Sons of the Forest Shovel Guide - Ready Games Survive

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Trevor is a skilled content writer who enjoys laid-back gaming with friends. He plays versatile genres with a taste for survival horror, RPGs, and Sci-fi adventures. He enjoys video games with rich story elements and otherworldly video game music. He has played prominent titles like Resident Evil, Dead Space, and Dead by Daylight. He finds a great sense of accomplishment every time he tackles challenges in video games.

Bottom Line Up Front

The shovel is one of the many invaluable tools in Sons of the Forest that makes your horror adventure much more satisfying and efficient.

It would help if you had the shovel because it is required to access many vital areas that can make all the difference during your playthrough.

It aids your survivability in progressing through the story and is mandatory for earning specific achievements. It can be found in the River Cave on the map’s western side.

After discovering it, the shovel can be used for digging up graves in random locations to help you increase your resources. It can also be used as a weak weapon against enemies.

Why You Need the Shovel

A Requirement to Gain Access to Key Areas

First, you need the shovel because it will help you access inaccessible areas you couldn’t otherwise without this convenient tool.

At first, you won’t be able to dig to explore them, but exploring hidden locations with other items and more resources becomes fun. Simply put, the more you explore and search, the easier your life becomes in Sons of the Forest.

Although the shovel doesn’t boast significant damage, it’s a staple of the game that you can’t do without.

It will help you progress faster and give you confidence when exploring areas if you’re curious. The shovel will open many doors that yield much fruit when traversing the unknown hostile terrain full of cannibals and hidden secrets.

Overall Survivability in the Main Story

Discovering the shovel will yield many surprises that will help you progress through the main story, and it’s an element that shouldn’t be overlooked.

Not only will you gain precious resources along the way, but you’ll also acquire some other tools during the process.

These will be found as necessary items to unlock the shovel later after you get it. You will need it to uncover secret bunkers that wouldn’t be accessible otherwise.

Overall, the shovel will be necessary to get through the story, so please don’t neglect it, even if it’s a slight pain to get your hands on.

Required for Obtaining Specific Achievements

If you’re a trophy hunter, the shovel is mandatory for obtaining specific achievements. It is needed to unlock the Badger & I Like Blisters achievements for digging holes.

However, if you’re not aspiring to unlock all the trophies, you won’t need to dig up to 1000 holes to earn these. Even if you aren’t trying to get these, the shovel is still worth having during any playthrough and beyond into the end game.

How & Where To Find the Shovel

sons of the forest shovel location — Image from Sons of the Forest Wiki | Fandom

So let’s get down to business and reveal the location of the shovel so you can get to work digging up those goodies to bolster your inventory and survive like a Sons of the Forest pro!

As I mentioned, the shovel is in a cave close to the mountains—specifically, the River Cave on the western part of the map.

Keep your eyes peeled for three distinct corpses near the entrance, and one of them will have the slingshot you can pick up along the way. It’s not so bad already because this chore will yield other fruitful items to make your journey more manageable.

You will notice that the entrance to the cave containing the shovel is blocked by some sturdy wooden boards that will require your axe to get through with no problem.

Don’t just waltz into the lair unprepared; that would be a grave error. Instead, ensure you have the right items, including the rebreather, rope gun, flashlight, pistol, & extra healing items because of the more formidable enemies lurking in caves.

When fully prepared, you can drop down to acquire a few oxygen tanks for your rebreather, which will be handy.

Make your way back up and utilize the zipline. In the next cave, you’ll need to go underwater through a hidden passage leading to an area with enemies waiting for you.

You don’t have to fight them, and I suggest going past them until you get to a slide that will lead to the next cave.

Turn around right after you land, and you will notice a light on the ground leading forward. Keep following this path until you encounter a multitude of enemies.

A pro tip is to remove the bulk of foes with more efficient weapons like the pistol or hand grenades and then clean up the rest using melee weapons.

From there, you will be met with a choice between a right or left path. Take the right, and it will lead you to an open area with excessive amounts of mutants to deal with accordingly.

Note there’s an attachment for your flashlight in the corner of this area, and it’s generally a good idea to scavenge as much as possible, even if you’re looking for a specific item.

Up ahead is another underwater area, and you’ll have to deal with more mutants along the way until you come to the cave end with an imposing structure. A dead mining worker will be holding the shovel, so pick it up, and it’s yours.

Head back as you came, and a threateningly large mutant will appear and knock out a wall. From there, you can use explosives to get out quicker and start digging! Here are some comprehensive instructions if it works better for you.

Break through the boards to enter the cave and utilize the rope gun to traverse the gap.
Submerge into the water and make your way through the cave system passages
When you re-emerge, kill all enemies and loot the diver’s wetsuit
Go down the slide and keep progressing while slaying all mutants in your path
Go over the stalagmites by all the dead miner’s corpses and then submerge underwater again
Keep going straight to locate the shovel
Fight through the remaining mutants and keep going forward until you see a miner with the shovel to loot

What You Can Use The Shovel For

It Can be Used to Dig Up Graves

Although it might seem like a task with an attached curse and might raise some hairs, digging up graves is one of the primary functions of using the shovel. After all, there are many resources to discover in the tombs of the dead that are worth obtaining.

Your GPS device will begin to beep around the purple markers indicating a diggable grave site. From there, you can locate it and start easily plundering the resources.

Used for Digging Up Hidden Bunkers

Many bunkers around the map can only be accessed if you have a shovel, and that’s why you can’t do without it.

These are necessary for uncovering the ending, and you must deal with them eventually. I say this because bunkers contain some abnormally strong enemies roaming there for years, waiting for their next meal, you.

Despite this, bunkers are a rewarding challenge that will put your skills to the test, and the game gives you more than enough tools to get through the treacherous areas you’ll encounter.

However, they are not without precious items and resources that will enhance your playthrough and make it worthwhile. Here are the bunkers in Sons of the Forest that you might want to check out, but you won’t have to endure them all.

Maintenance A Bunker
Maintenance B Bunker
Maintenance C Bunker
Food & Dining Bunker
Ruined Bunker
Guest Keycard Bunker
VIP Bunker

It Helps to Get Valuable Resources

Be it dirt, snow, or sand, the shovel can handle them all and yield some valuable resources that help you survive and give you more confidence when playing.

The resources you discover are all randomized, and you can’t dig very deep, which is for the best. These resources can be found at any time while searching in the correct areas and can be used later to improve your overall inventory.

You may not think this is important initially, but it will change your mind when you realize how many things you can do. These include constructing traps, shelter, savepoints, weapons, armor, & more!

The following are the resources you can find by digging with the shovel religiously, and I suggest you do so even if it’s somewhat dull at times.

1 Bone
1 Skull
3-4 Coins
1 small rock
1 watch
1 Canned food

It Can be Utilized as a Weak Weapon in Emergencies

If you find yourself in a messy situation and enemies are ambushing you while conducting your digging business, you can immediately start using it as a weapon.

Although it will be far less effective than your traditional options, it can at least kill an enemy or two.

I advise that you use it sparingly and not against larger enemies or groups because that’s just silly, and you’ll pay the price with an unwanted yet deserved death.

However, if a pesky Cretan is bothering you, then by all means, wack him on the head, and he’ll be out before you know it. Just remember it’s a tool, not a weapon, and the game makes that clear based on how it functions.

At the very least, I found it rather funny to hit enemies with the shovel, and you could even make a hardened challenge out of it for the laughs.

Sons of the Forest Shovel Guide: FAQs

Question: Is the Shovel a Helpful Tool in Sons of the Forest?

Answer: The shovel is a valuable and helpful tool to acquire in Sons of the Forest and worth the effort.

It will allow you to dig up various items, including grave sites. It will let you know exactly where there are diggable sites to sift through that give you an edge over the game and help you thrive with rewards for hard-digging labor.

Aside from digging into the Earth, you can also carry the shovel with one hand and another item, such as a torch, during exploration.

Question: Is the Shovel Hard to Obtain in Sons of the Forest?

Answer: You’ll need to go through some hoops to obtain the shovel in Sons of the Forest, but it’s well worth the trouble. It is located in a cave that requires you to have other specific items to make the dangerous journey to its location easier.

In a nutshell, you’ll need to go through some rugged terrain before acquiring it, but after reading this guide, you will be prepared to make the mission a piece of cake.

Question: Can the Shovel be Used as a Weapon?

Answer: Yes, you can equip the shovel and use it as a last resort against enemies bothering you during digging expeditions. Although it’s less effective than using a traditional weapon, it gets the job done in a rather comical fashion.

A blunt object like a shovel will be less favorable to something sharp. Still, it’s fun to clonk cannibals on the head with your shovel occasionally when necessary.

Conclusion: The Shovel In Sons of the Forest Is A Must-Have

Any serious player will quickly realize they can’t do without the shovel, and it should be prioritized early in the game so you can get ahead of the cannibalistic competition.

It doesn’t seem like much on the surface level, but when you dig deeper, you’ll realize that finding the shovel is the equivalent of a pot of gold.

However, you’ll need to traverse the rainbow to get there to earn your keep, and instead of a tricky leprechaun there, you’ll have some savage mutants looking to do you harm.

The shovel is worth the time investment and will be your right-hand tool to complete the main story efficiently.

It also aids you psychologically by opening the door to opportunity with various enhancements I mentioned earlier. Having the shovel gives you peace of mind; all veteran players would agree.

And if you are feeling lazy or stubborn about getting the shovel, remember the grandpa’s words from the movie Holes, where he screams, “That’s too damn bad! You keep digging!”.

In all seriousness, a shovel is a core tool you need to obtain for a more rewarding experience when playing Sons of The Forest!