With the release of the content road map, a lot of speculation has circled the forums and Reddit suggesting a ghost ship in the 'Cursed Sails' update. The intention of this post is to offer a possible implementation for a Ghost Ship world event. Please let me know what you think by leaving a comment! Buckle up, this one is long...

I apologize for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors in this post.

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Table of Contents

• Appearance of the Ghost Ship
• Encountering the Ghost Ship
• The Flow of the Ghost Ship Event
• Rewards from the Ghost Ship

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Appearance of the Ghost Ship

General Appearance

Ethereal Aura (because duh)

The Ghost Ship emits a green, ghostly aura similar to the Order of Souls skulls.

Ghostly green aura

A Ghost Ship is a Weathered Ship

Is it really a Ghost Ship if it doesn't have tattered sails and yet still catch the wind because of its ghostly powers? While we're at it, put some holes in its hull as well!

Tattered/weathered sails

Size and Firepower

It's bigger. It's badder. It's too much for Mr. Incredible!

If the green glow and tattered sails weren't enough to shiver your timbers, the Ghost Ship [hopefully] makes the Galleon feel like a sloop. I'm talking four decks tall that are all longer and wider than its Galleon counterparts. After all, we're going to be battling undead pirate crews inside of this thing!

Suns Out Guns Out. Night time? Oh well...

By the way, three of those four decks... armed with 12 cannons (6 per side), ready to send every last sailor to Davy Jones' locker!
The lowest deck is underwater so no cannons

To get an idea for the size I'm talking about, take a look at the HMS Victory (although it might have only had 3 decks?) If this is unreasonable, I will settle for using @ShootHere4EXP's 6-man Galleon model.

HMS Victory

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Encountering the Ghost Ship

I've done a lot of thinking about how the Ghost Ship encounter should work and frankly I don't think there is a single "best" answer. So here are some things that I think will make the ghost ship encounter the best it can be for all players.

Spawning the Ghost Ship

A Pirate's Nightmare

The ghost ship is only active at night. It can only spawn/appear at night and if no one is on board at sunrise it will fade away. However, if there is at least one player from any crew on board when the sun starts to rise, the Ghost Ship will remain active until it is defeated or no pirates remain on board. When the ship is active, clouds in the sky follow it and reflect the ships green glow.
Obviously from a gameplay perspective this is not mandatory but I feel like it keeps the theme of a Ghost Ship true to form.

Out of Nowhere

The spawn location of the Ghost Ship is randomized but always in deep water, not too close to any islands or rocks. This could be pretty much anywhere, but I included the below picture as an example. This is where the Ghost Ship starts its voyage.

Anywhere you see the boat is a potential spawn area (like I said, could be anywhere really). Map image by @Rare-Thief

Sailing Forever, Sailing Wherever

The Ghost Ship is always sailing. It does not chase after players but does fire at players as they get close (like the Skeleton Stronghold). For simplicity, the Ghost Ship has pre-defined sailing paths between it's possible spawn locations. However, which path it's taking is random and it has the chance to change paths every time it reaches a spawn point. Also, since the paths loop, the direction can be randomized as well. Let's look at an example:

I know it's a jumbled mess, sorry! Map image by @Rare-Thief

So let's say the Ghost Ship spawns in the bottom left (C:24) and initially is following the blue path in the upward direction. It sails until it gets to the spawn point at D:3, and RNG works its magic and decides it wants to switch paths to the red path. Now, instead of sailing to I:17, the Ghost Ship will sail to either L:6 or N:13 depending on which direction on the red path RNGesus wants it to go.

What happens if the Ghost Ship disappears during the day? It's still sailing! Even though you can't see it, the ship is still following the same sailing rules. This means that when evening rolls back around, it won't necessarily be at any of the designated spawn points because the spawn points are only where the ship's journey starts. The ship can reappear while en route to a spawn point!

The routes can be completely different, I was just trying to convey the idea of predetermined sailing patterns.

Dead Man's Rest

The crew of the undead can only take so much. After the ship is defeated there should be a cooldown time similar to the Skeleton Strongholds. Strongholds respawn around 1 week in-game time (3 hours IRL). I would suggest a respawn time of somewhere between 8-9 in-game days. Depending on how good you guys think the rewards are compared to the Stronghold, let me know what you think the respawn time should be.

Engaging the Ghost Ship

What is Dead May Never Die (is this SoT or GoT)

The Ghost Ship cannot be sunk. Cannonballs do not put holes in the Ghost Ship, but they do help to vanquish the undead on board (so maybe dead things do die...).

So How Do We Kill It?

We will go over the specific in the next section but long story short... you have to impregnate that son of a... ship.

As the Ghost Ship is sailing, your crew will have to get on board to defeat it, all the while sailing your ship along with the Ghost Ship (I guess you don't have to but you'd better not die if you leave it behind). Oh, and it's going to be shooting you with cannon balls (and maybe even cursed cannon balls). Don't worry, there won't be (12x3) 36 cannons shooting at you at the same time. Mostly because there are only 6 per side per deck. But there won't be 18 shooting you either. Only the active deck will have cannons manned by skeletons. This does mean that cannons will be shooting at your ship for pretty much the entire duration of the event.

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The Flow of the Ghost Ship Event

Overview

Dejavu - I've Seen This All Before

The Ghost Ship will spawn "waves" of skeletons just like Skeleton Strongholds. There are two waves per deck. The first wave contains skeletons manning the cannons and regular skeletons waiting for your arrival. Once this wave is cleared, a second wave will spawn. This wave contains a mixture of normal skeletons, leaf skeletons, shadow skeletons, and gold skeletons (so basically all currently existing skeletons), and a fresh batch of skeletons on the cannons. Most importantly, this wave will spawn a skeleton officer.

Skeleton Officers??

Basically a skeleton captain but we can't call them that because there is only one captain on this ship! These skeletons will have more advanced AI and distinct combat mechanics to create more interesting fights. And of course, they have more health than the other skeletons which means they will take quite a few wacks to be killed. Once the skeleton officer on each deck is defeated the next deck will open up for the crew to continue on with the Ghost Ship event.

The Main Deck

Chaos

The first deck that your crew will have to clear is the main deck. The great thing about the main deck is it gives us more vertical room for fighting than the rest of the decks. Skeletons will jump down from the rat lines to engage you in combat! They'll open hatches in the floor of the deck and come up from below! Nowhere is safe!

The Helmsman

The officer you get to fight on the main deck is The Helmsman! He steers the ship!

This is from the Sea of Thieves artwork by Rare

The Helmsman wields a large axe that is slow but has a long range and deals heavy damage. He has two main mechanics.

• Wheel of Heads
• Enraged Mode

The wheel on his back has four skulls on it. A normal white skull, a metal gold skull, a ghostly black skull, and a (you guessed it) greenish leafy skull. At different times the wheel on his back will rotate, and whichever skull appears where his head should be, he takes on the properties of that skeleton type.

The white skull is a little different since normal skeletons don't have special traits. When the white skull is active The Helmsman becomes enraged. While enraged he can dash forward (indicated by an animation before hand giving players time to react) and hit you. He can also Smash the deck with his axe, sending splinters flying in a line that damage players that they hit (a ranged attack). Have fun :)

The Upper Middle Deck (2nd Deck)

Is that a... barrel?

Aye matey! Some pesky skeletons are rolling cannon ball barrels down the length of the deck! Don't get hit, or you'll be dead! You'll have to avoid being rolled over by these barrels while you fight off the two waves of skeletons spawning on this deck. Oh, and don't forget there are skeletons firing away at your crewmates on board your ship.

The Boatswain

Next you get to fight the Boatswain. He is in charge of the ships equipment. That explains why he told the crew to start pushing barrels everywhere and why he has those ropes...

This is from the Sea of Thieves artwork by Rare

The Boatswain carries a cutlass but also has a pet crab he likes to use as a weapon. What's up with his squid leg? Once again, two main mechanics

• A squid leg and crab chest?
• Rope nets...

From time to time, the Boatswain's crab pet will leap towards players, damaging you if you get hit (ranged attack). This will be preceded by an animation so that players have an opportunity to dodge the attack. Also from time to time, the Boatswain will kick with his squid-leg, shooting ink at the players. If they are hit, their screen will be covered with ink (like when you are hit with vomit)!

From time to time, the Boatswain will throw out a large net that will disable players for a short period of time. You really don't want to get hit by this! It will also have a short animation to indicate that the attack is about to occur so that players have a chance to dodge it. If a player is hit, the Boatswain's crab pet will immediately rush to attack the captured player. The Boatswain is left vulnerable for a few seconds after using this.

The Lower Middle Deck (3rd Deck)

Burning Skeletons and Boom Boom Barrels

That's right, this floor of the ship is laden with gunpowder barrels and a new type of skeleton! Burning skeletons are already on fire and unfortunately for you, impervious to explosions.

A fire skeleton, thanks google

The Gunner

The Gunner is the guy commanding all of those skeletons to blast your ship to kingdom come. He seems nice.

This is from the Sea of Thieves artwork by Rare

The Gunner carries a hand cannon everywhere he goes, but he also has a sword for some reason. Suddenly those boom boom barrels surrounding you are very dangerous. The Gunners main mechanics are:

• Hand Cannon
• Flags

The Gunner will use his hand-cannon to blast away at you. And he's impervious to explosions as well, so he's not afraid to hit some barrels! If you get to close he'll knock you away with the flag poles on his back and go back to shooting!

After you deal enough damage, his hand-cannon will break :( But now he'll come after you with his sword in one hand and flag in the other. The flag pole has a very large range for attacking so watch out!

The Bottom Deck

We're leaking

Occasionally this deck will fill with water and you'll have to battle the skeletons on it underwater! Hey... is that a brig in the back?

The Master-at-Arms

For the final deck, you will have to fight The Master-at-Arms. He is in charge of law-enforcement on the ship. Maybe that explains the brig?

This is from the Sea of Thieves artwork by Rare

The master at arms has no conventional weapons. Instead, he uses the chains around his arms as whips to lash out at challengers from a distance. Taking him out won't be easy because of the following mechanics:

• Chains
• More Chains

Occasionally, The Master-at-Arms will throw both his chains at players. If they are hit, the chains will wrap around their legs, immobilizing them for a period of time. The Master-at-Arms will leap to chained players and unleash a barrage of melee attacks. During this time he is vulnerable to attack.

Occasionally, The Master-at-Arms will throw a chain lasso at players. If they are hit, they will be pulled into the brig and locked in until they can fight off a few skeletons that materialize inside.

The Captains Cabin

The End is Near

So, you've cleared all four decks and are ready to take on the Captain of the Ghost Ship? Not so fast buddy.

The First Mate

Before you can face the Captain, the First Mate appears on the main deck. It's time to duke it out with the second-in-command of the Ghost Ship!

This is from the Sea of Thieves artwork by Rare

The First Mate wields a deadly Blunder-axe. It double as a Blunderbuss and axe, and he's itching to show you how to use it as both! What combat mechanics will you witness in this fight?

• 2 is better than 1
• 2 heads, two hearts?

At random times during the fight, the second head of The First Mate and his 2 extra arms will detach from the main body. This half-skeleton will crawl around the deck quickly, grabbing players and immobilizing them. This is especially dangerous because it gives the main body a perfect chance to use his Blunder-axe on a target that can't retreat! After a certain amount of time the two bodies will recombine.

So you think you killed The First Mate? Nope. The second head is still around, crawling with his two arms and jumping around the deck. His hook hand doesn't feel very good if he's able to cut you with it during his leaps.

The Captains Cabin Again!

The Final Battle

This time the door to the Captains Cabin is open and you're face to face with the leader of the Ghost Ship! He summons the final remaining members of his crew to aid him in his fight.

The Captain!

He wasn't voted captain for no reason. This guy is scary and he means business!

This is from the Sea of Thieves artwork by Rare

The Captain of the Ghost Ship wields two cutlasses (I know the picture only has one but that's lame). He also has undead parrots that seem to follow his orders. Not sure what that's about... He also has four flintlocks holstered on his body. This is going to be one doozy of a fight!

• Twin Cutlass Tornado
• Feast of Birds
• Captain's Call
• Spectral Recruitment
• High Noon, JK that's copyrighted. Flintlock Fury

Preceded by an animation, the Captain will begin to spin around with cutlasses pointed outwards. He can move freely while spinning and deals massive damage to players that are unfortunate to run into him. He is invulnerable during this time.

Occasionally, the Ghost Ship Captain commands his three undead parrots to attack players. The fly towards players and peck them repeatedly for a small portion of damage each time. The birds can be hit with swords and guns in mid air to stop their attack. They return to the pirate captain and heal him based on the amount of damage they did to your crew.

Throughout the fight, the Captain can summon crewmembers back from the dead (the dead-dead?) throughout the fight. He only spawns regular skeletons. This ability is channeled and can be interrupted by the players with sword lunge attacks.

The Captain let's out a howl and his swords start to glow green. For a short period of time, if he hits you with his sword you become a specter. You are unable to attack him or leave your ship and you take slow damage over time.

The Captain throws his cutlasses to the ground and grabs his pistols. For the next few seconds he launches rapid fire flintlock attacks at random members of the crew while screaming. When he is finished he holsters his flintlocks and picks his cutlasses back off the ground. During this time he looks winded and is very vulnerable to attacks.

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Rewards From The Ghost Ship

Overview

Progressive Rewards

I have noticed a few people on the forums and Reddit complain that they have been attacked while doing Skeleton Strongholds. When these situations arise, you are forced to either run away and get nothing, or fight and win and get everything. I don't have a problem with that, but while brainstorming ideas for rewards I thought it might be possible to reward players who are only able to complete part of the Ghost Ship. That way, if they feel like they can't protect their treasure, they can quite while they're ahead and leave with some smaller rewards for doing part of the ship.

On each deck of the ship there is a locked door with small rewards behind it. Clearing the deck opens the door.

The Main Deck

First Tier Rewards

The Helmsman is guaranteed to drop a Fowl Skull with a chance to drop a higher tier skull instead. Clearing the main deck rewards the player with at least a Castaway Chest and a Crate of Fine Surgar but with the chance to spawn a higher tier chest/crate instead.

The Upper Middle Deck (2nd Deck)

Second Tier Rewards

The Boatswain is guaranteed to drop a Disgraced Skull or higher tier skull instead. Clearing the 2nd deck rewards the player with at least a Seafarer Chest and a Create of Rare Tea but with the chance to spawn a higher tier chest/crate instead.

The Lower Middle Deck (3rd Deck)

Third Tier Rewards

The Gunner is guaranteed to drop a Hateful Skull or higher tier skull instead. Clearing the 3rd deck rewards the player with at least a Marauder Chest and a Create of Exotic Silks but with the chance to spawn a higher tier chest/crate instead.

The Bottom Deck (4th Deck)

Fourth Tier Rewards

The Master-at-Arms is guaranteed to drop a Villainous Skull. Clearing the 4th deck rewards the player with a Captains Chest and Crate of Exotic Silks.

The Captains Cabin

New Rewards

Killing the First Mate grants the players a Cursed Skull. I'll let you guys look at some of the other threads with cursed skull suggestions to determine exactly what you want it to do.

Killing the Captain grants the players an Undead Parrot that can be turned in to the Merchant Alliance and a Cursed Chest (grog or sorrows). Also, Cursed Cannonballs could be a potential reward.

The Ultimate Rewards

Random Cosmetics

If your crew killed every single officer on the ship (no other crew dealt the final blow to any of them) you will be rewarded with a Ghost Chest. This chest, upon opening, grants every member of the crew one random Ghost Ship Cosmetic (not necessarily the same one to each member). These include

• Tattered Sails (various colors, only get one at a time)
• Ghost Ship Cannon cosmetic
• Ghost Ship Lantern cosmetic (for ship, not player)
• Ghost Ship Flag cosmetic (various colors, only get one at a time)
• Ghost Ship Outfit piece (one piece at a time)
• infinite possibilities for more

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That's all I got. Sorry if it seems like it got sloppy near the end. I was getting tired lol. Please, comment below and let me know your thoughts. Constructive criticism is appreciated!