How to Find and Beat Skeleton Forts - Sea of Thieves Guide - IGN (2024)

In the Sea of Thieves, there is one image in the sky that will give all players pause - the Skull Cloud. This signals that a Skeleton Fort (also known as Skull Forts) is now active in the current map.

Skeleton Forts will take over one (and only one) of the nine Forts in the Sea of Thieves. While active, this fort will be manned by hordes of skeletons, and those that defeat them can earn vast riches - if they can survive both the skeleton waves and thieving players.

Finding a Skeleton Fort

It's very easy to know if a Skeleton Fort is active: Get to a high point, like the Crow's Nest of your ship, and scan the horizon. If all you see are storm clouds on the horizon, a Skeleton Fort is not active in this server yet.

However, if in any direction you spot a skull-like cloud with glowing green eyes, you can sail onward to find a skeleton in that direction. Skull Clouds only float about the active fort, all others will be empty and devoid of enemies. You can usually take a look at your map in the Captain's Cabin to judge which forts are in the direction of the cloud on the horizon.

How to Beat a Skeleton Fort

Watch Our Video for Essential Tips on Taking Down a Skeleton Fort

Taking on the imposing fort comes down to three main phases: Approaching the fort and disabling its defenses, fighting the skeleton waves and Fortress Captain, and getting the Fortress Chest and other loot and safely getting it back to an outpost. Each of these stages are fraught with different kinds of dangers, and of course, the greed of other players should never be underestimated.

At any point of attacking a skeleton fort, expect other players to arrive - as the Skull Cloud is visible to all. Whether they wish to help you in your assault or if they are waiting to steal the treasure from you is something you'll have to decide on your own or amongst your crew, but it's worth being extremely protective and ready for the worst to go down at a moment's notice.

Approaching the Skeleton Fort

Once you are close enough that you can start to make out the details of the fort, the next thing you will probably see are lots of cannonballs coming your way. Skeletons will be manning towers that circle the island - usually two to three, as well as other cannons placed along low battlements that circle the island.

Skeletons are pretty accurate when it comes to firing cannons, and you'll need to constantly be manuevering around the blasts or fixing the damage as it comes. Skeletons will always target incoming ships as long as players man them - especially big ships like Galleons. Solo or small crews manning Sloops may have some luck in crash-landing their ship near the blind spots of towers, inside their minimum range or behind large rocks, and then hastily repairing the damage. This can also help for solo players as you can leave the skeleton cannons alone to serve as an early-warning system for any other players coming to try and take the fort for themselves.

If the suicide rush isn't your style, or you are manning a Galleon with a crew, you should instead opt for one or two players to perform a "insertion" by either jumping off the ship or blasting to the island from a cannon. Once by the shore, those players can focus on taking out the skeletons that man the cannons while the remaining players on the Galleon keep circling the island or make repairs. Once the skeletons using the cannons have been killed, they will not respawn for some time.

Having your ship intact is key for several reasons - it serves as your mobile base, allowing you to restock weapons and bananas (the fort itself usually have barrels with bananas, as well as an ammo crate or two). It is also your main respawn point: If you die fighting the skeletons, you can respawn back at your ship. Without it, you'll have to sail back in and try again. You'll also need your ship seaworthy to get away with the treasure before other players come to take it for themselves.

Defeating the Skeleton Waves

Once on the island itself, you'll find that the inner fort is comprised of waves of skeletons, often groups numbering 10 to 15, and coming in different variations - though all the skeletons in a single wave will be of one variation. This does not include the regular skeletons that man the cannons on the island.

Skeletons come in several types, and you'll need to be ready to deal with them all:

• Regular Skeletons: These are the ones you've probably dealt with before, they can spawn with cutlass, pistol, or blunderbuss, and will chase you at a fairly decent rate.
• Plant Skeletons: These skeletons look green - and have jungle plants sticking out of them. They regenerate health when in water, making it perilous to try and avoid them by swimming away. They also seem to take less damage from firearms, but a cutlass or cannon can rip them to pieces.
• Shadow Skeletons: These dark-infused skeletons prefer the dark of night or caves where they glow and deal great damage fast, and are resistant to damage. However, the sun, or a raised lantern can wipe away the shadows that cling to them, making them vulnerable like a regular skeleton.
• Gold Skeletons: These skeletons are built tough. Cutlass or firearm, they'll take a long time to kill - but their weakness lies in water. Lead them through a pool of water (many keeps have one) or along the shore - or even throw a bucket of water - and they'll slow down to a crawl and lose some of their resistance.

Each wave must be dealt with before the next begins, and there are several waves to defeat before the Fortress Captain appears. If all the players on the island are killed before a wave is finished, that wave will reset. But if players are able to defeat all the Skeletons in the wave, a horn will sound announcing the next wave.

There are a couple strategies to taking out waves depending on your crew. Skeletons are fairly accurate with their firearms so prolonged battles tend to end badly, it doesn't have to be this way.

One of the best tactics you can utilize comes from your ship. With the cannons silent on the island, bring the ship in range of one of the entrances to the fort, and have players on land lure the skeletons to chase them in range of your cannons. Then you can have the crew on the ship blast the skeletons apart, as cannonballs deal massive damage - even to Shadow and Gold Skeletons.

If you plan on tackling a Skeleton Fort solo (good luck!) or just have one friend, you can also utilize your boat's armory to take sniper shots with the Eye of Reach and keep restocking your ammo. It will take a bit longer, but cautious players can live longer this way.

Skeleton Forts also usually contain a number of Gunpowder Kegs, and these can be placed to deal massive damage to a group of Skeletons that pass by it when it is shot.

Once all the waves have been cleared, the Fortress Captain will arrive with more Skeletons. However, killing the Fortress Captain will end the raid immediately, causing all other skeletons to die. Use the tactics mentioned before to lure the captain out of hiding and take him out quickly.

Securing the Treasure

This may be the truly hardest part of the raid, as Skeletons are no match for determined players. Once the Fortress Captain goes down, he will drop a Fortress Key that can unlock the green door below the main fort building, leading to a room full of treasure - spices, chests, skulls - you name it.

When the Captain dies, the Skull Cloud will evaporate, but this can signal other players waiting nearby that you're preparing to loot and run. You're going to want someone constantly watching the horizon to spot potential thieves if they haven't been harassing you already.

Remember that you can make use of the Fortress Cannons to ward off other ships - and the stability of your ship is the highest priority. Without your ship, you have no way to haul the goods. Make sure to loot the barrels on the island for as many wooden planks, bananas, and cannons as you can hold for the escape.

Knowing this, blowing up other ships is your top priority. If another ship manages to land and the new crew doesn't look like they want to be friends, you need to take out their ship before they can take out yours. If you have enough crew members, you may want to sabotage their ship by raising anchor and smashing their ship into the rocks, or put a gunpowder barrel on board and detonate it.

Currently, it only takes around 40 seconds to respawn either back at your ship with full health, or - if your ship has been sunk - back at a nearby island with a fully stocked ship. Because of this, simply defeating another crew once won't secure your victory - you'll need to be constantly moving and waste no time to make the most of the time other crews spend respawning before they can return to harass you. A defeated player's resources replenish - yours do not.

Once you've gotten all the treasure aboard your ship, you'll want to haul it out as soon as possible to the nearest safe Outpost. Ideally, the quickest route to an Outpost is the best - but you should also be mindful of any ships already docked at these outposts. If they weren't already chasing you, it may be wiser to choose an unoccupied Outpost to avoid prying eyes - as it will take several trips to sell all that loot.

If you are being chased, you'll likely have to make a desparate last stand at the Outpost you arrive at. Having a full crew on a Galleon at least means you can have some players defend the treasure trove while others race back and forth to the Trading Companies.