Black Hand

Lore

“

I think I must be dreaming. I visited pirates today. Pirates! In the middle of a desert! It's as ridiculous as it sounds. Landlocked pirates who built themselves a ship of stone and iron on a mesa in the middle of a canyon. They dress in pirate garb and call themselves "The Black Hand". They claim to be searching for a way out of the Exiled Lands, the same as Jakkad and I, but it doesn't seem as though they have made much progress. There was a lot of talk about hidden maps and secret treasures. I did not talk to their leader, the Butcher of Khwarizm, but I saw her from a distance. A formidable woman. Whatever these fools who follow her think, she has a real plan.

„

- Razma of Shem

Description

The Black Hand are equipped with iron weapons, bows, iron shields and use stone clubs. They are clad in leather and iron-reinforced cloth, also sometimes sporting exotic extensions in place of limbs.
They come in far greater numbers than the Darfari Cannibals or the Exiles.

Black Hand pirates are comprised of Cimmerian, Darfari, Hyborian, Hyrkanian, Kushite, Nordheimer, Stygian, Shemite, Zamorian and Zingaran.

Notes

• There are two large areas of the map that contain pirates: the eastern side of the desert stretching from the starting river up until the Highlands, and the north/north-eastern regions of the jungle towards the east coast
• Smaller camps are scattered to the east, the south and the southeast of The Black Galleon.
• The largest concentrations can be found on Jamilla's Liberty, The Black Galleon, Scavenger's Berth and Flotsam.
• They are particularly good for farming small amounts of  Gold Dust and  Gold Bar early on, especially with a  Dismantling Bench by breaking down  Black Hand Earrings.
• Pirates of the Black Hand enemy NPCs generally have 255 hitpoints. Some notable exceptions are most named NPCs having 330 HP such as Conchaka of Hyrkania or Irniz of the Furnace.
• Jungle camps of the Black Hand faction have several Panther pets with 385 HP, making them much more dangerous than the desert camps.

As Thralls, these HP values for Entertainer, Fighter or Archers go up to:

• 1020 for Tier 1
• 1530 for Tier 2
• 1785 for Tier 3
•  Demon-fire Orb-throwing Fighters have 1380, 2070 or 2415 HP (Rank I, II or III)
• 2295 for Tier 4

Strategy

• The smaller camps are usually not challenging with a little gear due to their scattered nature and small numbers of foes. Most of the smaller camps consist of 1-2 Fighter thralls, 1 Archer thrall and 1 worker NPC.
• Most pirates are moderately armored, so armor penetration plays a larger role against increasingly stronger foes like the Black Hand Captain.
• Due to their small HP pools, poison and bleed stacks are less effective against the majority of Black Hand NPCs, as opposed to high tier factions like Votaries of Skelos.
• Apart from The Black Galleon, most pirate camps consist of small groups of separated enemies or even individuals thus making high damage burst weapons with higher stamina drain or spears very effective.
• Shields can be very effective against the relatively high amount of spear-wielders among T4 fighters, the amount of 1-hand-sword wielding foes and archers from this faction.

Headquarters

• The Black Galleon

Camps/Outlooks

List of camps in the desert:

• Scavenger's Berth
• Watchers Waystation
• Sullys's Ambush
• Deathwhisper Camp
• Lookout point
• Tarman's Berth
• Spotter's Squat
• Scoundrel's Gateway
• Sailstitch Camp
• Anchor Point
• The Black Galleon
• The Sandspit
• Marauder's Muster
• Bilgewater Break
• Voyager's Vigil

List of camps in the jungle:

• Deckswab's Retreat
• Scupper's Shelter
• Descent of Dagon
• The Crevice
• Talier's Berth
• Flotsam
• Jamilla's Liberty
• Captain's Quarters

In the highlands

• The Pocket

Notable NPCs

• Jamila the Pirate Queen (Story NPC)
• Ignatius the Greedy (Merchant)
• Koros the Brave (Merchant)
• Owen the Beautiful (Merchant)

Archer	Conchaka of Hyrkania	Galter of Bossonia	Iekika the Visionary	Sarnai Thorn
Armorer	Irniz of the Furnace	Joka Ironfist	Shendelzare	Ogrus Iron-eater
	Jehungir Horseshoe
Blacksmith	Arvad of Akbitan	Maev the Magnificent
Carpenter	Rayne o' the Rosewood	Sigyn the Woodworker
Cook	Vatessa the Potent	Rum Runner Vald
Entertainer	Danyo the Seductive	Imiu of Derkheto
Fighter	Black Hand Captain	Braggi the Bold	Captain Ioushuwa	Cruaidh the Crusher
	Freebooter Marcus	Gall o' the Spear-din	Hekkr Waverunner	Sully
	Tarman
Priest	Yog Arch Priest	Set Arch Priest	Mitra Arch Priest
Smelter	Fingal Firetender	Idra Sparkeyes
Tanner	Valenso Da Reyn
Taskmaster	Saddur the Slaver	Vanko the Fearsome

The Purge only

The Purge only.

Alchemist	Atlar the Swarthy	Khafra the Mixer	Sparn the Laborer	Varda the Foul
Archer	Captain Bree	Captain D'Ref	Cristian the Blade	Faros the Ravager
	Narcissa Farsight	Harus Flickerfinger	Naralia of the Desert Seas	Zara the Crazed
	Para Strongbow
Armorer	Rimel the Shaggy	Saken Bristlebeard	Tilutan the Indestructible	Uras the Strong
Blacksmith	Artificer Galen	Master Crafter Shanya	Sassan Anvilbreaker	Smith Raden
Carpenter	Altar Axe-grinder	Jelal the Builder	Master Carpenter Negan	Vash the Bearded
Cook	Head Chef Taradis	Master Chef Thab	Thror Boozehound	Turas the Cook
Fighter	Captain Ermetius	Captain Marus	Captain Oda	Captain Poscore
	Freebooter Argus	Freebooter Mirak	Keprel the Buccaneer	Yela the Siren
Priest - Set	Enaro of the Slithering Doom	Mulai the Secretkeeper	Nasa the Unholy	Strab the Herald
Priest - Mitra	Edric the Holy	Egil of the True Faith	Ivasel the Sacred	Mikri - Cleric of the Fourth Level
Smelter	Ilo Ironbar1	Murzi Smolderfinger1
Tanner	Bregg Hide-flayer	Pelt-Master Itak1	Tendonhacker1	Yelkin the Pockmarked
Taskmaster	Kapellez Noose-Maker1	Karlus the Binder1	Misery-Bringer Artan1	Yakinu The Lacerator1

¹ data mined, needs verification

Common Loot

Wood	Stone	Plant Fiber	Iron Bar	Coal	Salted Berries
Bark	Rhino Hide	Feline Pelt	Brimstone	Tar	Black Rhino Head
Gold Dust	Ironhead Arrows	Flinthead Arrows	Bone Arrows	Steel Arrows	Ivory Arrows
Grease Orb	Water Orb	Gaseous Orb	Antelope Head Trophy	Candle Stub	Crude Wooden Bowl

Signature Weapons

Iron War Axe	Iron Mace	Cutlass	Longsword	Two-Handed Iron Sword
Iron Warhammer	Steel Trident	Iron Poniards	Hyrkanian Bow

Signature Armor

Black Hand Vest	Black Hand Trousers	Black Hand Boots	Black Hand Earrings
Buccaneer Peg Leg (Left Fitting)	Buccaneer Peg Leg (Right Fitting)	Eye Patch	Hook (Right Fitting)	Hook (Left Fitting)
Medium Cap	Medium Harness	Medium Gauntlets	Medium Tasset	Medium Boots
Iron Targe	Wooden Shield	Wooden Targe

Wanderer Spawns

• Ferrus the Butcher (Fighter)
• Freebooter Arkos (Fighter)
• Freebooter Marcus (Fighter)
• Ghuriel the Wicked (Fighter)
• Hansel of the Blue Seas (Fighter)
• Katerina of the Wild Seas (Fighter)
• Ogra the Headcleaver (Fighter)
• Onis the Quite Angry (Fighter)
• Yen of the Ferocious Wind (Fighter)

Various unnamed spawns like:

• Black Hands Wanderer Spawn 01 - coming soon.