The Quarantine Zone in Atomfall houses a variety of tools for your character to find. All of these tools are essential for your survival, but some of them are more useful than others. One of the tools you’ll utilize the most in Atomfall is the Metal Detector, which is used to dig up buried treasure all over the different maps. However, the Metal Detector isn’t just given to your character by default; you have to go out and find it. Luckily, there are a couple of easy locations for you to acquire a Metal Detector. We’ll go over those locations and how to use the Metal Detector in the guide below.
How to find the Metal Detector in Atomfall
Fortunately, the game doesn’t make you wait too long to discover and potentially add the Metal Detector to your inventory. The first location where you can acquire the Metal Detector is at Molly Jowett’s trader camp in Slatten Dale. It’s worth noting that trader inventory rotates often, however, so Molly may or may not have it early on in your playthrough. We’ll explain how to get the Metal Detector from Molly, then provide a second option if she’s out of stock when you first meet her.
Molly’s trader camp is located in the northern part of Slatten Dale (coordinates 26.4E, 79.1N), northeast of one of the entrances to the Sewer Tunnels. At Molly’s, you can speak to her and eventually barter for some of the goods she’s selling. One of the goods Molly has on hand–if you’re lucky–is the Metal Detector. She may also have another tool, the Flashlight, as well as the key to open the Sewer Tunnels.
Trading in Atomfall doesn’t operate on a currency system, however. You have to barter with Molly using items in your own inventory. Molly values different items more highly than others, so you have to choose the right gear to barter with. Traders like Molly and others will rotate their inventory during the game, so it’s worth it to check in with them from time to time and see what else they have in store.
Your best bet is to add the Metal Detector to the middle of the barter screen, which tips the scales fully in your direction. From here, keep adding gear from your inventory until the scales are balanced in the middle. At this point, you can complete the trade and the Metal Detector is yours.
If you don’t want to barter with Molly, there is a free Metal Detector found in the small body of water to the southeast (coordinates 29.5E, 79.6S) in Slatten Dale, the same map where Molly resides. If you’ve already moved into the region of Skethermoor, there’s yet another chance to snag a Metal Detector. Skethermoor is another map in Atomfall, and it can be accessed through the Sewer Tunnels in Slatten Dale or by proceeding all the way through Wyndham Village (entrance coordinates 29.0E, 79.4N).
In Skethermoor, you need to head to the northern part of the map, southwest of the “Skethermoor” text in the top right corner of its region map. Here, you’ll find a location called Brinsop Manor. At the manor, go to the back far left corner of its boundary, and you can find a dead person wearing a haz-mat suit slumped against a fence near a small shed. Loot the dead NPC to find a free Metal Detector on their body.
As long as you don’t have already have a Metal Detector in your inventory, you can take this freely without having to worry about it taking up space. Tools in Atomfall have their own dedicated spaces in the inventory, so none of them take up one of your valuable slots.
How to use the Metal Detector in Atomfall
Once you have the Metal Detector, what you want to do is keep exploring around the maps, completing quests, and finding new areas.
Eventually, you’ll see the Metal Detector icon appear on your HUD, and a beeping noise will go off. This indicates you can use the Metal Detector. Press your dedicated tool button in Atomfall (Q on PC) to bring out the Metal Detector. From there, follow the steps below to use it to find a buried cache:
- With the Metal Detector in your hands, press and hold the “aim” button (right-click on PC)
- Continue to aim the Metal Detector at the ground and pay attention to the numbered gauge on the tool
- This gauge lets you know how far or close you are to the buried cache. If you’re near 0-2 on the gauge, you’re not close. The closer you are to 10, the closer the buried cache is.
- The red buttons on top of the gauge let you know the direction of the cache. If the red button is lit up in the center, then you’re going the right way. If the red button is on either side of the middle one, go in that direction to start facing the right way.
- As long as you follow the gauges and keep aiming at the ground, you’ll find the buried cache. This is indicated by the gauge reaching 10 and the red buttons lighting up all at once.
- When this happens, press the “dig” button to loot your buried cache.
- Buried caches can be anywhere in Atomfall, including inside bunkers, and they are in extremely precise locations.
And there you have it, that’s how to use the Metal Detector in Atomfall. The tool is a little finicky at times, as it can be difficult to tell where it wants you to go, but follow its beeps to uncover lots of extra survival items.