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ANCIENT ISLES UNIVERSITY ARTICLE
THE KRAKEN; Aka Karen.
kraken (SoT edition)
/ˈkrɑːk(ə)n/
noun
an enormous sea monster that lives off the grief and misery of sailors as it destroys thier ship and fun.
Amongst the Megalodons and the Skeleton ships, The Kraken on Sea Of Thieves is the rarest monster encounter (due to her not being able to spawn when Forts and Fleets are active on the server) and on the larger vessels, by far the most difficult. She is angry, merciless and insanely tolerant.
Many crews that cross the path of the terrible tendrils of torment, quickly fall to its power, feeling there is little that can be done to survive it, some even rage quit at the mere sight of ink.
So with this guide I hope you and your crew can also tame the beast, and take her down with well orchestrated ease. And conquer your way to the Leagendary Kraken Hunter title!
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/721902796995035217/723767412494827530/20200620_151236.png
Image by: Woodro Jenkins
Twitter: @WoodrowJenkins_
FIRST THINGS FIRST!
Dont be scared.
She is intimidating on a Sloop but a breeze to defeat. She is hardest to fight and much more aggressive with larger crews, you need to remain calm, and focus your rolls.
Whether you are alone or with friends this guide will help you GREATLY.
RALLY THE CREW!
Being most difficult to take down with larger boats, it would be wise to keep things maintained as a crew. There are 4 specific jobs to commit to, when taking on the kraken.
These are as follows,
-CANNONS;
The job of the cannons is to damage the Kraken by shooting the tentacles. 2-4 well placed cannons will send the tentacle back under water. (you can also do this with Flintlok, EoR and Blunderbuss.) Damage dealing aside, the major duty of cannons is to fend off her attacks. KEEP ATLEAST ONE CANNON LOADED ON EACH SIDE. To "Cancel" the Krakens advances, deal enough damage when prompted. this is very important.
So listen for incoming tentacles as they duck under water, it will tell you when The Kraken is attacking. Shoot the cannons at the attacking tentacle(s) to prevent attacks to help with keeping pressure off repairs. Use Guns on tentacles that arent doing anything to save on cannonballs if needed.
-REPAIRS
Repairs need a lot of attention to maintain the ships integrity and keeping it afloat. By knowing when to be down below and when to be on deck with guns. You must listen to your crew for if cancellations are missed and damages are inbound. For eg If a crew member let's you know that a wrap is imminent. Get down below immediately, board up holes and dont stop bailing!, time your bucket scoops to control water levels, and DONT THROW THE WATER BACK IN YOUR SHIP!
make sure it get out of the boat properly.
- KEEP WATCH
This is the most important job of the entire arrangement. You must pay attention to the krakens movements and inform the crew of changes, If you see something change in the Krakens behaviour it usually means shes making a move, let the crew know what to shoot, when to shoot, and on what side of the boat, get people prepairing for any incoming damages.
So, set up your positions and commit as a crew, pay adequate attention to each role and your vessel will avoid becoming Kraken food.
KNOW YOUR ENEMY!
Biggest input for this guide is the Krakens Behavior. Once you understand how the Kraken operates you will have a much nicer time dealing with her and most importantly, build a stronger bond as a crew when you pull it off! She has 4 different patterns to learn and know, which will tell you exactly what's happening next and what to do to prevent it..
Her first position i call her "Basic stance". This is where the tentacles arent really doing anything, they are just lingering around in the water looking tremendous. During this time you can take a risk for loot, but it's best to prepare for her next move which will come at random, and with larger crews, multiple at once.
So get loaded up with boards and cannonballs, get TWO guns equipted and man your dedicated stations.
HER ATTACKS
Pirate Picker
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Her attack that I call the "Pirate picker", is where she picks a pirate or two, and tries to remove them from the boat. The tell for this is the constant squealing sound you hear and the VFX of rushing air you can see. This attack can be interrupted, and should be AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! Running below deck will stop it effectively, wait below deck until the suction visual disappears.
You can also stop it with a few swift cannonballs or if she is out of cannon view then a barrage of gun shots will do it, but you have to stop it fast to keep all active crew ON THE BOAT, She will also stop the suction when shes doing too much already. If a Pirate IS dragged off the boat, call all unoccupied crew members to focus their gun fire on the tentacle that's holding them to save your crew mate.
When in grip of the tentacle you have limited camera movement and there is very little you can do to break free without the aid of your crew. She will perform a few different things to take you out while you are held such as slapping you into the water dealing big damage or holding you underwater to drown you. If you survive these, after a bit of time you will be thrown and usually quite far away, forcing you to swim back to your boat which will take some time.
Love Tap!
The "Love Tap!" attack happens quick and can be noticed by a low set, coiled tentacle eyeing off a part of your boat, before curling back and smashing into your side, putting anywhere from 3 - 4 holes on a sloop or 4 - 7 holes on a galleon or brig. There is no way to avoid this attack. Just make sure the watchman calls out that its coming and people be ready with repairs..
The Wrap!
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The BIGGEST AND MOST THREATENING. "The Wrap!" is pretty self explanatory, it is where the Kraken will rise out of the water and roar a couple of times then go back under water, before she wraps your boat up and squeezes, dealing steady, constant damage to your vessel. This attack can be avoided by watching for her tell and shooting a cannon before The Wrap occurs, a tentacle will rise on one side of the boat and roar twice, before diving back underwater and wrapping you up a few seconds later.
WHEN SHE ROARS BLAST HER!
If you can land just a SINGLE cannonball on the roaring tentacle, it will cancel the attack and avoid The Wrap. This is very important.
However of you miss the shot and your boat should become wrapped, The location of the wrap is random and can shut off access to different parts of the boat such as; ladders, sail control, helm and once apon a time, even access to below deck (this has since been removed). So it is important, that if a wrap is missed, have pirates belowdeck to maintain repairs, bucket adequately and fight until she let's go.
To force her off your ship you can use the Cannons. Look beside the boat where you will see the end of the wrapping tentacle sticking out of the water close by, with a sort of "Loose jaw" look, shoot this with a cannonball or two and it will disappear, wait for it to return (this can be on any side of the boat) continue to shoot it untill she let's go. (Can take up to 5 times, less on a sloop)
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On larger vessels (Brig and Galleon) a tentacle will sometimes press down on your boat acting like a half strength ballast ball, shaking your boat violently, causing you to take on water a little faster. When this happens, from a safe distance (to avoid poisoning), shoot the pressing tentacle till it let's go, while board boys maintain repairs and call for bails of needed.
DID I WIN?
When you defeat the kraken you dont so much kill it, as much as you do survive it. It appears to operate on a sort of health bar timer, and as damage is dealt it takes time off the clock. Just keep hitting tentacles with any means available and you will defeat her.
Essentially she just gets butthurt and bored then leaves you alone. You will know you have survived as the same sound as when she spawns will play and the ink will disperse, now you can get what ever loot you can see that remains.
I hope this guide has given you and your crew a fighting edge on The Kraken, and you can finaly get that Legendary Kraken Hunter title.
Thanks for reading :D
Brought to you by the Ancien Isles University Research Team
Discord: https://discord.gg/dZMzc4E
