How to get the Warning Shot Commendation in Sea of Thieves

The Warning Shot Commendation in Sea of Thieves requires you to set off a Signal Flare when another crew is nearby. Check the status of this Commendation any time by opening the menu, tabbing over to Pirate Log, selecting Reputation, Bilge Rats, and Buried Treasure, then tabbing to the second page. There, you should see Warning Shot in the top-left corner. If the tile doesn’t have a checkmark on it that marks it as complete, this guide will tell you how to get it.

Grabbing Flares and Finding a Crew

The first step is to grab some Signal Flares. If you feel confident in your abilities and timing, your ship comes pre-stocked with two Signal Flares, meaning you don’t necessarily have to look for more. If you do need more, however, you can find some randomly in Resource Barrels.

The next step is to find another crew. Though we haven’t tested whether this Commendation unlocks if you fire a Flare next to another crew who’s off their ship on an island, this guide outlines the much more common scenario, which is firing a Flare close to a manned enemy ship. Locate one easily on the map by searching for moving Reaper’s Marks. You can also travel to an active event or just sail around the world while keeping an eye on the horizon. There are a number of different ways to find an enemy ship, and you are guaranteed to spot one in time.

Related: How to get the Down with the Ship Commendation in Sea Thieves

Setting Off a Flare

After you’ve found an enemy ship, you can proceed to either make friends (using voice chat, text chat, etc.) who will allow you to get the Commendation without conflict, or you can go in as a blatant hostile. Both options work for this Commendation, as long as you think you can get in close to the enemy’s ship. Before you go in, make sure you’ve loaded a Flare into one of your Cannons (select the Flare from your inventory and hold Y next to a Cannon) or at least have one in your inventory ready to load.

Sail directly at the enemy ship if you must. But once you get in close, proceed to fire off a Flare into the sky using Right Trigger (RT). The Warning Shot Commendation should unlock. Remember that it takes a few seconds for the fuse to burn as you’re firing, so keep that in mind if you’re in imminent danger. On another note: we haven’t tested whether this Commendation unlocks by setting off a Flare close to a crew you have an alliance with, but it doesn’t hurt to try if you get the chance.