Exploring the pond in Grounded requires crafting specially adapted gear. Trying to do without will lead to many deaths and a lot of frustration. This is especially the case if you're trying to get your hands on the treasure of the deep.
Treasure Chest Location
The huge plastic chest isn't hard to find, just venture into the deepest section of the pond, to the right of the area. You will come across a huge T-Rex, also made of plastic. As you venture further into the tunnel, you will see the chest at the bottom, after the first current turbine.
Of course, the problem is that the trunk is closed, you need the foam covered key to open it.
Preparations
Before looking for the key, we advise you to finish the main laboratory of the pond. It's also best to craft the following pieces of equipment, since the key is at the bottom of a long submerged tunnel, devoid of light, and full of argyronet spiders:
- A pair of flippers
- A Snorkel at a minimum, but a Bubble Helmet would be better
- Bone Dagger (Level 2) or Bone Trident
- Several Slime Mold Lanterns
- The Teenager Mutation
How do I get to the Moss-Covered Key?
The route is detailed in the video above, but to give you written instructions, here are the details:
- Start at the entrance to the Pond Lab, either through the large airlock in the ceiling, or through the hallway you originally entered. Making the bed your resurrection point can be a good idea.
- Swim in the corner at the bottom right of the large room, and pass the turbines, to find a small cave with a well-hidden entrance.
- Take out your Myxomycete Lantern, and progress through the tunnel, killing the argyronetes encountered along the way. Taking your time to kill them and heal yourself can be a good idea, since they restore your oxygen supply when they die. You can also try to rush desperately without confronting them, to pick up the key and flee, if you don't like underwater combat.
- You will end up leaving the tunnel, and thus reach a slightly larger room, with other argyronets. The key is here, towards the center, placed at the bottom. All you have to do is pick it up and take the opposite path. However, you may have trouble finding it without a light source. A punctured pipe in the room also releases a large bubble from time to time, to restore your oxygen supply.
All you have to do is go back to the chest to open it, and thus obtain an Auxiliary Chip from BURG.L, which will unlock improvements for the flippers and the water torch, even if it's almost useless now. You also find a Mega Milk Molar there.
