Sea of thieves emote

Though pirates are not often well known for their subtlety, a new emote in Sea of Thieves Season 2 can make sneaking around and pulling off ambushes against enemies a more prominent part of the pirate's life. Like Fortnite, Sea of Thieves has a collection of pirate-themed emotes that allow pirates to better interact with the environment and communicate to other players. Some of these can be purchased at the Pirate Emporium, while others come as free rewards. The Barrel Disguise or Barrel Tuck emote is one of the latest free emotes to be added to Sea of Thieves. It allows a pirate to fold up inside the bottom of a barrel, well-hidden from opponents, and strike them by surprise.

Related: Sea of Thieves: Where to Find Resource Crates (& What They’re For)

Players can earn Renown to progress through the Season 2 rankings and unlock the Barrel Disguise emote for their pirate and add it to their emote wheel. While there are a few limitations to what the emote can do, the Barrel Hide does create a sort of stealth mechanic that particularly crafty pirates can use to gain an advantage ahead of a combat situation. Here's how to unlock and use the Barrel Disguise emote in Sea of Thieves Season 2.

How to Unlock the Barrel Disguise Emote in Sea of Thieves

The Barrel Hide Emote in Sea of Thieves unlocks at level 13 for all players, whether they have the free or premium version of the Season 2 battle pass. To reach level 13, players will need to earn Renown. Renown is a sort of XP in Sea of Thieves, and nearly every activity in the game will award it. Completing Deeds and Trials is also an effective way to earn more Renown.

Players who want access to the Barrel Disguise emote right away may want to accelerate the rate at which they earn Renown. To do this, they should prioritize large, more difficult fights and events. Killing Skeletons, Skeleton Captains, Ashen Guardians, and Ashen Key Masters, slaying Krakens and Megalodons, scuttling Ghost Ships, and completing World Events like Forts of Fortune are all ways to earn large amounts of Renown in a single activity.

Once players unlock the emote, it will appear in the ship's Vanity chest or the one outside any Outpost. They can add it to their emote wheel and access it quickly by pressing Z or down on the D-pad.

How to Use the Barrel Disguise Emote in Sea of Thieves

When a pirate uses the Barrel Disguise emote, they will produce a barrel out of thin air and lift it over their head, then tuck themselves into it and hide inside. It will be indistinguishable from other barrels decorating the environment. There will, however, be a small cloud of dust that pops up when the barrel hits the ground, so players will want to disguise themselves early to avoid other pirates seeing this indication there is a pirate inside.

Pirates can still take damage while disguised as a barrel, though not from friendly fire. While this trick can fool other players, it does not work against Skeletons and other AI enemies, which tend to comprise the majority of fights in Sea of Thieves. These enemies will still register the pirate inside and launch attacks.

If timed and placed correctly, pirates can disguise themselves as a barrel near other barrels in the world and wait for an opponent to get too close. Then, they can remove the disguise and ambush the rival pirate, likely taking them by surprise. It may be a good idea to practice using the emote near other barrels ahead of any fights to get the spacing and placement correct.

One thing players will want to note is that pirates disguised in barrels will not rock while on a ship the way other barrels tend to do. It is possible for other rival pirates to try to infiltrate a ship, disguising themselves as a barrel until the crew is at sea. Pirates will need to keep an eye on all barrels and check to see that all move properly when the ship is moving. If one does not move, it is likely an imposter, and players should prepare themselves for a fight.

Next: Why Fort of the Damned Is Sea of Thieves' Best Feature

Sea of Thieves is available for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

ShareTweetEmail

Battlefield 's Sundance Is First Non-Binary Character In Series

Sea of Thieves allows players to take to the high seas with their friends and get up to all kinds of pirate-related adventures. The recent arrival of season 2 has introduced a new emote that has added even more shenanigans to the game. The Barrel Disguise emote will allow players to take on the look of a simple barrel, giving them a way to hide from each other.

Sea of Thieves has quite a few emotes, and many of them have been used in the past as a means of hiding from other players, but the Barrel Disguise emote is custom-made to give players a way to try and get the drop on each other. It can even be used to blending with a player's surroundings if they find themselves outnumber and outgunned.

RELATED: Sea of Thieves Adds Touching Tribute To Developer Who Passed Away

To get the Barrel Disguise emote, players will need to reach Renown Level 13 of the Season 2 Plunder Pass, Sea of Thieves' version of a season pass. The good news is that players can unlock the Barrel Disguise for free and do not need to buy the premium tier of the Season 2 Plunder Pass to get it. Players who are in the market for other emotes can find a selection of them for sale at the Pirate Emporium.

To equip the Barrel Disguise, players will need to visit the Vanity chest, which can be found on the lower deck of their ship or outside the clothing shop located at every Outpost. Once it is equipped, it can be selected from the emote radial by pressing Z on the keyboard or down on the d-pad, and the player will take on the appearance of a simple barrel.

When used in a clever place, the barrel emote will possibly fool other players, but it won't help you out against the various AI enemies that make up so much of Sea of Thieves' gameplay. As such, players shouldn't expect it to save them if they come face to face with a skeleton horde while searching for Ashen Keys.

As for the effectiveness of the Barrel Disguise, it has already been proven with hilarious results by streamers Summit and XQC to fool players when used correctly. The emote does have one weakness, however. When used to hide on a ship, it will not rock back and forth like the other barrels, so eagle-eyed players will be able to spot the difference. As such, players should pay close attention to barrels on their ship when they return from some island adventures to ensure they don't have any stowaways.

Sea of Thieves is available now on PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

MORE: Sea of Thieves Could Use Real Pirate Ship Conditions to Take the Game to the Next Level

ShareTweetEmail

Read Next

Using the new Barrel Disguise Emote, players in Sea of Thieves can hide their pirates under a barrel. Here’s how to unlock this useful emote.

Sea of Thieves, for those not in the know, is an online multiplayer pirate adventure complete with naval duels and sea monsters. This multiplayer aspect makes it a great social game, allowing numerous people to play and hang out with one another while their ships sail across the waves. Being a multiplayer game, communication is a key component of the experience, and what better way to interact with others than with fun emotes? Emotes are animations that let players dance, kneel, give a thumbs up, and more. However, some emotes have more tactical uses than others.

Related: Everything You Need to Know Before Playing Sea of Thieves

The barrel disguise emote does exactly what it sounds like: it makes the player hide in a barrel when it’s used. Using this emote will make a pirate look indistinguishable from any other barrel, allowing them to hide aboard an enemy ship in secrecy. This stealth application makes it an incredibly useful emote to have equipped in one’s emote wheel, so here’s how to get one’s hand, or pirate hook, on it.

Unlocking the Barrel Disguise Emote

While there is purchasable content in Sea of Thieves, like the Plunder Pass, the barrel disguise emote is available for all players to obtain and use! That’s because it’s a part of season 2’s level-up rewards. Each season has a collectible to unlock at each level, incentivizing players to reach the end to obtain everything. In season 2, the season that harbors the barrel emote, there are levels in total, each with its own reward! Thankfully, pirates won’t need to wait very long to begin hiding away in unsuspecting barrels, as the barrel disguise emote is unlocked after reaching only level 13! With that said, how does one go about progressing to level 13?

Pirates advance through levels in Sea of Thieves by obtaining more renown. Renown can be compared to experience points from RPGs, as players reach new levels after obtaining enough of it. A more apt comparison would be to the Nook Miles from Animal Crossing, as players in Sea of Thieves earn renown from doing just about everything on the high seas. Whether it be exploring new islands and opening treasure chests to catching fish and selling them, players will be frequently accumulating renown as they plunder and sail through the game world. There are methods to earn higher quantities of renown, such as defeating powerful bosses and skeleton ships, so call together some friends so everyone can work towards reaching level 13 together. Once obtained, players can use the barrel disguise by holding down the Z button on their computer to open up the wheel of emotes.

Next: Why Fort of the Damned Is Sea of Thieves' Best Feature

Sea of Thieves is available for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S

ShareTweetEmail

Hell Let Loose's Multiplayer Is More Terrifying Than CoD & Battlefield

74px