Cursed Mermaid Statues
The Cursed Mermaid Statues are an environmental hazard that were permanently added to the game with the time-limited The Sunken Curse Content Update.
Where to find
Cursed Mermaid Statues can be found on the shores of small, large, and uncharted islands. They do not appear on Skeleton Forts, Outposts or Seaposts. They appear either in shallow or deep waters that are surrounding islands, but never on land. The proximity of a Cursed Mermaid Statue is indicated by an ominous humming sound that gets louder the closer to a statue the player gets.
The Mermaid Gem embedded in their chest will shine with a glint coloured to match the type of the statue.
Types of Statues
There are three types of Cursed Mermaid Statues.
In Lords of the Sea, larger counterparts of these statues, called Siren Statues, cast a dome around themselves that damages all pirates within the dome's radius.
Rewards
Destroying a Cursed Mermaid Statue will release 1-3 valuable Mermaid Gems matching the colour of the statue. Mermaid Gems are unique treasure that can be sold to any of the Trading Company Representatives for reputation and gold.
| Mermaid Gem | Gold |
|---|---|
| Sapphire Mermaid Gem | 1,000 
|
| Emerald Mermaid Gem | 1,500
|
| Ruby Mermaid Gem | 2,000
|
Destroying the Statues
The Curse of the Mermaid Statues will affect anyone that dares to get close to them, weakening the approaching pirate until their death. This means that any player attempting to approach or break these statues from their curse will have to prepare Food to prevent the statue from killing them. Mermaid Statues can be destroyed when enough damage is inflicted on them, releasing the precious Gemstone hidden within their core. Note that when left alone, Mermaid Statues will restore the integrity of their stone shell, regenerating them to their original form. Therefore a statue needs to be constantly damaged to stop it from regenerating. As the statues sustain damage, the integrity of the statue becomes weaker, with the Gemstone core letting out more light, until the stones disassemble and the Gem breaks free.
Mermaid Statues can be damaged by any weapon, Gunpowder Barrel explosions and even regular Cannonballs, however, the hit detection of Cannonballs is unreliable and the Gunpowder Barrels need to be very close to the statue to sustain any significant damage. Therefore the easiest way to take down Mermaid Statues is with your own weaponry. One Flintlock pistol shot is equal to a three-hit Cutlass combo, surpassed in power by an Eye of Reach shot and a point-blank Blunderbuss shot. When using explosives for taking down the statues, you will need to wait for the Barrels to sink to the bottom beside the Statue for them to do significant damage. Beached Mermaid Statues are therefore much easier to collapse with explosives. The general strategy of taking down Mermaid Statues is to offload one's Blunderbuss or Eye of Reach ammunition at the statue and then keep hacking at the statue with the Cutlass until they break apart. Note that the amount of players trying to topple a Mermaid Statue does not multiply the damage output. Also, note that the health regeneration effect of cooked food cannot surpass the damage output of a Mermaid Statue.
Previously, the three different Mermaid Statues had differing health based on the value of their gem and therefore needed different sized crews to be comfortably taken down:
- Blue Mermaid Statues have the least health and can be taken down by a single pirate. It takes 5 Flintlock shots or Cutlass combos, 4 Eye of Reach shots or 3 point-blank Blunderbuss shots to collapse the Blue Statue.
- Green Mermaid Statues have moderate health and take the cooperation of at least two pirates to be comfortably defeated. These statues can be taken down solo, but this requires the player to heal themselves as the curse of the green statue is more than enough to kill a player with full health. It takes around 20 Cutlass combos or 10 Eye of Reach shots to topple a Green Statue (other weapon data requires further testing).
- Red Mermaid Statues are the hardiest of the three, requiring three to four pirates to be taken down with ease. It is possible to take down a Red Statue with two crewmates if both of them take turns eating food to replenish health (and/or surface for air when the statues are below water) to stop the statue from regenerating. While possible, it is very difficult to break a Red Mermaid Statue alone unless using explosives and/or the Trident of Dark Tides. It takes five close-proximity Gunpowder Barrels to blow up a Red Statue, which itself is often time-consuming and difficult due to the number of required explosives and the time one needs to wait for the barrels to sink to the Statue when it spawns deep in water, or 20 Eye of Reach shots, which can also be quite time-consuming (if you don't have an ammo crate next to you) due to the need to reload after every 5 shots. The trident will help you with at least 7 fully charged shots.
The Siren Statues, due to their large size, need to be taken down with at least 5 shots from your Ship's Cannons.
Commendations
Various Bilge Rat Commendations and titles regarding the destruction of the Cursed Mermaid Statues were added with The Sunken Curse update.
| Commendations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Commendation | Requirements | Rewards |
 | Sapphire Curse Breaker | Destroy 3 Sapphire Cursed Mermaid Statues. | +5  |
 | Master Sapphire Curse Breaker | Destroy 15 Sapphire Cursed Mermaid Statues. | +15 |
 | Emerald Curse Breaker | Destroy 3 Emerald Cursed Mermaid Statues. | +8 |
 | Master Emerald Curse Breaker | Destroy 15 Emerald Cursed Mermaid Statues. | +25 |
 | Ruby Curse Breaker | Destroy 3 Ruby Cursed Mermaid Statues. | +12 |
 | Master Ruby Curse Breaker | Destroy 15 Ruby Cursed Mermaid Statues. | +35 |
 | Legendary Curse Breaker | Destroy 100 Cursed Mermaid Statues. | +50  Rewards the Legendary Curse Breaker Title. |
Titles
| Titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Image | Title | Description & Requirements |
 | Curse Breaker | Earned the Curse Breaker Commendations. |
 | Master Curse Breaker | Earned all Master Curse Breaker Commendations. |
| Legendary Curse Breaker | Earned all Legendary Curse Breaker Commendations. |
Patch history
- 2.8.0 (March 16, 2023)
- Cursed Mermaid Statues have now been rebalanced, allowing all sizes of crew the ability to destroy them for the precious gems inside. Sapphire, Emerald and Ruby statues no longer require multiple crewmates to defeat.
- All Cursed Mermaid Statues now offer better rewards when destroyed, with a chance of multiple Gems for lucky crews.
- 1.4.0 (November 28, 2018)
- Re-added Cursed Mermaid Statues.
- Added Mermaid Gems as reward.
- 1.3.0 (September 27, 2018)
- Mermaid Statues have been temporarily disabled due to performance issues.
- 1.1.7 (July 19, 2018)
- Cursed Mermaid Statues have been increased to match the intended model scale.
- 1.1.6 (July 11, 2018)
- Introduced.