How to complete The Sunken Pearl Tall Tale quest in Sea of Thieves a Pirate’s Life

Ava Thompson-Powell
sea of thieves story a pirates life

The Sunken Pearl Tall Tale in Sea of Thieves is part of the crossover with The Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, so here’s how to get through every puzzle, fight, and boss this long quest has to offer.

After freeing (and then later losing) Jack Sparrow, you’ll need to venture out into the high seas once more to time discover the fate of the iconic sunken Black Pearl under the Sea of Thieves.

Once there, you’ll face off against Sirens and Ocean Crawlers as you attempt to solve Siren Spire’s puzzles to rescue Sparrow’s crew from whatever fate the game sees them in.

Contents

How to start The Sunken Pearl Tall Tale

Before beginning this new quest, you must finish the previous Tall Tale called “A Pirate’s Life”. 

Once you’re done with it, you can trigger The Sunken Pearl Tall Tale by talking to the Castaway at any outpost and interacting with the blue shell with a pearl sitting on the wall.

How to find the Black Pearl in Sea of Thieves

Sunken Pearl location Sea of Thieves Black Pearl
Head to the marked area on this map to start your journey to find the Black Pearl.

Once you’ve spoken to The Castaway, board your ship. From there, open your Sunken Pearl quest book before venturing out onto The Sea of Thieves. The last two pages will indicate that the location of the Black Pearl lies to the southwest of the Sea of Thieves game map. More specifically, the ship lies northwest of Shark Bait Cove, and slightly southwest of Old Salt’s Atoll.

The circled mark on the image above is where you need to head. It’s not hard to miss, though – a bright blue beacon will shine down on the location as you get closer, music will begin to swell, and there’s debris floating in the water.

Now comes the tricky part: diving down into the depths to find her. Once you’re under the water, a mysterious Siren song will start. Simply follow these steps:

  • Follow the debris as you dive down.
  • You’ll notice that some of the debris will have lots of little air bubbles around them. These will replenish your breath.
  • As you reach the bottom, you’ll spot some coral that also has air bubbles coming out of them. They’ll also replenish your breath.
  • Continue following the debris until you reach a downed mast.
  • Swim forward in the direction that the mast is facing.
  • The Black Pearl will appear out of the murky depths into the waters of the Sea of Thieves!

Where to find the Sea of Thieves Black Pearl key

Black Pearl key location Sea of Thieves
An Ocean Crawler holds the key you need to progress.

Before you can progress further in this Sea of Thieves Tall Tale, you’ll need to unlock Jack Sparrow’s Captain Quarters on the sunken Black Pearl to retrieve his compass:

  • Swim down the left-hand side of the ship (don’t forget to swim into the coral for more air!) and up onto the main deck.
  • At the back of the ship, you’ll see an open trap door that leads downstairs. Head down there.
  • Swim around the cannon to the other side of the room.
  • Under the stairs, you’ll see an archway blocked with crates. Interact with the debris with the rope handles.
  • Swim through, and head to the far right of the room.
  • On the floor are planks of wood. Interact with those and swim through.
  • Ahead of you will be the Ocean Crawler. Grab the key from its claws.
  • Swim back up to the top deck, and head towards the locked doors at the front of the ship.
  • Open it, and collect Jack’s compass from the table.
Sea of Thieves Jack Sparrow compass
The compass located in Jack’s quarters will point you in the direction you need to go next.

How to complete the Siren Spire puzzles

Once you’ve used Jack’s compass and followed where it’s told you to go, you’ll enter into The Siren Spire. During your time in the Spire, you’ll have to complete six puzzles, all following the same setup: There’ll be four statues holding a trident, with a mural of these statues on the wall.

Simply put, what you need to do is match the actual statues to what they’re doing on the mural. This can be done by either swinging your sword at them up close or firing at them from a distance.

Each statue has three possible positions for its left arm: high, middle, or low. After you’ve positioned them correctly, you’ll need to hit the larger statue with the shell.

Sea of Thieves Tall Tale 2 Siren Puzzle guide

After battling the Ocean Crawlers or Sirens, the last one will drop a ‘Siren Heart‘. Look for the statue that is missing the yellow gemstone, and slot it in. Then, align the statues’ arms as follows:

Statue Holding Arm Position
Gemstone Low
Chains High
Flower Middle

The other positions for each of the following puzzles are listed below:

Puzzle Two

Statue Holding Arm Position
Gemstone High
Chains High
Flower High
Siren Puzzle Tall Tale 2
The Siren Puzzles can all be completed in the same way.

Puzzle Three

Statue Holding Arm Position
Gemstone High
Chains Middle
Flower Low

Puzzle Four

The fourth Siren puzzle is slightly different. On your way to the Siren Citadel, you’ll come across a giant door blocking your way with two large carvings of a Siren.

To progress with this, you’ll need to place the Siren’s Heart into the missing statue as before and then put both’s statue’s arm positions to ‘low’. Then, shoot the main statue with the shell, and the door will open.

Puzzle Five

Statue Holding Arm Position
Gemstone Middle
Chains High
Flower Low

Puzzle Six

Statue Holding Arm Position
Gemstone Middle
Chains Low
Flower High

How to defeat the Kraken in Sea of Thieves

Kraken Sunken Pearl
The Legendary Kraken continually looms throughout its brief appearance.

After spotting the Kraken throughout the zone, you’ll come face to face with it during your time fighting on the Silver Blade. Having been torn apart and held in place by The Siren Queen and her loyal subjects, you’ll face off in a not-so-naval battle against Ocean Crawlers.

To reach the Kraken, though, you’ll need to raise the anchor of the Silver Blade which will pull the ship upwards, defeating enemies with the cannons as you go.

When you reach the third level, you’ll fight off a horde of Ocean Crawlers on the deck before the Kraken rears its head. Luckily, defeating it is relatively easy:

  • Make sure to utilize the cannonball and food barrels placed on deck to fill up on health and ammo.
  • Holster your weapon for this – focus all of your attacks on the Kraken with the cannons.
  • Keep an eye out for its spiked tentacles, as they will periodically slam down on the deck.
  • Every so often, the Kraken will spit a black cloud at you which will obliterate you if you’re not careful. Use the Captain’s quarters for shelter if you’ve already opened the door.
  • Focus all of your attacks directly onto the Kraken’s head.
  • Keep using the above tips until it retreats away.

How to get the Chest of Sorrows commendation

Chest of Sorrows Silver Blade
The chest is hidden behind the locked captain’s door.

In the area before reaching the Silver Blade, you have the chance to pick up a key to unlock the Captain’s quarters, which contains a Chest of Sorrows.

Back in the room with the platforms and pulleys, raise the wooden section of the ship and hop across to the left side of the room. There’ll be a carving of a face with an open mouth that’s emanating a red light. Head in there, grab the key, and you’ll be able to unlock the door on the ship.

Once defeating the Kraken, follow these steps:

  1. The ship will likely have sunk back down to the lower levels at this point. Use the anchor to pull it back up.
  2. Pick up the chest, and climb up the mast.
  3. You’ll be able to walk across a section of the mast. Traverse that and hop over to the rocks.
  4. Follow the path until you reach a barrier. Open it by attacking the purple orb.
  5. Head through, and place the chest down in front of the door marked by red seaweed.
  6. Pass inside the cavern, and you’ll be able to inspect some markings on the wall.

That’s it! You should now have the commendation, and you can continue on to the last boss battle of the Tall Tale.

How to defeat the Siren Queen (and Sirens)

Siren Queen
Keep your trusty trident at hand to take down the Siren Queen!

Throughout the Sea of Thieves Sunken Pearl Tall Tale, you’ll come into contact with Sirens. Luckily, whenever they do swim across your path, there’ll be plenty of tridents around the place to take them down.

The tridents have a regular attack and a charged attack. The longer you hold down the fire button, the wider the range will be. Despite this, firing the trident without the charge seems to be just as effective in the long run.

After sending her minions to do her bidding, and warning you to not proceed further all quest long, the final standoff of The Sunken Pearl is when you finally face the Siren Queen.

Despite a lot of talk, taking her out won’t take much. Follow these tips:

  • Make sure you equip one of the tridents, as it’ll make defeating her much easier.
  • If you need to catch your breath, swim up to the surface – there’s a small pocket of air.
  • Food barrels can be found on the ground, as well as other tridents, should you need another.
  • Fighting the Siren Queen happens in waves. Shoot at her with your trident, and she’ll slip away before reappearing later.
  • When she disappears, she’ll send out hordes of her Sirens to attack you. Keep your distance where possible (they’ll sometimes surprise you with an attack from off-screen).

That’s all you need to know to get through The Sunken Pearl Tall Tale. For more Sea of Thieves content, check out other guides:

Sea of Thieves A Pirate’s Life review | All Sea of Thieves PS5 editions | Sea of Thieves: All ship types | All Sea of Thieves Trophies & Achievements | How to access Sea of Thieves PS5 closed beta

About The Author

Ava was formerly Dexerto's Evergreen Editor, based in England. With a BA (Hons) in Media and Communications, and a passion for RPGs, The Sims, Pokemon, and Dead by Daylight, she primarily covered tips, guides, and reviews.