How To Get A Metal Detector In Atomfall (Map Location)

Published Mar 29, 2025

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Tools are a special item type in not British Fallout, by the way) that grant some very welcome abilities out in the lawless land that has become Britain. The Torch (Flashlight) is likely the first you'll pick up, which will let you see better in the game's many dark areas. The next is likely the Metal Detector, which alerts you to buried caches containing valuable loot. Early on, when you're struggling to rub two bullets together, this is tremendously useful.

The good news is the Metal Detector doesn't require anything complicated to acquire — it's simply of matter of knowing where it is (and dodging a few piranhas). Once you have it, you're on your way to gobs of free loot. Naturally, the earlier you obtain the Metal Detector, the better as it means more loot over time (and the earlier in the game you are, the more in need of loot you'll be). With any luck, you'll find some crafting recipes in there.

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Where To Find The Metal Detector

How To Use The Metal Detector

Where To Find The Metal Detector

It's Closer Than You Think

You can grab the Metal Detector immediately after leaving the starting Bunker area. Once you're outside (in Slatten Dale), rush northeast to the pond at 29.1E 73.9N. Here you'll find a corpse lying in the middle of a pond with the Metal Detector beside it. The only thing to worry about, as mentioned, is the piranhas, so try to stay out of the water as you approach to pick it up. You can loot the body too, but there's nothing notable on it.

How To Use The Metal Detector

No Need To Equip It, Thankfully

The Metal Detector is a very -friendly tool, because you don't need to equip it to be alerted to nearby treasure. Rather, just traverse the world as normal and if you happen upon anything interesting, the Metal Detector icon will appear in the bottom left corner of your screen. When this happens, equip it and keep walking in a direction that keeps the middle red light flashing. If the left or right lights blink instead, that means you need to go left or right, respectively.

The player hitting an enemy with a cricket bat in Atomfall.

Atomfall: All Crafting Recipes & How To Get Them

Atomfall's crafting mechanic is pretty simple, but finding all the recipes scattered around the game can be a lot trickier, but worth your time.

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Once you arrive at your destination, start digging up the buried cache. In these you can find ammo and various other items that are sure to come in handy. Ammo, of course, is especially scarce in Atomfall, so you'll want every extra source of it you can manage. While melee is always an alternative to guns, guns are much safer, so the Metal Detector is a major asset to that end.