Ahoy, Pirates! Season 14 has officially set sail, and it’s a game-changer for all you scurvy pirates out there. This latest update doesn’t just introduce new mechanics and weapons; it transforms the way we play The Sea of Thieves. From new mechanics that enhance stealth to funny (and lethal) weapons that make every fight feel fresh, this season is all about expanding your horizons on the high seas.
What truly stands out is the sheer number of options you now have for achieving your goals. You can trick the enemy AI easily, increase your mobility tenfold with the grappling gun, and you can now tuck effortlessly by crouching or transforming into chests.
Tucking is a sneaky tactic where you used to use a special emote called “Hide” to stow away on an enemy ship without their knowledge. It’s one of the most fun things to do in The Sea of Thieves; it allows you to pull off clever heists for valuable chests, like the Chest of Legends or the Chest of Fortune. Sometimes, though, it’s just about having a good laugh and trolling other players while they unsuspectingly go about their business!
In this article, we cover the new mechanics and weapons introduced in Season 14, drawn from my first 10+ hours of gameplay after the update (plenty of surprises incoming!).
New Weapons in Sea of Thieves Season 14
Blowpipe: A weapon with many possibilities
The blowpipe is a new weapon added in Season 14, offering a mix of utility and hilarity. It has 12 shots and is equipped with three different dart types, with four shots each: the Blackpowder dart, the poison dart, and the lure dart.
Ammo
The Blackpowder dart is like an arrow with a small keg attached to it. Once shot and landed on an enemy or on the ground, it ignites the fuse, which blows up after a little while, supposedly dealing a lot of damage (half of his health) and splash damage (source: a friendly pirate and an experimental subject I met on the seas). If within the radius of the explosion, it also puts enemy pirates on fire, leeching their health even further. The Blackpowder dart cannot, unfortunately, set your teammates on fire. It also cannot set ships on fire. You can defuse a Blackpowder dart by dousing yourself in liquid (water or puke) or by jumping in the sea. Note that the Blackpowder dart will only extinguish if the water touches the fuse. For example, if you jump in the water and someone headshots you with a Blackpowder dart, it will blow up if your head is above the water.
The Poison Dart is an assassin’s dream come true. Once shot, it poisons your target with a fast-acting lethal poison, much better than the puny poison of the snakes. It does more damage in 10 seconds than the Eye of Reach. As far as I am aware, the poison from chaining darts does not stack. The poison from the poison dart clouds your vision if you are hit, but it does not affect your combat much unless you are fighting in the middle of the night. The best way to use a poison dart is to shoot it first and then switch to another weapon.
In PvP, the best way is to shoot a poison dart and then follow up with a blunder bomb.
If you’re solo, the poison dart will probably mark your end, but if you’re with a teammate, they can hit the dart to end the poison effect.
The Lure Dart is technically a projectile but is more like Protego. It is completely useless in PvP, except for trolling swabbies when tucking on them and messing around with alliance members.
The Lure Dart shows its true magic in PvE. It is a shield of sorts. Shoot a Lure dart on the ground, and nearby enemies will start attacking it. It feels as if the enemy AI is tricked into thinking the lure is a player. Shoot it into the water, and it will attract the attention of sharks and sirens. If left alone, the Lure dart will shine for approximately five minutes before vanishing. Similar to poison darts, you can remove a lure dart from yourself by having a teammate hit it.
Range
The Blowpipe is a charged weapon. It has three different ranges:
Hip fire or shooting it instantly after aiming down sights has a short range.
Partially charging it has a mid-range.
Completely charging it has a long range.
The more you charge your Blowpipe, the more range and accuracy you get (supposedly). However, when I was using the Blowpipe, I felt that the range and the charge ratio were inconsistent. It felt awkward and clunky to fully charge the Blowpipe in PvP, something Rare will probably fix soon.
The Blowpipe shines in PvE. Using lure darts to distract enemy AI is an incredibly effective strategy. For example, when I was clearing Sea Forts (my experimental grounds to test new stuff), during the last wave, when facing the captain, I fired a lure dart, and when he was busy attacking the decoy, I fired four Blackpowder darts, killing him instantly when they exploded. Using one of the kegs on a Sea Fort is somewhat faster, but this method can deal no damage to you and is more fun. You can also use the Blowpipe to attract scattered enemies and kill them all at once, like in the video below.
In PvP, the Blowpipe feels like a troll weapon (not in a bad sense), one of the most entertaining weapon I’ve ever used. Watching other players panic when hit with a Blackpowder dart or eat furiously as poison darts chip away at their health is endlessly amusing. However, despite or perhaps due to its comedic aspects, the Blowpipe can be quite powerful in the right hands.
Weapon: Blowpipe
Ammo: 12 (8 of which are damage-inducing)
4 Blackpowder darts
4 Poison darts
4 Lure darts
PvP: Extremely fun.
Verdict: A very versatile weapon. Incredibly good for PvE and quite fun for PvP, but can sometimes feel clunky and awkward.
Grapple Gun: Swing around like Spider-Man in Sea of Thieves
One of the most exciting features( the one I and many others were looking forward to the most) in Season 14 is the grapple gun, a weapon that enhances your mobility tenfold and changes how you interact with the environment. Replacing one of your weapon slots, this weapon allows you to grapple onto surfaces or even other players. The true potential lies in exploration. You can scale annoying ledges now instead of going around them, grapple onto underwater rocks to boost your swimming, and even board enemy ships if you miss grabbing the ladder. Keep in mind that your grappling uses are limited to five. While you can easily grapple to the top of a Sea Fort from your ship, there are some rocks you cannot grapple onto. On a sloop or a brigantine, the only places you can use the grapple gun on are the boarding ladder and the extreme bow of the ship. The grapple gun makes moving through the world feel thrilling and dynamic. Using the grappling gun and swinging after being launched from a cannon feels incredible. It is pure elation, similar to what you feel after landing a difficult deck shot; you feel like Spider-Man grappling onto a ledge mid-air.
While it’s tough to sneak up on a sloop or a brigantine using the grapple gun, it opens up many sneaky routes on the Galleon.
Grapple gun is going to make the Umbra commendations so much easier!
Weapon: Grapple Gun
Ammo: 5
PvP: Nope
Verdict: It is incredibly fun and thrilling to use, and you can never get bored grappling about. You’re Spider-Man incarnate in The Sea of Thieves, with your mobility increased tenfold.
Crouching in Sea of Thieves Season 14
The new crouching mechanic introduced in Season 14 makes you stealthy, allowing players to lower their stance (reducing your height by half) and move slowly. Crouching not only hides your player name from enemies but also significantly reduces your movement noise. Crouching makes it very easy to sneak past pesky mobs without attracting their attention. You cannot use anything while you crouch. If you are holding a weapon, your pirate will automatically unequip it when you crouch. You will snap out of crouch if you use anything or jump. You also take less knockback when crouched. However, I don’t think it’s feasible to crouch mid-fight, because it makes you slow, and you have to put your weapon away. Trying to dodge a blunder is more effective than just tanking it.
Disguises: Stealthy Comedy in Sea of Thieves Season 14
Another addition in Season 14 is the ability to disguise yourself as a chest or a barrel. Unlike the traditional hide emotes, which keep you stationary, disguising as a chest allows you to move around while hiding your Gamertag. This elevates tucking to a whole new level, and it’s arguably the first true third-person experience we’ve had in The Sea of Thieves. Walking around as a chest feels absurdly funny, but it does trick pirates (source: another clueless swabbie I met). Like the real thing, enemy pirates will walk through you if you are disguised as a chest and clash with you if you are a barrel. Unlike emotes, enemy pirates can interact with your disguise; instead of opening a barrel or lifting a chest, you will pop out of disguise and send them to the ferry.
You can equip disguises in the vanity chest. After you unlock more disguises, you can purchase them at a clothing shop. After equipping the disguises, you need to be crouched to access them through the radial. You will pop out of the disguise if you take any damage, so be careful.
Merfruit: Tucking made easy
Mermaids were the enemies of all tuckers. Nothing was more frustrating than a mermaid giving away your position moments before you stole a Chest of Legends. That is no longer the case. A Merfruit is a somewhat rare consumable that can be found in various storage containers all over the map: on islands, inside shipwrecks, in outposts, etc. While it functions like regular food when eaten raw, healing as much health as a pomegranate, a cooked Merfruit becomes enchanted, glowing brightly and taking on special properties. It takes 20 seconds for a Merfruit to cook completely. Once consumed, Enchanted Merfruit temporarily prevents mermaids from spawning, which can be a game-changer while tucking.
Disabled Features in Sea of Thieves Season 14
While Season 14 is packed to the brim with exciting features, some mechanics, such as traps and hanging from ledges, have been temporarily disabled due to last-minute issues discovered before launch. As a result, certain commendations and achievements are currently unobtainable; however, Rare has promised these features will return soon, so keep a weather eye on the horizon!
This article will be updated when the disabled new features are available again.
Conclusion
Season 14 in The Sea of Thieves is a breath of fresh air, bringing various new ways to play, whether through stealth, movement, or goofy combat. The Blowpipe and Grapple Gun feel quite fun and fresh to use after using the same weapons for so long, even if they are a bit awkward at times. The Introduction of crouching, disguised and the Merfruit enhances and encourages stealth plays. Season 14 is a season filled with laughter, strategy, and plenty of opportunities to master the seas in new and unpredictable ways.
