If you failed Fence’s test at the front gate, you may recall Blake as the kindly guy who let you in through the side door. He will challenge you to a friendly little hunting contest if you go to speak with him again after talking to him for the first time. He will be right where he was before, keeping a look out for any sea monsters who may decide to attack the pirates’ base. You can accept his contest offer if you know how to kick. Luckily, Blake can show you how it’s done for a measly 500 gold. Accept his offer and get to hunting the giant crabs that infest the beach.
Giant crabs are, as their name suggests, quite large. They are tough opponents to take down on your own, but luckily you’ll have Blake helping you out. This is good, because in this quest you will have to take on five of the giant creatures at the same time. Regardless of the fact that you have a companion with you, you’ll have to be careful during the fight. These enemies are still some of the strongest that you will have faced up until this point.
When the battle starts, try to get the crabs to focus their attention on Blake instead of you. Both of your kills will count towards the mission objective, so don’t worry if Blake gets the finishing blows in on a few of the giant crabs. In fact, if you are weakened by the enemies and can’t see a way out, it can actually be beneficial for you to refer them all to Blake and let him kill them for you. You’ll just miss out on the Glory bonus that comes with slaying such large enemies, so weigh your options carefully. Before you resort to piling all of the enemies on poor Blake, though, you will want to at least try to kill some on your own. In doing this, you will want to make heavy use of the kicking move that Blake just taught you. In order to kick, hold the right mouse button down and hit the space bar. If you hit the crabs at just the right angle with just the right timing, you will actually flip them over, exposing them to heavy damage from repeated attacks.
Alternately, you can opt to use firearms against the giant crabs if you have advanced far enough to use them already. With a good gun, like a shotgun or revolver, you can hit the crabs from a distance and not have to worry about their powerful claw attacks. The only problem with the guns is that they take so long to cool down, so be sure to give yourself the time and space necessary to maneuver on the battlefield. Don’t be afraid to resort to close range attacks if need be. You can also simply kick the crabs over and mount a hasty retreat if your health is running a little low.
Finally, if you are completing this quest before heading out to speak with Steelbeard for the first time, you will still have Patty in your party. This means that you will have three people combating the crabs instead of two. This can be pretty helpful. Having Patty in your party along with Blake means that you should be able to wipe the floor with the giant crabs pretty easily. It also means that you have a two thirds chance of scoring the Glory bonus for the kill, since kills by both you and Patty will count towards your Glory accumulation.
Although it doesn’t matter who killed the most crabs in terms of quest completion, you will want to strive to kill more than Blake anyway for a number of reasons. First of all, the gold bonus at the end of the quest will be greater if you kill more than him. To reward you for your exemplary performance, you will receive 100 gold instead of the 50 that you would normally receive in return for killing less than Blake. You will also get a good word from Blake when it comes time to negotiate with Steelbeard for your candidacy as a pirate. If you killed more of the giant crabs than Blake did, he will go to Steelbeard with word of your achievement. Mention it later when speaking to the captain to receive the reputation bonus. Finally, you will receive 100 Glory for completing the quest, along with 100 more Glory for every giant crab that you killed. All things considered, this can be quite the profitable quest for aggressive players who aren’t afraid to go toe-to-toe with the giant crabs, or those who brought Patty along.
