How to find the new cave and Mining Pickaxe – Sons of the Forest Patch 12 guide

Patch 12 brought a new cave to Sons of the Forest along with items like the mining pickaxe and Enchanting Table. No doubt many horror-survival fans are itching to delve into the cave and add the new tool to their belt. The good news is that these new additions are in the same location.

You can find the new cave in the northeastern section of the Sons of the Forest map. It’s just to the right of the snowy mountain. Check your map for two small lakes connected by a thin river. The left lake is where you want to go. You’ll know you’re in the right spot when you find the cave entrance: A hole in the ground with a rope leading into the darkness. You won’t need to make a safety save for this cave. There aren’t any mutants, just a lot of swimming.

What you need before exploring the new cave:

• Rebreather
• Some oxygen tanks

What’s inside the cave:

• Mining pickaxe
• Artifact piece
• Enchanting Table recipe
• Solafite

The entrance: Artifact and Enchanting Table recipe location in Sons of the Forest

Let’s get spelunking! Go down the rope and make your way into the cave. You’ll pass by a small waterfall to the left, with supply boxes nearby. Smash them up for any supplies you might need. Walk along the stream until you find a waterfall going down into the darkness. Don’t jump down. Back up a bit and look to the right. There’s a path that safely leads you below.

Keep walking until you reach the first swimming spot. Hopefully you packed your rebreather, because you likely won’t survive this lengthy swim. Once you leave the water, you’ll find yourself at a crossroads. The path to the left takes you to an Artifact piece and a new recipe in Sons of the Forest: The Enchanting Table. If you already have these items, follow the path to the right. But if you don’t, go down the left path first and collect them. There’s no coming back if you skip. The path takes you deeper into the cave, with ropes to slide down and crucifixes to duck under. You reach a dead end after a while. Once you retrieve the recipe and Artifact, head back to the crossroads.

Path to the mining pickaxe and solafite in Sons of the Forest

Point of no return coming up

With those items in tow, return to the path and down the other way. You’ll know you’re on the right track when you reach a stony slide that drops you into an underwater lake. If you need oxygen or more supplies, swim forward and go on shore. There’s a tank nearby along with other items. I found food, drink, and ammunition.

Go back into the water and dive down. You’ll come across a split in the underwater cave. The path to the left ends at the corpse of a scuba diver who got crushed by a rock (ugh, nightmare) along with an oxygen tank. If you don’t need the tank or the morbid scene, go right.

Go through the broken wooden barricade after exiting the water. There’s another underwater section waiting for you. Are you glad you got the rebreather first? This is, thankfully, the last one and possibly the shortest. Dive down and swim until you get to the end. You should see a light against a wall in the distance: That’s where you need to go. Make a beeline there and you’ll discover the mining pickaxe with its pointy end buried deep into a huge chunk of solafite. Grab it and harvest as much solafite as you can carry (which is 12 chunks, I believe), and go right from the pickaxe location toward a hole in the wall.

You’ll find the darkened path that leads to the exit. Keep walking until you find a rope leading up. Climb and walk forward until you drop down into some water. Grab the supplies from the boxes if you need them, then keep going until you find the next rope. Climb up and then walk through the crack in the wall. You made it out safely and with some nice treasures in tow.