Black crystal

[hitnec]

does the black crystal only spawn in the lava cave? and if so, how do I find the lava cave?
I found a "normal" cave, are they connected someone? or do I need to find another cave on the map?

[⋆⋆⋆]

Under normal cave you will find lava cave, there is black crystal ,

[hitnec]

when you say under..what do you mean? so the lava cave is connected to the normal cave I found?

[slaw]

u need to make a climbing axe to get down there ( there are 1 entrance each from the north and east lake which linked via the lava caves) bring enough food and water antidotes ( maybe backup diving gear climbing gear in case u die down there)

[⋆⋆⋆]

Originally posted by hitnec:

when you say under..what do you mean? so the lava cave is connected to the normal cave I found?

Yes, the caves are connected, the lava caves are on the lower part of the caves. As a friend wrote, you need climbing equipment, water supplies, weapons and ammo for this, watch out for hunters so you don't die in the cave

[Keyser Soze]

Originally posted by hitnec:

does the black crystal only spawn in the lava cave? and if so, how do I find the lava cave?
I found a "normal" cave, are they connected someone? or do I need to find another cave on the map?

as *** said, the black crystals are only spawning down in the lava area

currently there are two cave entrances (they appear on the lakes on your map when you press the M key)

once you get into the cave, no matter which entrance you choose, there is going to be two "rooms" to the system you are in.

get to the second section of these upper cave systems and follow along the wall until you find an area with a very steep cliff going down... a prompt will pop up on your screen telling you that you need the climbing axes to go further.

equip the climbing axes and go down into the lava cave area, you cannot get down there and back out without them.

there will be a long-ish tunnel that leads to the circular lava lake area... the heart of the cave system. both current cave systems connect to this lava lake area so in theory you can enter the caves at the north lake, then exit through the cave at the south lake.

a few words of caution:

the cave hunters and the lava cave hunters are very deadly, and if you die down there you'll have very limited time to get back down there and retrieve your dropped bag. in order to quickly get back down there you will at least need a scuba gear, a few tanks of air, and the climbing axes (in theory i think you can use the hang glider to get down the cliff into the lava area, then use the climbing axes to climb back up... but i've never tested it).

the lava area is very taxing on you because it's so hot, you'll need armor to survive the hunters, but because of that you'll be burning up the whole time you are down there thus burning through tons of water over time... so take a ton of bottled water with you (you can get those from your mining drill).

there is going to be a ton of loot once you get into the lava area, not only can you pickup the dropped bags from the hunters you kill, but you'll be finding mini crates all over that lower area (which need a pickaxe to bust into) and you'll be getting lots of upper tier items (blue shells, metal sheets/bars, berry water, air tanks, grenades, moltovs, ect...) so you should take a platform and crate with you where you can drop things off (so you don't have to abandon valuable stuff).

in order to place that platform for the storage crate you'll need to be in the lava pool area, due to trying to keep the area open from blocking in co-op the entrance tubes to the lava pool area are no build zones, so you'll have to wait till you are very deep into the lava pool area before you can place it.

also bats are a pretty serious problem down there, they can poison you so be sure to bring antidotes. last thing you want is to get poisoned deep in the lava area then have to work your way back with half health... it puts you at risk of getting killed by cave hunters and having to rescue your dropped bag.

one last thing... you also need to bring a few extra pickaxes, because you'll be burning through them quickly. crystal, potassium, black crystal, lava area crates (also coal if you want but i would suggest not bothering with it)... so it's real easy to chew through a pickaxe real quick. you certainly don't want to be forced to leave the area that took you so long to reach because you forgot to bring an extra pickaxe or two.

lava caves are a very late game area and it's pretty challenging to newer players. it can be frustrating to die down there so just be prepared and be cautious so you can make it out of there alive with all that great stuff.

and hey, if you're extremely lucky you might even find a lava hunter gas mask to wear.

hope this helps, good luck down there,

[Vayna Reka]

What does black crystal do?

[slaw]

need it to make parts for the ATV

[hitnec]

thx for all the info, sounds like a death trap :(

[Keyser Soze]

Originally posted by hitnec:

thx for all the info, sounds like a death trap :(

it's not THAT bad, but i wanted you to be prepared for what you are going into so you don't waste time having to go back for what you need.

it's a risk for a reward, but depending on how prepared you are, how armored, how much you've boosted your stats (125/125 max), how familiar/effective you are with combat, how proficient you are at using bandages and heal patches....

all of that makes the difference between "death trap" and well worth the time.

bottom line is the only way you are going to obtain the black crystals is to go down there and risk it, but at least now you know what you are in for and you can have a much higher chance of success than if you were going in blind.

i'd suggest you go to youtube and watch a few vids about going down there when that update first came out. you'll see everything aside from the ability to collect the black crystals... everything else is exactly the same.

gameedge just put up a live vid on youtube going down there for the first time to get the black crystals, he makes great vids and seems like good people. if you have time to watch go check it out and you'll see exactly what you are in for.

[hitnec]

Originally posted by Keyser Soze:

Originally posted by hitnec:

thx for all the info, sounds like a death trap :(

it's not THAT bad, but i wanted you to be prepared for what you are going into so you don't waste time having to go back for what you need.

it's a risk for a reward, but depending on how prepared you are, how armored, how much you've boosted your stats (125/125 max), how familiar/effective you are with combat, how proficient you are at using bandages and heal patches....

all of that makes the difference between "death trap" and well worth the time.

bottom line is the only way you are going to obtain the black crystals is to go down there and risk it, but at least now you know what you are in for and you can have a much higher chance of success than if you were going in blind.

i'd suggest you go to youtube and watch a few vids about going down there when that update first came out. you'll see everything aside from the ability to collect the black crystals... everything else is exactly the same.

gameedge just put up a live vid on youtube going down there for the first time to get the black crystals, he makes great vids and seems like good people. if you have time to watch go check it out and you'll see exactly what you are in for.

sounds like a job for Rambo....

quess no ATV for me :(

[slaw]

u can just turn off hunters and go down and mine the nodes ( still be some bats) easiest way without the rambo :)

[Blacktail]

I have another piece of advice; as you approach the cliff you can climb down to reach the lava caves (with a climbing axe in your inventory), *turn-off autosave* and then save the game manually. This is because if something goes wrong while you're climbing down, and the game autosaves while you're in mid-air, you'll be caught in a death loop.

Ask me how I know. ;-)

[Keyser Soze]

Originally posted by Blacktail:

I have another piece of advice; as you approach the cliff you can climb down to reach the lava caves (with a climbing axe in your inventory), *turn-off autosave* and then save the game manually. This is because if something goes wrong while you're climbing down, and the game autosaves while you're in mid-air, you'll be caught in a death loop.

Ask me how I know. ;-)

thats actually a really good idea.

[MisterMog]

a good idea, and... honestly the visual is absolutely hilarious from the outside :)

[Chief]

i always turn off autosaves on every game