the game, along with iconic Pirates characters and, most importantly, some incredible ship sets. The iconic "Black Pearl" ship was made available to the player via the "Eternal Freedom" ship set, which could only be bought via the game's Pirate Emporium (the in-game store).
Similarly, Davy Jones' infamous "Flying Dutchman" was also added to the Pirate Emporium with the "Cursed Ferryman" ship set, as was Captain Barbossa's "Queen Anne's Revenge," in the "Royal Revenge" ship set. While the visual designs of these ships translated perfectly to Sea of Thieves, with its more cartoon-y art style making the colors and highlights pop, the price real-world price to acquire these cosmetics was a bit steep for some players.
Impressive Time-Limited Promotional Ships
Along with DLC crossover ships, Sea of Thieves is no stranger to adding cosmetics to promote upcoming Xbox games, or celebrate the console's history. Probably the most well-known example of this is the game's "Spartan" ship set, which brought a range of Halo-themed cosmetics to the game, such as green sails with the UNSC logo on them, and a figurehead of the Master Chief himself.
Sea of Thieves has done this quite a few times over the years, with the "Omen" set bringing some Gears of War visual designs to the game, and the "Ancestral" set celebrating Ori and the Blind Forest with some glowing blue cannons and sails. Unfortunately, though, these cosmetics were only available for a limited time, so players just jumping in to Sea of Thieves won't be able to grab these ship sets unless they're brought back at somepoint in the future.
Sea of Thieves is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.