The Merlin Shard Quest is the main piece of content introduced with this week’s re balance update in Fisch, and it’s something almost every player will be chasing as soon as the servers go live. This guide walks you through how the quest works, where to find the rifts, how to complete every shard challenge, and what rewards you’ll get for each one.
How to Start the Merlin Quest
Head to Sunstone and make your way to Merlin’s Hut. The moment you arrive, you’ll notice the entire area looks destroyed. Merlin’s crystal ball is shut off, the hut is damaged, and Merlin himself is clearly stressed.
When you talk to him, he explains that he attempted to recreate a powerful relic using his enchanted orb. During the process, he dropped it, shattered it, and triggered rifts around Sunstone. These rifts now contain the broken pieces of the orb.
Accept the quest and Merlin will ask you to bring back the shards scattered across the island.
Rift Locations and Colors
Rifts spawn randomly around Sunstone, usually close to the hut, the ladder, or scattered across the open area. They appear in four different colors:
- Purple
- Red/Orange
- Green
- Blue
Each color corresponds to a specific shard, and each shard gives a different reward.
Because the rifts spawn at random, you may need to wait for the color you’re missing to appear.
How Rifts Work
Walking into a rift transports you into a small obby room. Each color has its own layout, but all of them are simple to clear. If you own a glider, the difficulty drops to nearly zero.
A common shortcut is:
- Climb up a block.
- Glide toward the end platform.
- Skip most of the obby entirely.
At the end of each rift is the shard you’re looking for. Pick it up, return to Merlin, and hand it in while holding the shard.
All Four Shards and Their Rewards
There are currently four known shards, each tied to a rift color.
1. Shard of Embers (Red/Orange Rift)
Reward: Magic Orb Title
This is a title themed after Merlin’s original relic.
2. Shard of Roots (Green Rift)
Reward: Magic Ball Bobber
This bobber resembles the magic orb but in bobber form. Clean design and pairs well with themed setups.
3. Shard of Tides (Blue Rift)
Reward: Enchanted Book Lantern
This lantern has one of the more unique cosmetics in the update and looks impressive when equipped.
4. Shard of Nebulas (Purple Rift)
Reward: Gilded Staff Skin
This is where things get interesting. The gilded staff is a skin for a rod that nobody currently owns, suggesting it’s connected to a future or secret rod, likely tied to next week’s update or an upcoming hidden quest.
The Mystery Behind the Gilded Staff Skin
Players have tested the skin on every available rod, and none of them accept it. This is almost certainly intentional. The leading theory is that the skin belongs to a secret rod, possibly tied to the alien storyline teased for weeks.
Right now, the staff skin simply sits in your inventory without a known use. Expect this to become important in a future update or during a hidden questline.
The Crashed UFO at Rosit
If you travel to Rosit and walk toward the lighthouse, you’ll find a crashed UFO on fire. Nothing interacts with it yet, but this location is likely the starting point for whatever secret quest the developers have planned.
The creators have hinted that this hidden quest will resemble the difficulty of the Brick Rod—long, cryptic, and multi-stepped. Expect the UFO area to be a key piece of the puzzle once the next stage unlocks.
Black Market Spawns
During weekends, the Black Market has a chance to spawn at random locations across the map. Each spawn has a different set of items.
Known spawn areas include:
- Sunstone
- Forsaken Shores
- Other random island spots
The Black Market despawns after a short time, so keep an eye out whenever it appears.
Additional Update Notes
A few extra features arrived alongside the Merlin quest:
Aquarium Improvements
Your aquarium can now:
- Equip best for Cash
- Equip best for XP
- Display cosmetic fish
These presets instantly rearrange your aquarium lineup for the chosen benefit.
Balance Changes
A large set of enchant buffs, nerfs, and rod adjustments were pushed in this patch. Expect a full balance breakdown once more data is available, since many changes can only be confirmed on the live servers.