When it comes to exploring and surviving in Atomfall, you need to know how to get the best tools as soon as possible. One such tool is the Metal Detector, which can help you find valuable items to use and barter with. Here’s a guide for how to get a free one early in your playthrough.
How Metal Detector Works in Atomfall
The Metal Detector is one of the best tools in Atomfall that you will never want to trade away or dispose of. While in your inventory, it can detect metal caches full of items scattered around the game’s open world.
As you explore, at some point you’ll get a ping from your Metal Detector, noted by the tool icon in the bottom left corner of your screen. This means that a cache is close by, and if it’s safe to do so, take out your Metal Detector via the available hotkey.
The row of lights on the detector helps you figure out the direction to follow towards the hidden cache. If the light sways to the left, it means you need to turn left. Vice versa, if it sways to the right, then turn right.
Ultimately, you want to follow the center light until the dial beneath the lights reaches the highest frequency (10).
When the row of lights all blink at once, it means you’ve found the exact location of the cache. Use the ‘Dig’ option to dig up the cache and then ‘Search’ it to claim its items.
Where to Find Free Metal Detector Early in Atomfall
During your first hours of exploring in Atomfall, you’ll start coming across a handful of trader NPCs that are open for bartering items. Reg Stansfield in the Slate Mine Caves in Slatten Dale has a Metal Detector available in his stock at the start of the game. However, the cost to trade for it is likely far steeper than you can afford this early in the game.
Instead, what you should do is continue pushing east towards the right side of Slatten Dale. Skirt along the mountainside past the ‘Water Wheels’ compound, which is crawling with Outlaws. The less combat you get tangled in early on, the better.
Continue east and then south until you reach a large, shallow pond at the coordinates (29.1E, 73.9N) on your map. There you should see an Outlaw corpse lying on a rocky outcrop in the middle of the pond. Be careful as there’s a swarm of carnivorous leeches lurking in the water that will nip at your heels if you linger too long.
Make your way to the corpse and ‘Search’ it to find a working Metal Detector, free and ripe for the taking. You’ll also get the ‘Detectorist’ trophy/achievement for doing so. Having a Metal Detector this early in the game is a huge advantage for collecting free healing items, ammo, and other loot that can be useful for bartering.
It can also help you unlock other trophies/achievements in the game, such as ‘Where there’s much there’s brass’ (Find 10 metal detector caches) and ‘Packed lunch’ (Find 5 buried lunchboxes).
That concludes how to get a free Metal Detector early in Atomfall. Be sure to check out our other content for the game, including a guide to all achievements/trophies and how to unlock them.
Published: Mar 24, 2025 2:00 PM UTC