The Fair Return
What it is
The world boss of the island. A colossal hermit crab that wears the wreck of an old brig as its shell, with the brig's own anchor on its chain. Once a day it rises out of the sea off Keel Bay and fights on the beach, and anyone on the island can take it on, together.
When it rises
Once a day, at 13:00, 13:05, 13:10 and so on up to 13:30 UTC, or at 15:00 to 15:30 UTC. The day's time is picked at random from those, and the island tells you an hour ahead, below. It rises over 8 seconds, and stays up for 2.5 hours. It never sinks while it is being fought, and it sinks 20 seconds after it falls. There is one kill a day.
- An hour before: a chat line, "The sea stirs off Keel Bay", with the time. Chat shows it in your own local time.
- 15 minutes before: a second line.
- From an hour before until it falls or sinks: a countdown at the top of the screen, and a marker for the spot on the big map.
- When it has surfaced: a third line says how long it stays.
Where
Keel Bay, new land east of the town. From the end of the street a wooden ramp leads down to a long beach, and the crab rises out of the sea off the sand, facing the shore. It is out of reach for the 8 seconds it takes to rise.
How to join
- Walk down to the beach before it rises, or run in while it is up. There is no queue and no crew needed: hit it, heal or shield another fighter, or hold it, and you are in the fight.
- Standing near it counts for nothing. Only hitting it, healing or shielding the others, or being its target does.
- Its health is set from the people who fight it and their gear: each fighter who joins adds to it, and it never goes down again. A small group does not beat it. It is built for about six well-geared players and up.
- While you fight it, your party frames become raid frames, your own crew on top.
- If everyone near it is gone for 30 seconds, or The Deep Calls lands, the fight is lost and it starts over. While it is still up, it can be pulled again.
- Guests can fight it too, and are paid on their character like anyone else.
What it does
| Move | What happens |
|---|---|
| Pincer | Its plain swing at whoever holds it, every 2 seconds. No warning on the ground. |
| Hull Slam | A red cone on whoever holds it, turning with them. Anyone else standing in it takes the same blow. |
| Barnacle Shot, Hurled Hull | If whoever holds it stands out of reach, the blow is thrown at them instead. |
| Brine Surge | A pulse every 20 seconds on everyone within 50 metres: it cannot be dodged. It leaves a soak that ticks for 20 seconds, so the healers have work whatever the size of the group. |
| Fouled Anchor | A red circle on one fighter who is not holding it. It follows them for a few seconds, then locks and lands. The marked fighter takes a quarter of their health and is knocked back, and anyone else inside the circle dies. Run it clear of everyone. |
| The clock | From 20 minutes in, everything it does gains another 15% each minute. |
| The Deep Calls | At 25 minutes every fighter near it dies, and the fight is lost. |
What to bring
- A character at level 10 or higher, to be paid.
- Your best gear. Its blows and its health both grow with the group's gear.
- A group: a tank to hold it, healers to carry the Surge, and damage. Any class can come.
- Time: an average group takes about 17 minutes.
- A way to get to the bay before it rises. A mount is 40% faster on the island.
What it pays
Each fighter who did their part is paid once a day, when it falls. You need to be level 10 or higher, to have done a real share of the damage, the healing or the holding, to have cast your powers through the fight and again near the end (an auto-attack left running is paid nothing), and to have helped in the last two minutes before the kill. Standing near it, or a single hit, is not enough.
- Mastery experience for everyone paid.
- A chance at a necklace or a ring.
- A small chance at a rare mount.
Everything is personal: it goes straight into your bag, and what one fighter gets takes nothing from the next.