This achievement requires you to finish a month in the top tier of the Emissary Ledger for Gold Hoarders 5 times.
What is the Emissary Ledger?This is a live leaderboard which tracks the value of items sold to the Gold Hoarders while you have their emissary flag raised. The leaderboard is split into 4 tiers each representing a 25% portion of the player base that have sold anything to the Gold Hoarders with the emissary flag raised in that month. For this achievement you need to make it to the Captain tier, which is for the top 25% of the players,
and remain there until the ledger resets at the end of the calendar month. As you need to do this 5 times, it will take at least 5 seperate months of playing to unlock this.
Because this is a live leaderboard, it is completely possible to rise and fall through the tiers. You are not safe if you hit the top tier part way through the month. You can keep track of your current position in real time either within the game (Reputation > Gold Hoarders > Emissary Ledger) or at the Sea of Thieves website:
https://www.seaofthieves.com/leaderboards/GoldHoarders/globa...How do I gain Emissary Value?First you need to raise the Gold Hoarders Emissary flag. In order to raise their flag you will first need to reach level 20 with them and unlock the associated title from any outpost. Then you can buy their flag for 20,000 gold. Alternatively if anyone in your crew has the flag unlocked they can vote to raise it first, which will allow you to do the same.
Once the flag is raised, anything you sell to the Gold Hoarders will gain you emissary value. However it is more efficient to first raise your emissary grade up to the maximum of grade 5. This is done by progressing and completing Gold Hoarder quests, finding Gold Hoarder loot (and again for placing it on your ship), and through other world activities like sinking skeleton ships, fleets, Megalodon, Kraken, forts, etc. You gain a multiplier on everything you sell the higher your tier is:
Grade 1: No Bonus
Grade 2: +33% bonus
Grade 3: +67% bonus
Grade 4: +100% bonus
Grade 5: +150% bonus
So selling loot at grade 5 will earn you 2.5x as much gold and emissary reputation. It will also unlock a special grade 5 quest, which will give you four islands in the nearby area with a total of 20 Captains Chests to dig up. Getting to grade 5 and completing this quest is the fastest way to gain emissary value, and I've found that completing the grade 5 quest 2-3 times a month is normally sufficient to finish in the top tier.
This will also be a huge help working towards the 360 Captains Chests achievement:
Remember to beware of Reapers and other players when doing this in general, as you will lose your current emissary grade if your ship sinks. Reapers will show up on the map on your ship, but you are taking a risk trusting any player ship in this game. Also don't forget to drop your flag when you are done (or if you are staying on long enough to get to grade 5 again before you sell), as that will net you another 5000 gold each time.
I recommend keeping an eye on the live ledger and keeping high enough above it to feel comfortable as the month comes to an end.
Please let me know if you have any suggestions or improvements.