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Neverness to Everness · S-Rank Arc · Hidden Trigger

Deep Blue Sorrow — Sea Prisoner

The reverse-driving anomaly. Back a 4-wheeled car into Nautili Tunnel facing East, follow the water and ice path that appears out of thin air, beat the Sea Prisoner and tap the blue anchor for Song of the Whale — a versatile Plasma break-team Arc.

Overview

Commission nameDeep Blue Sorrow
Boss / EntitySea Prisoner
RegionNautili Tunnel — connects Bridge Crossings to New Herland District
Difficulty★★★★☆ Level IV
WeaknessAnima
TriggerDrive a 4-wheeled car in REVERSE into the tunnel, facing East
Arc rewardSong of the Whale (S-Rank · Plasma)
Repeat accessWhale-shaped icon in southeastern New Herland after first clear

TL;DR — 5 Steps

  1. Get a 4-wheeled carMotorcycles and mopeds will not satisfy the trigger flag. Use your own or commandeer an NPC's vehicle.
  2. Face East into Nautili TunnelPark at the tunnel mouth that connects Bridge Crossings to New Herland, oriented toward the East end of the tunnel.
  3. Drive in REVERSEHold the reverse input and back the car into the tunnel. This is the hidden trigger — driving forward does nothing.
  4. Follow the water and ice pathThe asphalt warps into a water road, then an ice road. Stay on it until the open arena loads.
  5. Beat the Sea Prisoner, tap the blue anchorBring Anima damage (Mint, Jiuyuan, Nanally). Interact with the blue anchor in the centre of the arena to claim Song of the Whale.

How to Trigger the Encounter

The hidden trigger is the reason most players miss this anomaly entirely. The vehicle must be 4-wheeled, must be facing East, and must be driven in reverse into Nautili Tunnel. Any other combination keeps the tunnel ordinary.

  1. Locate Nautili Tunnel — it bridges Bridge Crossings and New Herland District. Use either side's teleport and drive to the tunnel entrance.
  2. Position your 4-wheeled vehicle so the front of the car points East (the direction the tunnel runs deeper into New Herland).
  3. Engage the reverse gear and back the car into the tunnel. You do not need full speed — a steady reverse is enough.
  4. After a short distance, the asphalt visual changes: water effects ripple across the road surface, signalling the trigger has fired.
  5. Continue driving in reverse along the water road. The path will transition into a glacial ice surface — keep going.
  6. The ice path opens into a large circular arena. The Sea Prisoner spawns automatically and the combat instance begins.
  7. If the visuals never change to water, your vehicle is wrong (motorcycle / single-axle) or your orientation is off. Reverse out and reset.

Boss: Sea Prisoner

A heavy ranged caster built around frozen-water themed attacks. The fight rewards patient parry windows against melee swings and disciplined dodging during ranged barrages. Break-bar focused teams crush the fight because the on-Broken passive of Song of the Whale literally pays back HP for staggering the boss.

Tidal sweep

Parry

Tell: The boss winds up with both arms drawn back before a horizontal sweep that travels along the arena floor.

Generous parry window. Land the parry and you free-cast for the next two seconds.

Ice shard volley

Dodge

Tell: Three to five projectile indicators appear above the boss, then fan out toward the player.

Sprint sideways — the volley locks on cast, not on landing. Standing still mid-volley invites a stagger combo.

Anchor slam

Dodge backward

Tell: The boss raises its anchor overhead. A vertical column AoE paints under the player.

Roll back, not sideways. The hitbox is narrow but the AoE follow-up wave clears flanks first.

Whirlpool zone

Leave the zone

Tell: A circular AoE forms on the arena floor. Damage ticks while you're inside; movement speed slows.

Walk out, don't dodge — the dodge animation eats your iframes before you clear the radius.

Recommended Teams

Anima break team

Optimal — break the boss to trigger Song of the Whale's bonus and heal

  • NanallyNanallyMain DPS · Anima
  • JiuyuanJiuyuanSub-DPS · Anima
  • MintMintSub-DPS · Liquid
  • DaffodillDaffodillBreak Support · Chaos

Nanally + Jiuyuan double-down on the Anima weakness, Daffodill cracks the break bar fast so Song of the Whale's Broken-damage bonus comes online quickly. Mint provides utility healing.

Anima follow-up team

Higher single-target burst — relies on Nanally's follow-up engine

  • NanallyNanallyMain DPS · Anima
  • ZeroZeroSub-DPS · Cosmos
  • SakiriSakiriSub-DPS · Incantation
  • JiuyuanJiuyuanSub-DPS · Anima

Zero applies Remora for follow-up triggers. Same core as the standard Nanally meta team — repurposed for the Sea Prisoner's longer melee gaps.

The Reward — Song of the Whale

S-RankPlasma
Base ATK lv 1 → lv 20 → lv 8033 → 137 → 512
Substat ATK% lv 1 → lv 20 → lv 8011% → 13.8% → 27.5%
Passive — Deep Blue SorrowIncreases ATK by 12% (Lv 1) → 20% (Lv 5). Damage dealt to Broken enemies +12% (Lv 1) → +20% (Lv 5). Defeating a Broken enemy restores 30% HP to the wearer, max once every 30 s.
Refinement5 refinement levels scale both the ATK bonus and the Broken-damage bonus. The HP restore percentage is flat at 30% across all levels.
Best usersAny Plasma DPS that fits a break-comp. Strong on Hathor as a more universal alternative to Raging Flames (less synergy with her stack mechanic, but the Broken-damage bonus is generic enough to scale on anyone).

Underrated workhorse Arc. The Broken-damage bonus turns it into a universal break-team weapon — slot it on any Plasma DPS and let the break support set up the multiplier window. The HP restore on Broken kills also makes solo content noticeably more forgiving.

Rewards

Song of the Whale ArcGuaranteed on first clear — interact with the blue anchor in the centre of the arena
Hunter EXPCommission payout
AnnulithCommission payout
FonsCommission payout
U-00NECommission payout
Beetle CoinCommission payout
Anomaly Material Selection Box ICommission payout

Pro Tips & Common Pitfalls

  • The reverse-driving trigger is one of the most missed mechanics in the entire game — players drive forward through Nautili Tunnel for hours wondering why nothing spawns. If you remember nothing else from this guide, remember: reverse, East-facing.
  • After the first clear, a whale-shaped icon appears on your map in the southeastern part of New Herland. Teleport there to skip the tunnel-driving setup for refinement re-runs.
  • Song of the Whale's Broken-damage bonus stacks multiplicatively with break-team damage already on board — Daffodill compositions see roughly +25-40% boss damage with this Arc equipped at Lv 1.
  • The Anima weakness is heavily exploited by Nanally — if you've already cleared Ride Assault for Raging Flames, you have most of the meta team comp already in place.
  • Don't waste full damage on the boss until Daffodill (or your break support) has staggered it. The Broken-damage bonus is the whole point of farming this Arc; landing your burst windows during stagger doubles your output.
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