It’s likely every player of Sea of Thieves has briefly glimpsed an item they’ve never seen before being carried by another player, in screenshots, or on a ship (as an upgrade). Some of the items of this list will take months of grinding before a player is given the opportunity to get them.

RELATED: Best Online Open-World Games On PC, Ranked

Almost all of these items require spending your hard-earned gold to get, and some of them are so expensive that players will have to save-up their gold for a long time. Others were part of limited promotional offers from Rare or Microsoft – some of which are no longer valid.

Updated on July 14, 2021, by Jeff Drake:  The popular Sea of Thieves game has just received a new and exciting update that incorporates characters and quests from Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean movies. This anticipated update introduced a few new items into the game that will be familiar to fans of the movies. However, many of these new items are quest-based, like Jack Sparrow's Compass - meaning they aren't exactly rare. In time it is likely players will discover, or future DLC will add, more items tied to the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise - like Blackbeard's sword, Davy Jones' locket, Barbossas's hat, or really bad eggs.

15 Inky Kraken Blunderbuss

There are a lot of variants of the blunderbuss (a shotgun-like firearm) in Sea of Thieves. One of the rarest is the Kraken Blunderbuss. This weapon is easily recognizable by its pinkish color, yellow tiger’s eye gem, and the beak-like metal spikes that run down the length of the top and bottom of the gun-barrel.

This rare weapon is easy enough to find – it can be purchased at the Morrow’s Peak Outpost. The problem with acquiring the Kraken Blunderbuss is its price tag; it will cost you 85,050 gold to purchase this weapon on the black market.

14 Mermaid Gems

Mermaid Gems are rare gems that can be sold for a nice profit. There are three types of these gems; sapphire, emerald, and ruby. Sapphires are worth 1,000 gold, emeralds are worth 1,500, and rubies are worth 2,000 gold.

There are several ways to find these valuable baubles. The first is to scout islands in search of a Mermaid Statue. These will need to be destroyed in order to get the gem, and they will fight back. These can also be given as treasure when defeating a sea threat (like Megalodon), found at shipwrecks, Skeleton Forts, and Fortress Vaults. Every now and then these gems can be found on the shoreline of an island - but don't count on finding one this way.

13 Deckhand Sails

These are pretty rare sails to see hanging from the mast of a ship. The Deckhand Sails, painted red with a large white open hand flanked by two white diamonds, look like the sails of an orc vessel. However, these are very special sails only given out to a few players.

Getting these sails requires a player to be a Deckhand – which is the name given to the game’s global community moderators. This is not easy. First, Rare only has deckhand openings periodically. Second, this is something that will actually require some work. Moderators (Deckhands) have duties they need to perform.

12 Cutlass Of The Ashen Dragon

This extremely cool pirate cutlass is a favorite among players – those who have managed to get hold of one anyway. The Cutlass of the Ashen Dragon has a blackened blade with a fiery image of a serpentine dragon going down the blade.

RELATED: Tips For Conquering The Seas Solo In Sea Of Thieves

This glowing dragon does make the player noticeable from a distance, but that's a small price to pay for the prestige factor this blade gives the player. This weapon is obtained after achieving the Tomes of Curses Collector commendation. This commendation is earned after a player finds and sells all five of the Tome of Curses.

11 Siren Gems

Siren Gems are similar to Mermaid Gems. There are three types; sapphire, emerald, and ruby. Their values are identical to the mermaid gems as well. These are a little harder to come by than the Mermaid gems though.

To get a Siren Gem you generally need to defeat one of the three different types of Ocean Crawlers. Ocean Crawlers are creatures made by the Sirens for the purpose of attacking their enemies on land or ship. Sometimes after defeating a Siren it will drop a Siren Gem as a reward, so always search the area after an encounter with one of these terrors of the deep.

10 Legendary Flintlock

There are two types of players that use the Legendary Flintlock. Those that want other players to know they are an accomplished player, and those that are not trying to maintain a low profile. With its gold accents, including a large gold chain that connects the end of the grip with the barrel, this flintlock variant stands out.

Getting this legendary weapon requires reaching Legendary reputation in a minimum of three of the following; Gold Hoarders, Merchant Alliance, Order of Souls, The Hunter's Call, or Sea Dogs. Also, a player needs to have 250 first-place Arena wins as a Pirate Legend.

9 Ghost Tankard

The Ghost Tankard is a very rare drinking vessel that requires two conditions to be met before unlocking. First, you must find and sell fifty Gilded Relics of Ancient Fortune to the Mysterious Stranger that hangs out in the taverns, or to the Servant of the Flame at The Reaper’s Hideout.

These relics are very rarely encountered. Second, players must reach Legendary reputation in at least three of the following companies; Merchant Alliance, The Hunter's Call, Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls, Sea Dogs, Or Reaper's Bones). When these two conditions are met, players must still pay a little over 6,000 gold to buy the Ghost Tankard at the Athena’s Fortune Shop.

8 Eye of Reach Of The Ashen Dragon

For those of you new to this game, the Eye of Reach is essentially a sniper rifle. Well, it is as close to sniper rifle as you're going to get in a game set during the golden age of piracy. There are a lot of variants (cosmetic variants) for the Eye of Reach; however, there are few that are as hard to get, or as impressive in appearance, as the Eye of Reach of the Ashen Dragon.

Like the other Ashen Dragon items, the Eye of Reach has a color scheme that starts red and becomes a bright, almost neon, yellow. To get this weapon you need to collect and sell all five of the Tomes of Resurrection - which is going to take you a while.

7 Triumphant Sea Dog Hull

This hull is recognizable by the blue and orange stripes the run down the length of the hull (near the top). It is an incredibly drawn-out process to unlock this item. First, you need to acquire, and have equipped in the Arena, the Glorious Sea Dog Anchor, Wheel, Figurehead, and Cannons while competing in at least 200 competitions.

RELATED: Things You Didn't Know You Could Do In Sea Of Thieves

Getting each of these required items involves spending some gold and having a certain reputation level with the Sea Dogs. Once this is accomplished the player still needs to spend 300,000 gold to purchase the hull. This is one of those rare items that many players do not feel is worth the effort.

6 Triumphant Sea Dog Figurehead

This item is perhaps a little harder to unlock than the previous item, the Triumphant Sea Dog Hull. The figurehead at least looks nice and is easily recognizable, but it’s up the each player to decide if it’s worth the effort.

During Arena play you need to have the Glorious Sea Dog Anchor, Wheel, Figurehead, and Cannons equipped while winning at least 100 contests – not just participating, but winning. As stated in the previous entry, these required items take some time to assemble. Like the Triumphant Sea Dog Hull, the Figurehead cost a whopping 300,000 gold.

5 Gilded Phoenix Sails

While sailing the high seas, how often have you seen a ship with white sails with a golden phoenix? Never? You're not alone. These rare sails are very fetching, but require some real-world effort in order to obtain. The creators of Sea of Thieves have a program called the Creator Crew in which players are encouraged to join and stream their pirate adventures online.

If you want these impressive sails you will need to join the Creator Crew and stream one of your gaming sessions for at least five minutes. So, it will cost you a little time and effort, but they can be acquired for free - unlike a lot of games' additional content.

4 Box Of Wondrous Secrets

This is possibly the rarest item in the game that can still be acquired. The Box of Wondrous Secrets is a large black box, tied-up with thick rope, with a large red wax seal and vivid yellow markings on its side. Selling this item will get the player 25,000 gold – a pretty hefty sum.

This item is found at Devil’s Roar; it can be found either on land or in the water. This area can take a long time to explore for even groups of players, and there is only a tiny chance of actually finding one. This item is so rare that even long-time players admit to never finding one. Happy hunting!

3 Ebon Flintlock

This legacy item is, sadly, not only extremely rare, but also no longer available. Perhaps it will be re-introduced in the future though. The Ebon Flintlock is a sleek, thin flintlock pistol; as the name suggests the pistol’s color palette is made up of various shades of black and gray.

This weapon was obtained via a few different ways. A player could have gotten it by watching Inside Xbox on either March 22nd, 2018, or on April 16th, 2019. Also, a player could have gotten it by making a purchase at the game’s online merchandise store on Sept. 19, 2018. Lastly this could have been obtained via Twitch Drops by watching 30 minutes of promotions on March 1st and 2nd of 2020.

2 Trident Of Dark Tides

In terms of actual rare items, this is (so far) the only item in the new Pirates of the Caribbean DLC to qualify. In time this will likely change as players explore the contents of this DLC and new content is added. The Trident of the Dark Tides is not only rare but also a handy item to carry around.

This trident can discharge bubbles that damage enemies and knock them back. The only drawback to using this ability is that the trident comes with thirty charges. Each use drains anywhere from one to three charges, depending on the damage you wish to inflict. This can be found on the shorelines of islands, after defeating sea threats (like Megalodon), shipwrecks, Skeleton Forts, and occasionally from a Siren leader.

1 Banana Sails

This entry is for the Banana Sails, but all the Banana Quest Items are extremely rare items. Like the Ebon Flintlock, the Banana items were promotion items that are no longer available. Hopefully Rare will re-release this item as there are a lot of players that feel cheated by not having a chance to get these distinctive sails.

The Banana Sails are a bright golden yellow in color and have a stylized banana bunch in black surrounded by black diamonds. This item was acquired by winning the Quest for the Golden Bananas challenge. This challenge was only available for three days after the release of the game and only one crew was awarded the sails.

NEXT: The Best Cosmetic Sets In Sea Of Thieves (& How To Get Them)