You've met with Captain Scarlett, the Pirate Queen, and she would like your help in hunting down the treasure of the infamous Captain Blade. It turns out that you need to find the four pieces of a magic compass that will point the way. One piece is accounted for and in the hands of Captain Scarlett. This mission will see you hunting for Sandman to find the second piece of the compass. You receive this mission immediately after finishing "A Study in Scarlett".
| Normal | True Vault Hunter |
| XP: 11835 Money: $1348 Gear: N/A | XP: Money: Gear: |
Leave Captain Scarlett's ship and get back into your skiff but you may want to check the bounty board first. Take your skiff back all the way west to Oasis and check the bounty board for a mission from Sir Hammerlock called "Grendel". The place you're looking for is just north of Oasis.
Travel a little ways north and you'll come to town tucked into the mouth of a cave. The cave is filled with many of the pirate types that you are likely becoming familiar with. If you take it slow, they should come at you slowly since they aren't particularly densely packed. Work your way through the town or you could simply run through to the cave beyond.
Inside the cave, you'll come to an underground oasis with some vending machines. Sell if you like and then walk around the outside of the oasis to the right. Eventually, you'll see a path leading further into the cave but it will be guarded by a Badass Pirate so be prepared. Take this path and you'll find a small stream leading away from the oasis. There will be another Badass Pirate along this path until you come into a much larger and longer part of the cave.
Start moving along this section of cave and on the left side you'll see an elevator that you can't activate yet. Across from this elevator is a waterfall and from here you can continue on with the mission Grendel. Just past this, you'll start encountering Cave Crystalisks with purple crystal feet. These first few seem to be just under your level but not far behind them will be a Badass Skag with a pack. Make sure you take out those Crystalisks before traveling further in so that you don't have to handle both sets of enemies at the same time.
Continue through the cave as it leads west and then wraps back to the south. Along the right side of the wall will be a large set of stairs leading up to a bridge. Go up those but watch out for the pirates at the top. Cross the bridge to the leftand you'll enter the main section of the Pirate camp.
Inside the camp, you'll encounter almost every type of Pirate enemy you've met so far but you'll also meet the Cabin Boy which is essentially a Shotgun Midget and the Buccaneer who is a really interesting enemy. He'll run at you like a Corsair but when you shoot at him, he can stop and deflect the shots with his swords. If he reflects elemtnal bullets, they will temporarily absorb that element.
If you stick to the right side, you should be able to stay on an upper layer to give you an advantage. Despite this, be careful because there are a good number of spawn points along here and it's definitely possible to get surrounded. Kill the enemies in this area and follow this upper level as it takes you along the top of a waterfall and leads you to another room.
At the far end of this room will be a large ladder that will take you up to your waypoint. Along the right side is plenty of cover for you to deal with the large group of enemies in this room (mostly Pirates and Buccaneers). If you start getting trapped then head back to the entrance to the room to collect yourself. From here, any enemies that wish to attack would get bottle necked.
Climb up the ladder at the back and activate the switch there. This is going to open a gate below you. Go through the gate to find Sandman... and Big Sleep.
Sandman
Sandman is similar to a shotgun midget except that he's got an assult rifle. This actually makes him rather different and decidedly less dangerous for the most part. Because of his lack of height, he can't really shoot over cover which limits his range anyway. For this reason, focus on The Big Sleep.
The Big Sleep is an Anchorman style enemy. This type of enemy is very tough with a lot of health. He can take about as much damage as a Goliath but he's also capable of deflecting shots by using his anchors as a shield and his helmet can't be knocked off.
He uses his anchors in a variety of ways during combat. At first, he'll swing them around like clubs and try to hit you with them but he can also whip them at you long range similarly to the blades from God of War. He'll swing them both over head and then bring them crashing down on top of you. If he happens to hit you with them, he'll pull them back to him and you'll come with them. Sometimes it will put you right in front of him while other times you will simply fly in his general direction and go over his head.
There's no easy way of defeating him except by hitting him in the body. The best method is to use powerful bursts of damage like from a shotgun, sniper rifle, or rocket launcher. He can block shots by crossing his anchors in front of him but he won't do this until after you've hit him a few times. For this reason, you want to do as much damage as quickly as possible before he can bring his guard up. Then you wait for him to lower his guard and do it again. Repeat this process until he goes down.
There will also be a few minor enemies in the area so don't be shy about taking them out in between taking shots at Big Sleep. With most of the enemies out of the way, go after Sandman. Simply find any spot loaded with cover and you'll be fine. If you duck behind cover, his lack of height will mean he can't hit you even if he's just on the other side of cover. Pop out between his shots and kill him.
After you've taken care of him, you'll find his chest next to his house. Open it up to find a piece of the compass and his diary which details the location of another piece. Continue on past his house and you'll come to a waterfall with that previously mentioned elevator. If you drop down the waterfall slowly, you'll be able to grab the "Message in a Bottle" that is the next level down.
Continue out of the cave and we're going to find that caravan. Once outside, head for Wurmwater and then travel to the far eastern side. You'll pass by Captain Scarlett's ship and you should find the caravan north of the Washburne Refinery (depending on how you get there).
When you arrive, stay in your sandskiff because there are going to be a few Badass Loaders guarding the caravan. With the skiff, you should make short work of them. When they are dead, check the skiffs for loot and then loot the chest for the compass piece. Once you loot the chest, EXP Loaders are going to drop down so head for your skiff as quickly as possible before they can destroy it.
Take the pieces of the compass and any side missions back to Captain Scarlett's ship and turn everything in.
