So, you’re poking around Fort Joy and you find a weird skeletal arm. Or maybe you just stumbled onto a shipwreck and thought, "Hey, shiny armor!" That’s how it starts. Threads of a Curse is arguably the most ambitious scavenger hunt Larian Studios ever crammed into Divinity: Original Sin 2. It wasn't even in the base game originally. It arrived with the Gift Bag #5 "Four Artefacts of the Rivellon" update.
Honestly? It's a mess. A beautiful, lore-heavy, high-reward mess that spans almost the entire game. If you’re looking for the Captain’s Armor set, you’re basically signing up for a cross-continental headache that pays off in one of the most broken early-game builds imaginable.
Finding the Threads of a Curse in Fort Joy
Most players hit the first snag before they even leave the island. You find a jar. A Soul Jar, specifically, belonging to Captain Sech Zapor. He’s a jerk. Let’s just be real about that. He’s a cursed undead pirate who thinks he’s much more intimidating than he actually is. You’ll find his cave—the Dead Reckoning—near the area where the salamanders are sunning themselves on the beach.
To actually kick off the meat of the quest, you need that Soul Jar from the Dark Cavern (the one with the Trompdoy illusions). Don't smash it. Not yet. If you bring it to the cave, you can bargain with him. This is where the quest gets twisty. You can fight him, sure. But if you play your cards right, you can get his charismatic hat without even drawing a sword.
The hat is the key. It has a permanent "Charm" aura. In the early levels of Divinity: Original Sin 2, that is basically a cheat code. Any enemy without magic armor who gets too close just... stops fighting you. They become your best friend. It’s hilarious and arguably too strong for Level 4.
The Pirate's Hideout and the Jar Dilemma
Inside the cave, Zapor is standing there looking all brooding. If you give him the jar, he leaves a chest behind. But wait. If you have a character with the Persuasion tag, you can actually trick him. Most people just kill him because, well, it's Divinity, and we like XP.
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The loot is scattered. This isn't a "find one chest and you're done" situation. You need the boots, the coats, and the hat. One piece is buried near a shallow grave by the Abandoned Camp. Another is held by the Captain himself. The game doesn't hold your hand here. You have to read the logs. You have to actually look at the map coordinates. It’s old-school. It’s annoying. It’s great.
Why the Captain's Set is Worth the Hassle
Let's talk stats. This isn't just about looking like a flamboyant pirate, though the aesthetic is 10/10. The full set of Captain's Armor provides a set bonus called Comeback Kid. If you die, you don't. You come back with five percent health.
But the real kicker is the "Luck of the Draw."
- Immunity to Slipping: You can walk on ice like a god.
- Bartering Bonus: Cheap potions, finally.
- Persuasion: Because talking your way out of a fight is better than reloading a save.
The set scales, sort of. But eventually, you'll outgrow it. That’s the tragedy of the Threads of a Curse gear. By the time you hit Reaper's Coast, the armor values start to look a little pathetic compared to the Magister plate you’re looting off corpses. However, that Charm aura? It stays relevant way longer than it has any right to.
The Misconception About "Missable" Steps
I see this on Reddit all the time. People think if they leave Fort Joy, the quest is failed. Not true. You can actually wrap up bits of it later, but why would you? The whole point of the Captain's set is to dominate the early game. If you’re Level 15 and just now finding the Captain’s coat, you’ve missed the window where it’s actually useful.
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Navigating the Buggy Waters
Larian is amazing, but this quest can be finicky. Sometimes Zapor doesn't spawn where he should. Sometimes the Soul Jar interaction doesn't trigger the dialogue tree correctly. If you find yourself stuck, check your inventory. Usually, someone has a note or a "Durell's Log" they haven't read yet. Reading the quest items is literally the only way the game updates your map markers.
If you kill Zapor too early, you might think you’ve locked yourself out. You haven’t. His ghost usually lingers, or the items drop anyway. The game is surprisingly robust when it comes to player murder-hobo tendencies.
Beyond the Pirate: The Other Artefacts
While you're pulling on the Threads of a Curse, don't forget this was part of a larger update. There are three other sets:
- Vulture Armor: Best for finesse builds and archers who want permanent wings.
- Devourer Armor: The absolute tank king, but you won't finish it until the very end of the game in Arx.
- Contamination Armor: For the mages who want to turn the entire battlefield into a toxic wasteland.
The Captain’s set is the "starter" set of these four. It’s the appetizer. It teaches you how these multi-act scavenger hunts work. They require backtracking. They require patience. They require you to actually pay attention to the environment instead of just following a golden arrow on a mini-map.
Real Talk on the Ending of the Quest
When you finally confront Zapor for the last time—usually by the beach near the Dragon—you have a choice. You can let him find peace or you can end him. Honestly, the rewards are the same. But from a roleplay perspective, helping a cursed pirate move on feels slightly more "heroic" in a world that’s constantly trying to eat your soul.
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The quest "concludes" once the full set is in your inventory and Zapor is dealt with. No big fanfare. No cinematic. Just a journal entry and a very stylish hat.
How to Actually Finish This Without Raging
If you want to maximize your efficiency with Threads of a Curse, stop treating it like a main quest. It’s a background task.
- Step 1: Grab the Soul Jar in the Dark Cavern immediately. Do not leave the cave without it. It's in the room with all the other jars; his is the one that specifically mentions Sech Zapor.
- Step 2: Go to the hidden cave at (X:530, Y:145). Talk to the guy. Don't fight yet.
- Step 3: Dig up the chest at the coordinates (X:605, Y:65). You’ll need a shovel. Obviously.
- Step 4: Meet him at the final spot near the ice dragon’s lair.
The biggest mistake is forgetting to dig. Divinity players sometimes forget that the ground is interactable. If you don't have a lizard in your party, keep a shovel on your hotbar.
Once you have the full set, put it on your main "face" character. The one doing the talking. The Persuasion and Bartering bonuses are massive for the transition into Act 2 where everything suddenly costs 5,000 gold. Sell your old rags. Wear the pirate coat. Rule the coast.
Just remember to take the hat off if you're trying to talk to NPCs who might get aggroed by a charm aura. It can get messy in crowded towns. Trust me.