Back in season 8, Sea of Thieves added the Hourglass to the game, and along with it PvP factions that you level up by earning Allegiance. These Allegiances offer the two most desired curses in the game, the Skeleton Curse for the Servants of the Flame, and the Ghost Curse for the Guardians of Fortune.

However to unlock these spectacular curses you need to reach rank 100 in the faction with your desired curse (or both if you really want both!) This grind can take days, possibly weeks or months for casual players. So what is the best way fastest way to raise your allegiance in Sea of Thieves.

Hourglass Allegiance Explained

When you fight an Hourglass battle, you get Allegiance at the end of it. This Allegiance gain is based on how big your streak is, what your Treasure Stash ranking is, and most importantly whether you won or lost.

Streaks

Every time you win a match, your streak increases. This number increases infinitely, but the bonus Allegiance caps out at 4. For example, your 5th win in a streak will reward as much Allegiance as your 20th.

Hourglass Value

You also receive gold and Allegiance for selling your Hourglass after a battle. This reward also increases based on your streak and is also multiplied by your Emissary Grade (Athena’s Fortune for Guardians, Reaper’s Bones for Servants). So don’t forget to raise your flags!

Best Way to Grind Hourglass Allegiance

Win!

We’re getting this out of the way because the Sea of Thieves community can get heated if not a little toxic. But yes, we’re all aware that if you simply win all your matches and play often that is the fastest way to grind allegiance. Congratulations. You figured it out.

If you’re just in it for the curses there’s some tips ahead that will help you.

Two is Plenty

The general consensus among players is that a two-streak is the right balance of risk vs. reward for Hourglass PvP. If you sell after 2 wins, you manage to take home a small prize and can consistently work towards your curses.

The reason for 2 wins is that after your second victory you should be Grade 5 on your Emissary for max gold value. You can sell your Hourglass, your Emissary Flag, then rinse and repeat!

Don’t Waste Your Time

This is especially true for solo sloop battles. Value. Your. Time. If you want those curses you need to take your ego out of it. A mediocre crew can extend fights forever if they’re that stubborn about not losing. If your opponent stops engaging in combat and just plays peek-a-boo around nearby islands, you need to consider whether or not to continue.

It may be better to just sail out of bounds and try again if a fight looks like it will take longer than 10 minutes. Even if you win, one or two victories an hour won’t get you those curses anytime soon.

Wait for Community Weekend!

Community Weekends are held once a season and give a huge boost to Allegiance gain. If you don’t particularly enjoy PvP or if you don’t want to dedicate that much time to Hourglass, these are your golden tickets. Also the Hourglass queue should be full of players also trying to grind. You might run into loss farmers, or aggressive players looking for quick sinks. Even if you lose, you’ll be stacking up Allegiance fast.

Loss Farming

Some members of the community hate this, but if you REALLY want those curses and/or don’t enjoy Hourglass PvP, then you can loss farm. Just turn on audio in the background or set Sea of Thieves to a second monitor. While you’re watching YouTube or even playing another game you can grind Allegiance. Just pay enough attention to raise anchor, queue to invade in Hourglass, and sail into the distance every couple of minutes.

This is incredibly slow but can be done passively.