Sea of Thieves’ newest update is all about getting rich, both literally (by raiding vaults full of gold and treasure) and metaphorically (by petting dogs.) Vault of the Ancients is a Gold Hoarders-themed update that offers a new voyage type for players who are sick of digging up individual chests of gold and want to go big.
Treasure Vault Voyages are available after reaching level 25 with the Gold Hoarders. They provide the player with a compass which leads them to map fragments and, if the player assembles the map, they can find a vault key. At this point, players can sell the key and move on if they have other stuff to do, like a skeleton raid or megalodon hunt.
Or, if you’re feeling ambitious, players can hunt down the Vault themselves and raid it for that good, good treasure. The door will close if the player can’t solve the puzzles and snatch the gold in time, so it’s a higher risk activity with a higher reward to match.
According to the official update notes, however, there’s a visual glitch where the door can appear closed, but it’s just an illusion — as long as there’s time on the clock, pirates are good to go back to their ship.
Another nice, small bonus is a system called Mysterious Notes. These will show up in the voyage inventory, and lead players towards content from past updates. Sea of Thieves has added tons of big expansions and smaller updates, so its nice to have a signpost leading back to those gameplay systems and challenges.
Then, of course, there’s the key feature of this update: dogs!
Following an update, you can now pet the dog in Sea of Thieves pic.twitter.com/Sh5At20D1N
— Can You Pet the Dog? (@CanYouPetTheDog) September 9, 2020
These are available in the Pirate Emporium cash shop, so they won’t be for every pirate, but if you’re looking for a canine companion on the high seas you’re in luck.
Sea of Thieves pets are even plenty durable, so you can shoot them out of a cannon if you’re a monster.