Skeletons

Skeletons
Details
Type	Creature

A Skeleton from a wave spawned during a Bounty Map quest, signified by its blue bandanna.

Skeletons are the most common enemy type encountered on land. They spawn by rising from the ground.

Skeletons generally spawn 2-3 at a time at random times around a player's position, on land only. Skeletons cannot spawn in water, cannot swim, and cannot enter water beyond their ankles.

They can fire at players using a Pistol, Blunderbuss (rare) or an Sniper Rifle ( more rare), attack with a Cutlass, fight with fists only, or fire at Ships from land-based Cannons. They can eat Bananas to regain health.

Killing a base-level Skeleton generally takes 3 sword strikes, one close-range torso shot from a firearm, or one long-range shot.

• The health of skeletons generated by Order of Souls maps scales with the level of the voyage that spawned them (with Athena level skeletons taking as many as 9 sword swings to kill!)
• The number of skeletons generated by Gold Hoarders maps scales with the level of the voyage that spawned them.

Waves

Skeletons spawn in waves during Bounty Maps or Fortress raids, and come in a variety of types (listed below). Once several waves are cleared during these Quests, Skeleton Captains appear at the conclusion to serve as the Quest's bosses. They drop either a Bounty Skull (for Bounty Maps) or Vault Key (for Fortress raids), at which point Skeleton waves stop spawning.

Versions

Ordinary Skeletons that spawn during a Bounty Map quest or Fortress raid wear unique variously colored bandannas. They function identically to other ordinary Skeletons that spawn randomly on Islands.

Other Skeleton types that spawn during these waves have other unique appearances and characteristics:

• Gold Skeleton: These slow, lumbering brutes are tough. They have a large amount of health and do moderate damage but if you lure them into the water, they'll begin to rust and become vulnerable. Alternatively, you can use a bucket full of water to splash them and then attack. Swords do less damage and combos are interrupted.
• Overgrown Skeleton: These Skeletons have a plant-like growth sprouting from their bodies. Be careful not to lure these skeletons into any bodies of water as they will heal while standing/moving through said water. Swords seem to be more effective against these.
• Shadow Skeleton: Also known as "black skeletons" or "Night skeletons", these skeletons are much more difficult at night but look just like your average skeleton during the day. Shadow skeletons are invulnerable during the nighttime. As light is their weakness, you can either wait for daytime or blind them with a lantern and destroy them with your weapon of choice. They appear to take 33% less damage immediately after they are stunned with the lantern.
• Skeleton Captain: Elite skeleton with an authority-demanding hat. Much higher health than its lesser allies, appearing at the conclusion of bounty quests and fortress raids. Drops a Bounty Skull during a Bounty Quest, or a Vault Key during a Fortress raid.
• Gunpowder Skeleton: These skeletons are the most frustrating of the mix by introducing explosives. They emerge from the ground with a gunpowder barrel grasped in their hands and attempt to eliminate you by setting off the fuse of the barrel as they get close.
• Coral Skeleton: Colorful glowing skeletons that appear during Tall Tales voyages. They appear to have about as much health as normal skeletons but appear in large groups. The glow effect seems to persist only when players are within a relatively close range.

* Skeletons with a bandanna are part of a quest or event. *

Skeleton Lords

Skeleton Lords are shrewd commanders of skeletons, once humans cursed from humanity with only pieces of past memories, but full of hatred for pirates.

Known Skeleton Lords
Captain Warsmith	Wanda, the former Weaponsmith shopkeeper at Golden Sands Outpost, was cursed from experimenting on one of Captain Flameheart's cannons. She disliked business with pirates, and resented the outposts rejecting her cursed cannonballs. As Captain Warsmith, she captained the Sandman's Revenge during Cursed Sails.
Captain Flameheart	Flameheart was a notorious Pirate Lord, and once a scholar who's writings are compiled in Tales from the Sea of Thieves. He and his crew were marooned after a fierce battle, and found a cursed goblet that turned them into skeletons. His ship was fitted with a cursed cannon that was eventually found by Salty and Wanda.
The Gold Hoarder	Rathbone was once a Gold Hoarder consumed by greed, unwittingly cursed from sitting on a golden throne in a strange cave within the Sea Of Thieves. The Gold Hoarder is a fearsome Skeleton Lord; roaming the Shores of Gold on an endless quest for plunder, replacing parts of his decaying body with the treasures he collects. As leader of the Gold Hoarders, his fanatics befall under the same accursed obsession.
Captain Briggsy	Briggsy was a legendary pirate that sought out the Shores of Gold. After finding the island, she became trapped, slowing falling under the skeleton curse. She became infamous across the Sea of Thieves for being a Skeleton Lord, and desperately searched for a cure to the curse.
Graymarrow	Graymarrow is another skeleton lord that seeks the Shore's of Gold. Unlike other lords, Graymarrow traps the souls of pirates that would get in his way (the only known victims are three of the crewmembers of the Morningstar).
Captain Rooke	Rooke was obsessed over taking George for herself, so she consulted Graymarrow for a curse to bind his soul, at the cost of turning into a Skeleton Lord. She relentlessly pursued Wild Rose and managed to kill her and steal George.

Media

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  Skeletons in a screenshot from early Alpha.