One of the most interesting recent additions to Sea of Thieves is the A Pirate’s Life Tall Tale series. An official crossover with Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean property, the questline was revealed during Microsoft’s conference at E3 2021 and offers five feature-length missions full of new enemies, tricky puzzles and iconic characters. You’ll meet Captain Jack Sparrow and the dreaded Davy Jones across these mini-adventures, which you can play solo or with a crew of friends.
The first of these missions is called A Pirate’s Life and, in this guide, we’re going to show you how to start and complete this quest so you can kickstart your adventure with Captain Jack. Here’s how to complete the A Pirate’s Life Tall Tale in Sea of Thieves.
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How to start A Pirate's Life
In the menu, before you set sail in Sea of Thieves, click ‘Play’. Once you’re in the ‘Play’ menu, there will be an option for ‘A Pirate’s Life.’ Click this, pick your ship and crew and then you’ll land on an outpost after a loading screen. You should spawn in front of a barnacled Castaway sitting around a green fire. To the right of the castaway, on the wall of her hut, you’ll find a number of quests. To start the expansion, find the quest on the far left which is called ‘A Pirate’s Life’ and press X to drop your knife on it. Once your crew does the same, the voyage will start.
The Castaway will tell you to visit the Sea of the Damned and then open up a portal inside the rock directly behind you. Naturally, you’re going to have to sail through it. Once you do, you’ll enter a gloomy green area, and after a few scripted scenes, you’ll find yourself in a new area called Strange Shores.
How to complete A Pirate’s Life
Dock your ship on the island when you regain control and head inland. You should see the innards of a broken ship if you follow the wall, creating a passage that you can walk through to find a bell-toting statue.
From here on out, the puzzles revolve around lantern use. Stoke your lantern using the green flame indoors and then light the other two lanterns in the next room to open the door.
Proceed through and light the lantern hanging on the captain, then move the skeleton’s arm leaning against the wall to get to the second lantern. In a side pathway within this room, there’s a broken rowboat with another lantern. Once you light that one, the door will be opened by ghosts turning an anchor.
Head outside and proceed through the broken ship. Enjoy the tunes, and you’ll eventually come across a waterfall area full of jolly ghost pirates. Go behind the waterfall to find a room with a skeleton wielding a broken oar. Take it and use it to open the door on the upper path in the waterfall room.
Go through to the next area, and you’ll find another lantern to light on the way to an anchor, which lowers a bridge. Light the lantern to activate the anchor, and raise it to proceed.
Head across the bridge you’ve just lowered and use the pulley (a rope hanging from the ceiling) to raise a platform, and then use it to get to another lantern at the end of the path. Light it to lower the bridge.
After a scripted sequence, you’ll find yourself in a room full of gold. Head up the path and then up the ladder to your right, then cut the rope with your sword. Continue across the path you just lowered and use a pulley to summon another platform. Jump across it and cut the next rope to head outside and find a small city. Light the lantern on the way to complete this mission.
How to free the Cursed Captain
Head down into the ghost town, and you’ll start hearing a disembodied voice. It’s coming from a cage hanging from a mast in the sky, and you need to free the skull occupying it. What follows is a linear platforming section. Climb the ship and follow the fallen masts to a set of pulley lifts and platforms. Use them to elevate your pirate and head towards the hanging talking cage. Cut it down with your sword when you make it up there to drop the skull, who tells you you need a key to open his cage.
The key is in the tavern, just north of the cage and in another broken ship on your left. Drop the chandelier with the pulley at the back of the bar and then pick up the key that’s left on it. This will let you unlock the captain’s cage so that you can pick up his skull.
Once that’s done, you need to head to the giant lighthouse in the distance. Take the Captain’s head and use it to raise the bridge. Then climb to the top and put his disembodied head on the headless skeleton. Head up the ladder behind you and light the brazier. Now you need to rotate the wheel so you can burn the other braziers in the distance. You can pitch the lens up to get the final one that’s up higher than the rest.
Once that’s done, you’ll get a key from the cursed captain’s book. Grab it and take it to the red-sailed ship down below. Put his head on the captain’s body at the top of the vessel for a cutscene, then take the key from him. Use it to open the door behind the captain, and then use the rowboat to sail to the black ship out at sea, the Ferry of the Damned. It seems to repel you but persist and dock at the back of it to climb on.
Once you’re on the ship, light the Well of Fates and then head downstairs and light another lantern near a locked door. Light the two lanterns inside, and then you’ll get to the cage which holds Captain Jack Sparrow. Let him out and get ready for a scrap on the top deck. Use the cannons to take on the flying dutchman and take down the Ocean Crawlers and crab monsters with your guns and swords.
After a lengthy battle, Davy Jones eventually appears, and you’ll head through the ferry’s doorway to finish the quest. With that, you’ve completed A Pirate’s Life! If you’d like to continue with the questline, head back to the castaway and put your knife down on the next quest, The Sunken Pearl.
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