Siren's Reef Fractal

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“

Escape the cursed island.

— In-game description

The Siren's Reef Fractal is a tropical themed fractal that occurs at scales 12, 37, 54 and 78. The island is the final resting place of the dread pirate queen Captain Arabella Crowe, who has turned into a malevolent ghost guarding the island's treasure. Unlucky souls that land on the island, one way or the other, are doomed to join Crowe's ghostly crew.

The Fractal Explorers materialize as part of the shipwrecked crew of the pirate, Captain Strohm, and are incidentally crew mates of the infamous Captain Weyandt, who now enjoys his own undeath tormenting tourists in the Sharkmaw Caverns beneath Lion's Arch.

In order to escape the island the Explorers need to gather all of Captain Crowe's cursed pirate treasure and defeat her ghost. The Fractal ends just before Weyandt and the Explorers escape the island aboard Crowe's ship, the Kraken's Pride with the island's treasure.

Objectives[edit]

Meet Dessa and assist with her experiments.
- Fractal Difficulty Scale: x
- Personal Fractal Level: x
- Secure the shipwreck site.
- Wipe out the dinosaurs.
- Explore the island.
- Defeat the frenzied dinosaur.
- Champion Stonehead
- Explore the island.
- Explore the forgotten fort.
- Cast out the keeper of the fort.
- Blasting Black Peter
- Continue to explore the island.
- Deposit all of the cursed treasure into the chest at the end of the tomb.
- Treasure recovered: x/3
- Stow the cursed treasure chest on the ship.
- Maintain control of the ship.
  - Retrieve the second treasure: x/1
    Ship Control
  - Squelch Mad Jack Squall.
    
    Ship Control
  - Retrieve the third treasure: x/1
    Ship Control
  - Defeat First Mate Calix.
    
    Ship Control
  - Ghosts Routed
    
    Ship Control
- (When you lose control over the ship)
  - Overthrow the ship's phantom pirate crew.
  - Crew slain
- Overthrow Captain Crowe.
- Captain Crowe
- Next island: x

Rewards[edit]

Primary article: Fractals of the Mists#Rewards

Walkthrough[edit]

Shipwrecked[edit]

There will be two groups of Saurians at the beginning of the Fractal: a trio consisting of two Veteran Bristlebacks and a Veteran Bonebreaker to the left, as well as a pair of Veteran Smokescales further in on the right. With the Bristlebacks being the main damage threat, deploying skills with Projectile Block or Projectile Reflect properties will negate most of the threat. The party can opt to split up to kill both groups, or kite the Smokescales to the first group, as way to speed up this section of the encounter.

Once both groups of Saurians have been neutralized, a Champion Stonehead will enter the arena. While this enemy has a Defiance Bar, it will also enter a stun animation if it charges into a wall or tree. Otherwise, it poses little threat to the party. Once the Stonehead is reduced to 25% of its health, it will Fear characters around it, become Determined, and break down the wall, before succumbing to a set of mines. This also opens the way for the party to progress further into the Fractal.

Halfway down the next corridor is a cannon, and three mines. Player characters activating a mine will cause it to despawn and Cripple allies within its area of effect. In order proceed, a player needs to interact with the cannon and use either Rust Shot or Scatter Shot on the mines to destroy them. Once all three mines have been destroyed, both the wall blocking the path and the cannon will be destroyed.

Through the new opening, players will be set upon by one of each of the ghostly enemies found throughout the Fractal. Prioritize killing the Elite Quartermaster and Lightning Wraith above all else; the former will apply defensive Boons to nearby enemies, while the latter can apply Quickness to itself while doing lots of consistent damage. Of course, grouping all the enemies together speeds up this encounter tremendously.

After this initial fight is over, players can reset with the Mistlock Singularity to the right of the entrance. When ready to engage the next encounter, one player -- ideally not the designated healing support -- should mount the nearby cannon, while the rest descend into the arena below. Once all the initial ghosts have been defeated, Blasting Black Peter will appear in the arena, along with some mines.

Blasting Black Peter[edit]

Throughout this mini-boss fight, random ghosts will spawn around the lower arena, and -- more importantly -- so will mines. Unlike the ones encountered earlier, these mines will do a tremendous amount of damage that will more than likely Down a character in a single hit. The mine explosions can be Blocked, however. If no player character are standing inside lower arena, all player characters will begin suffering from a stacking damage debuff, Cinder Cyclone until at least one player character enters the area.

It is thus up to the player manning the cannon above to constantly use Rust Shot and Scatter Shot on top of Blasting Black Peter to help clear any mines that spawn underneath him (and the party), thereby allowing a swift victory.

Players fighting Peter, on the other hand, need to do their best to ensure no ghosts wander up to the cannon to harass their ally. While few will often do so, poor management of trash mobs in a prolonged fight can cause the ghosts to overwhelm the solitary player above.

After Blasting Black Peter has been defeated, a portcullis will lift, allowing the players to progress.

Pirate Treasure Maze[edit]

Past some lovely Pocket Raptors is a maze.

In this puzzle, players need to carry three bags of Cursed Treasure to a chest at the opposite end. Picking up a bag will lock out all character skills, and apply a stacking debuff on the character, first with Curse of Frailty that increasingly reduces movement speed and applies Vulnerability, Slow, and Agony; picking up or catching another Cursed Treasure (or the same one) will affect the character with increasingly potent versions of the curse. While a character's movement speed is reduced by a curse, Crippled and Chilled effects reduce the character to zero, i.e. the character will no longer be able to move.

To make matters more interesting, ghostly sentries in the form of large circles patrol the maze corridors. Player characters entering the circles will despawn the circle, and spawn up to five ghost enemies. Skills that teleport or blink characters, such as Blink, won't trigger the sentries if used to move past them, whereas dashes, such as Swoop, will. Avoid fighting the ghost enemies that appear in the middle of the hallway, as more sentry circles will respawn eventually, and summon even more enemies. It is also inadvisable to ignore these enemies, as some will apply debilitating Conditions on characters, and even pose significant threat to the party if enough are around. Sentry circles that move over unattended bags of Cursed Treasure will return the bag to its original location. Lastly, more sentry circles will start patrolling the corridors after each Cursed Treasure is deposited into the treasure chest.

In order to progress through the maze smoothly, the party should focus on moving one bag of Cursed Treasure at a time. While one picks up a Cursed Treasure, the other players should run ahead of the Treasure Bearer, being careful to avoid the sentries, and position themselves on each of the junctions leading to the treasure chest. Then the Treasure Bearer will toss the bag ahead to the next party member, and the next, until the treasure reaches the end. By catching the cursed treasure, you gain Lighten Curse, so keep them off the ground! In case of emergencies, toss the bag into the very corner of the corridor, where the sentries are unable to move into. HOWEVER, rather than depositing the treasure, it is far safer to drop it in the small corridor with the treasure chest, before moving on to the next bag of Cursed Treasure. Players may also choose to wait for the Curse to wear off before moving on to the next bag.

Once all three bags of Cursed Treasure is secured, the party can complete the maze by depositing all three into the Treasure Chest, thereby opening the final door leading to the Kraken's Pride.

The Kraken's Pride[edit]

In order to trigger the final sequence, the party will need to carry the chest of cursed treasure to Captain Crowe's ship, the Kraken's Pride. During this, one player should run ahead to the opposite side of the beach. Once the treasure chest has been delivered to the target, the party will need to repeat the process with another chest, which will spawn on the opposite side of the beach, where hopefully a player is ready to pick up. Since enemies will also spawn and defend the treasure, including completely immobilizing characters holding the treasure, it is advisable to pass the treasure ahead to other party members. The remaining party members on the ship's deck can use the pair of Shadow Cannons that appear to help deal with the ghost pirates. Be wary that Veteran Ghostly Swindlers will actively seek out the cursed treasure, and will return it to the starting point. Once the treasure has been deposited at the target location, Mad Jack Squall will appear at the center of the ship.

If the party wipes during this phase, four to five ghost pirates will spawn in the middle of the deck, and will need to be defeated before the event can be restarted.

Bug:

The treasure chest will despawn if thrown into water. Have the party use /gg to reset

Mad Jack Squall[edit]

This mini-boss is fairly docile. His main attack is to rain icicle shards across the deck that Dazes characters hit.

At 50%, ghostly winds will begin to blow across the ship. These winds are marked by a horizontal zone covering the port to starboard sides of the ship. After a short delay, player characters caught in the crosswind will be pushed in one direction, and eventually be blown off the deck. While overboard, player characters will suffer from Fetid Fog, which applies Torment and Confusion every second until they return to deck. Worse still, player characters landing in the water will be assailed by piranhas deal a fixed amount of damage every second the character stays in the water. The ghostly wind will move from stern (front) to bow (back), and back again.

Throughout this encounter, a finite number of ghost pirates will spawn and assail the party, spawning every 25% of Jack's health.

Wiping during this fight will reset progress back to the prior event, i.e. players will need to move the cursed treasure from the beach back onto the Kraken's Pride.

After Mad Jack Squall has been defeated, the final chest of cursed treasure will appear, and therefore need to be transported to the ship. Repeating the same sequence above will cause the next mini-boss, First Mate Calix to appear.

First Mate Calix[edit]

This fight is a carbon copy of the previous, with the exception of Calix's two attacks. The first is a cone attack that Launches victims, and is otherwise of little threat. The second attack targets a random player character and places a filling red AOE marker under them; once filled, it drops a Grim Lagoon that pulses multiple conditions to player characters, while also providing ghosts Protection and Quickness every second.

As above, waves of ghost pirates will appear throughout the fight. One ghostly wind will start blowing from the prow at 75%, while another will begin from the aft from 50%.

Staying in melee range of Calix allows players to more easily side-step his cone attack. At the same time, players marked with the filling red AOE marker need to do their best to drop the field away from the group, while also avoiding being blown off the deck by the ghostly winds.

Wiping during this fight will reset progress back to the prior event, i.e. players will need to move the cursed treasure from the beach back onto the Kraken's Pride.

Defeating Calix triggers the final pre-event, whereby waves of ghost pirates will swarm the ship. Players need to man all four Shadow Cannons to repel the attackers. Periodically, Veteran Ghostly Swashbuckler will appear on the center of the deck to harass players; these aren't too threatening, and the fifth party member can easily kill or sustain through their attacks. Once enough ghosts have been killed, Captain Arabella Crowe will finally enter the fray.

Captain Arabella Crowe[edit]

Much like the encounter with her First Mate, Captain Crowe has a similar, albeit larger, cone attack that also Dazes. She will also follow this attack by marking a player with a filling AOE marker that will drop a Grim Lagoon. Her subsequent third attack, Teeth from the Deep, marks a random player character with a shrinking green AOE marker; once this marker reaches the end, players caught in the area receive an attack that cannot be evaded. This third attack does a lot of damage, and can instantly down characters, especially in higher Fractal tiers. On the flip side, the damage is divided among the number of player characters inside the green circle when the attack completes.

Much like the previous encounter with Calix, beginning at 75%, one ghostly wind will begin blowing from the prow, while another will begin from the aft at 50%.

As with Calix, it is advisable for the party to stay as close to Captain Crowe as possible. This allows players to more easily avoid her Daze cone attacks, as well as making it easier for the party to mitigate the damage from the green AOE.

Main Threats[edit]

The main threats of the final boss encounters are actually the mechanics supplementary to them.

Ghost pirates

These "trash mobs" are the primary reason many Fractal groups struggle during the final encounter. The combination of damage, Boons ( Aegis, Protection, Quickness), and Conditions ( Slow, Poisoned, Chilled, Weakness, Crippled, Daze) will eventually overwhelm the party. These enemies become exceedingly deadly when also compounded with Mistlock Instabilities such as Afflicted and Vengeance, to name but a few.

Effective means of grouping enemies, blocking projectiles from the Lightning Wraiths and Grenadiers, Boon strips, Condition cleanse, and AOE DPS to manage the mobs is paramount to the success of the party. In cases where group AOE DPS is too low, the party can retreat down one gangplank to clear the enemies on that side; this also causes the enemies on the opposite side of the ship to run up into the middle of the deck where they can be damaged along with the boss.

Ghostly winds

The ghostly winds are particularly dangerous as they can, first and foremost, push player characters off the ship, causing them to suffer from Fetid Fog, and even fall into the deadly waters below. Falling into the water around the ship will apply the Piranhas of the Deep effect.

Beyond that, they can also displace party members just as the Captain Crowe's green AOE attack is about to complete, thereby causing some of the party to take more damage than anticipated. Finally, the displacement can also affect players' ability to land their skills, including critical AOEs to manage the ghost pirate spawns. An approach players can use is to move into the previous zone of the ghostly winds, as the zones will always progress in one direction until it reaches either end of the ship.

Grim Lagoon

Both First Mate Calix and Captain Crowe periodically drop this on top of a player character. These pools deal pulsing Agony, Torment, Blinded, Vulnerability, and Chilled to player characters, while also buffing enemies -- including the bosses -- with Protection and Quickness.

It is therefore important to place these pools strategically to avoid endangering the party. Ideally, the pools should be placed in one of the corners of the deck, where neither boss will approach, and few, if any, of the trash mobs will wander into. Players can also deposit the pool in the small space towards the prow of the ship, although they should be not linger, as Fetid Fog will still take effect.

Achievements[edit]

Curse Catcher	Fractals of the Mists	5
In the Siren's Reef fractal, catch 8 bags of cursed treasure while navigating the maze.	Caught 8 Sacks of Cursed Booty While Navigating the Maze	5

Eligibility can be tracked via Eligibility: Curse Catcher

Savage Cannoneer	Fractals of the Mists	10
Using the shadow cannons, deliver the killing blow to ghosts in the Siren's Reef fractal.Send ghosts back to their graves with the shadow cannons.	Made 8 Cannon Kills	0
	Made 88 Cannon Kills	1
	Made 168 Cannon Kills	2
	Made 288 Cannon Kills	3
	Made 368 Cannon Kills	4

Spirit Evader	Fractals of the Mists	5
In the Siren's Reef fractal on tier 4, move stealthily through the maze to avoid alerting the spectral orbs.	Completed the Maze on Tier 4 without Triggering Any Spectral Orbs	5

Eligibility can be tracked via Eligibility: Spirit Evader

NPCs[edit]

Allies[edit]

Human

Cabin Boy Weyandt

Norn

Captain Strohm

Foes[edit]

Ghosts

Saurians

Sharks

Veteran Shark

Unknown

Blasting Black Peter

Objects[edit]

Dialogue[edit]

Upon approaching allies on the beach: Cabin Boy Weyandt: Wuh—?! You're alive! Captain, look! Survivors!; Cabin Boy Weyandt points at <character name>.; Captain Strohm: Still alive, huh? Well, if you want to stay that way, hurry and clear these beasties off the beach!; Captain Strohm: And you know what beach this is, don't you?; Captain Strohm: Siren's Reef! Resting place of Arabella Crowe—the cursed pirate queen herself!; Captain Strohm: Long as her treasure remains spread across this island, no soul can escape. Living or dead.; Captain Strohm: You want off this rock? Find that cursed treasure and commandeer us a ship. Now go!; Captain Strohm: Weyandt! With me. I need to rest.; Cabin Boy Weyandt: I should go with them! If they find another ship, who's going to sail it? I could help... Captain? Captain!; Dessa: Wait, did he say "Weyandt"? As in, the legendary pirate Weyandt? We traded stories about him in Rata Sum all the time.; Dessa: Pirate tales made a suitable entertaining diversion in the lab. Though...this Weyandt doesn't look like a pirate at all.

After defeating the Champion Stonehead: Dessa: I'm getting latent magic readings all over the island. This "pirate curse" thing might be real.; Dessa: Hmm. I'm not comfortable saying "pirate curse." How about..."persistent, transferable magic"? Better.

After defeating the ghosts in the forgotten fort: Dessa: That skeleton's being animated by persistent transferable—; Dessa: Ugh. "Pirate curse" it is. That skeleton's being animated by a pirate curse.

Upon defeating Blasting Black Peter: Dessa: I'm keeping an eye on Weyandt and the captain on a second display here.; Dessa: Weyandt was trying to find medicinal fruit for the captain, but he came back with poison baneberries instead.; Dessa: A common misidentification. But his behavior is VERY different from what contemporary records suggest.

Upon entering the tomb: Dessa: I'm picking up three separate core signatures in that cave; magical artifacts tied to the curse.; Dessa: Find a way to bring them with you.

Upon picking up the first treasure: Dessa: Those bags of treasure are rigged with movement inhibitors. Probably to stop thieves from running off with the treasure!; Dessa: And the longer you hold it, the more powerful the effect.; Dessa: Let's test something: What if you tried sharing the pirate curse with all of your friends?; Dessa: Don't worry: the science is on your side. I took a correspondence course on hexes, spells and maledictions.

Depositing the first treasure in the chest at the end of the tomb: Dessa: Looks like that door will open for Arabella's crew. I'll run a quick analysis.; Dessa: Okay, you'll need to combine all the core signatures in that cave—sorry, I mean the pieces of the cursed treasure.; Dessa: That should be enough curse magic in one place to fool the door into thinking you're one of Crowe's pirates.; Dessa: Still watching Weyandt and the captain. Things are looking grim.; Dessa: Everything the record told us about Weyandt becoming a pirate captain was...He was supposed to be a hero.; Dessa: Poisoning someone who trusts you is something a pirate would do.; Dessa: Well. Thank you, fractals, for retroactively ruining my childhood. Anyway. Let's get that door open.

On getting all three treasures to the door: Dessa: Nice work. And don't forget the treasure—you'll need that.; Dessa: That's Arabella's ship: the Kraken's Pride! Still seaworthy, too.; Dessa: I'm detecting two other pieces of treasure nearby. You need all of them on that ship before you can sail away.; Dessa: Oh. Wait, none of you actually knows how to sail a ship. Hm. That could be a problem. We'll cross that bridge later.

Upon depositing the treasure on the ship: Dessa: Major spike in spectral activity. Those ghosts know you're trying to steal Crowe's treasure!; Dessa: They're coming from all over the island. Hurry, fire those swivel-mounted high-caliber spectral artillery.; Dessa: Never mind. We'll just call them ghost cannons. Fire the ghost cannons.

Upon picking up the second treasure from the beach: Dessa: That's the second piece of treasure on the beach. Hurry, get it back to the ship! Those ghosts do NOT look happy.

Upon depositing the second treasure on the ship: Mad Jack Squall: Avast, ye scurvy dogs!; Mad Jack Squall: The briny deep awaits!

After defeating Mad Jack Squall: Dessa: One more to go!; Dessa: Also, I wouldn't wait up for Captain Strohm. Weyandt's finished his little coup and he's on his way over.; Dessa: Oh! Didn't he say he could sail a ship? That's your ticket off this island. Assuming you survive until he gets there.

Upon depositing the third treasure on the ship: First Mate Calix: I will put an end to this mutiny!; First Mate Calix: Blow 'em down!

After defeating First Mate Calix: Dessa: I'm seeing a MASSIVE spectral energy spike. Every pirate on that island's coming for you!

After defending the ship against the ghosts: Dessa: Oh no... It's her! It's Arabella Crowe!; Captain Crowe: What's this?! Stealing my treasure? And my ship?; Captain Crowe: The moment you washed up on the beach, you joined my crew. And your first act is to stage a mutiny?; Captain Crowe: This insult will not stand. You WILL obey your captain!; Dessa: Remember I said we'd figure out the "nobody know how to sail a ship" thing later? Well, it's later.; Dessa: Where is Weyandt?!

At 75% health: Captain Crowe: Bring forth the tempest!

Upon defeating Captain Crowe: Dessa: Oh, look. He's here.; Captain Weyandt: Nice work with the treasure. I regret to report that Captain Strohm won't be joining us.; Dessa: Because you murdered him.; Captain Weyandt: But with his last words, he bestowed the captaincy—and crew—on me.; Dessa: Well, that's one way to describe it, I guess.; Captain Weyandt: So what're you waiting for?! Full sails into the horizon! Captain Weyandt won't stand for stragglers!; Dessa: That did it! The latent magic over the island is gone. Looks like the curse is broken and the fractal is stabilized.; Dessa: As for Weyandt...I'm thinking his records are about due for an update.

Notes[edit]

This fractal island was added with the All or Nothing release.
If a necromancer with minions catches or picks up a treasure from the maze room forward, all minions of that necromancer are destroyed immediately.

Gallery[edit]

External links[edit]

Official preview

Fractals of the Mists

Hub	Mistlock Observatory
Fractals	Aetherblade Aquatic Ruins Captain Mai Trin Boss Cliffside Chaos Deepstone Molten Boss Molten Furnace Nightmare Shattered Observatory Silent Surf Siren's Reef Snowblind Solid Ocean Sunqua Peak Swampland Thaumanova Reactor Twilight Oasis Uncategorized Underground Facility Urban Battleground Volcanic
Achievements	Daily Weekly General Nightmare Shattered Observatory Sunqua Peak Silent Surf Jumping Puzzle: Mistlock Mountaineer
Mechanics	Agony (Resistance) Mistlock Instability Fractal Potion Account Augmentation