One of the blueprints players of Raft can find on the Caravan Town story island is for a metal detector. Specifically, the blueprint is deep underwater in the same container where players can find the infirmary key.
The cost of a metal detector is relatively cheap, and players only need 12 plastic, 6 scrap, and a simple battery. Once it's built, players can use it on any island (including Caravan Town) to discover all kinds of valuable buried treasure. However, its battery life is limited, so it's important to know how to make the most of this essential tool.
Using the Metal Detector in Raft
Like any other tool, Raft players must put the metal detector in an active slot and hold down the left mouse button to use it. When they do, and if there's something buried in the area, several lights will appear on the detector's display. The closer the player is to the treasure, the more lights will turn on, and when all nine are on, that means the treasure is directly underneath.
Another detection element is audio. When players are close enough to the buried spot for the green lights to turn on, the metal detector will start snapping, and the closer players get, the faster the snapping gets. Once players are right on top of the treasure, players will hear a quiet chime.
The big downside to the metal detector is that it has limited battery life. To make the most of the detector, players should use it just long enough to see the lights, then put it away until they can use it for another split second on another spot. This will let players get close to the treasure without using the metal detector for more than a few seconds.
One thing the metal detector can't do is dig up the buried treasure. To do that, players will need to bring along a shovel. The buried treasure won't flash like the spots where players can gather dirt, but if players dig in the spot where the metal detector chimed, the buried treasure will emerge. Players must dig with the shovel three times to fully uncover and collect the treasure.
Detector Treasures
There are four things that buried treasure can be in Raft: a pile of junk, a suitcase, a safe, or a tiki head. Even buried junk is worth digging up because it can contain useful materials like scrap and stones. Still, buried safes contain rare items like titanium, unique paintings and cassette tapes, and metal ingots.
However, the rarest buried treasure is the tiki head. There are four buried tiki heads in the game, and players can get the achievement "Former Glory!" by stacking them all in the correct order. To learn that order, players should look closely at the colored stripes at the top and bottom of each tiki head. The bottom head doesn't have a stripe on its base, and the other stripes should all match the colors of the tiki heads they connect to. For instance, the bottom head has a green stripe at the top, so the tiki head that goes directly on it should be the one with a green stripe under its chin.
One last thing players should know is that buried treasures don't exist until players use the metal detector and a light turns on. This means players can't dig randomly with the shovel and expect to find anything before they visit Caravan Town. So if players want a regular source of titanium, they'll need to build and use a metal detector.
Raft is available now on PC.