END OF SOLO SLOOPING? New Weapons & Tools! // Sea of Thieves Season 12 Preview 

In my opinion the bone caller should spawn double the enemys crew size in skellies, so gallys have to work harder than solo sloops which is balanced

I mean, how many times have we had “the end of solo slooping” in the past? Personally I think we’ll be ok, if not, after the inevitable balance change as with all updates.

We can't forget the fact that solos get access to these tools as well; Solos can now summon an emergency crew. They can now outpace another ship on a reach or deadzone with the windcaller. They have a new tool to guard ladders with. They have a more reliable means of boarding an enemy crew that's laser focused on repairs and ladders.

A solo can’t board when repairing. Larger crews can always board. No skill to boarding now, too easy for them. End of solo

As a solo player, I’m happy for these changes coming, not only because while these tools can buff big crews, they can also buff solo crews, also I’m glad we just have new ways to play in general, the ship and hand to hand combat game is expanding, and it is the perfect example of tools not rules

I think the tools are kind of like a double Edge sword! Sure they can be used against solo sloopers but they can also be used by a smart solo slooper to level the playing field!

As a solo slooper I think it's the end. With the wind caller you can't outrun ships, scattershots will overwhelm us and so on

It's always been an uphill struggle for solo sloops. I think everyone forgets all of this stuff was tested in the insider program for a while. They wouldn't add this stuff to the game if it was going to break thigs. That's the point of the insider program.

Harpoon sniper is the worst one for solo players or for boarding in general. Lowers the skill gap of boarding let alone deck shots

Yeah, I'm not really thrilled about the Windcaller myself. As a usually Solo player, I have a hard enough time outrunning any crew bigger than me already (let alone fighting them). So something that allows them to catch up even easier doesn't inspire much confidence in me.

As a solo slooper, I am a bit worried. It has definitely shifted the balance way further towards crews. The brigs will be always after sloops now. The Speed issue needs to be more balanced or sloops will be an easier kill then they are already.

For the skelly bombs, my guess is that you only get 3 skellies at a time, so if you throw two bombs back to back, only three skellies spawn. If you throw a second bomb after one skelly is destroyed, only one more would spawn, etc. This could help balance it out a bit. I appreciate the solo sloop concerns in this video. Liked and subbed.

i havent played since 2021, all this news makes me wanna get the bois on once more and sail the seas

i feel like the new stuff won't be an issue because, scattershot: they have very short range, do tier 1 holes and what i believe i have heard is that they can't do tier 3 holes (even if they hit the same hole) it might be a pain to repair but you don't have to repair as long as you can bucket. Bonecaller: you can use your own, you can use them against the other crew too, they're basic skeletons (atleast what it seems like to me) which are easy to kill (might be harder with 2 guns but you don't have to use 2 guns). Windcaller horn: you can use your own, and although a brig will be faster, depending on how much charge they (both the brig's windcaller and windcallers in general) have they might not reach you before they run out, they will probably have a hard time using it while shooting you which gives an opportunity for escape. Harpoon board: the enemy's movement will be EXTREMELEY predictable, its litteraly a straight line which you can remove without even attacking the enemy players and its a huge risk because the players will fall into the water and be of no use to the fight, in other words its and extremeley risky board which i think will have 95%+ of its use to get on/off islands from otherwise impractical parking spots.

If you playing solo you're already playing at disadvantage anyway, it's about knowing which fights you can pick and being smart about it, seeking for opportunities to strike. And not just be a sweaty pirate going against a galleon and getting mad because you lost. Obviously ANY new addition to the game will be more effective for larger crews, because you will have more players taking advantage of the new tools. I don't think Rare should be concerned about adding new things to the game because of solo sloopers, unfortunately you will have to adapt and find ways to use the new tools to your advantage, filling your bottom deck with skeletons to repair for you will be amazing for solo players, because you will be able to focus on firing and steering only. Just like the horn of wind will be a great way to blow boarders off your ship if you're solo.

A few things to keep in mind with all this stuff. First thing, Solo sloopers will have access to these toys as well, and learning to use them skilfully I think can still grant a significant advantage just as easily as a disadvantage. Second thing is its all randomized (I guess we'll see if there's ways to farm these toys in the future) so there's a good chance you'll have something someone else doesn't and vice versa) And I think the last thing is there will be a learning curve. for some its going to be a quick thing they''ll understand exactly how to use these tools and others not so much, and while people are learning and things are being adjusted, you'll still have sniper blunder sweats and all sorts of people holding to their classic skillset.

I personally think that this opens up many opportunities for solo sloopers, we just need to really think about ways we can combat and utilise these new things to our advantage

The Bone Caller will only allow one group of skelly boys at a time. If you throw another one, the original skellies will despawn meaning you cannot lob like 3 bombs and have an army of skeletons. Just the 4 or so it spawns on smash initially. They also seem to have the same spawn chance as cursed cannonballs, chain-shot or blunderbombs. As for the throwing-knifes, if you miss, even if your opponents have like a sword and flintlock, they can still pick up your knife and throw it at you. It will give them ONE knife they can stab or throw at you. Not sure if this will change, but I'm pretty sure about the Bone Caller stuff.

I think if you spawn skellies on your ship, they should treat the ship like a skelly ship, ie repair and use cannons, granted they will have bad aim.

Hard to say, remember that when you are solo slooping the water floods your ship way slower, plus those are going to be just t1 holes, so I don't think it will be that bad. Also, their range is way lower is it's simply about keeping your distance and remember that sloop is the fastest ship agents the wind. Just be careful about the now harpoon boarding and seashell nitro swimmers, not that you can't deal with them too. I bet that if you shoot someone that walks on a line, they will fall of it into water. So in the end it's still about being aware of your surroundings and knowing your tools.

These seasons look great, but each of em is the biggest “f u” to solo sloopers ever. Workin on getting more friends to play so hopefully I won’t have to worry

I'm glad that somebody finally said something. I felt crazy because everywhere I looked people just thought this was perfect. But I guess most youtubers and streamers don't really understand Solo playing.

For Solo play, Rare has always been in between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, their goal is an open sandbox co-op game. On the other hand, the majority of their regular players spend most (if not all) of their time sailing alone. We’ll have to see how the new mechanics affect Solo play? But I suspect that the Wind Caller could be more beneficial to a Solo Sloop than to other crews? Blowing away boarders and out running Brigantines?!

It would be nice if the skeletons summoned via Bone Caller can repair holes so i can finally solo a Galleon. I just need someone to repair while i bail water and shoot back.

As an experienced solo player, I'm not worried about 3 skellies that are one tapped by guns or two tapped by swords. I'm confident that I can make quick enough work of them to get back to the fight in no time. But such a thing would be a minor threat to a new player. But chances are, if someone is firing on a new player's ship at all, they're already confident enough in their skills to overwhelm a new player with or without the bone caller. I don't see it being that unbalanced. The grape shot, scatter shot, cluster shot, whatever we will eventually be referring to it as, seems to have too wide a spread at too close a range to be super useful against a sloop. An experienced cannoneer or sniper can hit you off the canon with ease from that far away. Again, a new player in a solo PvP situation is already in for more than they're likely to be able to handle anyway. It's certainly no more daunting a challenge than a boarder with a blunderbuss constantly one tapping them as they respawn. All new tools should be compared to the most powerful tool that already exists. And with the current meta of spawn camping with a weapon that can do 100% of your health before you know where you even are on your ship, we honestly can't say a few skeletons and a few tier 1 holes are too much. If you're solo and someone gets on board your ship with a blunderbuss, there's very little you can do to get ahold of the situation besides getting lucky and surviving the first shot when you respawn.

I agree the Scatter shot, and when I seen this in the trailer my first thoughts is if I'm solo playing it will be so much harder patching hole, I like the idea of the skeleton crew helping out but I think this should be a feature only be for solo players to help against larger ships. Same for the Wind caller even if they, Speed up Sloops making them quickest then Brig then gallons being the slowest.

I mainly play solo and the scatter shot while helpful for us as solo's is also going to cause a lot of sinks. the wind horn i agree with whole heartedly. i the only real thing i think will be of absolute help to us solo sloopers is the harpoon rifle they hinted at in season 14. but as thats still in the air who knows.

I have some concerns as always. Gotta see the changes to get some ideia when it comes.

It's likely this stuff will all be subject to change, however I do agree that a majority of these items feel incredibly punishing for solo players, particularly the harpoon changes, grapple gun, wind caller, bone caller and scatter shot. All of these items are easily utilized by larger crews with larger numbers, people using the "oh but solo players have access to these items too" defense fail to realize that no, the average solo sloop player is unlikely to be able to deal with 1-4 skeletons, one sword/blunderbuss sweat grappling/ziplining to board while simultaneously bucketing water, repairing at minimum 4 holes from a scatter shot and utilizing the wind to their favour. These items can, and will easily overwhelm even the best solo sloop players out there, because there's only so much a one man band can do before growing tired and collapsing of heat exhaustion. There is a reason you didn't see solo sloops in combat against these items in the preview, only Brigs and Galleons, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out why.

Im also torn with how i feel about the new tools. I love them but also have concerns for solo play.. BUT i also dont think the game should be balanced just for solo players like me. I always enjoy seeing the game change. waiting too see how it plays out. maybe we just have to play even smarter as solo players. I have similar concerns about the burning blade ship.. like theres some content i will never experiance, but also a galleon crew onboard the burning blade terrorising a server of solo sloopers.. how would server merging work when all the solo sloopers scuttle and change server?

This is exactly what I've been trying to tell my crewmates but they don't understand. Especially the wind caller. I hope the skelly bombs will have a limit of active skellys per player. They also need some visual indication they're yours. I anticipate a ton of cursing from people falling off harpoons even while they're stationary.

I'm happy that I can have more company on my boat (in this case the skeletons) and it would be incredible if they used the cannon, but that's too much to ask

It has only happened twice in all my time as a solo slooper that Ive had people harpoon me. The notion they could battle walk that harpoon to get on board seems annoying but I think if you keep wriggling around they would just fall off. But im wonder now also about boarders using the sniper harpoon. But that would still leave them vulnerable to sword lording as they would only have 1 real usable weapon at that point.

I think this will be really rough for people who use two guns instead of spamming left click. With a sword you could lunge and all the PvE on your boat in a fun fight would be gone instantly, but with two guns you would have to mag dump both of them just to grt rid of the PvE. As well, the ziplines will definitely be easier to destroy with a sword and with quick swap gone, two guns will become less fun and i really dont want everyone to be forced to use sword

the grapple gun is WAY more concerning for solo slooping than anything else. galleon crews will be able to non-stop gauranteed board you, albiet with one less weapon, but 3-4 swordlords just being able to zoop to your ship with 0 effort is going to be awful.

scattershot in naval action is designed to not do damage ro the hull and only damage the crew.And i agree as a solo galleon runner this will be imposible to fix after even one or two hit my hull

In my opinion (just by look) the new multishot cannon would't be a big of a deal, it seems that the cannons have a way high arc and low distance, and even if it hits wheel and capstain is beneficial because you don't need to worry about it, if you are solo it doesn't affect rising the anchor and is not that big of a deal to turn with 1 damage in your wheel. Also hitting those things means you have less tier 1 holes. The wind tool has a limited use, we need to see how much it has and if it affects multiple sails, if it's too much then that will be a problem if a solo sloop is against wind with a brig, but if well balanced maybe that brig will have just 1 boarding attempt more. The skelly bomb def will be a problem but it also will be balanced if needed. Touching the meta in any game is hard to balance at the start, so it will be balanced in due time (like the PvE stick, remember how it used to oneshot, then hit through walls and now all that has been nerfed)

Would be nice if they would add one player more to each type of ship. Small ship 3 players, middle ship 4 players and for the galeon 5.

Personally I think that windcaller is going to be an amazing addition due to how easy it is to just run away from a ship and sell at sovereigns. I even did that against brigs when I noticed them on the horizon. It's been months since I've been attacked by a different crew while just playing the game, and I hope that some of the pre season 3 encounters will come back, cause after that season I was shocked due to how little people did pvp, basically having pve servers which is a problem I see to this day. As for the bone caller or the new cannon balls I'm not worried, cause usually a sword dash is enough to kill 3 skellies these days anyways, and I've fought with 3 max level holes before so I doubt that 8 small holes will do that much. Plus to get hit by them you need to be in a closer range than chainshot, so I doubt it will be shot that often.

Yep, I think this is going to be chaos for solo players

The number of spawn skeletons would depend on the crew size i assume

My thoughts on a buff for solo with these tools. We know in season 13 the burning blade with aslo have skeletons that help you crew it. Wonderful! Let bone callers work similarly when you throw them on your own ship

Take control of Burning Blade and suddenly solo slooping aint bad. Anyway I do believe the bone caller only works one at a time. It's only logical. Else you can create army of skeletons. If you throw second one first skellies probably despawn. As for harpoon, i think it is breakable with single sword swipe as regular harpoon.

The bone caller will be like a cursed cannonball, so it would be rare to find one. There’s no way Rare would just put one in your barrel the first you log in.

I am wondering why you don`t mention the handheld harpoon gun. This will have the biggest impact becauce defending against boarders will get very hard.

Me being a solo slooper it doesn’t bother me because I play the game in safer seas mode but i can see how this is gonna frustrate solo sloopers who play the game in high seas and will probably make a lot of people quit playing the game.

Will the harpoon be the same speed walking in an up angle rather than a down angle? Or faster going down

ya the shell is what going to be end of solo sloop we won’t able the ability to be able to run away going into the wind when the big ships go after us.

I think you’ve got some things wrong, the new tools seem to lower the skill floor but raise the skill ceiling, due to more strategy behind it all

We need 2 solo ships one for fighting and one for running, this game needs more ships not necessarily bigger ships but different types

I wish they would focus more on fleshing out islands and the social aspect of the game rather than bloating the game with more items

Sea of thieves is coming to ps5 and a part of me wants to get it and the other is worried I won’t enjoy it. I’m in the mood to get invested and immersed in a world what would some of you recommend having played SOT

Expect a lot of "Nerfs" to these new tools after the first hellish month or two of Solo players blasting SM and forums. Demanding change. Its gonna be horrible HourGlass fights :p (I hope Scatter isn't added as default in barrels or Buyable.)

I mean it’s never been easy for a solo. Most of the time even today a semi coordinated larger ship will absolutely overwhelm a solo, duos even.

The wind caller would make the already bad at turning brig even worse I think, turning is it's greatest weakness

I don't want to be mr negative but it seems to be like the knife sacrifices the damage of the sword for a little more range, but that also comes at a risk that your weapon can also be used against you. I don't think this is worth using.

It’s gonna shake up the meta, which I think will be a net good. I’d rather this and potentially be more at risk as a solo slooper, than remain in the same stale pvp encounter

I will see but since I only solo sloop of things are not balanced out it will pretty much end the game for me, see i actually have work so i get only a couple hours a week to play not like the kids spending 8 to 10 hours a day in the game. I know people are going to say find a bigger crew to sail with and open crew has been a nightmare with people just setting the ship on fire or purposely running into islands.

I'm so exited for all these new pvp weapons and items to play around with Tho the horn of fair winds should make fire spread faster not blow it out as air actually makes flames bigger

Scatter shot will make it easier for solos to do more damage to bigger crews too gang…

Skeletons on demand dude I no longer have to check my ladders for boarders anaymore knoking one obstacle off my checklist as a solo

The spread should be wide enough that all the scattershot won’t be able to hit the sloop

Still hoping for a boarding axe and ocean caller bomb in the future.

I think all the new stuff is, for the most part, pretty good, but yeah it's so joever for solo sloopers. The skill ceiling is being lowered considerably, which I am not a fan of. My biggest concern is those scattershots; having wheel and mast broken, and multiple lower holes with just a few shots is going to be rough. I'm hoping they're as rare as cursed balls, but it'll probably be more like chainshots. Even if the spawn rate is low, with barrels dropping after a sink, it'll be easy for bigger crews to stockpile a large amount. Again, I think most of these new features are cool, but Rare really needs to take their time balancing these things properly

Im not too big of a fan of the scattershot as well i was thinking the same thing when it comes to someone or multiple players using it against you on a sloop, ur done u cant repair that many holes while under fire by yourself

You really gotta give the "this sucks for solo sloopers" a rest. We get it. Sometimes us solo players are gonna get our asses kicked.

Your concerns are real. Although I don't think actual ps5 players will buy this game. All the ps5 pre-orders are x box fanatics. And then rare can't get their servers to work game crashing.

I'm glad that someone is addressing this ❤

You talk about hoe dangeorus the Windblower is because bigger crews can catch up to you... But you can also escape if you have one of them. You talk a lot of the problems that arise with enemy crews having these in their possesion. But the problem can easily be dealth with if you also hsve them

okay so I love solo slooping and it's a thing in the game... but... it is a coop game so I think if we get some cool ass features that kind of aren't great for solo sloopers I'm not too mad? but I totally get why it would a bummer

I don't understand, why would solo slooping be over?

As a solo brig/solo galleon player, I really don't feel like solo sloopers need all that much of a buff, if I (a pretty bad player) can win from time to time with a bigger challenge than you, it's kind of just a skill issue quite frankly.

I can't wait to solo in 2024 when this stuff all comes out the challenge is on lol

Since it's Rare and purely based on the fact that their past tuning over 6 years, none of it will be balanced or work properly. They waited until 6 years into a game's life to add a QA team. That says something. They rely on insider feedback which has historically been terrible for the game's tuning. Less than 1% of those players are knowledgeable with online gaming, balance, design, etc. They should not be providing feedback in regards of tuning, only there for bug finding. Insiders should be done with as the amount of issues that have continuously plagued the game can solely be blamed on that program being too heavily relied on and not working. A system based on upvoted opinions will never help a game improve.

Horn of fair winds against the wind on a solo sloop with either 2 bigger ships chasing me hahah I AM SPEED

7:13 I don't think your overreacting, that's how it's going to be for a slooper on the weekends! XD

Why do people solo sloop? Do they like the challenge or something else?

Yea but the solo scooper will also have skater shot

but you have to realize that they know how to balance this kind of stuff and the game wasnt made for solo in the first place

It will be difficult for solo players. ımagine obsidian double-barrel pistol cosmetic. 😮

I just hope they fix hg takes way to long just trying to find people to fight

If anything it will force solos to get better at fighting.

You are not over reacting at all. Unless they balance the ship sizes even experienced solo players like myself will have no chance in hell. I 99% solo sail and this new sandbox sounds bleak for us.

We need Sloop only servers. Im sick of fighting brigs and gally, its completely unfair.

I wonder if this harpoon gun if u were to shoot a player it bring them to you and make it easy to glock them 😂lol

Finally. I can triple gun.

I love that ship name at the end; I named mine Jenny

If you’re gonna cry about solo slooping you’re probably not good at being solo… the sloop is meant for 2 people if you decide to play solo sloop you’re either good at PvP or you like to play by yourself… if you play by yourself don’t cry when a full team gets you. doesn’t matter what they add… lesrn and adapt just like you have been doing

yee be forgettin you will have these too

Solo players just need to get good. 😅 or play with friends.

Cluster balls is gonna eat up a sloop way faster lmafo sink is now a flush 😂in the toilet 🚻 😅

She 100% watched boxyfresh

Everyone here talking about bigger crews getting an advantage over smaller crews yet its always been that way. If your a solo sloop and a galley pulls up and they all firing snipers your cooked either way so get gud scrubs and either run or learn how to fight better. If your solo then get a buddy stop crying when you handicap yourself. It's called sea of thieves not sea of friendships 😂😂😂

I play solo 99.9999% of the time.

There’s safer seas! It’s like rare can never win. These are all awesome updates. Open your crew up.

Im so happy about the wind caller. Im so sick of chasing people who run into the wind. No more running :)

this new update is a bad change

First

I disagree sloop is still fastest against the wind and you will still be fastest with the wind caller, this new meta just means the solo slooper will have to adapt

I don't always think that making things harder for solo players is a bad thing...this game is clearly built around the idea of a full crew. The devs have stated (I think in their documentary if I remember correctly), that they always thought the galleon would be the peak way to play, and that the sloop would come in simply as a either a backup option for when your friends would be offline, or as a challenge ship for those who want to make things harder for themselves. The game was never intended to be fully accessible from the sloop, at least without significant extra risks, and I think the game has fallen out of that state. I rarely see even brigs anymore, and galleons are a complete rarity. There simply isn't enough incentive to get on a large crew anymore, as so many of the past updates have heavily catered to the experience of smaller crews to the extent of nearly trivializing the game's difficulty. If everything can be easily accomplished on a sloop without trouble, and things are actually harder for me the bigger I go (with scaled world events and larger ships requiring vastly more resources and coordination), what reason do I have to try to make new friends in order to round up a brig or galleon crew? In a game that is inherently social in its design philosophy, this is an unfortunate question.