How to get new weapons in Sea of Thieves

Keep scallywags away from your booty with this weapons guide for Sea of Thieves.

When starting off in Sea of Thieves, you'll be dropped straight in and left to work out the basics. With a ship, a trusty crew and an ocean of treasure to explore, you're on your way to becoming a pirate legend in no time. But even for the most skilled pirates, the journey won't be easy – a battle is always on the horizon.

Before taking to the seas, you'll need to choose the best weapons for the job. The game offers a range of weapons for new players, with dozens more to unlock, provided you know where to find them. Here's what you need to know about acquiring and equipping new weapons in Sea of Thieves for Xbox One and Windows 10.

Note: This guide is currently for pre-release beta builds of the game.

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How to change weapons in Sea of Thieves

After first selecting your character and dropping into the game's world, every pirate is equipped with a trusty cutlass and flintlock pistol. These weapons occupy your two dedicated weapon slots, accessible by tapping "Y" on your controller, or "1" and "2" on your PC keyboard.

Various other weapons are available at the start of your pirate career but must be manually equipped to be accessed. To equip new weapons, players must visit an "Armory" cabinet, found across various locations in the game's world. These cabinets provide access to your weapon collection, including all future purchases.

For new players, this cabinet will contain two additional weapons, the "Blunderbuss," a short-range cannon comparable to a shotgun, and the "Eye of Reach," a scoped long-range rifle. These two weapons can be swapped out for your cutlass or flintlock pistol, without prerequisites to unlock them. Here's how:

1. Navigate to an Armory cabinet. (These can be found on the rear lower deck of sloops, the front middle deck of galleons, or outside of an outpost's gun vendor.)
2. Press X to open the Armory.
3. Press LB and RB to navigate through weapon category tabs.
4. Use the right thumbstick to move your cursor over a new weapon.
5. Press A to equip a weapon.
6. Choose the slot the new weapon should fill.

After confirming the switch, your two weapon slots will now contain your chosen weapons. To rework your weapon choices, simply return to the Armory cabinet and select a weapon.

How to buy new weapons in Sea of Thieves

Beyond the weapons available at the start of the game, collecting new weapons is a major pillar of the Sea of Thieves experience. Currently, purchasing weapons from the gun vendor is the main way to obtain new firearms, using gold earned from quests.

Weapons that can be purchased via the gunsmith are entirely cosmetic, meaning they have no direct effect on gameplay. Variants of each weapon offer a differing design from the standard "Sailor" design, providing a way for you to stand out on the battlefield. Here's how to buy new weapons:

1. Visit the gun vendor.
2. Press X to speak to the vendor.
3. Choose to browse the stock.
4. Use the right thumbstick to move your cursor over a new weapon.
5. Press A to choose a weapon.
6. Confirm your purchase.

After purchasing a new weapon, visit the armory details in the above steps to equip your weapon. Next time you play Sea of Thieves, your new weapons will remain equipped in your chosen slots.

Which weapons have you picked up so far in Sea of Thieves? Make sure to drop into the comments and share your prized firearms.

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