How to play Sea of Thieves solo
The best way to play Sea of Thieves solo is choosing Safer Seas to play on a private server.
Want to know how to play Sea Of Thieves solo? At its core, Sea of Thieves is a shared world experience where individual crews can come together in unpredictable ways – perhaps forming an alliance and adventuring in unison or fighting to the death out on the waves – but that doesn't mean multiplayer is the only viable way to play.
These days, Sea of Thieves is more approachable and flexible than ever, whether you're a solo player looking to dive straight in alongside other crews, or a single crew looking for a more relaxed experience without the ever-looming threat of PvP. This guide is all about getting the most out of playing Sea of Thieves solo, and how its Safer Seas mode compares with the PvP-focused High Seas.
On this page:
- How to play Sea of Thieves solo
- Safer Seas vs High Seas: what's the difference?
- What can I do in Safer Seas?
- Tips for playing solo in Sea Of Thieves
Let's Play Sea Of Thieves PS5 Gameplay - IS PS5 SEA OF THIEVES SEASON 12 SHIPSHAPE OR A SHIP WRECK?!
How to play Sea of Thieves solo
The best way to play Sea Of Thieves solo is by choosing its 'Safer Seas' mode when you first start your game.
Once you're past Sea of Thieves' intro movie, select 'Adventure Mode' and you'll be given the option to choose between 'High Seas' and 'Safer Seas' mode.
Select 'Safer Seas' here, and after that, all you need to do is decide on the type of ship you want to sail. We recommend choosing the Sloop, as this is best for one or two players. The Brigantine, meanwhile, is better suited to two or three players, while the Galleon is best for four players.
You can also play Safer Seas mode as a solo player without needing to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PlayStation Plus - handy, if you're trying to keep costs down.
If you start feeling the pull of PvP (and have the appropriate online subscription for your chosen platform), the good news is that you can switch to High Seas mode at any time. You'll just need to exit your current Safer Seas session first, return to the main menu, and begin the selection process again.
Safer Seas vs High Seas: what's the difference?
Since 2023, Sea of Thieves players have been able to choose between two distinct modes: High Seas and Safer Seas.
High Seas mode offers the full Sea of Thieves experience, with up to six crews – each with their own ships - sharing the same instance of the game's expansive open-world map. Every type of quest, event, and activity is available in High Seas with no limitations – including all multiplayer-focused features, such as Alliances and PvP on-demand.
That means crews can – and will - cross paths in High Seas mode, so a fight is potentially around every corner. This makes for a thrilling, unpredictable adventure some people will love from the off, but not everybody likes this high-pressure form of play - and that's where Safer Seas comes in, offering a calmer, quieter Sea of Thieves experience away from the threat of PvP.
Safer Seas mode puts a single crew of between one and four players onto their own private server. Here, all PvE-focused activities – such as Skeleton Forts, Sea Forts, Armada Battles, megalodon encounters, and Trading Company Voyages – can be played away from other crews. This makes it a great place to learn the ropes or play with younger family members.
Can I play High Seas solo?
High Seas mode can be played solo too, but its shared world nature – and the constant threat of attack from other crews - can make for a more challenging, considerably more fraught experience.
On the flip side, surviving the chaos of the full Sea of Thieves experience is immensely satisfying as a solo player – and getting skilled enough to sink a four-player galleon as a solo pirate even more so – and there are a few basic strategies you can employ to ensure have the upper hand as much as possible.
What can I do in Safer Seas?
While all PvE-focused activities - including Sea of Thieves' cinematic Tall Tales adventures – are available in Safer Seas, there are a number of important restrictions pirates will need to keep in mind. These primarily impact reward pay-outs, Reputation level caps, and the availability of some multi-crew focused features.
Here's everything you can do in Safer Seas:
- Play all Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls, and Gold Hoarders Voyages
- Earn Gold and Reputation for the Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls, Gold Hoarders, and Hunter's Call (but note that Gold and Reputation rewards are capped at 30% of their High Seas value, and Reputation levelling halts at 40)
- Earn Doubloons
- Earn full Seasonal Renown and progress the Season Pass
- Encounter Ancient Skeletons and earn Ancient Coins
- Earn Commendations and Achievements (aside from multi-crew or Emissary focused challenges)
- Play all Tall Tales
- Participate in the following world events: Sea Forts, Siren Treasuries, Skeleton Forts, Skeleton Fleet battles, Ashen Lord boss encounters, Ghost Fleets
- Encounter the following emergent threats: the kraken, megalodons, skeleton ships
- Catch fish
- Access the Athena’s Fortune Hideout and Reaper’s Lair (provided they've been unlocked previously in High Seas mode)
Here's everything you can't do in Safer Seas:
- Get full Gold and Reputation rewards
- Progress beyond Level 40 in any Trading Company
- Become a Pirate Legend
- Become a Trading Company Emissary
- Sell Commodities along Trade Routes for the Merchant Alliance
- Earn Reputation or engage in activities associated with the Athena's Fortune or Reaper's Bones Trading Companies
- Represent the Guardians of Fortune or Servants of the Flame in PvP on-demand battles and earn Allegiance
- Play the following world events: the Fort of the Damned and the Fort of Fortune
- Play as a Captain
- Play as part of a Guild
- Participate in community focused live events, such as Gold and Glory
The following treasure is also unavailable in Safer Seas mode:
- Athena’s Fortune treasure
- Chest of Fortune
- Generous Gift
- Humble Gift
- Rag and Bone Crate
- Reaper's Bounty
- Reaper's Chest
- Ritual Skull
- Skull of Destiny
- Tomes
Tips for playing solo in Sea Of Thieves
Regardless of whether you decide to play solo in Safer Seas or High Seas, here are five important tips for playing alone in Sea Of Thieves.
Stay vigilant: Vigilance is easily the most powerful tool in a solo pirate's arsenal. To succeed as a solo player in Sea of Thieves, it's imperative you're aware of your surroundings at all times. Checking the horizon for potential threats – whether you're on land or sea – should become second nature, and you should always have a plan of escape (or attack) just in case another crew manages to catch you by surprise.
Reduce your presence as much as possible if you want to avoid attention: Turn off your ship's lanterns so you're harder to spot at night, and try and use an island's mass to conceal your ship from passing crews. Outposts attract a lot of traffic in Sea of Thieves, so you'll be wanting to conceal yourself on the opposite side of any island away from an Outpost's line of site.
Be realistic about your chances in battle: While it's entirely possible for a good solo player to sink a fully manned Galleon if the opposing crew is inexperienced and uncoordinated, the simple reality of numbers means you're going to struggle against a good four-player crew, so pick your battles wisely – especially if you're carrying a lot of valuable treasure you plan to keep.
Be crafty: It might be tricky going toe-to-toe with bigger crews as a solo player, but it's amazing how far some sneaky strategizing can get you, whether through subterfuge, misdirection, or even clever exploitation of the environment. Sail your Sloop between two narrow rocks to give pursuing ships a bit of a headache, for instance, or bait them into environmental threats such as Skeleton Ships or even the Kraken. Just stay sharp, think fast, and see where your plotting brain take you. Oh, and don't forget that Sloops have a speed advantage against larger ships when sailing into the wind.
Finally, have fun. Even if it can feel like a bit an uphill battle in the early stages while you're still learning the ropes, solo piracy in High Seas mode can be an absolute blast and there's nothing quite like holding your own out on the Sea of Thieves.
That's everything you need to know about playing Sea of Thieves solo. If you do eventually want to play with your mates at some point, here's how to add friends and play Sea of Thieves crossplay across multiple different platforms, and we've also got an extensive beginner's guide on what to do first and how to get started.