New to Sea of Thieves with Season Two, the Merchant Alliance faction now offers players the chance to make a profit by trading new commodities across the seven Outposts. The Merchants will share their commodity supplies and demands so that players can buy and sell high to make a profit, but they change every week.
Trading Routes are just one of the many new features that have been added to Sea of Thieves. As usual the Pirate Emporium has plenty of new cosmetic items for pirates to spend their real money on, and players can earn enough Renown to unlock the Barrel Disguise emote on the Plunder Pass.
The Trading Routes of the Merchant Alliance are a new stock market-like activity for players to complete in Sea of Thieves for Season Two. Players can buy various commodity crates from Merchant Alliance vendors on Outpost islands and then sell them to other Merchant vendors throughout the game.
Updated by Payton Lott June 4, 2021: The Merchant Alliance Trade Routes are not for everyone. Supplies cost a significant amount of coins, and the missions may not be viable for beginners. The path to each destination is paved with reaper ships and swashbucklers as well. For those that have the risk tolerance, becoming a trader may be worth the gamble. In order to give new-and-upcoming Merchant Alliance Traders a better shot at navigating the routes sprinkled through Sea of Thieves, we've updated this article for better clarity, while also adding extra tips and tricks that should help players avoid danger and heartache.
How to Start Trading Commodities
Before a crew can begin trading commodities, they will need to become Emissaries for the Merchant Alliance to buy commodities. Next, players should check the inventory book next to the Merchant vendor and note down some of the information for the Outposts. Each Outpost will have one commodity that is “sought-after”, and is more valuable, and one commodity that is "surplus," meaning the vendor will have more crates available for the crew to buy. The seven commodities are:
- Unclassified Gemstones
- Unfiltered Minerals
- Unrefined Spices
- Unsorted Silks
- Broken Stones
- Ungraded Tea
- Raw Sugar
Visit The Merchant Vendor
Now players should speak to the Merchant vendor and browse their resources and commodities to see their stock. Each vendor will have eight commodity crates available to buy. There will always be three crates for the commodity that is in surplus for that Outpost.
For example, Sanctuary Outpost had surplus Ungraded Tea, so the vendor is selling three crates of Ungraded Tea. The vendors will also never sell the item that is sought-after on their Outpost, leaving the other five crates as one of each of the other commodity types. Once players have bought their commodity crates, they need to redeem them from the Merchant vendor and then load them onto their ship.
How to Sell Commodities
From here players can buy any of these commodity crates and trade them at another Outpost. Players may consider buying all the stock and voyaging to several outposts to sell or may just focus on ferrying surplus commodities to wherever they are sought-after to make a good profit. It seems that surplus commodities are sought-after on Outposts that are very far away, meaning these trade routes have a considerable risk-reward attached to them as players evade threats such as the Kraken.
Setting Sail
Whichever method players decide, they should set sail and be on the lookout for extra pieces of treasure along the way that can boost their Merchant Alliance Emissary rank. This will further increase the value of any commodities that a player sells, especially sought-after items. While Sea of Thieves players need to be Merchant Alliance Emissaries to buy commodities, they do not need to be to sell commodities to other Outposts.
Players should also keep an eye out for Reaper Emissaries as they may be out patrolling the waters for Merchant Emissaries loaded with commodities to sell. However, this does not mean that players should immediately lower their Merchant Emissary flag after buying commodity crates as they will be losing out on lots of bonus gold.
Finishing The Trade
Once a crew reaches their desired Outpost, the players just need to unload the crates and sell them to the Merchant vendor on the main pier of the Outpost like any other piece of loot. Players will receive a small profit for any non-surplus and sough-after commodities they sell and a much larger profit for any sought-after commodities they sell. Selling commodities also grants Merchant Emissary rank and Merchant Alliance reputation to help players reach Pirate Legend status.
Players should note that they will exhaust an Outpost’s stock for a few in-game days if they buy everything, preventing them from endlessly revisiting the same Outposts to farm commodities.
Trade Routes Are Not For New Pirates
To complete trades, pirates will have to buy all of the items up front before they begin the voyage. For beginners, it can be way too risky and expensive to complete even one delivery. Equipping the Emissary flag will attract reaper vessels, which can be difficult to sink as a new player. Starting off by completing missions for the other emissaries is a much better and safer way to earn coins and reputation early in the game. Seasoned players will probably not have too much trouble affording the items and completing the routes.
Other Merchant Offerings
The Merchant Emissary offers a few other items for sailors to grab before they begin each journey. Gamers can pick up crates of cannonballs, fruit, and wood to stock up before a voyage. No more looting all of the barrels at the outpost to have a sufficient amount of supplies. The Merchant also offers a storage crate, which is good for absolutely nothing. Why anyone would pay 17,500 coins for an empty crate is beyond comprehension. Do not waste coins on the crate, the purchased goods come in crates.
Watch Out For Freebooters
Trade routes have been a feature in Sea of Thieves for some time now. Most of the pirates on a server understand the routes and recognize the Merchant flag. Even experienced players need to keep an eye out for vessels along the routes, as PVP ships are looking for some free supplies. Trade items cost a lot of coins, and it would be a shame to lose them due to lack of awareness. In Sea of Thieves, it is always better to assume a ship is a threat than allow other pirates a chance to get within cannonball range.
Sea of Thieves is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X|S.