UPDATE: If you are trying to find out how to get an Ashen Tome of Fire, head on over to our Ashen Tome of Fire guide here.

The Seabound Soul update that released last month brought mysterious artifacts to the Sea of Thieves called Ashen Tomes. These Ashen Tomes are extremely valuable as they contain secrets about the dangerous Ashen Lords that are a looming threat to the Sea of Thieves.

While the Ashen Tomes originally consisted of five chapters from Tome of Curses volume, it appears there is now an additional volume of Tomes. This new set of five from the Ashen Tomes of Power volume must be collected and turned into Stitcher Jim.

These new Ashen Tomes, the Tomes of Power, are hidden across the world of Sea of Thieves and it is up to us to get them back from the skeletons guarding them!

How do you get a Tome of Power?

Just like the Tomes of Curses, to get an Ashen Tome of Power you will need to acquire an Ashen Key and an Ashen Chest.

Both the Ashen Key and Ashen Chest are required because only an Ashen Key can open an Ashen Chest. Once opened, you have a chance of finding a Tome of Power inside. For those of you who hunted down each of the Tome of Curses, you will know that along with a Tome will be some extra goodies such as a gold pouch, doubloon pouch, trinket or Ritual Skull!

There are a total of five different Tomes of Power that need to be gathered. One for each chapter of a five chapter volume.

On your quest to acquire the complete volume, you will be looking for:

• Tome of Power I
• Tome of Power II
• Tome of Power III
• Tome of Power IV
• Tome of Power V

You are not guaranteed a specific Tome when opening an Ashen Chest. You might find several of the same Tome before finally getting that final one in your collection.

You are also not guaranteed any of the Tomes of Power. Now that there are a total of ten Tomes to collect, you will either get one of Power or one of Curses. You could get lucky and find one of each! It’s all completely random so you will most likely open many more than five Ashen Chests to collect each different Tome.

With your Tome of Power in hand, head to Stitcher Jim found at any Outpost and sell it to him for doubloons! Not only will you be leaving with a heavier coin pouch, but you will also unlock new commendations related to the Tomes.

These commendations not only come with doubloons but will also allow you to purchase brand new Ashen Dragon cosmetics that Stitcher Jim is selling! These new cosmetics are locked behind the commendations related to the Tomes.

If you collected all the Tome of Curses you will have most of the collection available to you. The addition of the Tome of Power has added even more Ashen Dragon cosmetics to purchase.

So we know that we need an Ashen Key and Ashen Chest to find a Tome, but how do we get one of each?

How do you get an Ashen Key?

There are two main ways to acquire an Ashen Key. One way is to kill a Key Master skeleton found on islands in the Sea of Thieves and the other is to randomly fish one out of the water with your fishing rod.

Key Masters

So how do I know that I am about to kill a Key Master? A Key Master is a new special type of Skeleton Captain distinguished by its red fiery glow. Their orange Skeleton Captain title above their head will read Ashen Key Master.

These battle-hardened Skeleton Captains have been entrusted to keep the Ashen Keys safe. Killing one will drop an Ashen Key for the taking!

Emergent Key Masters

Similar to the emergent Skeleton Captains that recently found their way into the Sea of Thieves, Key Masters can randomly spawn on islands without a voyage prompting them to do so. This means you can come across one while exploring an island unexpectedly!

If you spend more time at sea then on land, be sure to look for red glows on the passing islands. This is most likely a Key Master or Ashen Guardian! If it is a Key Master, stop at the island and slay it. It will drop an Ashen Key for you to use on an Ashen Chest.

Skeleton Forts

One of the longest standing features in the Sea of Thieves, Skeleton Forts, has just had an overhaul. One obvious difference is now the Skeleton Fort clouds come in an Ashen flavor. Just as the Skeleton Ship Battle clouds got a red tint to them indicating that the loot would have Ashen items in it, the Skeleton Fort clouds have had the same treatment.

A not so obvious change until you battle through the Skeleton Fort is there are now additional waves!

While most of you familiar with Skeleton Forts will know, you will fight waves of skeletons on the fort until the final Captain wave. Once killed, the Skeleton Captain that appears on the Captain wave will drop a fort key that can be used to open the treasure filled vault.

So what’s the big shake-up? Well now there are three Captain waves! Yes, you will have three special waves to clear before you can get that precious fort key.

The first Captain wave of the new Skeleton Forts will have the normal Skeleton Captain you would expect to fight on a fort. Killing it will drop a Stronghold Skull instead of the fort key.

The second Captain wave will include two Skeleton Captains, a Key Master and an Ashen Guardian. Killing the Key Master will give you an Ashen Key and killing the Ashen Guardian drops a X Marks the Spot quest to the Ashen Chest on the fort.

We will talk about that third and final Captain wave down below while discussing ways to get Ashen Chests!

Fishing

Yes! It is possible to fish an Ashen Key out of the sea! The mechanic is similar to how you can hook junk to your fishing rod such as old hats and bones.

The key here is to cast your line without any bait.

If you see something at the end of your line that isn’t a fish, reel it in and hope that you were lucky enough to get an Ashen Key! You might end up with an old stinky hat instead…

The odds of reeling in an Ashen Key are very low! While it is a fun method to try while you sail around the Sea of Thieves, we suggest you spend time looking for emergent Key Masters or defeating forts.

How do you get an Ashen Chest?

While there are two main ways to acquire Ashen Keys, there are several ways to get a hold of an Ashen Chest.

One way is to kill an Ashen Guardian. Ashen Chests can also be found in the vault of a defeated Skeleton Fort. Another way to get an Ashen Chest is to defeat the Captain ship in a Skeleton Ship battle. The loot that the Captain ship drops now includes Ashen Chests! And if all else fails, you can purchase a Chest Stash Voyage from the Black Market to instantly spawn one on an outpost.

Ashen Guardians

On top of Key Master Skeleton Captains, there are also Ashen Guardian Skeleton Captains. These Skeleton Captains have been tasked with protecting the Ashen Chests that hold the precious Tomes. They also have the same fiery red glow that the Key Masters have.

While the Key Master will directly drop an Ashen Key, Ashen Guardians will drop a X Marks the Spot or Riddle quest that will lead you to the location of an Ashen Chest.

Emergent Ashen Guardians

Ashen Guardians can randomly spawn on islands similar to the emergent Skelton Captains and Key Masters. Keep an eye out for a red glow on the island as it will most likely be a Key Master or Ashen Guardian.

Ashen Skeleton Forts

As we covered above, Skeleton Forts have had an update to them that now includes three Captain waves. The second to last Captain wave will spawn a Key Master and an Ashen Guardian. Killing the Ashen Guardian will drop a quest that will lead to an Ashen Chest buried on the fort.

Now as for that third and final Captain wave we mentioned. It is important to note as we want to get inside the vault to get the Ashen Chest stored in side.

This last Captain wave will have you facing off against one of the three terribly nasty and tough Skeleton Lords!

If you haven’t fought one of these mighty foes yet, you can expect a tough fight! These Skeleton Lords have special moves that normal skeletons and Skeleton Captains don’t have.

Skeleton Lords can summon more skeletons from the ground. They can also smash two chests together creating a damaging knockback that blasts anyone in its path into the air. Their last special move is a teleport move. You can expect them to quickly reappear after teleporting and nearby.

Once you and your crew has dispatched of the Skeleton Lord, it will drop the fort key.

Inside the vault will be the usual Skeleton Fort loot as well as an Ashen Chest! You can use the Ashen Key from the Key Master you just killed or go hunt down an emergent Key Master on an island nearby.

Ashen Skeleton Ship Clouds

If you haven’t played since the Seabound Soul update, this might be your first time seeing the red glow of the Ship Cloud. This red tint is to convey that these are Ashen Ship Battles and the skeleton ships that you fight during the battle will fire Firebombs at you!

On top of them having a fiery advantage, the Skeleton Captain ship will drop several Ashen Chests as loot on top of the other ship loot you would expect.

Be sure to pack plenty of planks and fruit before heading into this skirmish.

Ashen Chest Stash Voyages

If all else fails and you have an Ashen Key with no Ashen Chest in sight, you can purchase a Chest Stash Voyage from the Black Market. This voyage will give you a X Marks the Spot quest on the nearest Outpost. Dig at the X located on the map and you will have yourself an Ashen Chest.

Commendations

There is a giant batch of new Ashen Treasures commendations to unlock. You will be fighting lots of Skeleton Lords and earning tons of doubloons as you unlock these.

Helmsman Hunted – Defeat the Mutinous Helmsman. (10 doubloons)

Mutiny Crushed – Defeat the Mutinous Helmsman 10 times. (20 doubloons)

Tied to the Wheel – Defeat the Mutinous Helmsman 25 times. (30 doubloons)

Scoundrel Slain – Defeat The Two-Faced Scoundrel. (10 doubloons)

Two Faces, One Fate – Defeat The Two-Faced Scoundrel 10 times. (20 doubloons)

Facing the Inevitable – Defeat The Two-Faced Scoundrel 25 times. (30 doubloons)

Duchess Destroyed – Defeat The Duchess. (10 doubloons)

Duchess of Death – Defeat The Duchess 10 times. (20 doubloons)

A Noble Defeat – Defeat The Duchess 25 times. (30 doubloons)

Tome of Power I – Sell the Tome of Power I. (15 doubloons)

Tome of Power II – Sell the Tome of Power II. (15 doubloons)

Tome of Power III – Sell the Tome of Power III. (15 doubloons)

Tome of Power IV – Sell the Tome of Power IV. (15 doubloons)

Tome of Power V – Sell the Tome of Power V. (15 doubloons)

Tome of Power Collector – Sell all 5 Tomes of Power. (50 doubloons)