The Shores of Gold saga begins?
A Mysterious Stranger speaks of an ancient relic with the power to reach a lost island?
Tall Tales are story-based voyages in the Sea of Thieves that you can experience with your crew in the game?s shared world. They tell a narrative and involve solving puzzles, using unique mechanics, and overcoming perils.
The Shroudbreaker is the beginning of the Shores of Gold saga, a collection of nine Tall Tales that tell one long story. If you?d rather begin the Flameheart saga, an ongoing story with new parts released throughout the year, check out our guide to The Seabound Soul.
What follows is a run through of how Tall Tales work, how to start the Shroudbreaker Tale, and what to expect at each step of the Tale to help you get through it, as well as where to find those pesky hidden Journals. This guide may contain spoilers, so read at your own risk.
How do Tall Tales work?
- Each Tale begins at a book in a specific location in the game world. Vote with your crew at this book to begin the voyage
- During a Tale, hidden lore journals related to it will appear around the game world. They are used in bonus commendations and are discussed below in Rewards.
- At various points in a Tale, you?ll reach a new ?Chapter?. This acts as a saved checkpoint, and you can continue again from this point if you fail or quit a Tall Tale early. Just propose this Chapter at the ship?s Voyage table, and any quest items you need will appear on the table.
When you begin a Tall Tale?
?a Quest Book will appear in your Quest Radial, where you normally see voyages. If you select this book, you can turn the pages and read details of the story, which will include clues about where to sail to and what to do on the quest.
During a Tall Tale?
?you may encounter a variety of new things. Pages can be found and picked up, and then are automatically added to the end of your Quest Book for you to read. Enchanted Tools like lanterns and compasses might be needed to solve a puzzle, and these will appear in your Quest Radial (alongside the Quest Book and other voyages). You don?t lose your Quest Book, Pages, or Enchanted Tools if you get killed.
However, you might find Quest Items. These are physical items that you carry around and set down on your ship, things like keys and totems and mystic artifacts. Like other forms of loot in the game, these can be stolen or sunk, and without them you will fail the Tall Tale and have to restart at your previous checkpoint.
Rewards for the Shroudbreaker Tale
If you manage to complete the Shroudbreaker Tale, you?ll earn the Pirate Lord?s Hat, a nifty hat with glowing feather befitting of a renowned captain.
Complete the Tale 5 times, and discover all the hidden journals to earn the Magpie?s Wing Cannons, cannons from the ship of the Pirate Lord himself!
- Every time you complete the Tale, you also pocket 8,000 Gold
The locations of the 5 hidden journals are included at the bottom of this guide
Completing The Shroudbreaker
Starting Location: The book where your crew can vote to begin this Tale is found in any in-game Tavern, next to the Mysterious Stranger at the back of the room. Once begun, the Quest Book will appear in your Quest Wheel
Chapter 1: In your Quest Book, read the Pirate Lord?s tale of a hot pursuit that sank his ship- and the ancient chest he dumped overboard beforehand. Read the clues to find where his ship sank, and search this wreck for the ship?s log- this will add more Pages to your Quest Book, and begin Chapter 2, reaching the first saved Checkpoint.
Chapter 2: The new pages will lead you to the chest?s location (underwater off the coast of an island- you?ll have to read the ship?s log to find out which!). Once you open this chest, you?ll find a Totem and yet more Pages.
Chapter 3: That Totem acts like a key, and the Pages tell you where to go to use it- using the key gets you inside of a puzzle vault. Use the clues on the pages to solve the room?s puzzle. If you do this, the table in the room should reveal the next clue, revealing a location on this island to go and dig up another Quest Item. Return that item to the table to reveal the next clue, and do this three total times. This will reveal The Shroudbreaker.
Final Chapter: Once you have The Shroudbreaker in hand, you must deliver it back to the Mysterious Stranger in a tavern on any outpost to complete the Tale.
Journal Locations
When a Tall Tale is active, it places journals in the world for you to discover and read. These add details to the story, and also are required to unlock the final commendation of the Tale and earn a cosmetic reward.
I don?t recommend finding journals on your first play through of a Tale, as you may have to sail out of your way and distract from the adventure and story!
If you prefer to discover the journals on your own, stop reading now. If not, here?s where you can discover each one:
- N13 Reef Island- Northwest beach
- Ancient Spire Outpost- in a candle lit cave inside the north spire
- Devil?s Ridge- by the cannon to the North
- Thieve?s Haven- in a crate under a hut on the NW side of the inside of the island
- Plunder Outpost- in the rowboat by the Gold Hoarder
Congratulations on completing The Shroudbreaker! However, your journey has only just begun- head on over to our guide to the Cursed Rogue to continue the saga!
