The latest Sea of Thieves Adventure, A Dark Deception, has arrived. From now until July 6, you can jump into the limited-time story mission and earn a pair of cosmetics while embarking on a new chapter in the game’s lore. In A Dark Deception, players will be assisting The Pirate Lord in finding a stolen treasure of his, though some unfortunate twists are sure to happen on the way, as the name implies.
For this latest Adventure, you’ll earn two new cosmetics: Pendragon’s pocket watch and the “Deceiver and Deceived” player title–scroll to the end to get a peek at those. But as always, you’ll need to complete every one of the event’s Deeds, or challenges, in order to earn that second one. Simply finishing the questline will only earn you the fancy pocket watch. But don’t worry, we’ve already completed the whole adventure, which will take you an hour or two–maybe less with our guide and depending on how distracted you get.
Mind you that the next Adventure for Sea of Thieves is likely to be the first of three announced for the game’s exciting Monkey Island crossover. Unlike The Pirate’s Life crossover with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean, The Legend of Monkey Island crossover will debut as limited-time Adventure-style missions. But in those cases, fear not, as the missions will eventually persist in the game permanently, which is a welcome but unique change to the usual Adventure structure.
Therefore, if you’re first seeking to finish off A Dark Deception, you’ll need to do it in the traditional sense: before the event disappears forever, taking the limited-time cosmetics with it. Here’s how to complete the full story, including completing all Deeds and earning both Mementos.
Note that this story event guide will necessarily contain spoilers, but we’ve written it in such a way that the reveals in our text should only arrive as you’re experiencing them for yourself in the game. Raise anchor and follow our trusty guide for A Dark Deception below.
Sail to N13 and speak to The Pirate Lord
The uncharted island located at N13 on your ship map has been home to many a story beats, and it’s where you’ll start this latest chapter, too. When you arrive, speak to The Pirate Lord, who will tell you his treasure has been stolen. He’ll give you a signed note to take to Plunder Outpost, essentially vouching for you to be allowed to take the pocket watch from Madame Olivia in the Order of Souls tent.
Sail to Plunder Outpost and speak to Madame Olivia
When you arrive at Plunder Outpost, the watch you need will be on the table in front of Madame Olivia in the Order of Souls tent, but no matter which dialogue option you choose, she’s not willing to part with it. It has sentimental value to her, so you’ll need to swipe it–a simple feat for a pirate, yes?
Knock on the door behind the tavern
With Madame Olivia not budging, head around to the back of the tavern and knock “quietly” on the door on the left. Then knock again, and finally one more time with increasing vigor each time. On the third knock, a rat with curiously glowing green eyes will emerge from beneath the door and scurry into the Order of Souls tent, distracting Madame Olivia.
Follow the rat into the Order of Souls tent
While Madame Olivia is distracted by the rat, snatch the pocket watch from the table and be on your way. It doesn’t seem as though you can fail this section, but just in case, be quick about it.
Sail to Shipwreck Bay and dock near the wreck of the Burning Blade
On the western side of the aptly named island, a shipwreck adorned with red banners is resting. This is The Burning Blade, Captain Flameheart’s ship of yore. You’ll want to angle your ship so that you can cannon-blast yourself onto the top deck. If you aim for the big red banner at the top, you should safely land where you need to.
Take the gem fragment from the ship’s figurehead
Head down one of the ladders on either side of the banner you aimed for, and try to snatch the gem from the ship’s figurehead. In our experience, our first attempt (on the left side of the figurehead) failed, requiring us to grab it on the right side. It’s unclear if the right side is the only side that will give you the gem or if you’re always meant to claim it on the second attempt. Therefore, you may save a measly 15 seconds if you try the right side first, if that’s important to you.
Optional Deed: Search near the Blackwytche
The Blackwytche is the more famous shipwreck found inland on Shipwreck Bay. Head there and into the captain’s quarters where you’ll spot the same odd rat with glowing green eyes in the back-left corner of the room. Interact with the rat to complete this optional Deed.
Bring the gem to Madame Olive at Sanctuary Outpost
Now that you’ve claimed the gem, bring it to Madame Olive (not Olivia, mind you) at Sanctuary Outpost. Ask her to make you an enchanted compass using her, uh, witchy powers.
Optional Deed: Search near Madame Olive
A second missable moment with the strange rat can be completed on Sanctuary Outpost. Just outside the Order of Souls tent and beneath the stairs leading to the Pirate Emporium, you’ll find the critter once more. Interact with them again to complete this Deed, leaving just one more such moment you’ll want to complete soon.
With the enchanted compass, sail to Port Merrick
Port Merrick, formerly Golden Sands Outpost, is the destination your compass will tell you to head toward, so sail there next.
Optional Deed: Search Port Merrick
When you arrive, your compass will point you toward a particular area of the tavern, but before you head there, enter through the front door next to where Larinna hangs out. Just inside the door will be your last missable moment in the form of a third encounter with the glowing rodent. Interact with them to polish off the optional portions of the Adventure.
Head under the tavern and through the tunnel
After you interact with the rat, jump into the water behind Larinna, then swim around the corner into the large tunnel suitable for rowboats. Look for an interact point in the corner we’ve included an image of in the picture above.
Note: In order to “Locate the stolen treasure,” ensure that you or someone in your crew is the person to interact with this point. We completed the Adventure alongside an allied crew and they were first to use the interact point, which caused us to miss this Deed initially.
Speak to The Pirate Lord
Inside the hideout, you’ll find a number of treasures, as well as The Pirate Lord. Speak to him to unveil the story’s big twist, which we won’t explicitly write here. This is also the last step for this Adventure and will thus complete the event.
A Dark Deception cosmetic rewards
For completing the Adventure, you’ll earn Pendragon’s Pocket Watch. For completing all Deeds, including missable Deeds we’ve detailed here, you’ll earn “The Deceiver and the Deceived” player title, too.
And that completes A Dark Deception, Sea of Thieves’ 12th limited-time Adventure. Stay tuned for the next one, which we’ll guide you through here as soon as it releases sometime in the weeks ahead.