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Needle in a Haystack is the launch-content boss quest in the Foothills biome. Doctor Galen Skelton sends the player to hunt down Israel Hands, who hides in a sealed ancient temple. The temple cannot be entered until the player gathers three Ritual Keys, each held by one of Hands's lieutenants spread across the Foothills. Defeating Hands rewards the Charon's Obol artifact and frees John the cartographer. The Soul Eater greatsword is not a direct boss drop; it is found in a chest near the boss arena.

Quest Overview

Quest Flow

1. Receive the quest from Doctor Galen at his settled bonfire after completing Revenge Is Best Served Cold

2. Travel to the Foothills via your repaired ship; the biome is gear tier 6-10, significantly tougher than the Coastal Jungle

3. Locate the three Ritual Keys each held by one of Israel Hands's lieutenants at separate Foothills locations

4. Defeat each lieutenant they appear at named encounters such as Pirate Camps or hidden caves; expect Pirate Sergeants and Grenadiers as their guards

5. Loot the three Ritual Keys after killing each lieutenant; combine them in your inventory

6. Travel to the sealed ancient temple the entrance is marked on your map after collecting the first key

7. Use the keys at the temple entrance to break the seal

8. Engage Israel Hands in the temple's main chamber for the boss fight

9. Defeat Hands claim the Charon's Obol artifact and rescue John; the Soul Eater greatsword is in a chest near the arena

10. Return to Doctor Galen to complete the quest and trigger his "next step in your quest for a cure" dialogue

The Three Lieutenants

Each Ritual Key is held by a different lieutenant at a different Foothills location. The lieutenants are tougher than standard Pirate Sergeants and may include Grenadiers or named enemy variants. Specific lieutenant names and locations vary somewhat with procedural island generation, but each fight follows a similar pattern: clear the lieutenant's guard force, then defeat the lieutenant in single combat (or with co-op support).

Recommended preparation for each lieutenant fight:

• Full food buffs (Strength or Agility +20 plus a stamina buff)

• At least 3 Healing Potions and 5 Bandages

• Lock-on (T) before engaging; lieutenants telegraph attacks but punish missed dodges

• Drop a Fast Travel Bell at each lieutenant's location so you can warp out for repairs and back without retracing steps

Boss Fight: Israel Hands

Hands fights with Soulslite mechanics scaled for gear tier 6 to 10. Per community boss guides, he appears as an undead spectrally empowered enemy wielding a halberd and layering ghostly projectile and whirl attacks. Key patterns:

• Spectral Halberd Charge: a reaching committed dash that leaves a poison trail; dodge laterally rather than backward

• Overhead Swing: a multi-hit overhead halberd combo that can be parried for poise damage on the last swing

• Spectral Shot: a ghost-fired projectile with a brief raise-and-aim tell; strafe across his line to avoid

• Spectral Whirl: a close-range spinning halberd arc; sidestep rather than try to block through the sweep

• Soul Barrage: a multi-projectile spectral volley that rains skulls; keep moving through the arena to break line of sight

Recommended boss preparation: full Pikeman's or Conquistador's Armor for damage absorption, Sturdy Halberd or Captain's Greatsword for poise damage, full food buffs (Spicy Chicken with Sweet Potato +20 Strength is ideal), and Healing Potion (Great) stockpile. Bring at least 5 musket rounds for ranged opening if your build supports it. The fight is winnable solo with patience but is significantly easier in 2-4 player co-op.

Rewards

Lore Connection

Israel Hands' role as Blackbeard's second-in-command makes this fight a major narrative beat. Defeating Hands does not end the war, but it removes one of Teach's most capable strategic assets and signals the player has graduated from "survivor" to "threat." Galen's post-quest dialogue references "the next step in your quest for a cure," tying the victory back to the artifact still fused with the player's body and pointing the player toward the Cursed Swamps endgame content.

Why Israel Hands held John the cartographer captive is part of the quest's broader mystery. Hands is a skilled navigator in his own right, but a captured cartographer with knowledge of obscure coastlines would be valuable both to Hands directly and as leverage against any faction John worked for. John's pre-capture history is currently undocumented in the launch build but expected to expand in later Early Access updates.

Quest Path

Stage-by-stage progression as recorded in the in-game quest log for Needle in a Haystack in Windrose version 0.10.0. The quest runs 8 tracked objectives from start to completion. Stage-level Required Items are objective-gated items the player must bring to progress; Rewards are items granted the moment each stage is closed out.

Quest Rewards

Items granted when the full Needle in a Haystack quest chain resolves, as listed in the quest log reward block.

Completion Text

Narrative journal line the game writes once the final stage closes out:

"I managed to recover one artifact, but it looks like I'll have to track down a few more if I want to stay alive."

Stages

The numbered flow below mirrors the objective list in the quest log. Each entry shows the in-game objective title, the journal description the player sees when the stage becomes active, and any stage-bound Required Items or Rewards.

Stage 1: Search the pirate camps in the Foothills

My only lead is the pirate camps that Galen has heard about. Let's start with those.

Stage 2: Board the Unsinkable

Some of Hands' trusted men have set sail aboard the Unsinkable to bring back more captives. A perfect chance to save a handful of innocent souls, and learn where to find Hands himself.

Stage 3: Search the camp near the ruins

From the Unsinkable's papers, it seems the captives were meant for a camp by the ruins. If I go there, I might learn where to track down Hands.

Stage 4: Collect the temple keys

A note found in the camp says Hands has shut himself away in an ancient temple. To enter, I must retrieve three keys to the temple gates from his lieutenants.

Stage 5: Defeat Hands

I managed to gather the keys. Now I can finally take the artifact from Hands. The world would definitely be a better place with one less mad, magic-wielding pirate.

Stage 6: Talk to the surviving captive

Whatever Hands was doing in the temple was monstrous. The bodies of his latest victims are still chained to the walls. Only one captive made it. I should speak with him.

Stage 7: Continue the conversation with the cartographer at the camp

The surviving captive proved to be a cartographer named John Doe. He promised to answer my questions once he's recovered from the shock. I should meet him back at camp.

Stage 8: Talk to Doctor Galen

Blackbeard lost another lieutenant, and we recovered the governor's artifact. Still, if the cartographer is telling the truth, curing me won't be so simple. I should discuss my further actions with Doctor Galen.

See Also

• Israel Hands - the boss target

• Doctor Galen - quest giver

• Soul Eater - the greatsword reward

• John the cartographer - the rescued NPC

• Procedural Biomes - the Foothills biome

• Revenge Is Best Served Cold - the prerequisite quest

The Unsinkable Naval Battle

Between the first pirate-camp document loot and the three Ritual Keys hunt, the questline routes the player through a dedicated naval encounter against a named ship called the Unsinkable. Sailing east into open water triggers an interception by four standard Blackbeard escort ships before the Unsinkable itself closes in. The escorts have to be peeled off first; the player's own crew automatically prioritises the Unsinkable once it is within range, which lets the captain focus on steering and broadside angles rather than target switching.

Engagement rhythm: circle the Unsinkable on a continuous arc rather than holding station. Stationary ships are easy targets for the Unsinkable's broadside, and the AI escort angles compound the damage if the player stops moving. Hammer the Unsinkable's hull with cannonballs, prioritising it over any remaining escorts. When its hull bar drops low enough, pull alongside so the crew can board; thin the deck from your own ship with ranged weapons before stepping across. If too many enemies rush at once, jump back to your own deck, soften the crowd from range, then board again. Looting the Unsinkable yields the Journal of the Captain of the Unsinkable, which advances the journal to the next objective.

Wax-Stained Desk and the Hands Lieutenant Ambush

Sailing northwest from the Unsinkable lands the player on a coastline that funnels through the coastal jungle into the Foothills. Wolves patrol the inland approach and can drop a careless player quickly, so keep moving along the quest marker rather than detouring. The destination is a pirate camp near Ancient Ruins, populated with grenade-throwing enemies that punish close engagement. Clear the camp from range first.

The wax-stained desk: on the left side of the camp, a wax-stained desk holds the next clue. Interacting with the desk advances the journal but also triggers a scripted second wave of Grenadiers plus a Hands Lieutenant who attack immediately. Do not interact with the desk while still low on health or stamina; the encounter starts the moment the prompt closes. After the wave is down, follow the marker north to the next pirate camp where a dead pirate's body holds the three Ritual Keys, completing the prerequisite for the temple gate fight.