Skyrim:Wave Breaker

Dawnstar is threatened by a giant crab! Quest Giver: Courier Location(s): Shack west of Dawnstar, Dawnstar Prerequisite Quest: Beneath Bronze Waters Next Quest: End of the Line Reward: 1,200 gold ID: ccBGSSSE001_Crab_MQ4 Added by: Fishing

A powerful ocean spirit emerges

Quick Walkthrough

1. Wait for a courier to delivery a letter from Viriya.
2. Travel to the shack west of Dawnstar and join the defense.
3. Kill several waves of frenzied mudcrabs and regroup with Viriya inside the shack.
4. Loot flaming pots from the mudcrabs and use the catapults to launch them at the Emperor Crab Guardian Spirit.
5. Speak with Viriya once the spirit is defeated. Visit the jarl of Dawnstar for your reward.

Detailed Walkthrough

This quest will only be triggered after you have exhausted Viriya's fishing jobs. The final quest she will offer you is Beneath Bronze Waters. Once this is completed, you will receive a hastily written letter from a courier.

Read the letter and you will learn that the frenzied mudcrabs have emerged again and that the guards sent to deal with them were attacked by a spirit. Head to the shack on the shore west of Dawnstar where you will have to defeat the frenzied mudcrabs alongside Viriya and the guards. After a short while, another wave of frenzied mudcrabs will attack, once defeated you will need to regroup with Viriya inside the shack.

All of a sudden a loud explosion goes off and the whole ground rumbles. Head outside to see the huge “Emperor Crab Guardian Spirit” that has risen from the sea! The explosion was from a wagon full of Flaming Pots. The Frenzied mudcrabs will begin grabbing these pots and scurrying away with them. Kill them and grab these pots while avoiding the guardian crab’s huge pincer slams. Head back to the catapults and load them up with flaming pots one at a time. Activate the catapult and it flings the flaming pots at the giant crab ghost. Do this about six times and it will be reduced to the ether. Viriya gives her thanks. Head to the White Hall in Dawnstar to receive a gold reward from the Jarl. At this point Viriya goes missing but after a little while sends a letter to begin End of the Line.

Notes

• This quest can be initiated by heading straight to the fishing shack without even getting the letter yet.
• The courier has been known to arrive, meet the player in Dawnstar and start this quest even if Beneath Bronze Waters is in progress but unfinished. Whether this is intentional or a bug is unknown.
• A while after this quest a fisherman respawns at the fishing shack.
• About 4-5 of the Flaming Pots can be collected and kept when the quest is over.
• It was originally planned for the quest to end with the player fighting a living Emperor Crab rather than a ghost. Once the crab was defeated, the player would have been able to hollow out the crab's body and use it as a player home, however this was cut for time. There is a placeholder cell still in the Creation Kit (ccPlaceholder18Interior01), as well as an unfinished location record stating it was called the "Emperor’s Homestead".

Bugs

• Sometime Viriya will not join you in the shack. Save/quitting and reloading CAN cause her to trigger the regroup in shack but is not guaranteed. However, fast travelling to another location, saving and reloading than fast travelling back to Viriya will fix the bug in most cases.

Quest Stages

Wave Breaker (ccBGSSSE001_Crab_MQ4)
Stage	Finishes Quest	Journal Entry
50		I received a hastily written letter from Viriya. I should read what it has to say. Objective 0: Read Viriya's hastily written letter
100		Viriya received a letter from Jarl <Alias=Jarl> in Dawnstar. The frenzied mudcrabs have emerged once again. When the Dawnstar guard arrived, they were attacked by a spirit that caused them to flee in terror. Viriya is already on her way to Dawnstar and asked for my assistance. I should answer the call and return to the shore west of Dawnstar. Objective 10: Return to the shore west of Dawnstar
200		I have arrived once again at the shore west of Dawnstar. The signs of a recent battle scar the surrounding area where Viriya and a handful of guards have stood their ground against a mudcrab horde. As I approached, the frenzied mudcrabs began to emerge from the sea again. I should help Viriya and the guards defeat them. Objective 15: Kill the Frenzied Mudcrabs (100% Remaining)
210		I've helped Viriya and the guards defeat a wave of frenzied mudcrabs, but more are coming. I should take a moment to prepare for the next assault. Objective 25: Prepare for the next wave
215		Another wave of frenzied mudcrabs have emerged from the sea west of Dawnstar, this time more numerous than ever. We will need to fend them off once more.
225		After several hard-fought battles, the frenzied mudcrab attacks have stopped for now. We should regroup inside the shack nearby. Objective 18: Regroup with Viriya inside the shack
235		Now that we've regrouped after the battle, I should speak to Viriya inside the shack. Objective 20: Speak to Viriya
300		The guardian spirit of a massive emperor crab has materialized off the coast, along with a new wave of mudcrabs. The guardian spirit is too large to be harmed by normal means. However, I should be able to use the catapults the guards have put in position nearby. The mudcrabs seem to have collected the flaming pots from the wrecked wagon near the shack. I will have to recover them from the mudcrabs and use them to fire the catapults at the guardian spirit. Objective 40: Fire the catapults at the Emperor Crab Guardian Spirit (0/4) Objective 41: Fire catapults at the Emperor Crab Guardian Spirit using flaming pots (0/4) Objective 42: Obtain flaming pots from the frenzied mudcrabs
500		Using the catapults, I managed to vanquish the emperor crab guardian spirit. The swarms of frenzied mudcrabs have come to an end. I should speak to Viriya now that the battle is over. Objective 50: Speak to Viriya
600		In the aftermath of the battle, Viriya thanked me for helping defeat the guardian spirit of the emperor crab. The guards must tend to their wounds, and Viriya will make the long journey back to Riften. The emperor crab guardian spirit and its horde of frenzied mudcrabs should no longer threaten the people of Dawnstar. I should travel to Dawnstar and inform the Jarl that the battle was a success. Objective 100: Report to Jarl <Alias=Jarl> in Dawnstar
2000	Finishes quest	In the aftermath of the battle, Viriya thanked me for helping defeat the guardian spirit of the emperor crab. The guards must tend to their wounds, and Viriya will make the long journey back to Riften. The emperor crab guardian spirit and its horde of frenzied mudcrabs should no longer threaten the people of Dawnstar. I traveled to Dawnstar and informed the Jarl, who rewarded me for my efforts.

• The following empty quest stages were omitted from the table: 0, 220, 230, 250, 275, 450.

Notes

• Any text displayed in angle brackets (e.g., <Alias=LocationHold>) is dynamically set by the Radiant Quest system, and will be filled in with the appropriate word(s) when seen in game.
• Not all Journal Entries may appear in your journal; which entries appear and which entries do not depends on the manner in which the quest is done.
• Stages are not always in order of progress. This is usually the case with quests that have multiple possible outcomes or quests where certain tasks may be done in any order. Some stages may therefore repeat objectives seen in other stages.
• If an entry is marked as "Finishes Quest" it means the quest disappears from the Active Quest list, but you may still receive new entries for that quest.
• On the PC, it is possible to use the console to advance through the quest by entering setstage ccBGSSSE001_Crab_MQ4 stage, where stage is the number of the stage you wish to complete. It is not possible to un-complete (i.e. go back) quest stages, but it is possible to clear all stages of the quest using resetquest ccBGSSSE001_Crab_MQ4.

This Skyrim-related article is a stub. You can help by expanding it.