Sea of Thieves guide: How to activate and complete the Fort of the Damned

To complete the Sea of Thieves Fort of the Damned, you will need to get your hands on quite a few in-game resources such various colored flames and a Ritual Skull to activate it.

One of the most fun aspects of Sea of Thieves is the chance to raid skeleton forts. These are marked by a green skull-shaped cloud in the sky and get activated from time to time as World Events. Players can defeat enemies present within and sail away with lucrative loot. The hardest and most rewarding among them is the Fort of the Damned.

Previously known as the Old Boot Fort, the Fort of the Damned is a special Skeleton Fort in Sea of Thieves that can be activated at any time during a session as long as players meet the requirements. The structure is located within The Ancient Isles at the coordinates of L-14.

The Fort of the Damned has no Tower Fortifications that are usually found with other forts in the game. It is surrounded by a thick ominous fog that gives it a distinct atmosphere.

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How to get Ritual Skull and Flame of Fates in Sea of Thieves

To activate the Fort of the Damned in Sea of Thieves, players need one Ritual Skull and six Flames of Fate. Pirate Legends can skip gathering all this by getting the Skull of Destiny through the Legendary Search for the Skull of Destiny special voyage. This unique item contains all six Flames of Fate and can also be used in place of the Ritual Skull.

Getting Ritual Skulls in Sea of Thieves

Ritual Skulls (Image via Sea of Thieves)

Players can also find Ritual Skulls after defeating the Captain's Ship of Skeleton Fleet. It is a world event in the Sea of Thieves and can be discerned by a large galleon-shaped cloud in the sky. Players need to head toward the direction of the cloud and engage in battle. Another guaranteed way of procuring a Ritual Skull is by defeating an Ashen Lord.

Getting Flames of Fate in Sea of Thieves

Taking flames (Image via Sea of Thieves)

In Sea of Thieves, the Flames of Fate are colored flames that players can take from the Well of Fates on the Ferry of the Damned. Once taken, they can be used to light beacons and lanterns when they respawn in-game. There are six colors of flame available and players can get them by dying in specific ways.

These are as follows:

• Blue Flame (The Flame of Lost Seafarers) - Players need to die by a share, siren, or Megalodon.
• Red Flame (The Flame of Burning Hearts) - For this one, players need to die by fire, volcanic rocks, or death from lava on islands in The Devil's Roar. The best option is to utilize Firebombs.
• Green Flame (The Flame of Cursed Bones) - Death by a skeleton, ocean crawler, or phantom will suffice for this color.
• White Flame (The Flame of Treacherous Weather) - Players need to die by lighting. Players should look at the horizon and head for a thunderstorm, hold up their cutlass, and get hit while their health is already low. They can also get this flame after dying from a stun from the Eel-ectric Ocean Crawler.
• Purple Flame (The Flame of the Viper) - For this, players need to die by poison. There are a lot of options available and the easiest one is through a snake bite or a poison cloud from the hermit ocean crawler.
• Pink Flame (The Flame of Embattled Souls) - Players need to die at the hands of another player from another crew.

Equipped with the flames (Image via Sea of Thieves)

As players gather each flame and respawn, they should light up a couple of lanterns on their own ship with the same.

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How to activate the Fort of the Damned in Sea of Thieves and complete it

Players need to bring the Ritual Skull and all six colors of flames to the main room of the fort. They will then need to light up each of the six statues of the Ferryman with the correct color, which will open up access to a headless skeleton inside.

Lighting up (Image via Sea of Thieves)

Placing the Ritual Skull atop the body will trigger the event. If players have procured a Skull of Destiny, they will be able to use it to light up all the flames and then place it on the skeleton to activate the Fort of the Damned event.

Unlike the skeletons found in other fort events, Fort of the Damned calls up Shadow of Fate skeletons, who have their own specific colors. They are invulnerable and can only be harmed after the flame of that specific hue is shone upon them.

Defeating the skeletons (Image via Rare)

For example, pink skeletons can only be killed after players shine a pink lantern upon them. There are twelve waves of Shadow of Fate skeletons that Sea of Thieves players need to contend with. Each color is indicated by ghostly hands springing up underneath a particular Ferryman statue.

If players have an extra Skull of Destiny on hand, they can place it on the ground and cycle to the required flame color. This makes the combat significantly easier as they no longer have to juggle between their weapons and the lantern.

The final boss (Image via Rare)

After surviving the twelve waves, the Ghost of Graymarrow will appear. This is destined to be a tough fight which will take a decent chunk of time. Players are advised to utilize the various gunpowder barrels available on the island. They can also lure him near their ship and utilize the cannons.

Once defeated, Graymarrow will drop a Fort of the Damned key that players can use to unlock the treasure room underneath the fort's main room. Players should quickly get the loot out and onto their ship.

The treasure room (Image via Rare)

The reason behind this is that once the Fort of the Damned is activated, a huge red-eyed skull cloud appears above it for all Sea of Thieves players present to take note of.

Some of them will seek to make their way to the place and wait for others to complete the fort before jumping on to them as they load up the loot. The best way for players to counter this is to make their way to the top of the fort and look around from time to time during the waves of skeleton enemies.

Loading up (Image via Sea of Thieves)

While loading the ship with loot, players should be using the harpoon while already having their ship positioned so they can make a quick getaway. They also need to keep Stronghold Gunpowder Barrels in the crow's nest, lest they blast a hole and sink the ship during a fight.

This is all players need to know to complete the Fort of the Damned in Sea of Thieves. According to the game's wiki, the loot consists of:

• 1x Chest of Legends
• 2x Reaper's Bones chests
• 2x Stronghold Chests
• 2x Crates of Ancient Bone Dust
• 4x Stronghold Skulls
• 4x Stronghold Gunpowder Barrels
• 4x Gunpowder Barrels
• 1x Collctor's Chest
• 4x random Mermaid Gems