The expansive open world of Sea of Thieves, developed by Rare, is filled with treasure, monsters, rival ships, and numerous secrets waiting to be uncovered. Whether you are a newly born pirate attempting to get to Pirate Legend or an experienced pirate diver, you have to start somewhere. One of the core focuses of Sea of Thieves is leveling up in reputation with trading companies.
Gaining levels in the game to increase your rank with different factions, such as Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, Merchant Alliance, Athena’s Fortune, Reaper’s Bones, etc. Every player can achieve greater levels, commendation, and rewards, which unlock elite cosmetics and ultimately achieve the status of Legend of the Pirates.
Some players don’t want to or don’t have enough time to grind and achieve these levels. For them, many dedicated services will help you use Sea of Thieves boost services. However, the focus of this guide is assisting and enabling players to use the best chances provided in the game, whether it be sailing solo or with a crew, to accomplish and level up faster.
Understand the Leveling System in Sea of Thieves
Prior to diving into optimal methods, it’s essential to understand how the leveling system functions. Your rank with every trading company is determined by the frequency with which you undertake voyages and redeem associated items or treasure. Each faction has its progression path and preferred loot type:
- Gold Hoarders: Chests and treasures from buried hoards.
- Order of Souls: Skulls and ritual items from defeating skeleton captains.
- Merchant Alliance: Deliveries, cargo runs, and trade goods.
- Athena’s Fortune: High-level loot, available only to Pirate Legends.
- Reaper’s Bones: Turning in any loot, especially stolen goods.
Leveling is not shared across companies, so if you want to reach Pirate Legend (which requires level 50 with three major companies), you’ll need to grind for each individually.
1. Choose the Right Faction for Your Playstyle
The most efficient way to level up is to focus on one faction at a time and pick one that suits your style:
- Love combat? Order of Souls is your jam.
- Prefer sailing and exploration? Gold Hoarders is ideal.
- Like structured, delivery-based missions? Go for the Merchant Alliance.
- Want to level up fast regardless of faction? Join the Reaper’s Bones and turn in everything.
By concentrating on a single path and stacking related voyages, you’ll see quicker results and get better at that faction’s missions.
2. Stack Voyages and Use Emissary Flags
One of the most potent tools for leveling quickly is using Emissary Flags. These increase the rewards (and XP) you get from turning in faction-specific loot. Here’s how it works:
- Purchase an Emissary Flag from your chosen faction.
- Raise the flag at the outpost board before setting sail.
- Complete tasks to increase your Emissary Grade (1 to 5).
- The higher your grade, the more gold and reputation you earn.
At Grade 5, you’ll earn up to 250% more reputation and gold, making this a must-use tactic for fast leveling.
Stack multiple voyages and complete them back-to-back without turning in loot until you’re Grade 5, then do a bulk sell.
3. Farm World Events and Skeleton Forts
World Events are high-risk, high-reward opportunities to earn significant loot in a short amount of time:
- Skeleton Forts: Provide tons of chests and skulls for Gold Hoarders and Order of Souls.
- Flameheart Fleet: Great for skulls and high-value combat loot.
- Fort of the Damned: Extremely lucrative if you can pull it off with a team.
- Ghost Fleets: Offer Order of Souls reputation and cursed items.
If you’re playing with a crew, prioritize world events. They offer mixed loot that can benefit multiple factions and push your reputation up across the board. Just beware, these are PvPvE hotspots, and other crews will likely try to contest them.
4. Complete Daily Deeds and Seasonal Renown Challenges
Every season, Sea of Thieves offers Seasonal Renown—an XP-like system with its rewards. While not directly tied to faction levels, earning Renown through daily deeds, adventures, and milestones gives bonus gold, doubloons, and cosmetics. More importantly:
- Many of these deeds overlap with faction tasks (e.g., “Sell 5 skulls to Order of Souls”).
- Doing them naturally boosts your main faction level while earning you extra seasonal progress.
Check the in-game menu daily and prioritize overlapping challenges to maximize your efficiency.
5. Focus on Reaper’s Bones for Pure Loot Conversions
If you don’t care which faction you level but want to gain fast XP from any loot, Reaper’s Bones is the best option. Unlike other companies, they accept all types of treasure, including:
- Chests, skulls, cargo, merchant crates
- Stolen loot
- PvP trophies like flags and Emissary items
Why it’s influential:
- You can raid other ships and cash in on their hard work.
- You don’t need to travel to specific outposts—just go to Reaper’s Hideout.
- PvP-heavy, so it’s perfect for aggressive crews.
Running Grade 5 Reaper with an entire loot haul is one of the fastest ways to level up in general.
6. Efficiently Sail with a Crew (or Find an Alliance)
While solo players can still make solid progress, Sea of Thieves is most rewarding when played cooperatively. A coordinated crew can:
- Divide tasks: one sails, one navigates, one manages loot.
- Complete voyages faster.
- Defend against PvP threats more effectively.
You can also form alliances with other ships in-game. When you’re in an alliance:
- Both crews get a cut of each other’s loot turn-ins (though at a reduced rate).
- You can cover more ground and share rewards.
This is especially effective during events or high-traffic times.
7. Use the Hourglass of Fate (PvP Faction Leveling)
Introduced in recent updates, the Hourglass of Fate allows you to declare allegiance to either the Servants of the Flame (Reapers) or Guardians of Fortune (Athena). This opens up naval PvP battles with reputation and rewards tied to wins.
- You earn Faction Standing for successful wins.
- The more you win consecutively, the higher your Streak bonus.
- Rewards include gold, cosmetics, and titles.
This method isn’t for the faint of heart, but if you’re good at ship combat and like PvP, it’s a direct way to level a unique faction fast.
8. Farm Skeleton Captains and Message in a Bottle Voyages
While sailing around, always keep an eye out for:
- Skeleton Captains: Drop villainous skulls and captain’s orders, which can spawn mini-voyages for more loot.
- Message in a Bottle Voyages: These provide random, often valuable tasks and mini-quests with guaranteed loot.
These world spawns don’t take long and add up quickly, especially during downtime between more significant events or voyages.
9. Sell Loot Strategically
Timing matters. Don’t rush to sell after every voyage. Here’s how to be strategic:
- Wait until your Emissary Grade is high (preferably 5).
- Use Rowboats to transport loot discreetly.
- Always scout outposts for potential threats before docking.
- Sell high-value items first in case you get attacked during the turn-in.
Selling loot in bulk not only feels more satisfying, but it also optimizes your gold and reputation earnings.
10. Time Your Sessions with Events
Rare frequently launches community events, such as:
- Gold & Glory Weekends: Double reputation and gold for all factions.
- Faction-specific promotions: Temporary boosts for the Merchant Alliance, Gold Hoarders, etc.
- Seasonal content, like the Legend of the Veil or limited-time voyages.
If you’re trying to level up fast, plan your sessions around these. A weekend of doubled XP with Emissary Flags up is an ideal opportunity to gain 5–10 levels in one sitting.
Final Thoughts
While there’s no single “best” method that works for everyone, combining the following strategies will give you the fastest, most effective leveling path in Sea of Thieves. For players short on time or looking for a bit of assistance, services such as a Sea of Thieves boost offer a more straightforward route, but keep in mind that much of the fun stems from the journey, the battles, and the unpredictable adventure that awaits.