As you explore islands and embark on Reaper’s Bones Voyages, you’ll encounter plenty of Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons. These devoted followers of Flameheart will pledge allegiance to any crew who revives them.
However, islands and Voyages aren’t the only way to recruit a few allies! You can also summon a crew of loyal Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons by creaking open a Reaper’s Chest!
Break the Seal on a Reaper's Chest
Breaking the seal on a Reaper’s Chest will summon waves of Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons. To break the seal on a Reaper’s Chest, place it down on any island, Outpost, or ship and interact with the prompt “Break Seal.” The chest will then burst open, exposing a pile of bones within, and summon six Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons near the placed chest.
Like the Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons you can dig up on islands, Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons summoned from a Reaper’s Chest will pledge themselves to your crew. Once in your service, they can attack nearby enemies for you, including Skeletons, Phantoms, Ocean Crawlers, and pirates.
However, unlike the unearthed Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons, they cannot dig up treasure, carry loot, help you solve Quests, or follow you. As they are bound to the Reaper’s Chest that summoned them, the Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons will only follow the chest instead of the crew that opened it. So, if you want them to follow you, you must take the chest with you.
Most importantly, you cannot revive Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons summoned by a Reaper’s Chest. Instead, a Reaper’s Chest can summon a limited number of Skeletons to replace defeated ones. Each time a Reaper’s Chest summons a Skeleton, it will use the bones inside the chest. Once all the bones are gone, no more Skeletons will emerge.
How many Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons can a Reaper's Chest summon?
A Reaper’s Chest can summon up to 24 Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons, including Skeleton Captains. However, only six can be active at the same time per region and ship.
So, you will usually have six Skeletons fighting for you at a time. However, having more than six active at once is possible.
For example, you can summon six Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons by placing the Reaper’s Chest on your ship, summon six more by then putting the chest on an island, and summon another six by finally setting the chest on a rival crew’s vessel, totaling 18 Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons active at once.
When one of the Skeletons is defeated, another will emerge near the chest, depleting some of the bones. Of course, another Skeleton will only appear if you don’t already have six in the region or ship where the chest is.
Each crew can only have one chest open at a time. So, don’t expect to break the seal on another Reaper’s Chest until your first one is empty. You also cannot reseal a chest after you’ve opened it.
If you lose count of how many Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons have emerged, you can look inside the chest to see how many bones are left. The pile will start with skulls and dwindle to just a few femurs. The runes outside the chest will also dim as fewer bones are left.
Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons follow the Reaper's Chest
Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons will only emerge from a Reaper’s Chest when firmly placed on land or a ship. If an open chest is dropped in water or picked up, it will stop summoning Skeletons. You must set the chest on firm ground again to continue summoning Skeletons. So, if someone places the chest on your ship, throw it overboard!
Since the Skeletons stay near the Reaper’s Chest, the Skeletons can fight for you without you needing to be nearby. You can place the chest near a Trading Company representative to prevent another crew from selling while you try to flank them. Or, you can even put it on a rival crew’s ship to distract them while you return to your ship to fire your cannons!
The Order of Bone and Blade Skeletons are allied with the crew who opened the Reaper’s Chest. Even if another crew picks up the chest after you break the seal, the Skeletons will still fight for your crew.
Where can you find Reaper's Chests?
You can find Reaper’s Chests randomly in emergent Shipwrecks, from Skeleton’s Orders, and inside the Vault of a Fort of the Damned.
Each Reaper’s Chest has a unique marker on the Map Table you can track. You can also spot them on the horizon by looking for swirling green and red lights that emit from the chest.
You can sell the chest, sealed or opened, for Doubloons to the Reaper’s Bones on The Reaper’s Hideout. The number of remaining bones inside will not affect its value if opened.
Reaper's Chest Commendations
There are five Reapers Rising Commendations related to opening Reaper’s Chests on Sea Forts, Skeletons Forts, Siren Shrines, and Siren Treasuries, so if you acquire a chest, it is worth your time to open it in one of these locations before selling it.
Completing all the Commendations will unlock the Reaper’s Bones Instruments, including the Reaper’s Bones Concertina, Banjo, Drum, and Hurdy-Gurdy.
