Ultimate Guide to Forsaken Shores (updated 10/11)

How to Survive the Devil’s Roar and Complete the Campaign

Editor’s Note: This guide was updated on 10/11 with the release of the Cargo Run update.

The Forsaken Shores event launches with 23 commendations totaling 185 Bilge Rat Doubloons, 2 unique Titles, and access to exclusive time limited rewards. It starts today on 9/27/18, and will continue for four weeks, with more features, commendations, and titles coming in Week 3. This guide will walk you through how to earn each commendation, and give strategies for dealing with the obstacles in the new Devil’s Roar world region.

Who are the Bilge Rats?

Duke the Bilge Rat is an adventurer that can be found in any of the game’s Taverns (where you spawn). Talk to him to find out about the current in game event that’s taking place. Events like the Forsaken Shores present challenges for you to complete, called “Commendations”, which will earn Doubloons, a special currency that can only be used in Duke’s shop, and can purchase limited-time event-exclusive cosmetic items, as well as gold and reputation levels in the game’s three reputation factions. You can find out what the current available commendations are by opening the menu, navigating to “Reputation”, and selecting Bilge Rats.

For this event, Duke’s shop contains new “Forsaken Ashes” cosmetic items. This includes a skin for each weapon type (cutlass, pistol, blunderbuss, and eye of reach) for 15 doubloons each, and one of each ship livery item (sail, hull, figurehead, and flag) for 40 doubloons each. This is the most items and most total doubloon cost of any limited time event so far. You can earn the doubloons after the event ends, but you will not be able to buy these items after Forsaken Shores is over.

Commendation Breakdown

There are three general tasks that need to be tackled to earn your doubloons, but luckily you can work on all three at once. I’ll lay out everything that needs to be done first before I explain the optimal strategy for tackling these commendations.

The first and easiest task is to Discover each of the new Devil’s Roar region’s 15 islands. To discover an island, simply set foot upon its shores. Doing this will earn you 5 doubloons per island for a total of 75 doubloons, and once you’ve got all 15, you earn the “Devil’s Cartographer” title.

NOTE: You must have the Devil’s Cartographer title to purchase the Forsaken Ashes items, including the Time Limited ones in Duke’s shop and the others found in the shops on Morrow’s Peak Outpost.

The second task is to Investigate the fates of 5 deceased pirates (the first pirates to discover the Devil’s Roar) found on islands in the region. You’ll know you’ve found one of these pirates because they’ll be adorned with some fiery goblet or necklace, and approaching their skeleton prompts you to press “action” to investigate. Doing so will earn 10 doubloons per pirate, for a total of 50 doubloons, and once you talk to Captain Morrow on Morrow’s Peak outpost, you’ll find the Forsaken Ashes tattoo set in the vanity chest.

The final task is to Voyage- that is, complete Devil’s Roar voyages. To do voyages in the Devil’s Roar, you’ll need to first sail to Morrow’s Peak Outpost in that region, where you’ll be able to buy Devil’s Roar exclusive Gold Hoarder and Order of Soul voyages. Doing 5 Devil’s Roar Gold Hoarder Voyages and Order of Souls voyages will earn you 15 doubloons each. Once you’ve done both of those commendations, you earn “Master Devil’s Roar Voyager”, worth another 30 doubloons and a title.

NOTE: Voyages found in Messages in a Bottle DO NOT count towards completing your commendations!

Once you’ve completed each of these commendations, you’ll earn the Forsaken Shores scar.

UPDATED on 10/11:

A new type of Merchant Voyage called “Cargo Runs” was added to the Forsaken Shores campaign on 10/11, bringing with it new commendations/titles/doubloons for completing these Voyages. Unless you’ve been saving up from past adventures, you’ll need to earn some of these new commendations to afford the Forsaken Ashes items. I’ve written a separate GUIDE TO CARGO RUNS which breaks down the new voyage type and how to earn the new Commendations, which you can find here.

Best Strategy

You could certainly tackle each commendation one at a time, first traveling to every island, then seeking out the forsaken pirate remains, and finally settling in to doing voyages, but you’d be wasting a lot of time.

The best way to tackle this event is to work backwards- focus on doing voyages from the outset, and in doing so you will naturally travel to every island in the region over time, including the final resting places of the aforementioned pirates.

On that note, if your intention is to experience the event’s story organically and without spoilers, be sure to start your journey on Liar’s Backbone on the eastern edge of The Wilds, where you’ll find Stitcher Jim and learn about the Forsaken Shores Alliance, whose corpses you plan to investigate. From there, travel to Morrow’s Peak Outpost, and talk to the NPCs in and around the tavern. Doing so will fill you in on the lore and backstory of this event, if you are interested in exploring those aspects of the game. Do voyages throughout the region, and on each island you visit, search for the remains of those poor forgotten sailors- they will be hard to spot, but the search will help you become familiar with the new landscapes of the Devil’s Roar.

However, if searching blindly for pirate skeletons becomes too frustrating for you and you’re looking for the SPOILERS, I’ve included details of their whereabouts at the very bottom of the guide.

By the time you’ve completed the voyaging commendations, you’ll certainly have set foot on every island in the region and earned the Devil’s Cartographer title, and likely discovered the fallen pirates as well. Does it all sound too easy? Well my friend, nothing is easy in The Devil’s Roar…

The Devil’s Roar

Let’s not mince words here- The Devil’s Roar is the game’s Hard Mode. You will become frustrated trying to survive the onslaught of environmental rage, and you will fail over and over. Even when you think you are safe, you won’t be. Luckily, all the loot you find here are exclusive varieties such as Ashen variants of chests and skulls, new gold hoarder trinkets, and volcanic resource themed Merchant crates- and all these items are 50–100% more valuable than the stuff you’re used to.

So let’s break down the region and its threats to better prepare you for the difficult voyages ahead.

Small Islands vs Big Islands

“Big Islands” in the Devil’s Roar are all home to an active volcano ready to erupt at any time, and that brings with it particular dangers. Lava floor zones and super heated water which happen concurrently with eruptions are exclusive threats to the large islands… but Small Islands are not safe zones. Small Islands are still susceptible to Geysers and Earthquakes, but more important to note is that they are all within range of a nearby active volcano and its molten rock barrages. The Big Islands are NOT the only active volcanoes in the region, with just as many more found on mountainous rocks stationed around the seas. Small Islands are just as much in the blast radius of a volcano as any large island!

Morrow’s Peak Outpost

Near the center of the Devil’s Roar is the region’s only outpost, and the only place you can purchase Devil’s Roar voyages, as well as the new cosmetic Ocean Crawler, Kraken, and Forsaken Ashes sets. Luckily, it is NOT the only place you can sell Devil’s Roar loot- any loot you encounter can also be sold outside the Devil’s Roar at the other outposts around the seas. If some pirate wants to camp the outpost and not allow sales to take place, run to Ancient Spire instead (you’ll also need to do this for merchant crates until the third week of the event, when the Merchant Alliance representative gets added to Morrow’s Peak outpost).

Be warned while checking out the shops here though. The design philosophy behind The Devil’s Roar is that nowhere is safe, and that includes the outpost- Morrow’s Peak is home to an active volcano that can and will erupt, albeit less frequently than the others in the region.

Geysers

Likely the first danger you’ll encounter when setting foot on an otherwise peaceful island are the shooting geysers. Some of these are built into the terrain, but most pop up seemingly at random. Get caught standing on top of one, and you’ll be blasted sky high and susceptible to harsh fall damage if you happen to land on a hard surface.

How to deal with them?

Watch where you’re walking! When a geyser is about to burst, you’ll see the ground crack open with a second or so of lead time before it shoots its jet of water. Avoid these spots at all costs! If you do get launched, sometimes you can aim your descent towards a pool or the sea to negate the fall damage.

NOTE: Geysers hurt skeletons! Lure mobs of them to their doom and clear waves incredibly quickly!

Earthquakes

When a volcanic eruption is imminent, the ground will begin to shake. This makes it hard to sprint, which is dangerous when volcanic hellfire is on its way. Furthermore, the waters surrounding the island are also shaken up, which can gyrate a ship around and even push it out to sea if you haven’t dropped its anchor.

How to deal with them?

There’s nothing you can do to avoid Earthquakes, but luckily they don’t kill you. It’s what they indicate is coming next you should be afraid of! When the ground begins to shake, you better get back to your ship and get the hell out of dodge, or find a tunnel/cave to hide in during the eruption- and do it fast. They can sometimes be a false alarm, shaking the ground for a minute before returning to normal… but don’t take that chance.

Volcanic Rock

After some time of sustained quakes, you’ll hear the thundering crack of the mountain bursting open, coinciding with the visual change of fire appearing at the mouth of the volcano and smoke rising into the air. At this point, the volcano is pissed and god has forsaken you, as volleys of rock are about to start shooting out of it. The sky will darken, clouds will form overhead, and bits of ash and cinder will begin to drop. The molten rocks come in waves roughly a couple seconds apart (though the rhythm is random), with each wave shooting as few as five and as many as twenty rocks throughout the land and sea. If it helps you to understand, you should consider these rocks to be the same as cannonballs, with dozens if not hundreds of them being fired out of the mountain over the course of minutes of a sustained tantrum. And also like cannonballs, the AI will aim at you- it is not entirely random, and if you sit still in its range, you WILL be hit. This includes running around on the surface of the island, or sitting/sailing in a boat or rowboat.

How to deal with them?

Run for your life. When you’re in the vicinity of an erupting Volcano, you are going to be hit and possibly die. Your only hope is to respond quickly and sail away, and if you do park at one of these islands, make sure you position your boat so that a quick getaway is already setup before you head to shore. If your plan is to park your boat at a “safe distance”, make sure you park farther away than you think you have to- the blast range is tremendous.

If your ship is hit, you’ll take damage as with any cannonfire hit, and you can repair the damage accordingly. Larger crews and larger ships make surviving much more manageable- don’t expect to make much progress as a solo Slooper. Furthermore, if you want to stay on the island through the duration of an eruption, you better have a good place to hide. Most of the volcanic islands have a cave or tunnel for this purpose.

And keep in mind- just because an eruption recently finished, doesn’t mean another one is ten or more minutes away. The frequency between eruptions is random, and you WILL encounter the scenario where three eruptions happen in quick succession with two minutes or less between them. Always be ready for the worst case scenario.

Lava Floor Zones and Super Heated Water

Through the duration of an eruption, from the point when the smoke blows out the volcano’s top, two environmental threats will begin to effect the land and sea around the island.

Lava Floor Zones look like lava flows covering pre-designated swaths of the land area on the island. These zones are patchy and not all encompassing, and will even cover parts of cave floors where you’re trying to stay safely hidden from god’s rage above. The Zones are indicated by red hot lava textures that move like fluid on the sand floor, and setting foot on them will begin to drain your health.

Super Heated Water would make you delicious if you were a crab, but since you’re a pirate it only makes you dead. Like the Lava Floor Zones, Super Heated Water will gradually drain your health if you set foot in it. This affects water around a certain radius of the island, as well as any interior pools.

Both of these environmental threats will continue to impact the island for a duration after the ground stops shaking and the volleys of rock stop flying.

How to deal with them?

Look, don’t touch. If you made a quick escape from the island when the eruption began, you won’t have to deal with these dangers unless you race back to shore quickly after the eruption stops and the Lava Floor Zones and Super Heated Waters are still active. You can tell a floor becomes safe again once the lava texture subsides, and as for water, an auditory bubbling effect and visual bubbling/color change indicate the danger.

If you plan to hide out on the island during an eruption, find a safe spot inside a cavern that is NOT in standing water and also not on top of a lava floor texture, and you’ll be fine. Just don’t plan on getting anything done until the eruption subsides- even if you could avoid the lava floors throughout the island, the volcanic rock would take you out. Sit tight and wait.

If you’re a little late running back to your boat but still want to make the trek after the lava floors and waters become active, watch where you step, swim the shortest distance possible, and ALWAYS have bananas on hand for such an occasion.

Other Tips

If you’re doing Gold Hoarder voyages, travel in packs. You never know how long you have before the next eruption, so multiple pirates sticking together instead of splitting up will speed up finding each chest individually and digging it out of the ground. Try to form alliances! With so many players coming to explore one region and there only being a single outpost, knowing who you can trust is valuable information. Every crew you have a civil conversation with and form an alliance is one less crew you have to be afraid of when you see a ship on the sea. Be skeptical of any ships that are camping at Morrow’s Peak outpost, and be prepared to sail farther if you don’t think it’s safe to cache in your goods. Cursed Crews Commendations still earn doubloons! The Cursed Crews event was the first of a new policy going forward in which all doubloons from commendations are no longer time limited. Since a big part of that event was doing voyages while flying the Reaper’s Mark, you can knock out two birds with one stone if you do Devil’s Roar voyages with the Reaper’s Mark on. If you’re in a large crew, try keeping one pirate sailing the boat at a safe distance around the island while the rest are doing work on the surface. This is much safer than parking in harm’s way or leaving the boat unattended at sea. Use the rowboat! Rowboats are new to this update and can be found washed up on beaches at random. If you find one, you can sit down to operate its oars, and maneuver it to the rear of your boat where it can be docked and taken with you. This comes in great handy in the Devil’s Roar, where you can load up supplies, bodies, and loot on a satellite vessel while your main ship is positioned far from danger.

NOTE: The RB and LB bumpers (or PC equivalent function) will dig the left or right oar in like a brake, allowing for sharp turns! Stay stocked up. Before entering the Devil’s Roar you might want to stock up heavily on planks and bananas, and find yourself a rowboat. While in the Devil’s Roar, resources aren’t as easy to come by, though you can still find resource barrels in the sea on occasion, and Sea Posts (there are two per region) tend to have half a dozen barrels or so. If you find a bound box with glowing runes on it, congratulations. That’s the “Box of Wondrous Secrets”, discussed in dialogue by both Stitcher Jim and Captain Morrow. This random loot drop is extremely rare… but it you bring it to Captain Morrow on Morrow’s Peak outpost, it sells for 25,000 gold

SPOILERS: Locations of all Five Deceased Pirates

The following contains SPOILERS. If you don’t want to be SPOILED, do not look at these SPOILERS.

…Are you still here?

Ok. There are five pirate remains you need to investigate, and each one gives you 10 doubloons. They are found on five islands throughout the Devil’s Roar region.

“Fetcher” Farley is of course on Fetcher’s Rest. Head up the hill to the west side of the island, and at the very end, turn around and look back. Leaning against a rock on the right will be your skeleton.

Ruby Carter is found on Ruby’s Fall. Appropriately, she died from a fall- you can find her around the midpoint of the island in the canyon between the north and south heights, just beneath the plank of wood that bridges them.

Old Coop is found on Devil’s Thirst. Travel all the way up the hill on the north east side, and laying beneath a large pair of shark jaws is your guy.

“Flintlock” Bert is naturally on Flintlock Peninsula. On the north side, walk along the shoreline at sea level, and pay close attention to the boulders along the wall of rock. Flintlock is pinned against a rock in this area.

Hepzibah Jones is not on Ashen Reaches as you might have predicted (with it being the last of the large sized islands)- the remains are surprisingly found on Forsaken Brink laying beneath an over-turned rowboat shelter.

After you’ve investigated all five pirates, Captain Morrow on Morrow’s Peak Outpost and Stitcher Jim on Liar’s Backbone will have new lines of dialogue, and talking to Captain Morrow will earn you the Forsaken Ashes Tattoo Set. Happy Voyaging!