They technically aren’t Atlanteans yet, and have yet to undergo any of the Dark Sea’s mutations. You can’t get Atlantean essence from them, and apart from their weird face, they look completely like any other human. They don’t have absurd powers, weird-looking limbs, nor super-running speed. As far as I can tell, they’re just some random dudes with a little too much going on in their brains.
My suggestion is giving Lost Sailors the “knockdown” mechanic that party players currently have in the Dark Sea: when taking lethal damage, instead of them dying outright, they’ll remain immobile on the ground for some time before eventually dying if left alone.
When this happens, players can begin a process of rehabilitating the Lost Sailor:
- Players can cuff unconscious Lost Sailors via an interaction, before hauling them back to their boat and sitting them down on the deck just like how players normally interact with Sealed Chests.
- When exiting the Dark Sea, players will then be able to administer a Warding potion to Lost Sailors. The tier/potency/type of potion doesn’t matter, so it’s not worth sacrificing so many Gold Petals just to cure them. Splash potions will afflict all Lost Sailors in an area, which may be a cheaper alternative if you have a lot Sailors.
- Wait 30 seconds to 2 minutes, the higher the Lost Sailor’s level, the longer it’ll take.
- Let the Lost Sailor come back to their senses, which is evident by their nametag changing from purple to gray (neutral), and their face becoming more human. They’ll utter a phrase in chat like “Wh- What? Where am I?” or something along those lines. Along with their nametag’s color, their name will change from “Lost Sailor” to “Saved Sailor.” (I suppose they might not remember their actual names). You can now talk to them, but they’re still in kind of a dazed state so you won’t really get that much out of them.
- Drop them off at a civilized island for a more bountiful reward than rescuing normal castaways. Greater renown increase (I’m thinking like 400-500), more galleons, and a higher chance of getting absurd fish and rarer treasure charts (but no Massive fish because that’s too broken). They’ll say something really grateful before bugging off to rejoin society.
Negative rep players can uncuff the Lost Sailors after administering Warding but before they’re cured, allowing the Lost Sailor to awaken and attack the player. Killing a Lost Sailor after bringing them into the War Seas will result in a renown drop.
This gives us something more to do in the DS than just painfully hunting islands for Sealed Chests all the time.
