The Sea of Thieves Maiden Voyage is a tutorial with a hidden key - the Old Sailor's Key - used to find a secret treasure located somewhere in the area. In fact, the Sea of Thieves tutorial hides all manner of secrets across the Maiden Voyage, including the Key, numerous Commendations, and various journals left behind by the Pirate Lord, the stout old ghost that's guiding you through everything. Our walkthrough below will take you through the Maiden Voyage in Sea of Thieves, reveal everything hidden in the tutorial, and explain how to find the Old Sailor's Key for the best possible payout.
Sea of Thieves tutorial key location
The big prize in the Sea of Thieves tutorial is a hidden treasure that requires the Old Sailor's Key to open. If you're doing the maiden voyage and haven't found it, you can discover the key to earn a one-off prize of 25,000 Gold.
The Old Sailor's Key in the tutorial is at the highest point of the island, overlooking the shipwreck. From the beach, head up the path to the wrecked ship, and climb up until you reach the deck with the fallen mast.
The mast acts as a makeshift bridge to the Island's topmost point, where there's a little pool of water and a waterfall that drops back down to the shipwreck.
In the pool itself, under water just where the waterfall begins, you can find the Old Sailor's Key buried in the sand. Dive in and pick it up.
Once you have the tutorial key, bring it back to the shipwreck you climbed up through. Fairly easy to spot is a trapdoor/hatch with a lock on it. The key will open it, and inside you can find piles of treasure, lootable for 25,000 Gold total!
Keep in mind that the lootable treasure can only be taken once. If you replay the tutorial, you can't get it again if you got it before, though if you missed the chance the first time around, you can get the treasure if you play it through again.
Do you need to play the Maiden Voyage tutorial in Sea of Thieves?
While you don't have to play the tutorial in Sea of Thieves, the "Maiden Voyage" playable from the main menu, I do recommend you try it if you aren't familiar with the game. While Sea of Thieves' combat is pretty simple, ship sailing and repair is a bit more complex, as are its various UI menus. Considering the whole thing takes only 15 minutes and you can get a big load of treasure to bring into the main game if you find the Old Sailor's Key, I'd recommend doing it if you're not familiar with the game - though it's not essential.
What do you do in the Maiden Voyage in Sea of Thieves?
The Maiden Voyage tutorial in Sea of Thieves is basically an on-rails explanation of the game's core systems - finding treasure, fighting enemies, sailing and maintaining your boat, and so on.
Though the tutorial itself is linear, there are optional secrets you can find along the way, such as the tutorial key and treasure explained above, as well as any number of secret Commendations, which we've laid out below.
All Sea of Thieves tutorial Commendations
There are ten total commendations to collect. Unlocking them all will also net you your first cosmetics in the game and you won't need to spend a single coin to acquire them. Those include the Pirate Lord's stylish jacket and the sails from his fabled (and now splintered) ship, the Magpie's Wing. Here's a full breakdown of the ten commendations and how to unlock each one.
- A Fine Catch. For this, you need to catch a fish. You can do this by heading to the sea or any of the inland pools of water, like the waterfall base behind you when you first begin the Maiden Voyage. Follow the on-screen prompts to learn how to fish and within about a minute you'll have earned your first commendation.
- A Hearty Meal. Now head to the shore where you'll find some wild chickens running around. Sorry to say, but you need to slash one of these feathered friends and collect the raw meat that's left behind. Now take it back to where you began the voyage. There's a campfire there. Place the chicken in the pan and let it cook. Each food item takes a different amount of time to cook. You'll want to cook them to perfection for maximum healing benefits. Hint: chicken takes 60 seconds. Remove the food when it's browned but not charred and enjoy a second commendation.
- Saluting the Pirate Lord. To "salute" the big man, you'll want to head inland to his can't-miss shipwreck. It's cut in half from the crash and you'll want to head to the left (north on your compass) half. Head up the ladder or stairs until you see the red barrel in the corner, behind a ladder. Don't worry, this one doesn't explode. It holds cannonballs. Interact with it and take some cannonballs up to the top deck. Load the cannon, aim, and fire away to earn a third commendation.
- Hidden Secrets. For this, you'll need to get into the Pirate Lord's "secret hold." We laid this out above at the section about the tutorial key.
- Yer Boat. This one requires you to operate a rowboat. You need only to do it for a moment, but it's sort of well hidden. To get there, cross the low-lying bridge separating the two landmasses. One is where you've been the whole time, with the campfire and the ship. Cross to the other side and follow the path through the rock formation which spirals down to a closed door. Pull the level to open the door and continue on the path until you see a capstan. Turn that to lower another door, which then reveals a cave exit where lies your rowboat. Sit in it and begin steering it to get the next commendation. Note that you can also swim into this cave from the point where you're exiting, but you'll want to be familiar with this area to collect some journals anyway, so it doesn't hurt to take the winding road.
- A Storied Crossing. This commendation takes the longest and requires you find all of the Pirate Lord's scattered journals around the Maiden Voyage island. Like the loot stash, we've given these journals their own section below. Look for "Sea of Thieves Pirate Lord journal locations."
- Unto the Horizon. This commendation pops automatically the first time you complete the Maiden Voyage. If you're all set collecting the journals and the hidden loot, head back to the Pirate Lord down by the beach and he'll tell you to go fix your ship. Like in the intro, just follow the on-screen prompts and in a few moments you'll sail through what is essentially a scripted preview of the otherwise unpredictable adventure that awaits you. A megalodon will swim alongside your ship, a skeleton ship will appear, and then a kraken will rise from its inky depths to swallow the skellie ship whole. As your ship sails through the Devil's Shroud and toward the Sea of Thieves, the opening title sequence appears (quite majestically, we'll add) and your commendation for completing the voyage will be unlocked.
- The Adventure Begins. This one is earned for getting all the other commendations shown above, like a Platinum Trophy. The final two commendations award cosmetics and they pop once you've earned Unto the Horizon and The Adventure Begins respectively. You can do this across multiple playthroughs, so don't worry if you didn't finish off the list in one go. Enjoy your new sails and jacket. If you still need help finding the journals or the secret cache, read on.
All Pirate Lord journal locations in the Sea of Thieves tutorial
There are 10 journals in total to find in the Maiden Voyage, and if you're interested in the lore of Sea of Thieves, they're definitely worth reading when you find each one. Here's where you can find the whole collection. They can be found in any order, but we've tried listing them in a way that flows with your playthrough should you be going for all commendations on one run.
1. Regarding Merfolk
The first journal is under water at the sight of a shipwreck right next to where you dig up your first chest as part of the tutorial. Dive in, swim under a bit of wreckage, and you'll find the first journal.
2. The Sea of the Damned
The next journal is behind the waterfall next to where your quest begins. You may have used this pool to fish. Swim behind the waterfall and find the next journal against the rock wall. What kind of adventure game would Sea of Thieves be without a secret behind a waterfall?
3. They Gave it a Name
For the third journal, head to the shipwreck. On the side with the captain's wheel, you'll find the next journal sitting beside the wheel.
4. Lost Secrets
The next journal isn't far at all. Simply climb to the top of the crow's nest to find it.
5. So Near and Yet...
The last of three journals tucked away on the shipwreck is back on the side with the cannon. Look in the lower deck, hidden in a shadowy corner beside a pair of broken barrels.
6. My Secret Plan
This one is found in the secret hold where you found all the loot from before. If you skipped that step, scroll up and follow the steps to find the hidden loot stash to also grab the journal laying beside the riches.
7. Lords of the Sea
Head to the low bridge that connects both landmasses and look below it for a ladder. Climb down that ladder and search along the rocks beside the water for your next journal.
8. Paintings from the Past
Now head back to the spiral path on the other side of the island, only this time keep heading up it, and then over some rocks, until you hit an overlook with the next journal sitting there.
9. Making Camp
Now return back down to the spiral pathway, and continue down to the door with the lever that opens it. If you were chasing commendations, you may have already opened this one. Right on the other side of it is a campfire with the next journal.
10. A Ship That Fits
Head past the campfire and down the trail some more. Again, if you've already been here, the next door is open. If not, turn the capstan to lower the door and head in to where you either used the rowboat, or you now find one there. Turn around to see a ladder. Climb up that ladder and you'll be met with a caged wall. Along that wall is the next - and final - journal.
With all journals, commendations, cosmetics, and a big cache of free loot all collected, you've now successfully completed the Maiden Voyage to 100%. Now get out there and become Legend, or crash into some rocks, whichever comes first.
© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission
