Objective 1: Craft a Diving Helmet

Your journey in Havendock is about to take a deep dive – literally! To unlock the mysteries and resources hidden beneath the waves, your very first step is to craft a Diving Helmet. This essential piece of equipment will allow you to explore the underwater world, gather valuable resources, and progress through future objectives. Without it, the vast majority of Havendock's secrets remain out of reach.

Unlocking the Advanced Workbench: The Path to Deeper Crafting

The Diving Helmet isn't crafted at your basic workbench. You'll need access to an Advanced Workbench. This crucial crafting station becomes available after you complete a specific quest line that culminates in "The First Settler". While "The First Settler" is a parent quest, its successful completion signifies a major expansion of your settlement's capabilities, including the ability to construct more sophisticated crafting facilities.

To unlock the Advanced Workbench, you must complete the questline initiated by the settler who arrives at your burgeoning island. The pivotal moment for unlocking this advanced crafting station is the successful construction of a dwelling for your first new settler, as part of the quest "The First Settler: Build a Dwelling". Once this dwelling is completed and the settler has moved in, the blueprint for the Advanced Workbench will automatically be added to your available crafting recipes at your basic workbench.

Quest Progression for Advanced Workbench:

Initiation: The "The First Settler" quest typically begins shortly after establishing your initial base and gathering basic resources. You will receive a notification or a quest marker guiding you towards the requirements.
Objective: Build a Dwelling: The core task involves gathering materials to construct a basic shelter. This usually requires:
- Wood: Gathered from trees using an axe.
- Stone: Gathered from rock formations using a pickaxe.
- Fiber/Rope: Often crafted from plant fibers found growing on islands.
The specific quantities will be detailed in the quest log.
Settler Arrival: Upon completion of the dwelling, a new settler will arrive and inhabit it.
Unlock: Advanced Workbench: With the settler established, the blueprint for the Advanced Workbench becomes available. You can then craft this new workbench at your existing basic workbench, provided you have the necessary resources. The recipe for the Advanced Workbench itself typically includes:
- Wood
- Stone
- Copper Ingots (This highlights the interdependence of early game crafting – you'll need to find or trade for a small amount of Copper Ore to make your first ingots, which are then used for the Advanced Workbench and subsequently the Diving Helmet.)

Why it's important: The Advanced Workbench is not just for the Diving Helmet; it's a gateway to crafting many mid-to-late game items, tools, and components that are vital for expanding your base, automating processes, and tackling more complex challenges. Prioritize completing the "The First Settler" quest line to gain access to this invaluable station.

Crafting the Diving Helmet: Required Materials

Once your Advanced Workbench is operational, you can begin gathering the materials needed for your Diving Helmet. Here's what you'll need:

4x Glass
3x Copper Ingot
2x Rubber

Let's break down how to acquire each of these components, paying close attention to early-game acquisition strategies and potential pitfalls.

Acquiring Glass: From Sand to Clarity

Glass is a fundamental crafting material in Havendock, and you'll need a good supply of it for various projects. For the Diving Helmet, you need 4 units.

Source: Glass is produced by smelting Sand.
How to get Sand:
- Early Game (Manual Collection): Sand is abundant on the various small islands and sandbars scattered around your starting location. Simply walk onto these sandy patches and use your gathering tool (default left-click) to collect it. Look for light-colored, granular terrain. You can gather a significant amount relatively quickly by exploring the immediate vicinity of your base.
- Mid-Game (Automated Collection): As your settlement grows, you might establish automated resource gathering. For sand, you can eventually construct a Sand Dredger, which will passively collect sand from designated areas of the seabed. This requires power and placement in a suitable water tile. However, for the initial Diving Helmet, manual collection is the only viable method.
Processing: You will need a Smelter to convert Sand into Glass.
- Building the Smelter: The Smelter is a crucial early-game crafting station. It can be crafted at your basic workbench. The recipe typically requires:
  - 10x Wood
  - 10x Stone
- Smelting Process: Once built, place the Smelter near your base. Open its interface and place Sand into the input slot. You will also need fuel, such as Wood or Coal, placed in the fuel slot. Each unit of Sand, when processed, will yield one unit of Glass. The process takes a short amount of time, so queue up multiple units if you need a large quantity.

Tip: Gather more Sand than you immediately need. Glass is used in many other recipes, including windows for buildings and advanced crafting components.

Acquiring Copper Ingots: Navigating the Early Game Dilemma

Copper Ingots are another essential metal resource, used in a wide array of crafting recipes. You will need 3 for the Diving Helmet. This is often the trickiest material to acquire initially due to a perceived "chicken-and-egg" scenario: you need Copper Ingots for the Advanced Workbench, but also for the Diving Helmet, and typically you'd smelt Copper Ore in a Smelter, which you might not have access to for Copper Ore from the seabed yet. Here's the clarified progression:

Source: Copper Ingots are primarily produced by smelting Copper Ore.
How to get Copper Ore (Initial Acquisition):
- Surface Deposits (Crucial Early Game): Before you can dive for abundant Copper Ore, you must rely on rare surface deposits. These can be found on larger islands or sometimes as debris floating in the ocean. Look for reddish-brown rock formations, often distinguishable by their distinct color compared to regular stone. These are usually small veins that yield a limited amount of Copper Ore. You'll need a Pickaxe to mine Copper Ore. If you don't have one, craft a Stone Pickaxe at your basic workbench (requires Wood and Stone). Prioritize exploring nearby islands specifically for these surface deposits. These are your primary source for the initial Copper Ingots needed for progression.
- Trading with Merchants (Alternative Early Game): Occasionally, traveling merchants or traders might offer small quantities of Copper Ore or even Copper Ingots for sale. Keep an eye out for these opportunities, as they can provide the initial boost you need. This is less reliable but can be a lifesaver if surface deposits are scarce. The "Wandering Trader" is a common NPC to look for.
- Salvaging Debris (Rare Early Game): Very rarely, certain types of advanced ocean debris might yield a single Copper Ingot or a small amount of Copper Ore. This is not a reliable primary source but can supplement your efforts.
- Seabed Mining (Post-Diving Helmet): Once you have your Diving Helmet, you can access the rich Copper Ore veins on the seabed (as detailed in Objective 2). This becomes your primary, sustainable source of Copper Ore.
Processing: Like Sand, Copper Ore needs to be processed in a Smelter. Ensure you have built a Smelter (requires basic resources like Wood and Stone). Place Copper Ore into the Smelter's input slot with fuel (e.g., Wood, Coal). Each unit of Copper Ore will yield one unit of Copper Ingot.

Clarification on the "Chicken-and-Egg" Dilemma: The game's progression is designed such that you must find a small amount of Copper Ore from surface deposits or trade for it to craft your first few Copper Ingots. These initial ingots are then used to craft the Advanced Workbench and, subsequently, the Diving Helmet. Only after you have the Diving Helmet can you reliably access the larger Copper Ore deposits on the seabed. This means early exploration of islands for surface ore is paramount.

Tip: Always carry a Stone Pickaxe when exploring islands. You never know when you'll stumble upon a valuable Copper Ore deposit.

Acquiring Rubber: Essential for Seals and Flexibility

Rubber is a slightly more advanced material, crucial for flexible components and seals. You will need 2 units of Rubber for the Diving Helmet.

Source: Rubber can be obtained from two primary sources: salvaging ocean debris and processing Rubber Sap from Rubber Trees.
How to get Rubber:
- Early Game (Salvaging Debris - Recommended and Most Reliable): In the early stages, your most reliable source of Rubber will be by salvaging specific types of ocean debris. Keep an eye out for larger, more industrial-looking wreckage, floating containers, or derelict buoys. These often appear as distinct, man-made structures floating on the water, different from natural logs or small planks. Use your Salvage Hook (crafted at a basic workbench from Wood and Rope) or simply swim up to them and interact (default 'E' key) to collect resources. Rubber is a common drop from these types of debris. Prioritize collecting these whenever you spot them, as early Rubber can be a bottleneck. These debris fields often respawn or new ones drift into your area over time, so regular patrols are beneficial.
- Mid-Game (Rubber Trees and Processing): As you progress further and expand your settlement to new islands, you will eventually discover Rubber Trees. These trees are typically found on lush, tropical-looking islands, distinguishable by their unique bark and leaf structure.
  1. Harvesting Rubber Sap: Use an axe (Stone Axe or better) to chop down Rubber Trees. They will drop Rubber Sap, a liquid resource. Each tree typically yields several units of sap.
  2. Processing Rubber Sap: To convert Rubber Sap into usable Rubber units, you will need to construct a Rubber Processor. This machine is typically unlocked through later quests, research, or by reaching a certain settlement tier. The Rubber Processor requires power and will convert multiple units of Rubber Sap into one unit of solid Rubber. Until you have this, focus solely on salvaging debris for your Rubber needs.

Tip: When salvaging debris, prioritize the larger, more complex wreckage. These are more likely to contain valuable components like Rubber and Copper Ingots.

Crafting and Equipping the Diving Helmet

Once you have all the necessary materials (4x Glass, 3x Copper Ingot, 2x Rubber):

Approach your Advanced Workbench.
Open the crafting interface (default 'E' key when near the workbench).
Navigate to the "Tools & Equipment" or "Exploration" tab (the exact tab name may vary slightly with game updates, but it will be logically grouped).
Locate the Diving Helmet recipe. It will clearly show the required materials and their quantities.
Click "Craft" to produce the helmet. The crafting process is usually instant or takes a very short time.
Once crafted, open your inventory (default 'I' key).
Drag the Diving Helmet from your inventory to the designated head slot on your character's equipment screen.

Congratulations! You are now equipped to explore the underwater depths of Havendock. Your next objective will likely involve utilizing this new gear to gather resources or investigate submerged locations.