Every Outpost will give you access to The Shroudbreaker, which is the first Tall Tale. There are no prerequisites to participate. Day one, out at sea, you’ll be able to start this storyline. The first nine Tall Tales lead pirates on a journey to reach the Shores of Gold. The Shroudbreaker is the first major piece to the tall tale puzzle.
This guide will be quick and to the point, we don’t include much information pertaining to the story, just the cold hard facts that take you from point A to B. Let’s jump right into all the steps for completing the Shroudbreaker Tall Tale.
Table of Contents
Activate the Shroudbreaker Tall Tale
This step is fairly straight forward, find a tavern at an outpost. The Mysterious Stranger leaning against the back wall will have a book titled [The Shroudbreaker] next to him placed on a barrel. Members of your party have to vote on the book to activate the quest.
Find Magpie’s Wing Ship’s Log
The first mission is to recover the ship logs from Magpie’s Ship. These are going to be pages that unlock a new piece of the riddle in order to find the Shroudbreaker. The pages are found at an uncharted island (coordinates N13) roughly in the center of the entire map, located directly between Crook’s Hollow and The Crooked Masts.
Once you reach the island, dive into the water on the North West side of the island. There you will find a sunken ship (the Magpie’s Wing Ship). The ship’s log is found sitting on top of the Captain’s Chair.
Decipher Ship Logs to Locate the Ancient Chest
The ship’s logs are essentially this next riddle. Deciphering the logs will help you chart a course to the location of the lost chest. This step is probably the most difficult because you will have to solve the puzzle because this is one of those quest sections that could land you on nearly any island. However, we can confirm that these islands have been known to be a location for finding this Ancient Chest. (We will continue to update the list as we discover new locations.)
When you solve the riddle and make it to the right island, the chest will be around the edge of the island deep underwater. It is in the water because this journal entry is a tale of how the Magpie’s Wing tried to evade the Burning Blade to protect this chest. In order to keep this chest hidden, they had to drop it off the boat. The riddle also will give directional cues for which side of the island the chest was left on.
Known island locations for finding the Ancient Chest:
- Chicken Isle
- Cutlass Cay
- Devil’s Ridge
- Fools Lagoon
- Lookout Point
- Paradise Spring
- Snake Island
Here are some riddle clues that can help decipher the islands the riddle is referring to:
- Fort – the riddle refers to a fortified islands
- Small Shallow Isles – islands that are mostly sand that rest partially in the ocean
- Small Island – islands that are small, but are not fleshed into the ocean like a shallow isle would be
- Shark Bait Cove – a large tangled nest of islands
- Snake Island – a clump of islands
- A Large Island – this reference is most likely the giant islands such as Thieves Haven
- Time logs – use the time logs to determine how far away an island is in addition to the size to help determine which island the log is referring to
Below is an example of how to chart the course given by the logs to determine where this chest is located. You can use our interactive map, or the map on your ship (in-game) in order to sort out this riddle. We have chosen to use our map (see below).
Find the Ancient Vault
So, you’ve found the Ancient Chest. Inside the chest will reveal more journal pages, and reward a Totem. Each Totem is a key to a specific vault on a specific island. If you didn’t have this guide, you would be able to find these vaults organically by searching the islands for clues. You could do this if you wanted to go full Indiana Jones, however, if you just want to get this done quickly, here is a list of the totems and their corresponding island locations.
- Boar Totem – Devil’s Ridge
- Crab Totem – Uncharted Island at N13
- Moon Totem – Crescent Isle
- Scarab Totem – Crook’s Hollow
- Snake Totem – Mermaid’s Hideaway
- Shark Totem – Kraken’s Fall
Opening the Vault
Each vault entrance is hidden behind a rock wall, with rock formations decorating the edges. These rock formations will have a secret square pad “lock”. This little square lock will be somewhere next to/around the vault’s entrance.
It’s generally to either the immediate right or left of the entrance door. The totem acts as a key, and when placing it on the secret pad, the door opens. It is somewhat hidden, but it is easily identifiable by the shape. It is a small square fleshed into a rock. When close to it with a totem the prompt “Place Totem” will appear. If you do not have a totem the prompt will read “key needed to unlock”.
List of all Vault Totem Islands
Finding the vault without a guide is a bit more difficult. You would need to know the landscape and symbols on all the islands. Each vault entrance is decorated with symbols reflecting the totem. For example, the Scarab vault door will have little scarab beetle drawings near and around the entrance.
Scarab Totem Vault
The Scarab Totem unlocks the vault on Crook’s Hollow. It is inside of the center, northern cave on the ground level of the island. If you run through the center and end up at the base of the waterfall you have gone too far.
Boar Totem Vault
The Boar Totem vault lies on Devil’s Ridge on the southeastern beach. You will see many paintings of boars surrounding the location. Place the totem key to the left of the rock fleshed door.
Moon Totem Vault
Crescent Isle is the home to the Moon Totem vault. Enter the central cave on the ground floor from the east side and turn left. Enter the northern cavern to find symbols of the moon surrounding the vault entrance. The totem lock is just below the two moons drawing on the wall.
Snake Totem Vault
My favorite island, Mermaid’s Hideaway is home to the Snake vault. It can be found on the West edge of the island under rock archways on the ground floor. The totem lock is across from the vault door hidden between a cluster of rocks.
Shark Totem Vault
The Shark Totem vault can be found tucked away under a massive archway of rocks on the infamous Kraken’s Fall. It can be accessed from nearly every edge of the island. The totem lock location is found on the beach in yet another rock formation, further away from the vault door than all other previously mentioned lock locations.
Crab Totem Vault
The Crab vault is the most unique of the bunch. Remember where you found the sunken Magpie’s Wing? Yep, the uncharted island N13. The photo I managed to get of the island is unfortunately upside down. Sorry about that, but it’s my favorite shot of the island as a whole.
To reach the Crab vault head over to N13, anchor down at the northern side of the island. The cave entrance is decorated with ancient pillar columns and archways found underwater hugging the northwest corner of the island. Another way to find the entrance is to dive northwest of the pink plant in the center-ish part of the island.
Swim through the tunnel and up into a cave where you will find a wall decorated in crab art. Place the totem to the immediate left of the door to open the vault.
Solving the Puzzle inside the Ancient Vault
This is one of the easiest puzzles throughout all the Tall Tales. Inside the vault will be a table and four pillars. Light the four corners of the table to start the puzzle, do not do this until you are ready, the door will shut and a timer will start in the form of the cave filling with water.
The final pages of your journal will reveal three sets of symbols. When the door shuts the pillars reveal glowing symbols. There are four possible symbols to choose from on each pillar, you will have to match the symbols to the journal entry.
Once you have the symbols lined up on each pillar matching your journal pages go back to the table and press the button with the hand icon. This inputs your symbol selection, if you are correct, the vault accepts your entry and begins the new set. You will repeat this process three times. After inputting the third set of symbols, the water drains and reveals the final stage of this tall tale, retrieve the medallions.
Dig up the Vault Medallions
Each vault will require finding three medallions. The location of each medallion will be displayed on the table in the center of the vault (same table used for everything else). You will have to find the first medallion and bring it back. Place each medallion into the side of the table to unlock the location of the next.
When you have found and placed all three medallions, victorious music will sound and a door inside the vault will open, revealing the Shroudbreaker.
Return the Shroudbreaker to the Mysterious Stranger
Return the Shroudbreaker to any Mysterious Stranger (on any outpost) to complete and get credit for completing the Tall Tale. This statue can be stolen, keep a lookout for gold-hungry pirates.
Drowning in the vault before completing the riddle, or losing the Shroudbreaker or Totem will result in failing the Tall Tale and you will have to start over.
Medallion Locations
Finding the medallions can be a bit tricky if you don’t know the lay of the land. The photos displayed on the table are only beneficial if you know whereabouts the photos were taken. We have done our best to accurately pinpoint these medallion locations.
Uncharted Island N13 Medallions
- The first medallion is found just outside of the caves underwater entrance on top of the short pillar
- The second medallion is located on the between the palm trees on the southeastern beach
- Finally, the third medallion can be found to the southwest of the sunken ship beneath coral archways
Crook’s Hollow Medallions
- The first medallion will be found inside the cave adjacent to the vault entrance next to a rock with a painting of a scarab
- The second medallion is behind the waterfall on the beach within walking distance of the vault
- The third medallion is found up, on the top terrain of the southern side of the island in front of the large stone head
Devil’s Ridge Medallions
- The first medallion is easy to locate, run to the pond, face the waterfall, and dig
- The second medallion is found along the path at the top southeastern side of the island
- The third medallion is located inside a cave, look for the cave entrance draped in foliage
Mermaids Hideaway Medallions
- The first medallion can be found up on the mountainous terrain, north west side, between the palm trees
- The second medallion is next to a lantern beneath the bridge
- The third medallion is found on the southern tail of outliers
Crescent Isle and Kraken’s Fall Medallions
I am skeptical as to whether or not these totems actually spawn for the Shroudbreaker Tall Tale. We have spent countless hours repeating this tale in the hopes to acquire either the moon or shark totem in order to document the medallion locations.
If you are reading this, I have still been unable to make these totems appear during the Shroudbreaker Tall Tale. So, for now, I have determined that these totems are either extremely rare or do not spawn for the Shroudbreaker Tall Tale.
