Diablo 4 — How to Complete Dead in the Water Quest

The Diablo 4 Dead in the Water quest will have you burning corpses and helping the humble town of Backwater. The quest will even take you to an Altar of Lilith location — if you know where to look. Here’s our complete guide for the Dead in the Water side quest in Diablo 4.

How to Complete Dead in the Water Quest in Diablo 4

How to Start the Diablo 4 Dead in the Water Quest

To begin Dead in the Water, you’ll need to find Tomaj. He’s on the dock in Backwater. You’ll overhear Szilvia telling Tomaj that the drowned sightings are getting worse every day, and he needs to prove his worth by helping out. After their conversation ends, talk to Tomaj and he’ll ask for your help.

After starting Dead in the Water, you’ll need to burn 3 Fresh Corpses and collect 10 Salvaged Resources. A new search location will appear south of Backwater, and you’ll have to hunt for the Fresh Corpse locations. The Salvaged Resources will drop as resources from enemies you defeat within the circled area.

Dead in the Water Fresh Corpse Locations

You can work your way south through the search area to find all three Fresh Corpses. I found the first one at the very northeastern corner of the region, and the second in the center between three forks on the map. For the final one, you’ll need to head all the way to the southeast corner. 

To complete the task at hand and burn the Fresh Corpses, simply interact with each corpse you find. Tomaj will do the rest. Though for the most part, Tomaj is just following you around as a wobbly drunk.

Once you make your way to the final Fresh Corpse in the southeast corner, you’ll stumble upon a Stranded Survivor. He’ll call out for help, and two brief enemy waves will happen. I had no trouble at all clearing them. 

Dead in the Water Altar of Lilith Location

The Stranded Survivor will jump down from his perch, and join your little party. Before you head back to Backwater, you’ll want to claim the Altar of Lilith a little southeast of the Stranded Survivor’s initial location. It’s just beyond the wooden structure.

Assuming you’ve collected all 10x Salvaged Resources from defeated enemies, you’re ready to head to Backwater to complete the quest. Head back to the dock where you originally met Tomaj and speak with Sylvia. You’ll listen as Sylvia is in disbelief over Tomaj’s ability to do much of anything as the town drunk.

Tomaj will deny that he had any help, and say he did it entirely by himself. She’ll ask you if you helped him, and you have a choice to make. You can either lie, or tell the truth. I opted to tell the truth because, c’mon, he really couldn’t have done it without our help. 

Your reward for completing the Dead in the Water quest is gold and XP tailored to your level, +20 Hawezar renown, and an item cache. 

Well, that’s it for completing the Dead in the Water side quest in Diablo 4. For additional side quest guides, and more, check out our Diablo 4 guides hub.