How to unlock Excavating in Lost Ark

Excavating is one of the six Trade Skills you will unlock as you play through Lost Ark. The Trade Skills are how you obtain some of the many resources that you’ll need to find if you want to put a dent into crafting, especially if you’re trying to upgrade your equipment or sell it to other players. But you don’t gain access to these skills immediately. Here’s what you need to know about unlocking Excavating in Lost Ark.

Like all of the Trade Skills in Lost Ark, you’ll only unlock them once you reach West Luterra. While in this region, make your way to Lakebar, and eventually, you’ll receive the quest Crown of Lakebar. After completing the quest, all six Trade Skills become available to your character, including Excavating. But before you can start using it, make sure to visit the NPC Nickel in Lakebar Village to buy your Novice Excavating Tools. Without those tools, you will not be able to use this skill while exploring the game.

After you have your tools, the next step is to click the B key on your Keyboard and bring up the Trade Skill menu, which swaps out your Combat Abilities for your Trade Skill ones on your Hotbar. The two abilities you’ll be primarily using for Excavating will be Relic Search and Sonar. Before searching for Relics using Excavating, make sure you look at the world map to see if the region has any Relics available. If it does, activate your Sonar, and a small blue icon will appear above your character. As you approach hidden Relics, the icon will radiate small blue waves, indicating that you’re drawing closer.

When you’re next to it, use Relic Search to find it. You’ll see a specific location where you used Relic Search to dig up a Relic and add it to your inventory.