The Fish God is one of the lesser-known and lore-heavy unlocks in Abyssus. Unlike weapons that you find or get on sequential challenges, this Aquatic Weapon is behind a series of intricate quests, puzzles, and boss fights that put your combat skills to the test as well as your observation skills and logical thinking.
Though the journey towards attaining it can be frustrating, the reward well and truly more than makes up for it. The Fish God is strongly invested in the lore of the game, the soul of an old underwater guardian. Not only does its use give you an incredible weapon but a blessing that is permanently attached and has the potential to change how you might play the game.
Step One: The Sunken Temple and the Water-Pressure Puzzle
You’ll begin in the Coral Graveyard biome, from where you’ll be able to access the Sunken Temple of Thal’Zuur. The temple itself is not open yet. You’ll have to complete the side quest Echoes of the Drowned first, which is to obtain three Pearls of Memory from drowned NPC spirits that were scattered in ocean ruins. When you have them, place the pearls on the altar in the middle of the graveyard. This is huge whirlpool that sucks you down into the depths and into the temple entrance itself.
Inside, the temple guides you through a series of water-pressure puzzle levels. They’re procedural every time you play, so no single solution. The concept is to notice bioluminescent glyphs on walls, which will light up in a pre-set sequence. That sequence is the right sequence of valve openings. The puzzles can be solved in sequence to gain entry to the Chamber of the Heralds, where the true trials begin.
Step Two: Defeating the Heralds
Chamber of the Heralds matches you up with the challenge of battling three boss-tier guardians. Each Herald is a test of the deep in the form of environmental hazard coupled with new combat mechanics.
The First Herald: Torrentblade, Herald of Current
Torrentblade is your first battle, and he uses steady currents of water to toss you into spike walls. If not practiced, this danger will end your run prematurely. Having the Weighted Anklets from Blackwater Forge on makes knockback far less of a problem and enables greater control. Patience is key here: dodge in between bursts of jets, stay back, and attack from afar. Torrentblade is weakest when it’s building up speed—time a charged harpoon attack to cut in and slice off huge chunks of health.
The Second Herald: Maw Below, Herald of Depth
The second fight is on treacherous terrain. Sections of the arena collapse into an abyssal void, providing fewer safe zones with each subsequent fight. Use of the Echo Locator will inform you where the floor will next drop, and you have a few seconds to move out of the way. The Maw Below also summons tentacles in the middle of a battle; attack the glowing tentacles to briefly stun the beast.
Incendiary attacks are particularly effective here, as the Maw is cold-blooded and has a secret vulnerability to heat. Crazy movement, especially vertical dodges, are the path to survival in this wild arena.
The Third Herald: Whispering Shell, the Herald of Silence
The final Herald is a strong contender for the hardest. The Whispering Shell assaults with sound waves that distort your HUD and mute cues. Unprepared, this disorientation is fatal. Equip the Sonar Helm to disrupt some of the muffledness effect and use visual warnings instead—tiny ripples in the water warn you of incoming attacks if you’re watching. The Whispering Shell is especially vulnerable to close-range melee attacks with bleed effects, so direct aggression is the quickest way of killing it.
Step Three: Awakening the Fish Deity
The three Heralds having been defeated, the central chamber becomes flooded with water, and the Deep One Shrine is accessible. There are two sacrifices that must be used for the ritual to be completed: the Abyssal Scale, which is dropped by the Maw Below, and the Silent Pearl, which is offered to you by the Whispering Shell. Applying both of them to the shrine triggers a cinematic cutscene, and the Fish Deity rises from the abyssal depths.
As a reward, you’re given the Tideborn Blessing—a passive ability that not only enables you to breathe underwater without limit but also summons aquatic allies to your side in combat. This ability, so blatantly connected to the Fish Deity, completely altering the nature of underwater exploration and large battles, and is one of the most satisfying unlocks in the game.
