Rust in Peace: Serpentine Grease Location

What you get

• A two-handed sword: 68 damage, +20 arcane damage — a large upgrade over the generic early swords, which deal 30 to 40
• The knight will also teach you armour skill

For context on how good that weapon is at this stage, see builds.

Finding the knight

Travel far west until you reach a tower. The questgiver is on top of it.

He has been standing still long enough to rust into place, and he is vague about how long:

“You know, I’m not too sure. It could have been weeks or months. I wouldn’t rule out years either.”

He needs a bottle of serpentine grease to free himself.

Where to find serpentine grease

The item is also referred to as serpent oil, which matters if you are scanning your inventory for the exact quest wording.

Location: the shipwreck site near your starting town. Swim out to it from the shore.

1. Head back to the hometown area and swim to the shipwreck.
2. There are many enemies around it — crouch and sneak rather than fighting through.
3. Find the dripping barrel. That is a specific, named container, not a generic one.
4. Open it. The serpent oil is inside.

This loot is not random. The walkthrough author verified it by starting a new game and confirming the grease was in the same place. That is a useful thing to know in a game where a lot of container contents vary.

Freeing him

Bring the grease back and hand it over:

“Let me apply this grease and free myself from this steel prison. A dab here, a bit there, some more under here… There we go. I feel like a new man. The vow of sacred armor is not without its burdens. Take this, young squire. You are not of the Innash, but I trust you will wield it well.”

Two pieces of worldbuilding fall out of that line, and both are worth noting because the game does not explain them elsewhere:

• There is an order called the Innash, and you are not of it
• Their sacred armour comes with a vow and real burdens — this knight is what keeping that vow looks like taken to its conclusion

The questgiver name is given as An’Dalus in community sources. NerveLabs has published no cast list, so treat it as unconfirmed.

Learn armour from him

Do not walk away immediately after taking the sword. He can teach you armour skill, which is a trainer service, and trainers are worth using while you are standing in front of one. Training costs gold here — alchemy training was observed at 25 gold, so expect a similar order of magnitude.

Why this quest is worth doing early

Weapon damage in the early game is low and flat. The upgrade curve looks like this:

That is more than double the generic two-hander. Combined with the Fisherman’s Friend, these two quests cover most of your early weapon needs.

Sources

• “How To Get Serpentine Grease For An’Dalus (Rust In Peace Quest)” walkthrough video for the route, the dripping barrel, the non-random loot verification, the reward stats and all quoted dialogue.
• “Where To Get Fisherman’s Friend (Unique Knife)” walkthrough for comparative weapon damage figures.