The Night Watch
Captain Hale's storyline - 12 tiers on the sea wall, from the first night on the beach to The Last Toll, ending with the Captain title.
The Night Watch is the town storyline given by Captain Aldric Hale, keeper of Blockville's sea wall. Hale tells an old story: long ago a giant Bellkeeper stood on the cliffs, and its toll warned the town of every storm - until one winter it turned, and its bell called the drowned instead. A young Hale and the old watch rang it down into the bay and sealed it there. Now there have been attacks on the beaches again, and Hale is too old to walk the sand at night. The player becomes his recruit, gears up a little more after every fight, and finally holds the beach on the night The Last Toll comes ashore for vengeance, to become Captain.
| Given by | Captain Hale, on the sea wall |
| Tiers | 12 |
| Total reward | $31,700 and 5,000 Network XP |
| Final title | Captain |
| Cosmetics | Unique Guard cosmetics, revealed when earned |
#Starting
The storyline is started by talking to Captain Hale. Once it has started, its current step is shown in the objective bar at the top of the screen and in /quests, and a marker points to any place or townsperson the step needs. Hale's errands also send the player to Rory at the harbor, Farmer Barley and Magnus at the forge.
#Blockville by Night
Five of the tiers are fought on Blockville by Night: the island as it is on the worst of nights, dark and storm-lashed, where the dead walk in from the sea. Clicking Hale when one of them comes up offers it; the player is taken there and brought back when it ends. Each fight is private - only the player (and anyone fighting alongside them) sees its monsters - and nothing is lost on a fall: Hale drags the player back behind the wall, and the fight can be tried again a minute later.
#The watch's kit
Hale doesn't send anyone out in their own gear. When a fight starts, the player's own inventory is put away safely and they get the watch's kit - a shield, 16 steak and the rest below, better with every fight:
| Fight | Armour | Weapons | Golden apples |
|---|---|---|---|
| Night Tide | Iron | Iron sword, bow, 32 arrows | 2 |
| The farm raid | Iron, Protection I | Iron sword (Sharpness I), bow, 48 arrows | 3 |
| Rounds of the Island | Iron, Protection II | Iron sword (Sharpness II), bow (Power I), 64 arrows | 4 |
| The Sunken Cellar | Magnus's diamond helmet and chestplate, iron below, Protection II | Iron sword (Sharpness II), bow (Power II), 64 arrows | 5 |
| The Last Toll | Full diamond, Protection II | Diamond sword (Sharpness III), Hale's Longbow | 6, and Hale's enchanted golden apple |
The kit never wears out. It can't be dropped, stored or sold, and only chat and quest commands work while it's on. Worn cosmetics come off for the fight and go back on afterwards, and nothing in the town can be broken or built during it. Win, lose, fall or log out, the kit goes back to Hale and the player's own things come straight back.
Each fight has its own music, and the drowned and their friends come straight for the player: they swim and wade ashore to reach them, and some throw tridents (not on the first night). In the raid on the fields they march on the crops, but turn and fight anyone who comes close.
| Tier | Fight | What it takes |
|---|---|---|
| 2 | Night Tide | Something is walking out of the water. Three small waves of drowned come up out of the surf at the beach, a few at a time. Put every one down. |
| 4 | Raid on the Shore | Barley asks for help: raiders land and march on his fields. Each one that reaches the crops tramples a row - stop them before the fields are lost. |
| 6 | Rounds of the Island | Walk Hale's rounds - the forge, the farm and the harbor - following the light from post to post. Every post springs an ambush. |
| 8 | The Sunken Cellar | Go down the stairs into the flooded cellar under the harbor. The Unrung stir in its chambers, and the last holds the Bell Warden - a Hollow Bellkeeper - beside the lost town bell. |
| 12 | The Last Toll | The Warden's fall woke the old Keeper itself. Two waves come out of the surf at the beach, a Choir-Bound Bellkeeper with the second, then The Last Toll rises from the shallows and storms the beach for vengeance. Bring it down. |
For The Last Toll, Hale hands over Hale's Longbow (Power III, never runs out of arrows), returned when the fight ends. Other players on the same tier can join the fight in its first 30 seconds by clicking Hale. A win where nobody goes down pays an extra 25 Credits. Once the storyline is finished, Hale offers the fight again for a best time (no rewards).
#Tiers
| Tier | Name | Steps | Reward |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Old Watchman | Hear Hale's story; bring him a bow, 32 arrows and 2 golden apples | $250 + 50 XP |
| 2 | Night Tide | See what's coming ashore at the beach (above) | $400 + 75 XP |
| 3 | Worse to Come | Bring Hale 64 arrows, 3 golden apples and 2 shields | $600 + 100 XP |
| 4 | Trouble at the Farm | See Barley about the attack; defend his farm (above) | $900 + 150 XP, Unique Guard Cosmetic, 2 golden apples from Barley |
| 5 | Stock the Armoury | Tell Hale the farm is safe; bring him 32 spectral arrows, 4 golden apples and a crossbow | $1,200 + 200 XP |
| 6 | Rounds of the Island | Walk Hale's rounds (above) | $1,600 + 275 XP |
| 7 | Plate from the Forge | Ask Magnus for diamond plate; feed his forge 16 blocks of coal; bring him 13 diamonds | $2,000 + 350 XP |
| 8 | The Toll Beneath | Clear the Sunken Cellar (above) | $2,750 + 450 XP, Unique Guard Cosmetic, a trident |
| 9 | The Keeper's Tale | Read Rory's father's logbook; bring Hale 128 arrows and 4 golden apples | $3,500 + 550 XP |
| 10 | Plate for the Last Night | Bring Magnus 13 more diamonds for the rest of the set | $4,500 + 700 XP |
| 11 | The Last Watch | Bring Hale 6 golden apples, 4 shields and 64 spectral arrows | $6,000 + 900 XP |
| 12 | The Last Toll | Stop the Last Toll on the beach (above) | $8,000 + 1,200 XP, Unique Guard Cosmetic, the Captain title, +25% when selling mob drops |
Cosmetic rewards are shown as a mystery until they are earned.
#Hale's Armory
Clicking Shop when Hale speaks opens his armory: arrows by the stack from the start, shields and golden apples after Night Tide, and spectral arrows after the farm (tier 4).