Shovel — Essential Treasure Tool
Tides of Fortune Shovel engram guide — crafting, treasure excavation, crop plot improvement, water detection, and buried chest management in ARK.
Shovel Overview
The Shovel is a versatile metal tool engram introduced in Tides of Fortune that serves as the primary excavation instrument for buried treasure. Without a Shovel, you cannot dig up Buried Treasure Caches from Treasure Map waypoints — making it the single most important craftable item for treasure hunters.
Beyond treasure, the Shovel improves Crop Plots for agricultural players, buries and unburies treasure chests for secure storage, and locates underground water sources in emergencies. This multi-purpose utility justifies crafting a Shovel early in your Tides of Fortune progression even if treasure hunting is not your immediate priority.
The Shovel engram requires Tides of Fortune DLC ownership (Bob's True Tales) to learn. Unlock it through Genesis Ascended Part 1 progression alongside other naval engrams.
Crafting and Requirements
Craft the Shovel at a smithy or fabricator using metal ingots and standard crafting materials. Resource costs are modest — most survivors can craft a Shovel within their first hour of Tides of Fortune gameplay. Craft multiple Shovels for backup, as durability depletes during extended excavation sessions.
Higher-quality Shovel variants may become available through milestone rewards or loot drops. Monitor patch notes for crafting recipe updates as Studio Wildcard balances tool progression post-launch.
Store Shovels in your ship inventory, harbor base storage, and personal hotbar for immediate access during treasure runs. Never embark on a treasure map voyage without a Shovel equipped.
Treasure Excavation Technique
Navigate to the active treasure waypoint and search within the marked radius for the exact dig location. Without Parrot assistance, excavation involves systematic Shovel swings across the radius until the cache appears. With Parrot's Treasure Tracker, target the indicated spot directly for faster excavation.
Each Shovel swing consumes durability and time. Efficient excavation minimizes total swings by identifying the correct position before digging. Practice on beginner-tier maps with generous timers before attempting advanced maps with tight deadlines.
Follow our treasure hunting tutorial for visual excavation demonstrations and common positioning mistakes that waste timer seconds.
Buried Chest Management
The Shovel buries and unburies treasure chests for secure loot storage. Bury valuable items at hidden locations to protect them from raiders, then unbury when needed. This mechanic extends beyond Tides of Fortune treasure caches to any storable container.
Harbor base security benefits from buried storage. Hide Ship Skill materials, rare resources, and trade goods beneath the surface near your Shipyard rather than storing everything in visible containers that attract raiders.
Mark buried locations carefully — unlike treasure map waypoints, self-buried chests have no HUD marker. Use tribe map pins or coordinate notes to track your hidden storage spots.
Secondary Applications
Crop Plot improvement via Shovel increases agricultural yield for survivors maintaining harbor base farms. Ocean-side bases benefit from local food production without returning to land-based farming installations.
Underground water detection provides emergency hydration during offshore voyages far from fresh water sources. While not a primary survival tool, this capability has saved captains during extended Genesis ocean expeditions.
The Shovel's versatility makes it a permanent hotbar item for Tides of Fortune players. Even between treasure sessions, crop maintenance and storage management keep your Shovel relevant daily.