Windrose Buried Treasure: All Locations & Shovel Guide

Hunting for buried treasure is one of the most rewarding and exciting adventures you can embark on in Windrose! To help you navigate these puzzles smoothly, here is a friendly guide to understanding the treasure system and uncovering the first few hidden chests.

The Three Paths to Treasure

The treasure hunting system in Windrose is beautifully designed and runs on three distinct tracks:

• The Main Side Quest
• The Traveling Journal Collection (Exquemelin's Treasures)
• The Blackbeard Crew Maps (which unlock as you discover new islands)

Taking things one step at a time makes these hunts a delightful addition to your journey!

Exquemelin's Treasures: The Traveling Journal Collection

Alexandre Exquemelin was an intrepid traveler who left seven journal notes across various Traveler’s Camps throughout the islands. Finding these notes is a fantastic way to secure high-quality items!

• The Landmark: Each note leads you to a specific chest marked by a unique visual cue: a white tree with a red rag tied around its trunk.
• Tracking Your Progress: All collected notes are neatly saved in the Curios tab of your inventory menu. This tab stores all your documents, diary entries, and maps. Checking it regularly ensures you always know your next clue!
• A Quick Note on Loot: While the chest locations and notes are fixed, the treasure inside is randomized, giving you a fun surprise every time you open one!

Here is how to find the first three treasures in the collection:

Exquemelin #1: "Twist of Fancy"

• Where to Find the Note: Visit the Southwest Traveler’s Camp on the first island. You'll find a quiet camp with a extinguished campfire; simply loot the chest inside the tent to find the note.
• How to Find the Chest: From the camp, face west and look for the iconic white tree with the red rag. Before you dig, look closely at the ground for sparkles on the southwest side of the tree.
• Potential Loot Includes: Gunpowder, Healing Potions, and Great Healing Potions.

Exquemelin #2: "Relative Cost"

• Where to Find the Note: Head over to the Traveler's Camp on the second island and open the exterior chest to claim the journal entry.
• How to Find the Chest: Travel southwest from the camp until you spot the white tree with the red cloth. Use your shovel to dig on the western side of the tree.
• Potential Loot Includes: Rum Bottles, Brandy, and Madeira.

Exquemelin #3: "A Hat Worth Boarding For"

• Where to Find the Note: This note is located on the island featuring the Fisherman’s Hut, Smuggler’s Cache, Copper Deposit, and Jungle Cave (the same island where you encounter the Sacrificial Lamb side quest). Look inside the tent chest for the entry.
• How to Find the Chest: Head north from the camp to locate the red-rag tree, and use your shovel on the northwest side.
• Potential Loot Includes: Elixirs of Cruelty and the Gold Temple Jug.

Tips for Future Discoveries

There are seven notes in total for this collection. The remaining four are tied to later islands that you will beautifully discover as you progress through the main story.

The formula remains wonderfully consistent: visit a Point of Interest, check the Traveler's Camp tent for a note, look for the red-rag tree, and dig in the indicated direction. Taking your time to thoroughly explore each island's unique locations ensures you won't miss a single one of these fantastic rewards! Happy hunting!

Island positions are procedurally generated in Windrose, meaning you cannot be given a coordinate and told to walk there. What you can be given is a list of Points of Interest that identify the correct island, and that is exactly what follows. Once you have a map, the dig site appears marked on your world map. When you reach the location, look for a grave or a mound of dirt with a skeleton nearby. The skeleton is your confirmation that you are standing in the right spot, not your GPS coordinates.

The Blackbeard treasure map locations in Windrose drop from chests in Pirate Camps. You will not find them until you leave the starting island, at which point Blackbeard Pirate Camps begin appearing with some regularity across the archipelago. Loot every chest in every camp. The maps are in there somewhere, waiting patiently.

The Second Blackbeard Map requires extra work: the chest is locked, and opening it means killing Lieutenants and Musketeers inside the Ancient Ruins outpost to collect keys. This is the game's way of ensuring you feel you earned it. You did earn it. You also may not survive it on a first attempt with underpowered gear, so managing expectations before charging in is advisable.

All three caches consistently reward Piastre, Silver Ingots, and Blackbeard Style Books for your ship. The Style Books are cosmetic. The Piastres and Silver Ingots are not. Piastres are the primary spender currency in Windrose, used for vendors, trading, and faction purchases at Tortuga. Having more of them is better than having fewer of them. This is not profound advice. It is still correct.

Treasure locations found via ruins chests and underwater wrecks can also point to buried caches on other islands, marked by a glowing X on arrival. The skeleton near each dig site is your confirmation. These are separate from the Blackbeard maps but follow the same dig-and-collect logic. Explore methodically. Check everything. Read the notes the game gives you. The notes contain the answers. Yes, this has to be said explicitly.

Treasure chest loot in Windrose divides into fixed rewards and randomized hauls depending on the chest type. Knowing which is which prevents the uniquely deflating experience of expecting a Rapier of a Thousand Cuts and receiving three bottles of rum.'

The Rapier of a Thousand Cuts deserves a special mention. Buried under the red-rag tree on the first island, it applies Bleeding that stacks up to five times, dealing 40 damage per second per stack. At five stacks that is 200 damage per second on top of direct hits. For hit-and-run combat early in the game, this is genuinely excellent, and it is sitting in the ground waiting for the seven out of ten players who will walk past the tree without reading the note.