The major update announced last week, Crews of Rage, has been implemented in Sea of Thieves, adding new voyages and new fortress battles, a new set of tomes to collect, more cosmetics, and finally a serious improvement in sword combat.

The big hook in Crews of Rage is a new type of cursed treasure chest called Chests of Rage, which can be acquired by completing Duke's latest Bounty Voyages to The Devil's Roar. The Chests of Rage are similar to the Chests of Sorrow, but instead of filling the ship with water when left unattended, they heat up and eventually burn.

Nevertheless, it is useful in battle, as it can be shot to explode. Just don't use it against Ashen Skeletons: they have spent (died?) their entire lives in the devil's roar. They are immune to fire damage.

There will also be a new Book of Resurrection. This is a set of five books, collected from Ashen's treasure chests and given to Duke in exchange for Ashen's cosmetics. Also check this out:

Speaking of cosmetics, the Black Market offers a variety of new items, including hulls, sails, cannons, emotes, and bony instruments. The monkeys, in particular, give off a Wizard of Oz vibe, especially when coupled with the red eyes and weird superhero underwear. Captain Banana, you're not looking good.

Meanwhile, you can also set your ship up with a Viva Pinata-inspired look if you wish:

Rare also revealed more details about the promised improvements to sword combat, which were announced last week: "Various fixes and improvements to sword combat have been introduced to make the experience when switching between the two has been smoothed out, allowing players to enter and exit sword combat more consistently."

Specifics:

The Crews of Rage update includes lockable tool tips, accessibility improvements including optional narration in radial menus and NPC dialog, improved mermaid behavior, closer map zoom activation, and quite a few other fixes and changes. See the patch notes at seaofthieves.com for more information.