Be a Pirate Experience Guide: How to Earn EXP and What Leveling Up Gives You

Quick answer

You earn EXP in Be a Pirate by simply playing: sailing around awards EXP on its own, and the tutorial's objectives came with level-ups on a new save. Every level-up announces itself with a LEVEL UP! notice showing your stat gains.

• Sail anywhere — you get EXP every time you just sail around, with no fight or destination required.
• On a new save, the tutorial walked its player into level-ups: talking to Old Finn reached Lv 2, and sinking the Pirate Rowboat - Lv1 for SINK THE PIRATE BOAT! also paid loot and another level-up.
• Expect different-sized gains: the tutorial's Lv 2 notice granted +4 Health and +2% Strength, while a level-7 gain read +9 strength.

How you earn EXP in Be a Pirate

Experience in Be a Pirate comes from playing, not from a side hustle: normal play feeds it to you.

Sail around. You get EXP every time you just sail around, so time on the water counts even without a fight or a destination attached. One captain's first session shows how naturally this stacks up: they hit levels 3, 4, 7 and 8 while sailing between islands, digging up treasure and otherwise just playing the game. If you want somewhere to steer while the EXP ticks in, the Be a Pirate treasure locations list points you at digging spots.

Play through the tutorial. On a new save, the tutorial's early steps came with level-ups. Swimming to shore and talking to Old Finn on Starter Island unlocked your raft with a LEVEL UP! notice straight to Lv 2 — that notice granted +4 Health and +2% Strength — and queued SAIL TO THE SMALL ISLAND as the next objective. A little later, the SINK THE PIRATE BOAT! objective sent a Pirate Rowboat - Lv1 after you; it shoots back, and sinking it rewarded loot and another level-up. Those are the tutorial's own beats on one new save, so treat them as what happened there rather than a promise that every objective or sunken boat repeats the payout. When you get there, the Be a Pirate combat guide covers fighting and the Be a Pirate sailing guide covers life at the helm.

What leveling up gives you

Every level-up announces itself with a LEVEL UP! notice listing your stat gains. The amounts differ from level to level rather than following one fixed formula: the tutorial's Lv 2 notice granted +4 Health and +2% Strength, while a level-7 gain seen in early play read +9 strength. Early levels so far have paid out Health and Strength increases — read each notice to see what your new level actually gave.

The paid option, if you want it

The Pirate Store's Gifts tab lists a 2x Experience gift at 249 Robux, alongside VIP Captain (399 Robux), 2x Treasure Value (449 Robux) and Big Cargo Hold (299 Robux). The listing is what's confirmed — the gift's in-game effect wasn't demonstrated — and it's an optional purchase either way, since normal play was already producing steady level-ups. The Be a Pirate best game passes guide compares the other paid perks.

For the wider picture of moving through Be a Pirate quickly, see how to progress fast.