I’ve been playing Sea of Thieves for a few decades now, always as a solo sloop however only recently have I made an attempt to solo a skull fort due to the common misconception that they are ‘impossible’ to do without a crew however I recently managed to do it so I thought I’d share my advice.

1. Preparation - Make sure you are stockpiled full of resources, these can be gained on outposts or any islands with a large number of barrels. Bananas and Wood are most essential but Cannon balls will be needed.

2. Approach - On approach you will be met by a barrage of cannon shots, I’ve seen many say to take these out however I would say do NOT kill the cannons, all the forts have areas to park your ship that cannot get hit by cannons and they act as great defence to any other incoming ships and are really on your side as they give you a heads up of any incoming players. Try to position your ship where the fort is easily accessible, make sure sails are up, I would recommend not lowering the anchor (ships can’t move with sails all the way up and makes you more hidden) this makes for a quick getaway if need be.

3. Load out - This is really down to personal preference but with the tactic I used the most effective loadout was a cutlass and blunder buss although it’s really down to you, my choice becomes clearer when I explain my tactics.

4. Establish Territory - This is a crucial step as it can make skull forts so much easier if you select the right area. During the first wave, try to find where all the barrels containing bananas are situated and where the ammo boxes are placed. My recommendation would be a large enough open area with few obstacles, with bananas and ammo boxes in close vicinity, once this is found then begin the attack.

5. Tactics - The most easiest and effective tactic I found was as followed. Run in a circle round the area creating a large group of skeletons behind you, once they have all spawned and are bunched behind you, quickly turn around and blast them with the blunderbuss, trying to hit as many as possible, quickly reload and get running again, trying to maintain a far enough distance so they can’t damage you but close enough to deal large damage with the blunder buss. Keep doing this (replenish ammo and heal when need be) until there is only a small group left, then using sword dash and quick swings, pick them off with your cutlass, you will find a lot of them are one shot kills as they will be damaged from the blunderbuss strikes. I repeated this tactic for all the waves, don’t worry if you die, you will respawn on your ship and you can’t get straight back into the action. Skeleton types may differ also, with gold skeletons, if there is a water patch lure them into there, they will rust and are a much easier kill, if not, lure them to the shore or throw buckets of water at them. The overgrown skeletons are simple enough, just do the opposite and keep them away from water where they are stronger. Black skeletons can be difficult at night, just use a lantern to expose a group at once and pick them off with your blunder buss and cutlass, during the day they should be an easy kill.

6. Final Round - After around a dozen waves a ‘boss’ will join which will be a skeleton just like the rest but with a red name above, just continue using the same tactic however they will be harder to kill as the have increased health. Upon death they will drop a stronghold key which will unlock the fort.

7. Looting - Before opening the stronghold, have a good check for enemy ships so that you are not in threat of being attacked. Once opened there will be loads of chests, skulls and cargo. The stronghold variants (those with bones attached on chests, gunpowder barrels and cargo and leather straps on skulls) are most expensive and I would recommend leaving them till last so no one sneaks aboard your ship and steals them. Then one by one put them on your ship, be wary of the stronghold gunpowder barrel as these can easily destroy your ship if it blows up so store it in the crows nest (unless in a storm which i was, then store it below deck) Once loaded up head immediately for the nearest clear outpost, keeping a lookout out for ships. If you spot a close ship, try to avoid them using islands as cover and using the wind to your advantage.

8. Selling - Once at the outpost, be quick so you don’t risk being attacked, sell the stronghold items first this time and one by one sell the items to the required trading company. Then after 30-60 mins (depends on how effective you are on each wave and types of skeletons) it’s done and you will be 15-20k better off

So thats how I did it and I hope it helps, it’s an extremely rewarding experience knowing you’ve done it yourself and the amount of coin your get from completing it. Happy to answer any questions and will helps where I can. Good luck on your voyages👍