Where to Find the Metal Detector in Atomfall

In Atomfall, players are expected to investigate, explore, and discover a multitude of different places, people, and things. Lunchboxes, comics, and crafting manuals are just a few of the collectibles and valuable items to be found during your adventure. If you’re looking to get an early advantage in terms of resources and rare items, it’s important to find a Metal Detector as soon as possible. Capable of finding buried items you wouldn’t otherwise find, the Metal Detector adds another fun element to your exploration. There’s a few ways to get one, some more cost-effective than others. Wondering where to find the metal detector in Atomfall? Here’s two of the quickest ways to get it.

Where to Find the Metal Detector in Atomfall

You can get a Metal Detector by trading with Molly Jowett, the chatty trader dressed suspiciously like an outlaw. You can find her standing around her camp in Slatten Dale at coordinates 26.3 E, 79.0 N. If you pull up your map, you can see the coordinate ranges on its borders. Use those to approximate the coordinates. Don’t worry, the camp is hard to miss once you reach this general area. Although Trader inventories rotate from time-to-time, Molly’s selection of items right at the start of the game include many useful items, including the Metal Detector. However, she won’t give it up for free. Luckily, you won’t need much to convince her to part with it. A Bandage and just about any other item will be enough for her to hand it over- you can even add a Torch(Flashlight) to the deal to get yourself another valuable tool!

If you don’t want to give up precious resources for one, there’s another Metal Detector you can find right here in Slatten Dale. From the bunker you came out of at the start of the game, head North. Walk past the old man playing the guitar inside the ruins. Take a hard right at the fork in the road. This will take you towards an Outlaw Camp, but you won’t have to go inside. You should be able to see a body of water on your map at 29.0 E, 73.9 N. At the center of this creek is a body holding a Metal Detector! You can either pick up the Metal Detector from the ground, or loot it from the body’s inventory. Just be quick about it. This water is infested with giant leech pests that will eat you alive if you stay near the water for too long.

Be aware that looting this body for the Metal Detector seems to remove it from Molly’s inventory. You can get more information out of Molly by completing a trade with her, so bartering for the Metal Detector might end up being more valuable to you if you’re looking for an easy trade to make this happen.

How to Use the Metal Detector in Atomfall

Using the Metal Detector is fairly easy. As you’re exploring, you might hear a beeping sound, and a picture of the Metal Detector will appear on the lower-left of your screen alongside an icon for one of your buttons. This indicates buried treasure is nearby! Hit the displayed button to pull out the Metal Detector. Hold the Aim button (displayed on the lower-left of your screen while the detector is equipped.) On the lower-right portion of your screen, you’ll be able to see the detector’s read-outs. The red light at the top denotes the direction of the treasure. If it’s in the center, the treasure is straight ahead. If it leans to the right or left, the treasure is in those directions. The meter at the bottom denotes proximity. The further to the right the meter goes, the closer to the treasure you are.

Move in the direction of the treasure until the meter goes all the way to the right. When you’re ready to dig, all the lights on the detector will flash red! Hit the dig button (displayed on the lower-left of the screen), and if you’ve done it right, a metal cache will appear after your character brushes the ground with their hand. Congratulations! You’ve found the treasure. While it’s possible to equip your Metal Detector from the inventory menu at any time, it’s best to just wait until the indicator shows up on the lower-left of your screen. Equipping the detector beforehand won’t make it easier to find treasure.

Good luck on your treasure hunting adventures! Bartering in Atomfall shouldn’t be too much of a hassle, but if you really want to maximize your gains, it might help to know some of the tricks to trading. Lunchboxes are mostly collectibles despite sometimes containing valuable items, but they aren’t the only collectibles you can find in the zone.

Atomfall will release on March 27, 2025 for PlayStation 5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X and Series S, and PC.