Sea of Thieves Rats in Season 5 - are they new pet type?

The Buried Treasures update has just sailed into Sea of Thieves, bringing with it plenty of goods and treasures.

You can now bury your treasures and dare other pirates to discover them, enjoy beautiful Fireworks in the night sky, set traps to discourage others from being a busybody, and all kinds of other fun activities.

But the Buried Treasures update has also brought friends with it! Tiny, hairy, whimpering friends. They have boarded your ship, but you haven't seen them before, as they are minuscule stowaways.

We are talking about rats, of course! If you've spotted them since the start of Season 5, you are probably wondering what's their purpose and what can you do with them. 

Read on to learn everything you need to know about rats in Sea of Thieves.

What are rats in Sea of Thieves?

If you have booted up Sea of Thieves since the latest update, you might have stumbled upon these pesky rodents a few times, and if you think that you haven't seen them before in Sea of Thieves, you are right, as they are a part of the Buried Treasures update.

You will spot them on the bottom deck of your ship, scurrying around in a search for places to hide away from your gaze, as they are easily scared. 

Their main function is simply to add another level of immersion into the game, as rats were part of the everyday life for pirates, and now you can watch them roam around your ship in Sea of Thieves as well.

Are rats new pets in Sea of Thieves?

I know, they are irresistible cute little furballs, but unfortunately, you won't be able to pet them in Sea of Thieves. Rats are not a new type of pet, which means that you can neither purchase them nor get them from the Pet Chest.

As a matter of fact, you can not interact with them in any way, they will simply be there on the ship and that's it.

Do rats have any purpose?

So, you can not pet them nor interact with them, they are mostly there as an immersion tool (what's a pirate ship without some rats?), but there's one useful feature they can provide.

As we've already mentioned, rats can be found only on the bottom deck of your ship. But if you see them anywhere above that means danger! Rats like to hide in the shadows, but what they don't like is water, and if they are running to the upper levels, that means that your ship has started filling with tons of water, and you will need to go below and start throwing the water out, and fix the ship.

How to disable rats

If you don't like rats or they make you uncomfortable, Rare thought about that upfront, and this feature was introduced alongside a new option in settings that will allow you to turn off rats and stop them from appearing on your ships.

Here's how to disable them:

• Head to the "Game Options" menu
• Open "Settings"
• Scroll down to "Graphics Settings"
• Find the "Disable Rats on your ship" option
• Toggle it to "On" 

This will prevent rats from showing up on your ship.

So there you have it, it turns out that rats have some utility, the one that can save both you and your ship!

• Read more: Sea of Thieves Plunder Pass Season 5: All unlocks, price, premium rewards and more

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Featured image courtesy of Rare.