- Conan Exiles Trebuchet Guide: Ready the Cow-tapult - July 12, 2023
- Conan Exiles Raiding Guide: Intruder Alert, Close the Gates - July 12, 2023
- Conan Exiles Climbing Gear Guide: Become The World’s Best Rock Climber - July 6, 2023
A Conan Exiles Black Hand Captain guide can help capture the not-so-elusive pirate. If you’re like me, you love pirate games, so finding the Black Hand Captain and their gang is exciting.
The pirates have plenty of locations across the map, but the Black Galleon is the only place with the Black Hand Captain, despite their quarters being much further away in Buccaneer Bay.
The Black Hand Captain in Conan Exiles is one I like to capture just to say that I did it. Because there’s nothing like telling a “former” violent pirate captain, “Look at me. I’m the captain now.”
Black Hand Captain Overview
- Health – 1173
- Strength – 1
- Agility – 30
- Vitality – 3
- Grit – 2
- Bonus Vitality – 249
- Melee Multiplier – 0.782
- Ranged Multiplier – 0.722
- Location – The Black Galleon (near the bow)
- Class – Fighter
How to Capture Black Hand Captain
There are a lot of enemies on the Black Galleon, making it difficult to traverse through it. You can always find him overlooking the valley at the ship’s bow. Fighting him isn’t all that difficult, but getting to the captain safely and taking him down is no easy feat.
So don’t feel bad if you struggle, because I sure did. I consider this one of the hardest camps in the game, considering the level you likely will be when you pass through and the congested nature of the ship.
Black Hand Captain Vs Captain Ioushuwa
There is a 100% chance that one of these two will spawn at the Black Galleon. There’s a 50% chance that each will spawn, but they cannot spawn at the same time. Their stats and moves are identical.
Getting to the Black Hand Captain
To reach the captain, you’re going to have to go through quite a bit. I suggest coming from the south side and taking the pirates down a couple at a time rather than pulling a ton of them, which will demand death.
If you go from the north side, you must go through a camp with a couple of dozen pirates. So I would not do that unless you have leveled T4 thralls. But if you did, then you probably wouldn’t need to find the captain anyway. So stick to the southside.
The First Camp
There’s a small camp on that side of the bridge to the Black Galleon you can take out first. Then you can head across the bridge and take down the watchman with a bow. When you shoot him, around three or four will run at you.
So you’ll have to melee them before you continue across the bridge. There’s usually an archer on the ledge near the watchman too. After you take this small group down, continue.
Across the Bridge
This is when things get tough because unless you’re super careful, you will pull five or more at a time. I always stay near the bridge so I can go back across it when I need to, giving them only one way to reach me.
If things get super sticky, I jump down, slide to the bottom, and restart. But if things are going well, I take them down a few at a time, heading towards the ship’s bow ever so slowly.
The Captain’s Bow
You can see the captain from a ways away, standing there with his back to you across a second bridge. I always clear the pirates around him before heading to him because fighting him and anything else is a pain.
Fighting the Captain Black Hand
Once you reach him, there are a few things to keep in mind. His health is just over 1100, so not insane. But he does have an excellent swiping attack that does major damage, so try to dodge him.
It’s not necessary to clear the entire ship, but I prefer to so I can capture the captain without any interference. I don’t want to switch between weapon and truncheon all the time.
Other Black Galleon Thralls to Capture
There are a ton of possible T4 spawns on the Black Galleon. Anything else isn’t worth it, as you need to isolate them. Considering there are around fifty pirates on the ship, it better be a good thrall you’re clearing for.
I never farm thralls here to capture. But it is a great place to farm enemies for the experience because you can take them a few at a time, granting you a ton fo experience if you’re at the right level.
That said, if you live nearby and have specific thrall needs, learning which T4s you can get at the Black Galleon can prove beneficial.
Combatants
- Braggi the Bold – Fighter – end of middle deck
- Conchaka of Hyrkania – Archer – small camp around edge
- Cruaidh the Crusher – Fighter – small room near the stern on center level
- Galter of Bossonia – Archer – small camp around edge
Crafters (most spawn in workshop on center deck)
- Arvad of Akbitan – Blacksmith, Edgesmith
- Fingal Firetender – Smelter
- Idra Sparkeyes – Smelter
- Irniz of the Furnace – Armorer, Temperwright
- Jehungir Horseshoe – Armorer, Scoutwright
- Joka Ironfist – Armorer, Temperwright
- Kaspa of the Forest – Carpenter, Builder
- Macrin Blackhand – Smelter
- Maev the Magnificent – Blacksmith, Tempersmith
- Ogrus Iron-eater – Armorer, Shieldwright
- Rayne o’ the Rosewood – Carpenter, Bowmaker – lower level
- Shendelzare – Armorer, Shieldwright
- Sigyn the Woodworker – Carpenter, Builder – lower level
- Valenso Da Reyn – Tanner
- Vatessa the Potent – Cook – lower level
Others (bearers share a spawn, with each thrall not staying in one location)
- Danyo the Seductive – Entertainer – back of the upper deck
- Imiu of Derketo – Entertainer – back of the upper deck
- Saddur the Slaver – Taskmaster, Driver
- Vanko the Fearsome – Taskmaster, Overseer
- Amzadi the Wanderer – Bearer
- Dono’Thelpup – Bearer
- Eina the Light – Bearer
- Fairin of the Wild Coast – Bearer
- Hesth Plainswalker – Bearer
- Kathibria Featherstep – Bearer
- Narr Goatfoot – Bearer
- Pelor the Well-travelled – Bearer
- Rethrous the Burdened – Bearer
- Ulrik the Mountaineer – Bearer
What to Loot While at the Black Galleon
The Black Galleon is not a location you want to jump in and out of. While you’re there, I suggest making the most of it. While you’re there for the captain, consider taking in all it offers.
Treasure Chests
There are a couple of simple boxes to loot and seven Treasure Chests on the Black Galleon. None of them are exclusive and instead contain random treasure, so I don’t worry about collecting them all.
Specialist Brewing III
You can learn to make rum and grog with a recipe found in the Rum Runner Vald’s Secret Recipe. They all give you good stamina buffs, so it’s worth going to get them, even if the recipe is well-hidden.
Before you look for it, ensure you are at least level 37 and have the Brewing knowledge. If you do, start southeast of the ship, and you’ll notice a cave on the ground-level wall on the side of the cliff.
Enter it and look up. Climb to the top on the right until you reach a dead body that has a note near it and a chest. The chest will unlock to grant you the recipe if you meet the requirements.
Seduce Emote
The Seduce emote is steamy and humorous. To unlock it, you must grab the Harlot’s Journal #6, near the Harlot’s ghost on the central plateau of the Black Galleon. Look at the end of the ramp near the center.
Black Hand Banner
The ability to craft the Black Hand Banner can be found via the Black Hand Banners recipe. You can learn it by interacting with the banners at the entrance. This is easy to miss since it’s not via a recipe book or runestone.
Salaceo’s Instructions (fake)
Salaceo’s Instructions is not something I found worth it, but it is fun. It’s a written treasure map that you can find early on in the game. It leads you to a chest with a small amount of gold/silver.
However, there is a tale that these instructions are fake and that there is a larger treasure somewhere if you take two steps for each one Salaceo takes. For improved instructions, head to Riverwatch Camp and test it out yourself.
Nearby Camps
There are a ton of nearby Black Hand camps that you can loot while you’re taking care of the captain at the Black Galleon. Though many more are on the map, these are all within one block.
- Scoundrel’s Gateway – southwest of the ship. Contains loot chests and Hyena Fur Armor, and Hyena Fur Epic recipes.
- Sailstitch Camp – southeast of the ship. Contains brimstone nodes and Saleceo’s original loot.
- Anchor Point – just southeast of the ship. Contains a few good thralls that are easy to catch out.
- The Sandspit – directly east of the ship. Contains taskmaster thralls and a loot chest.
- Marauder’s Muster – northwest of the ship. A lot of thralls and one loot chest.
- Bilgewater Break – just north of the ship. Large camp with a ton of thralls.
- Voyager’s Vigil – northeast of the ship. Contains a lot of thralls, Razma’s Journal #5, and plenty of animals to harvest for meat.
Black Hand Lore
There are a few ways to learn more about the Black Hand, Black Galleon, and Black Hand Captain. One of the best ways is via Jamila the Pirate Queen, also known as the Butcher of Khwarizm, who is near the Black galleon at Pariah’s Overwatch.
She was once considered the leader of all of the Black Hand pirates, even above the captain of the Galleon. She teaches the Salute emote if you talk to her and is not aggressive unless attacked.
When you talk to her, she will tell you a story of how she was overthrown by her own crew and now watches them from a distance. She speaks about how she gave them a purpose by creating the Black Hand, and they spat on her deeds, taking the name she had built.
She tells about how she was exiled, and her hands burned. It wasn’t greed that caused her to create the Black Hand, but survival instincts. A crew to rely on against the rogues of the Exiled Lands.
She was overthrown not because she honored the tradition of any crewmate being able to challenge the captain and take their place. Instead, she was tied up in her sleep as they were too cowardly to challenge her.
Before her dialogue ends, she then tells you fo the map room and how it could be the key to everything. Other than from her, there aren’t many ways to learn about the Black Hand Captain. But through her, we learn that he was once her first mate but is now her sworn enemy.
FAQs
Question: How Do You Learn the Black Hand Armor Recipe?
Answer: You must go to the Captain’s Quarters at Buccaneer Bay for the recipe. This teaches the special Black Corsair Garb, which is much nicer than the typical Black Hand gear.
Question: Is Black Hand Captain or Captain Ioushuwa Better?
Answer: They are the same. The only difference is their armor, plus one is a female and the other a male. There’s no way to know which will be at the bow of the Galleon when you get there.
Question: Is Jamilla the Pirate Queen the Black Hand Captain?
Answer: She was at one point but is now an outcast, so she is not considered the Black Hand Captain. Now, either the unnamed Black Hand Captain (assumed to be Atthlis) or Ioushuwa is the captain.
Black Hand Captain – Value
The Black Hand Captain is not a bad thrall, but I wouldn’t consider him/her one of the best. If you want a thrall to fight from afar, they are a great bet because they have insane agility but low health.
Make sure you give them some type of agility weapon and try to keep a tankier thrall or yourself with them to take most of the damage. If you can do this, they will do decent dps.
Otherwise, your time spent getting them will be for naught as they die during their first skirmish when outnumbered. As someone who prefers max agility, I can relate to the captain and will make the most of us using daggers.