The Caverns of Lost Hope (2024)

in:Locations, Caves, Caves with untamable creatures

English

The Caverns of Lost Hope

Dangers[]

Extremely cold temperatures.
A vast portion of the cave is underwater.
Extreme quantities of Mosasaurus, Plesiosaur, Tusoteuthis and other dangerous aquatic creatures.
Swarms of creatures boosted by Alpha Megalodon can cause your mount to get stuck and lose health quickly.
Surprisingly, the water within the cave is well lit and does not require a SCUBA Mask.
Creatures can spawn with very high levels.
Be cautious when moving through the cave as creatures can be found hiding inside the walls.

Recommended Equipment[]

A tamed Aquatic dinosaur (preferably a Basilosaurus)

Explorer Notes[]

Rockwell Record #6: When approaching the Artifact, it is on the right Ruins walkway on the left corner closest to the Artifact spawn.
Cnidaria Dossier: Passing the hole to the end of the cavern, you will go through a small, short cave and see some Ruins on the ground to the left. The Dossier is in the archway.
Helena Note #9: Reach the end of the flooded cave and head deeper into the cave. You will see a hill in a right corner with stone stairs. The Note is past the stairs.
Meiyin Note #9: Reach the end of the cave on land, the last note will be near some Ruins to the left, overlooking the first cave with air

Recommended creatures[]

Tusoteuthis are able to brute force the cave with their long range and rapid attack speed. (Bring two opposite gendered creatures for the mate boost.)
Basilosaurus are able to regenerate health after long endurance battles.(Bring two opposite gendered creatures for the mate boost, and park your basilos to heal near surfaces of air pockets.)
Karkinos can avoid aggression from most threats in the cave, but be wary of Piranha.
Ichthyosaurus and Mantas can speed through the cave with a skilled rider. (Difficult, requires practice.)
Shadowmane can go invisible allowing you to navigate the cave unseen. (Works well with two people.)
Exo-Mek is a good choice since NOTHING will aggro

Tips/Notes[]

The artifact lies fairly close to the entrance of the cave, at the end of a narrow tunnel that starts down behind an Obelisk-tech structure (see gallery below). The rest of the cave is rife with creatures to slay, but is not abundant in any particular resource nor can any of the creatures be tamed. At the end of the submerged caverns is what appears to be a standard cave filled with subterranean creatures and a couple Survivor Entries.
The extremely high level Trilobite, and more importantly Piranha can be tamed with a fish basket. Piranha are also immune to all status effects, include the various stun/shock effects that render most creatures immobile, and the aggression inducing bile from Ammonite.

The only loot crates found to date were in the submerged cavern, leaving the cave at the end undesirable to explore once the Explorer Notes have been collected.

There are several ways to obtain the artifact, but two suggested methods are by using brute force, or by a high-speed bypass.
- Brute Force involves riding a high-level Mosasaurus/Tusoteuthis or similar creature and just killing everything on the way in or out. This can be highly time-consuming and requires the appropriate dinosaur. Alternatively, bring a whole army of various high level creatures that are good underwater.
- High-speed bypass requires an Ichthyosaurus (simpler, and cheaper, to tame) or a Manta with high speed (suggested at least 150%, for best results); using their speed you simply race through the cave, ignoring as many enemies as possible on the way to the artifact. Be sure to put your mount on passive in case it gets attacked when you get off to get the artifact, but beware, as they will not last long alone. You may be forced to kite enemies away from the artifact before grabbing it, since these dinosaurs cannot reliably fight large groups. Be especially wary of Cnidaria and Tusoteuthis using this method, as they can quickly bring your speed run to a halt if you are knocked off your mount, or it is grabbed.
All loot crate positions can be found at the Explorer Map (The Island). All possible loot items are listed at Loot Tables/The Island/Caves.

Creatures[]

Aquatic

Subterranean

Compatible Tamed Creatures[]

This table is incomplete.
You can help us by adding the tamed creatures you know can enter the cave. If the creature can't enter, please exclude it.

Accessibility Ratings:

Excellent: Full-Cave Access (Entrance-to-Artifact)
Limited: Can Access Portions of the Cave Safely
Not Recommended: Can Get Stuck/Unable to Leave Cave

Creature	Accessibility	Rideable	Notes
Angler	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Baryonyx	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Basilosaurus	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Beelzebufo	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Carbonemys	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Coelacanth	Excellent	No
Diplocaulus	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Dunkleosteus	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Electrophorus	Excellent	No	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Hesperornis	Excellent	No	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Ichthyosaurus	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Kairuku	Excellent	No	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Kaprosuchus	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Karkinos	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit artifact chamber without difficulty. Similarly to the Rock Golem, the creatures within the game will ignore you and the crab as long as you do not hit an ammonite or step off the crab. Recommended to kill any creatures close to artifact. Use water jump to exit artifact chamber and make it back to shore.
Manta	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Megalodon	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Mosasaurus	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber with minimal difficulty. Tested with platform saddle equipped.
Piranha	Excellent	No
Plesiosaur	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber with minimal difficulty. Tested with platform saddle equipped.
Rock Drake	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty. Not recommended without an escort due to stun lock.
Rock Elemental	Limited	Yes	Most dinos will not agro. Can enter and exit cave with some work. Can't enter artifact chamber. Can leave cave and get to shore with some work. Tested on official servers.
Sabertooth Salmon	Excellent	No
Sarco	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit Artifact chamber without difficulty.
Spino	Excellent	Yes	Able to enter and exit all areas without difficulty. Ignored by land creatures unless provoked.
Tusoteuthis	Limited	Yes	Unable to enter Artifact chamber on its own. Can be brought in with a Cryopod, but will require two uses to get to the artifact itself, and two more to get out.

Resources[]

Sporadic Metal and Obsidian nodes within the submerged tunnels, and rubble nodes within the cave.

Gallery[]

Route to the Artifact
Artifact of the Cunning Crate
Interior map of the cave

v · d · eLocations

Displayed are the locations for The Island. For locations found in DLCs, please see The Center, Scorched Earth, Ragnarok, Aberration, Extinction, Valguero, Genesis: Part 1, Crystal Isles, Genesis: Part 2, or Lost Island.

Maps	Resource Map • Explorer Map • Creature Spawn Map

Plains	The Eastern Plains • The Frigid Plains • The Western Plains

Islands	Cragg's Island • Southern Islets • South Haven • The Dead Island • The Footpaw

Mountains	Far's Peak • The Frozen Tooth • The Grand Hills • The Red Peak • Volcano • Weathertop • Whitesky Peak • Winter's Mouth

Beaches	Northeast Shores • Northern Shores • Northwest Shores • Southeastern Shores • The Southeast Shores • The Western Approach • The Western Coast

Forests	Southern Jungle • The Eastern Forest • The Redwood Forests

Caves	Central Cave • Lava Cave • Lower South Cave • North East Cave • North West Cave • Snow Cave • Swamp Cave • Tek Cave • The Caverns of Lost Faith • The Caverns of Lost Hope • Upper South Cave

Arenas	Broodmother Arena • Dragon Arena • Megapithecus Arena • Overseer Arena

Other	Deep Ocean • Drayo's Cove • Ice Wyrm's Belly • The Belly of the Beast • The Deep Island • The Descent • The Frigid Deep • The Frozen Fang • The Frozen Maw • The Frozen Sea • The Gulch of Lamentation • The Hidden Lake • The Maw • The Shadow Road • The Throat of Borea • The Throat of Flame • The Writhing Swamps • Smuggler's Pass • Volcanic Maw