Treasure and traps. It’s one of the most famous pairings, right up there with cookies and milk!
Traps are not new to the Sea of Thieves. Pirates who have taken on the Gold Hoarder will have contended with their fair share. But those traps are contained within the specific Tall Tale areas and can become predictable.
Now that pirates can bury treasure, they can also create traps of their own almost anywhere they want! Yes, using your shovel, you can bury Gunpowder Barrels beneath the ground.
Once a Gun Powder Barrel is hidden underground, let’s say an unsuspecting pirate’s shovel happens to find it. As soon as their shovel strikes the barrel, the fuse will light—leaving the pirate very little time to fully dig the barrel up and defuse it before it explodes!
How to Set a Trap
To set a trap, you first need to get yourself a Gunpowder Barrel. Gunpowder Barrels can be found randomly on islands or floating amongst Barrels of Plenty.
However, the best place to collect Gunpowder Barrels is at inactive Skeleton Forts. You can easily find enough at a fort to create a formidable trap.
Once you have your Gunpowder Barrel, place it anywhere on soft ground such as sand, dirt, and grass. Then equip your shovel and use the Secondary Use button on the Gunpowder Barrel. Keep burying it until you have fully buried it, and your pirate pats it down with your shovel. Now, you’ve set your trap!
The Gunpowder Barrel will automatically light its fuse when anyone hits it with their shovel while digging.
How to Use You Trap
What you do with your newfound power is your decision. The sea is your sandbox, and you can use your tools as you please!
Example #1
You can lure pirates to your traps by posting Treasure Stash maps to the Quest Board. Your map will lead pirates who take it from the board to your devious surprise.
Interestingly—unlike other treasure you might bury—Gunpowder Barrels will not be marked on Treasure Stash maps. So, clever pirates might be inclined to bury a Gunpowder Barrel right next to a piece of treasure that will show up on that map. That way, if another pirate tries to find that X, one wayward shovel strike will unearth quite a different surprise.
Although Gun Powder Barrels’ hidden whereabouts on these maps might help you catch someone else with one of your traps, it also means you need to remember where you buried your Gunpowder Barrels.
As we said, the Gunpowder Barrel will automatically light its fuse when anyone hits it with their shovel while digging. That includes the person who buried the Gunpowder Barrel! No one is safe!
So, be sure you remember where you buried your barrels. Otherwise, you might fall victim to your own grand plans!
Example #2
For another way you might use these barrels, you could also set traps around some precious treasure you need to return to when the coast is clear! This could serve two purposes.
First, if you’re in earshot of your treasure, it could alert you that someone is trying to take it for themselves.
Second, if another pirate crew manages to grab hold of your Treasure Stash map and make it to the dig site before you, some well-placed Gunpowder Barrels could delay them long enough for you to catch up to the scalawags, defeat them and gather your buried loot!
Taking it to the next level!
As pirates can run away from a lit Gunpowder Barrel if they are quick enough, you might want to take your trap setting to the next level.
Why not encircle your buried traps with Gunpowder Barrels that are not buried? You can hide them in bushes, or slightly behind rocks and trees, or just make them look like part of the normal landscape.
Then, if someone does trigger your buried Gunpowder Barrel, there will be nowhere to run for safety.
Aye, if you set up the surrounding gun powder barrels well enough, the detonation will trigger the surrounding barrels in a chain reaction and engulf the poor foe in a grand inferno!
