In the previous sections of this guide, we covered how to Find the Shores of Gold and the guides and solutions for the West, East, North, and South Vaults. In this section of the guide, we will cover how to access the Gold Hoarder's Lair and defeat him to finally wrap up this story once and for all.
Before we begin, to complete this part of the guide, you will need to have solved all four Vault Puzzles and collected the Medallions for each one. We will begin this guide from the moment you have placed all four Medallions in the Compass Room.
If you have not found the Shores of Gold or have not obtained all the Medallions, you can follow the appropriate links below to that guide section. We also strongly recommend looking for the Hidden Journals on this adventure. They provide much greater insight into Briggsy, who we believe to be the main character in this whole questline.
- Sea of Thieves | Shores of Gold Tall Tale | How to Find the Shores of Gold
- Sea of Thieves | Shores of Gold Tall Tale | West Vault Guide and Solutions
- Sea of Thieves | Shores of Gold Tall Tale | North Vault Guide and Solutions
- Sea of Thieves | Shores of Gold Tall Tale | East Vault Guide and Solutions
- Sea of Thieves | Shores of Gold Tall Tale | How to Find and Defeat the Gold Hoarder
- Sea of Thieves | Shores of Gold Tall Tale | Hidden Journal Locations
If you're still reading, then you should have obtained the four Compass Medallions and return them to the Compass Room. When you place the final Medallion in its slot in the wall, the platform behind the wall will be revealed. This is where you retrieve the Gold Hoarder Medallion and where we will start this guide.
Sea of Thieves | Shores of Gold Tall Tale | How to Find and Defeat the Gold Hoarder
The first thing you'll want to do is take the Gold Hoarder Medallion you just obtained to your boat. No, really. Take it to your boat and put it somewhere safe. If you have the same experience we did, you'll see that the Shores of Gold are a bit glitchy, and you can easily lose this Medallion in the sand. That being said, you'll want to place this Medallion on your Ship, safe and sound, until you gain access to the Gold Hoarders Lair Entryway.
Related: How to Get Pirate Legend in Sea of Thieves - Pro Game Guides
Step One - Part One: Find the Entrance to the Gold Hoarder's Lair
Remember in the first section of this guide when we told you to park your boat in the northern bay? We have now reached the point in the guide in which you'll be grateful if you did this. As you can see in the image above, the northern bay provides ideal access to the two rows of large statues in the center of the island.
After you have placed the Medallion on your Ship, take a walk to the island's center and look at the large stone statues. If you are looking from the northern bay, you'll see something peculiar about the first statue to your left. At the base of it is a hole big enough for you to fit through! Go through the base of the statue, and you will find that you're blocked from going further by a solid stone block.
This is the entrance to the Gold Horder's Lair. You might now ask: How do we get in?
Step One - Part Two: The Balls and Bayonets Brigade
You must become a Cannonball. If Briggsy's notes weren't hinting enough, we'll tell you: You must fire yourself onto the lap of this statue, as that is how you'll gain access inside. So, head back to your ship, and be ready for some thrillin' heroics!
Don't make the same mistake we did by firing yourselves repeatedly until you land it perfectly. Grab some cannonballs from your stock and start firing at the statue. When the cannonball lobs perfectly into the lap of the statue, you will be ready to fire yourself. Even using this technique, you might still miss a couple of times! That's quite okay, though. Recalculate, make minor adjustments and try again.
When you finally land the shot, you can descend into the hidden room below and activate the lever to open the door. This is where you'll need the Gold Hoarder's Medallion that you picked up earlier. Go back outside, grab it from your Ship, and then take it back to the now accessible Gold Hoarder's Lair Entryway.
Step Two: Brave the Treacherous Path
There isn't much we can provide you in terms of a guide for the pathway to the Gold Hoarder, as it mostly relies on your reflexes and response times. You will find yourself dodging dozens of instant-kill traps, balancing dangerously across narrow platforms, and fending off groups of skeletons on your way down the pathway.
We can, however, suggest a few things!
- Again, look for the Journals on your way. Outside, the island itself held five of the ten Journals for this Tall Tale. The Gold Hoarders Lair contains the other five, and all of them can be found along the way.
- If you see something you can interact with, do it. Every capstan, lever, and pully you'll see on your way down requires you to interact with it to proceed. They'll raise a door, manipulate a path, or do some other action that clears your path.
- Take the traps slowly. Yes, you've probably died several times already and just want to get through it. However, rushing through each trap is the quickest way to die again.
- There are checkpoints. Each major area saves your progress once you find your way through it. Don't despair if your character dies. You'll pick up where you left off instead of returning to your Ship.
Step Three: Defeat the Gold Hoarder!
This is quite possibly the most prolonged and arduous boss battle in the game, not including Flameheart's ghost ship events. The downside to this fight is that you won't have your Ship available to fire cannonballs, so you'll be running around, slicing, shooting, and restocking for quite some time. We have listed tips for this battle below.
Related: How to Get Curses in Sea of Thieves - Pro Game Guides
Gold Hoarder's Strategies
- Dolla' Dolla' Bills, Y'all: The Gold Hoarder has two primary weapons — his Flintlock and his Cutlass. He will effortlessly switch between these depending on the distance of his target. He has deadly aim with his Flintlock, so be ready to dodge, dip, duck, dive, and dodge!
- Make it RAIN: The Gold Hoarder will pull out a chest full of gold coins and begin casually tossing handfuls of them onto the ground. This will cause several skeletons to rise out of the ground and attempt to overwhelm you. Note, this is not the official name of the technique.
- Where My Money At: Like all other Skeleton Bosses, the Gold Hoarder can teleport. The room he's in is big but not massive, so his options for where he might teleport to are pretty limited. He will generally use this as an offensive technique to move closer to his target rather than farther away.
- Got a Hunnit'. Dolla'. BILL: The Gold Hoarder will occasionally SLAM into the ground. This attack scales in damage based on how close you are to him. It also has an area of effect that spans across almost the whole room, so it's doubtful that you won't take at least some damage.
Best Player Strategies
- You Hate to See It: You have no boat! You can't fire cannons at this boss like you normally could. Still, you want to keep your distance from the Gold Hoarder and shoot at him with your gun, if you can.
- Ammo Box: From the room's entrance, you will find an Ammo Box on one of the wooden platforms to the left. Burn through your ammo on him, and rush here to restock!
- Use the Arch in the Middle: A great way to keep your distance is to use the archway through the middle of the room. The AI for the skeletons and the Gold Hoarder isn't great, so you can jump on one side and watch them walk all the way around, then immediately jump back to the other side to make them do it again. The Gold Hoarder will use his Flintlock on you when you do this, though. Be ready to rush and get ammo and food!
- There are plenty of supplies: What we mean by this is that you will find supplies in barrels littered throughout the room. There are ample supplies for at least one person to last throughout the battle.
- For Crews With Multiple People: Have one person focus on the Gold Hoarder, preferably with a ranged weapon. Have another person focus on killing ranged skeletons, and another focused on killing melee skeletons. Clear all skeletons before any more than one person starts attacking Gold Hoarder. They can easily overwhelm you if you don't keep the numbers in check.
What's Next
Once you defeat the Gold Hoarder, you've completed the final Tall Tale! Congratulations! An in-game cutscene will run, and you will finally meet the Pirate Lord and listen to an inspirational dialogue. Upon finishing the Tall Tale, you will receive the Shores of Gold Commendation. From here, you have several options. You can do it again for the money, the Commendations, or to pick up any Hidden Journals you might have missed. If you're feeling brave, you can move on to the next Tall Tale beyond this main questline: The Seabound Soul!
Have you gotten the Commendation for completing The Shroudbreaker Tall Tale five times? Use our guide to help you through it!
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