If you play Sea of Thieves for a while, you’ll realize sooner or later that it’s no longer about the gold, it’s about the glory.
There are many items that money simply cannot buy.
For those items, you’ll need to rely on your skill, mastery, and sheer determination – especially if you want all of them.
It’s also worth noting that some items in Sea of Thieves have been lost to time and are impossible to obtain. But you do have a chance (no matter how small) of obtaining most items on this list, it’ll just be real tough.
So with that out of the way, let’s take a look at some of the rarest items in the game.
20. Ancient Vault Sails
Even after hundreds of hours, Treasure Vaults are still a ton of fun.
Or at least I hope you still find them fun – because these sails are going to be a miserable grind if you don’t!
The Ancient Vault Sails are unlocked for purchase after opening your 100th Treasure Vault, and honestly, the sails are pretty cool.
They’re emblazoned with a unique Aztec stone head. Quite the look.
Granted these Sails may not speak much to your crew’s skill. But they do say you’re a master Gold Hoarder, and probably a very experienced one too!
19. Kraken Makeup
For as terrifying as the Kraken can be, it’s also rare, as the beast will only show up if there are no other world events up on the map.
With this in mind, delivering 50 pieces of Kraken Meat is going to take a very long time.
And that’s exactly what you need to do to unlock Kraken Makeup and the Hunter Of The Monstrous Beast Title.
As if that wasn’t enough, all those pieces of meat need to be cooked for this to work too.
I guess the Hunters Call can’t afford their own stove…
18. Eye Of Reach Of The Ashen Dragon
Out of all of the Ashen Dragon weapons, the Eye Of Reach is my favorite – but you unlock all the other weapons the same way.
And if you’re a methodical pirate, you’re really going to hate this!
Each Ashen Dragon weapon is unlocked by selling all 5 Tomes in a set.
There are 4 sets in total, and they’re all completely random rewards locked inside Ashen Chests.
These are pretty uncommon. But since you can find duplicate Tomes, getting the one you want can take forever.
17. Ghost Lantern
With the introduction of the Fort Of Fortune, this item is a little easier to get – if you can survive the heat.
But it’s still difficult either way, and will take a strong dedicated crew to get it.
The Ghost Lantern is a beautiful cosmetic that really comes into its own if you’re island hopping at night.
And before you can get your grubby mitts on it, you need to be a Pirate Legend.
After that, you need to reach Grade 5 with Athena’s Fortune 20 times!
Just having this flag trailing off your ship is enough to paint a target on your entire crew. And Athena grades go up much slower than the other emissaries.
You’ve got your work cut out here – but it’s worth it!
16. Box Of Wondrous Secrets
Tales speak of pirates spending hundreds of hours battling around volcanoes and in boiling water, yet still never stumbling across this rare and coveted treasure.
The Box Of Wondrous Secrets is the rarest treasure in the game. And it can only be found in the Devils Roar.
It’s completely random if this thing will even show up at all. And there’s no way to increase your chances of finding one (seriously!)
There are no cosmetics or titles tied to finding this item either. Which is a testament to how rare it truly is.
So unless you’re desperate to see one with your own pirate eyes, maybe this one should stay in those tales…
15. Shores Of Gold Curse
You can’t say you’ve mastered the Tall Tales until your pirate is laced with gold.
The Shores Of Gold Curse is only awarded to those dedicated enough to get every commendation on every Tall Tale.
Each Tale has its own set of challenges, but they all have one that asks you to beat the Tall Tale 5 times.
You need to beat the entire story 5 times at least – but your reward is reserved for only the most dedicated of players.
14. Silent Barnacle Ship Set
The Silent Barnacle Ship is a battle-worn monstrosity complete with torn sails, and all manner of dirt and grime covering the hull.
And if you want this rather unique ship, you’re going to have to work for it.
To unlock this set, you need the Hoarder Of Barnacled Gold Commendation – obtained for delivering 300 Shipwrecked Chests.
These are found in shipwrecks and skeleton ships, but can also sometimes be found on islands.
The downside is, you may only find 1 or 2 at a time. So delivering 300 is going to take a long time.
There’s a good reason you probably haven’t seen this ship before!
13. Legendary Spyglass
If you spot a pirate with this in their hands, just accept that they probably know the Seas better than you know your own house.
The Legendary Spyglass is a very rare piece of equipment locked behind an almighty grind.
You need to deliver 500 Cargo Crates, and they need to be on time and in perfect condition.
You also need to do all of this after you become a Pirate Legend.
Honestly, 100 crates would make this rare enough.
But 500 is borderline insanity!
At least the Spyglass is pretty cool.
12. Dark Adventurers Set
There are some things money can’t buy.
And there are plenty of them on the list.
If you’re interested in something money can buy, this is for you. And don’t worry, that smell of your wallet burning is normal.
To buy items from the Dark Adventurers Set, you need to be a Pirate Legend with lots of gold.
The Dark Adventurers Sails are arguably the best sails in the game, having a small cut at the bottom you can see through. But the entire set costs a colossal 78 MILLION Gold!
For the average player, that’s well over a thousand hours of gameplay!
It’s not too uncommon to see a crew rocking 1 or 2 items from the set… but the whole lot?
Take a picture if you see that.
11. Soulflame Captain Costume
If you want to look like a terrifying ghost captain then you’re going to need to become a ghost over and over again.
The Soulflame Captain Costume is awarded alongside the entire Soulflame Set, upon clearing the Fort Of The Damned 25 Times.
The problem is, most crews haven’t even beaten the Fort Of The Damned once!
This Fort has a habit of attracting the most experienced crews on the seas. So you won’t just be fighting a tough army of Skeletons, you’ll be fighting real pirates too – and chances are, they will be good.
10. Ghost Pocket Watch
Ancient Black Powder Kegs are easily the most dangerous thing you can have on your ship.
If one blows up, your entire ship is done for, and your crew will be reduced to smoldering ashes.
With that in mind, you can decide if this Ghost Pocket Watch is worth it – since after you become a Pirate Legend, you need to deliver 50 of these little barrels of death.
Needless to say, this does make the Ghost Pocket Watch very rare.
But I’m fine using the sun to tell the time, thank you very much!
9. Glorious Sea Dog Flintlock Pistol
One of the most beautiful pistols in the entire game is also one of the rarest.
The Glorious Sea Dog Flintlock Pistol is a gorgeous weapon. But to unlock this instrument of death you’ll need the Sharpshooting Sea Dog Commendation, awarded for getting 200 kills with a pistol in the Arena.
All of the Glorious Sea Dog weapons are unlocked like this.
But the Pistol can be tricky to confirm kills with – hence why it makes the list above so many others.
8. Triumphant Sea Dog Hat
Don’t think just a few weapon skins are locked inside the Arena.
The next 3 cosmetics on this list are also only available from this mode, and they’re so tough to get that there are very few items rarer on the seas.
The Triumphant Sea Dog Hat is a stunning full-rimmed blue hat – but very few players actually have it. And for mostly one reason:
To get it, you need 100 wins in the Arena. And you have to be wearing at least 5 pieces of Glorious Sea Dog clothing while you do it.
The Arena feels like a completely different game to Adventure mode at times.
So you’ll need to be a deadly pirate to even have a shot at this hat.
7. Triumphant Sea Dog Figurehead
It’s only fitting that you can decorate your ship with rewards from the Arena.
If you see a ship rocking this on the front, you may want to turn tail and flee – if you don’t want to get destroyed on sight!
The Triumphant Sea Dog Figurehead is awarded alongside the Sea Dog Captain Commendation for 100 Arena wins, specifically with your ship decorated in Glorious Sea Dog cosmetics.
Much like the hat, this Figurehead is reserved for the best of the best in the Arena.
And it’s simply out of reach for most crews
6. Legendary Cutlass
You may think that simply being a Pirate Legend will give you access to ‘Legendary’ weapons.
But that title really is just the beginning.
To unlock this Legendary Cutlass, you need to be a Pirate Legend, and get a whopping 240 wins in the Arena!
Most players have not even played half of that amount, let alone won them!
You unlock the other weapons too upon achieving this incredible feat – but oh boy, that really is a pretty blade.
5. Silver Blade Banjo
If you’ve got the skill, the gold, and if you’re happy to get your feet wet, then you can unlock most of the cosmetics on this list so far.
However this one requires something else:
Time.
The Silver Blade cosmetics are rewards for playing on the Insider Build of Sea of Thieves.
But the Silver Blade Banjo requires an hour of play a week, for 108 weeks.
Because sadly, this kitty is so rare that I don’t think many of us will ever see one.
The Alabaster Wildcat isn’t available from the Pirate Emporium like the rest of the pets. So technically there is a pet you can get without spending Ancient Coins – but the bad news is you need to play on the Insider build at least an hour a week for 111 weeks to unlock it…
It’s a good thing I’m more of a parrot person I guess, because this is one majestic looking cat.
3. Golden Hour Sails
These Sails are awesome.
But unless you’re quite the artist, the chances that you’ll ever have them are slim to none.
The Golden Hour Sails are an award for winning a #SoTShot contest, hosted by the official Sea of Thieves Twitter/Instagram accounts.
So keep your Spyglass pointed at Social Media and see if you get lucky!
2. Ferryman Set
Unless you’re prepared to pay a hefty amount of real-world money, you can forget about this one.
Granted the Ferryman Set is a wonderful collection of clothing, accessories, and weapons. But it’s only obtainable with a code that comes with a limited edition Sea of Thieves Xbox One controller (which looks stunning by the way!)
If you’re fortunate enough to see one in stores, just know that the controller (along with the code) can fetch hundreds of dollars.
1. Golden Banana Sails
I debated putting these on the list, as they’re absolutely not obtainable.
But Sea of Thieves is seeing record-breaking player numbers at the time of writing, and maybe something like this will be available again in the future.
The Banana Sails are the rarest cosmetics in the game, owned by only 1 crew. Seriously, not even the developers have them!
