Noticias
Skull and Bones Season 2 brings musical mayhem, mega monsters, and player-focused changes
D
Dave Tach
You can play Skull and Bones for free—including the new Season 2 content—from May 30 to June 6, 2024. And if you decide that a pirate’s life is for you, you purchase the game at a 50% discount during the Epic MEGA Sale and bring your progress along with you. According to Neven Dravinski, the game’s senior producer, the Season 2 changes will help new players, too.
“With the previous onboarding experience, we received feedback from our community that players wanted to get to the core of the game much quicker without additional fluff,” he told the Epic Games Store. “The new onboarding in Season 2 was reworked with that purpose in mind—a more streamlined introduction to key mechanics of the game in [less] time. New players can immediately dive into the new seasonal content straight after.
“For our new players that missed out on Season 1, we do have key bosses making cameo reappearances throughout Season 2. Check out our seasonal calendar to know exactly when!”
Many of the changes players will see in Season 2 are the direct result of the ongoing conversation between Skull and Bones players and the people creating the game.
“A ton of our in-game improvements have been in direct response to community feedback,” he said. “This includes providing a wider variety of content like the addition of time-limited events, more ways to pirate via new game modes, and overall gameplay balancing and quality-of-life improvements.”
Dravinski further said that Chorus of Havoc’s new big bads—the evil opera singers Armand and Bertrand Hubac—are a good example of what players can expect from seasonal updates.
“With each season, we always try to incorporate elements unique to that season’s boss, much like the toxic fog that accompanied the Plague King in Season 1. For the Hubac Twins and their Chorus Fleet, music, sound, and their dramatic nature will similarly be reflected throughout the world. Players can expect spectacular fireworks in combat, a fresh new audio experience in-game, and new sound-powered moves unique to the Chorus Fleet.”
Skull and Bones veterans will know that the game introduced its first sea monster, Tylosaurus Kuharibu, which players could fight and farm for a special currency. Season 2 carries on that monstrous tradition with a few twists.
“The Megalodon Lestari is a whole other beast, with its own unique set of moves, attack phases, behavior, and lore,” Dravinski said. “Like the Kuharibu, players might find it easier to face off against Lestari in a group, along with having appropriate weapons and equipment. It really depends on your playstyle—whether you like to be up close and personal with it, or if you prefer to have some distance. I personally really enjoy using our new homing torpedoes, one of the new weapon types being introduced in Season 2. Defeating the Lestari will also grant players exclusive rewards, including cosmetics and gear.”
Speaking of new weapons, Chorus of Havoc introduces a new weapon type, the Springloader, which has some serious range. One version fires buoys for area-of-effect attacks, while another fires buoys that heal your allies.
“It’s fantastic when paired with the Brig,” Dravinski said. “This new medium ship is truly made for players who enjoy sailing at crazy high speeds—much faster than our existing medium ships. Pairing it with the Springloader will also activate its unique perk, allowing consecutive weapon hits to increase the effectiveness of subsequent buoys.”
In Skull and Bones, you begin as a shipwrecked nobody. You can rise through the ranks by doing piratey things like capturing manufactories, which produce goods that earn you pieces of eight. With enough plundering and pillaging, you can attain the Kingpin rank, which gives you access to endgame events and challenges.
Skull and Bones already offered endgame content to players who completed seasonal quests. Dravinski said that the team is making some significant changes to endgame content as a direct result of what they heard from players. That begins with what they’re calling Fleet Management.
“With Fleet Management, players can now assign ships to their controlled manufactories to automate pieces of eight collection,” he said. “This all plays into the fantasy of being a Kingpin of your own empire—you’re no longer doing the dirty work yourself.”
It’s designed in part to streamline some arguably tedious tasks, but it’s not a panacea.
“There are, of course, risks that come along with it,” Dravinski said. “For example, not meeting the recommended ship rank will lead to a higher chance of your ship being damaged during the voyage, which will compromise your profits. So making sure your ship has been upgraded accordingly is definitely key here. Players will not be able to prey on others’ assigned ships in this first iteration, but as is the case with all of our systems, it will evolve with our players’ habits.”
Helm Leases are another feedback-inspired Season 2 addition. It’s a new option for acquiring manufactories besides simply taking them for yourself.
“Helm Leases are items that will allow players to obtain control of a manufactory of their choice, depending on the type of lease obtained,” Dravinski said. “For example, an East Indies Regional Lease will allow you to acquire one within the East Indies. Similarly, an Ungwana Faction Lease will open up manufactories belonging to the Ungwana. You might also hit the jackpot with a Worldwide Lease, which gives you the chance to acquire a manufactory anywhere on the map.
“The goal is really to allow players to develop their empire how they see fit.”
That’s important in Skull and Bones because being a successful pirate depends on a lot of different factors. Defeating enemies on the high seas is all well and good, but plundering strongholds and defending networks of settlements and manufactories also helps you be the best buccaneer you can be.
Skull and Bones Season 2 introduces two new game modes, Buyout and Manufactory Defense. Both of these will arrive as world events that appear and disappear on the map at what Dravinski described as a “similar cadence” to the existing Hostile Takeover and Legendary Heists events.
“Buyout allows players with a more solo playstyle to take a less combat-focused approach to gaining a manufactory,” he said. “Here, you’ll work to fulfill the needs of a smuggling contact within a time limit to gain a manufactory.
“For Manufactory Defense, we were looking at ways to incorporate more depth into territory control. Now, players will need to defend their controlled manufactories from invading faction ships to safeguard their Helm operations and obtain Helm materials as rewards.”
Events are the lifeblood of living games like Skull and Bones, giving players spontaneous opportunities to complete goals and earn rewards. Season 2 introduces two new limited-time festive events: Dragon’s Regatta, a series of races, and the Summer Fiesta, which involves the icy megacorporations.
“In the Dragon’s Regatta, players will need to race in elaborate courses for the best times to win exclusive cosmetics and combat-boosting food," Dravinski said. "There will be three courses available to complete, and the most skilled captains will be rewarded with a special Golden Lemur.
“For the Summer Fiesta, ice merchants from megacorporations enter the scene, supplying ice blocks to alleviate the summer heat. Players can take them down to obtain combat-boosting beverages and unique event cosmetics. In addition, a community challenge will be assigned worldwide, with exclusive rewards to be won. We’re really excited to see our community work together! And as the year progresses, players can expect more festive events to look forward to.”
Skull and Bones’ Factions are getting some updates in Chorus of Havoc as well. Two of them, the Dutch Merchant Company (DMC) and Champagnie Royale megacorporations, won’t be thrilled with the Hubac Twins and their Chorus Fleet’s arrival.
“It really is the season where megacorporations start to make big moves within the region, working with or clashing against the local factions while they’re at it,” Dravinski said.
“There’s a lot of lore being progressed in terms of the power balance in Season 2, and players will be able to see the different chess pieces moving on the board, be it with the movements of different groups across the map, their behaviors, or the forces they deploy in response to major events in the world.”
Skull and Bones Season 2 also allows players to upgrade ships that became outmoded in Season 1. This means you'll have more vessels to choose from when you're planning your next big raid.
“With ship upgrades, all ships can now be upgraded to improve specific ship stats, increase furniture slots, and gain new perks, which adds a whole other layer of depth when it comes to prepping for naval combat,” he said. “With this new feature, players will now have more playstyles and potential loadouts to choose from. Depending on the upgrades chosen, players can now boost even their small ships to be as good as—or even better than—their medium ships.”
The developers have spent time balancing the experience for both Skull and Bones veterans and rookies alike. The team aims to reward existing players for their hard work, while still giving new pirates a fighting chance to succeed too.
“With the soft reset in Season 2, all players start the season on the same baseline footing," he said. "However, it was important for us to make sure our players from Season 1 who invested incredible amounts of time into expanding their smuggling empires were rewarded. These players will get a leg up in getting their manufactories up and running again based on their efforts from the previous season through Helm Leases and Ship Upgrades.
“A ton of testing went into making sure new players wouldn’t be overpowered. With that said, the differences from the early stages will level out over the course of the season, making sure new players have a chance at climbing to the top of the Helm's seasonal leaderboard as well!”