Key Takeaway
- Find the cursed statuette. It can be found in Carrion Birds encounters, Sacred Protector encounters, caves, graveyards, and tunnels.
- Find an Oneirist. You’ll find one in Temple of the Ancients sites.
- Find seven Dreamer’s Vervains. You’ll find them in areas haunted by Wraiths.
- Head to the Ritual area to end the quest.
The Crime and Punishment quest in Weird West is one of the many strange journeys you’ll take in-game. It starts with you receiving a quest from a cursed statuette (no doubt a normal occurrence) and it only gets more bizarre from there.
Table Of Contents
What Is the Crime and Punishment Side Quest?
The Crime and Punishment is a randomly-occuring side quest. In it, you encounter a cursed statuette—the quest giver. It will ask you to find an Oneirist that can break its curse.
Interestingly enough, if you encounter the cursed statuette while playing as Constance Driftwood, who is an Oneirist, it will ask you to find another who is more experienced.
That being said, to begin the quest, you must first find this little cursed statuette.
How to Find the Cursed Statuette
Unfortunately, in Weird West, the encounter with the cursed statuette that starts the Crime and Punishment quest is randomly generated. You can encounter the cursed statuette as you traverse the open world through random encounters or inside specific areas while playing as any character. Although random, you have a higher chance of encountering the cursed statuette in these places or events:
- Carrion Birds Random Encounter – These encounters happen when you traverse the open world from one area to another. Remember that when you encounter a Random Bird event as you navigate the open world, that’s not always a guarantee that you will encounter the cursed statuette. It may take two or three—if not more—Carrion Birds encounters for you to meet the statuette.
- Sacred Protector Random Encounter – You may also find the cursed statuette inside the caves during Sacred Protector encounters. Like the Carrion Birds Random Encounter, meeting the statuette isn’t guaranteed when you come across the Sacred Protector Random Encounter.
- Caves that you enter from wells on farms.
- Graveyards
- Tunnels
When you encounter these areas or encounters, watch out for the blue side quest icon. On top of that, keep an eye out for candles, as the cursed statuette is sometimes surrounded by them.
How to Complete Crime and Punishment
The first step to completing the Crime and Punishment quest in Weird West is to find the cursed statuette. During this encounter, the statuette will ask for your help in breaking its curse. For this to happen, you’ll need the help of a capable Oneirist.
Where to Find an Oneirist For the Cursed Statuette
Oneirists are most easily found at Temple of the Ancients sites. There are several temples in Weird West, but many of them are abandoned or found at random. However, you can always find an Oneirist who can help you with this quest in the Oleander Temple and Somnolence.
The Oleander Temple is found in the far western corner of the map. It’s positioned in the northwestern corner of The Gravedust Wastes. Somnolence is found in the northeastern section of the El Castillo Desert.
Head to any of these temples and talk to the Oneirists. One of them will help you with the statuette’s curse.
When you finally find an Oneirist who can help you in any of these temples, she will give you two options on how to handle the statuette and the curse that plagues it. Your answer to the Oneirist doesn’t matter yet. They will then ask you to gather seven pieces of Dreamer’s Vervain. That’s the next objective for this side quest.
Where to Find Dreamer’s Vervain
Like finding the statuette, finding Dreamer’s Vervains is also tricky and almost randomly generated. That being said, Dreamer’s Vervains are found in sites that are haunted by Wraiths. Wraiths may be found in abandoned sites such as abandoned mines, abandoned caves, abandoned towns, etc.
Although they mostly appear on these abandoned sites, it does not mean that every such locale in Weird West is haunted by Wraiths. Keep traversing abandoned sites until you find them.
You also encounter Wraiths during the “A Glow Among the Trees” random encounter.
When you find the Wraiths at these sites, look for blue glowing flowers on the ground. Those are the plants you’ll need for this side quest. Wraiths also have a chance of dropping this item so be sure to loot their ashes after you defeat one.
Ending the Statuette’s Curse
Once you have seven Dreamer’s Vervains, head to the Ritual Site that’s marked on the map. Once here, you’ll find the Oneirist who was willing to help you out with this quest. She will once again present you with three options on how to deal with the statuette: you can either free the spirit inside it or destroy it.
If you decide to free the spirit, it’s revealed that a Wraith is trapped inside the statuette. It will thank you for your help before departing, becoming a friend-for-life companion, which means it has a chance of helping you during combat encounters. The Oneirist will comment that you may eventually regret this decision. However, nothing grave comes out of this decision aside from its moral implications.
If you destroy the statuette, the Wraith gets destroyed along with it.
It doesn’t matter which ending you choose—it’s all about preference. Regardless of how you move forward, the quest ends after this decision is made.
A lot of this quest involves RNGs, making it tricky to complete. However, you are highly likely to find these encounters as you play through the game normally. Be sure to keep an eye out for them. While the rewards for this side quest aren’t too substantial, it’s a fun side activity that perfectly captures the essence of the game. Have fun!
