'Sea of Thieves' Update 1.4.4 Patch Notes: New Mercenary Voyages, Merchant Alliance Improvements and More

"Sea of Thieves" update 1.4.4 has arrived. Find out everything added and changed in the patch notes including new Mercenary Voyage, Merchant Alliance improvements and more.

On Wednesday, Rare released its latest Sea of Thieves update (Patch 1.4.4). After the success of last month's introduction to Mercenary Voyages, this month's patch adds even more Voyages for players to enjoys, with two of them taking place in less action-packed hotspots for those who don't like the "stabby" nature of the earlier Mercenary Voyages. In addition to bringing new voyages, update 1.4.4 makes a number of improvements to the Merchant Alliance, including better payouts for successful animal and cargo runs. Below we've put together an overview of everything new and changed in the Sea of Thieves 1.4.4 update. The update is for both Xbox One and PC users and is 3.9 and 4.9 GB respectively. For instructions on how to download the latest update, see here for Xbox One, and here for PC. Players who do not install the latest update may encounter the light beige beard error, which indicates a game version mismatch.

'Sea of Thieves' Update 1.4.4 Patch Notes: New Mercenary Voyage s, Merchant Alliance Improvements and More

New Mercenary Voyages

Good news for Pirates who enjoy adventures, encounters or both! This build introduces an all-new Mercenary Voyage type, the Reaper's Run, perfect for those who thrive in the heat of combat.

Looking for something a little less stabby? No problem. This build also brings two Mercenary Voyages that take place outside of the action-filled hotspot so you can adventure at your own pace. That's not all! You'll also find a bunch of new performance improvements and fixes to make your sailing smoother than ever.

• Reaper's Run of the Wanderer's Refuge – Duke's shop now holds a treacherous new 'Reaper's Run Voyage' costing 5 Doubloons. Any crew willing to accept this challenge must brave the waters surrounding Wanderers Refuge - with multiple crews all heading to the same location, prepare to do battle!
• Reaper's Mark Challenge - Looking for more of a challenge? Equip your Reapers Mark Flag before you set sail in order to warn rival crews of your presence. Pirates who complete The Reaper's Run of Wanderers Refuge with their Reaper's Mark raised high will unlock progress towards a Legendary Commendation 'Legendary Reaper of Wanderers Refuge' and 'The Wandering Reaper' Title - only for the most fearsome pirates.
• Wandering Reaper Ship Cosmetics – A Legendary Challenge deserves a Legendary reward! A new set of Ship Cosmetics are available in Duke's Shop locked behind the 'Legendary Reaper of Wanderers Refuge' Commendation; The Wandering Reaper Sail, The Wandering Reaper Hull and The Wandering Reaper Flag.
• Mercenary Voyages of the Wilds & Ancient Isles - Duke also has two new voyages in his shop. These voyages cost 5 Doubloons and direct pirates to visit a specific sea region and complete a mixture of Voyage types.
• Mercenary Voyage Commendations - Alongside the Legendary Commendation, there are a total of 4 Commendations available in this set for completing each of Duke's latest Mercenary Voyages. Unlocking all these commendations awards 90 Doubloons!

Merchant Alliance Improvements

• Merchant Animal Payouts - The value of successfully handing in animal cargo has been significantly increased.
• Cargo Run Payouts - The value of successfully handing in Cargo has been significantly increased.
• Cargo Run Robustness - Cargo is much more robust and significantly easier to get to its destination in good condition.
• Cargo Run Sailing Distance - The average delivery distance for Cargo Runs have been reduced, and are now a shorter sailing distance.

Updates

• Floating Treasure - Significantly increased time loot floats for at the water surface before it begins to sink.
• Sword Miss Swing Recovery - When swinging your sword and missing your opponent, there is an increased recovery delay before you can swing again. Players can move freely during this recovery, however, are prevented from attacking.
• Food Barrels - The Shipwrights have been busy and added more food barrels to the ships.
• NPC Dialog Styling - Updated styling when interacting with an NPC during Dialog.
• Colour Contrast Accessibility - Updated the color contrast of selecting items in the Settings menu to better support accessibility for WCAG standards.
• Service Status Messaging - Our Live Operations team now have the ability to communicate changes to our service status to players in the game as they happen. These messages will appear and persist in the Chat Notification area when sent.

Performance Improvements

• Improved loading times when loading from the front end into the game.
• Voice Chat should now be much more reliable when many players are speaking at the same time.
• Resolved a number of game stability issues
• We are constantly reviewing the performance and stability of each patch and providing performance optimizations and stability improvements.

Fixed Issues

Gameplay

• When blocking cutlass attacks from an enemy, resolved an issue where light strikes could penetrate your block and cause you to be stunned.
• Switching between guns should now consistently play the full wield animation and firing delay.
• Skeleton Captains and Players dropping Skeleton Fort keys should now consistently drop the key onto the fort floor, reachable by players.
• Resolved an issue when rapidly firing a weapon where a bullet would not be correctly registered as fired and would trigger the hit marker without applying damage.
• Resolved an issue where dropping your Capstan did not function as expected and ships continued to move.
• Shipwreck Chests rewarded by Skeleton Ships or found emergently on beaches will now correctly count towards the Hoarder of Barnacled Gold commendation.
• Mercenary Voyages progress bar now showing the correct number of commendations.
• Push to talk setting now persists between sessions.
• Legendary Skeleton Exploder title now unlocked when criteria reached.
• Sprint now works correctly when bound to 'Q' or 'E' keys.
• Drowning players can once again interact with barrels.
• Cargo Run maps should no longer display 'Hopscotchbeard' instead of NPC Name.

Sound and Visuals

• Sovereign Wheel Cosmetic now uses the correct Red & Gold texture.
• Floating Rivet removed from Bone Crusher Wheel.
• Resolved an issue where the Aim SFX for the Eye of Reach would play inconsistently.
• Rain is no longer visible inside Skeleton Ships.
• Fog now visible from the Captain's Quarters.
• Players Left hand should no longer detach from steering wheel and capstan.
• Wailing Barnacle Hull Livery no longer leaves blue coloring when unequipped.
• SFX can be muted from the Front End.
• Ship hull textures now show the correct LOD.
• Players should no longer hear a bubbling sound along with low volume when in indoor areas.
• 'Rotten Bilge Rat Gloves' now rendering correctly.

UI

• Company Rank within the Company Shop UI is now correctly scaled on wide screens.
• Control Settings pages no longer have unlocalized strings.
• Riddle maps no longer have font cropping issues
• Removed Back button prompt from 'Choose Your Experience' screen in the front end.
• NPC Tooltips should no longer be missing the first letter of the NPC's name.

Environment

• Treasure Chests should no longer spawn beneath undiggable locations on Discovery Ridge & Flintlock Peninsula.
• Galleon map deck player collision improved.
• Players are no longer able to jump through the broadside of the galleon's hull and hide inside.
• Cannon on North Side of Molten Sands Fortress no longer obstructed.
• No longer possible to get stuck on Mermaid's Hideaway between trees.
• No longer possible to get stuck near a tree on Discovery Ridge.
• No longer possible to get stuck between rock and fence on Molten Sands Fortress.
• No longer possible to get stuck between trees on Ashen Reaches.
• Ramp on the fort in Molten Sands Fortress now repaired.
• Ladder leading up to Ancient Spire Tavern no longer obstructed.
• Terrain no longer floating on Molten Sands Fortress.
• Waves no longer clipping through ground textures on Fetcher's Rest.

Known Issues

• Extended Black Screen on Loading- There is a chance that players may be held indefinitely on the Black Loading Screen with Spinner when returning from the Ghost Ship.
  • We are continuing to investigate this issue, however, have identified a potential workaround if you are affected by this and are in a crew. If you find yourself indefinitely stuck on the Black Loading Screen have your crew select your Gamertag from the My Crew menu and 'Vote to Lock in the Brig'. Once arriving in the Brig you can then be released to bypass the Black Screen Issue

What do you think of the latest Sea of Thieves update? What do you hope to see in the next update? Share your thoughts in the comments below!