One of the best ways to acquire resources, increase your Infamy Rank, and gain XP in Skull and Bones is through Plundering. This feature allows you to take on an entire settlement, guard towers, and several ships all in the name of securing some precious loot.
The Plundering system in Skull and Bones can be somewhat complicated when you first see it, though. You have the option to Plunder a plethora of small settlements across the map, which begins a staged engagement you need to survive in order to secure the maximum amount of rewards. To see exactly how to Plunder your way to victory in Skull and Bones, take a look at the guide below.
How Plunder works in Skull and Bones
First and foremost, you can only Plunder settlements that you’re unable to dock at on the map. This means a settlement like Sainte-Anne or the Sacred Tree can’t be plundered. Instead, you need to look for settlements that don’t have the fast travel icon on them or are surrounded by a guard tower or two. As you can see in the screenshot below, my ship is right near two guard towers along with a small settlement.
When you approach one of these settlements, two options will appear on your screen: “Interact” and “Plunder.” If you choose the interact option, a menu pops up that allows you to trade with the settlement. You can also complete contracts and other quests this way.
The Plunder option rolls a small cutscene that shows some of your crew members getting off the ship. After the cutscene plays, you’ll be in combat with the settlement and any guard towers that are nearby. At the top of your screen will be text that says “Kill all enemies” and two icons, one of a tower and another of a ship. If either of those icons is lit red with a number next to it, you need to eliminate whatever it’s telling you.
For example, if you see the ship icon is red with a “1” next to it, there is a single ship nearby you need to take down, either by sinking or boarding it. If the tower icon is red, you need to deplete the HP of any nearby guard towers or the settlement itself. Once you have eliminated everything you need to, you’ll see a gold treasure chest icon appear on your HUD. Go over to the icon’s location to loot your rewards.
You’ll also see four treasure chest icons at the top of your screen, which indicate your current progress in the Plunder. To fully complete a Plunder, you need to loot four treasure chests, which means eliminating four stages of enemy ships/towers. Each stage brings new enemies to defeat, and you have to defeat them over and over to complete the Plunder. After each stage is finished, you can loot another treasure chest in the water.
When the final chest has been looted, a cutscene plays showing your crew coming back aboard the ship and you’ll get a notification on your screen that says “Plunder Completed.” You can eventually go back and Plunder the same location again, but only after a cooldown period has passed.
Plundering is a high-risk, high-reward task in Skull and Bones. You can make out like a bandit with a ton of loot, but there are also multiple enemies all trying to take down your ship at once. I recommend starting in the lower-level areas of the map when you first try to Plunder a settlement and only work your way up after you’ve upgraded your ship’s armor and weapons.