Revision 1

Overview

Eyes Wide With Fear is a side quest triggered by looting a diary fragment that describes treasure buried nearby but without coordinates. The quest leads to the Madman's Chest, a buried chest guarded by an ambushing pack of Drowned.

Prerequisites

• A Shovel in the player's inventory. The Madman's Chest is underground and cannot be accessed without one.

• Shovel recipe: 3x Copper Ingot, 10x Wood at the Workbench.

Walkthrough

1. Loot the diary fragment that begins the quest.

2. Open your Journal (hotkey J) and note the blue map marker added after reading the fragment.

3. Sail to the marker location.

4. Look for scattered skeleton remains on the ground. Identify the rough center of the cluster.

5. Stand at the center, activate the dig prompt, and surface the chest. Sparkles in the ground indicate the correct dig spot.

6. Open the chest. The moment the chest is touched, a pack of Drowned ambushes.

7. Defeat the Drowned, then collect the loot.

Combat Warning

The Drowned at this encounter hit harder than the tutorial enemies the quest-giver's dialogue implies. Bring at least 3 to 4 Healing Potions and preferably Great Healing Potions. Consider activating two food buffs before digging. See Cooking Recipes and Perfect Block.

Rewards

Modest currency, useful crafting material, and the satisfaction of a clean surface-and-survive. Loot is randomized per playthrough.

See Also

• Shovel

• Drowner

• Swollen Drowned

• Fifteen Men on a Dead Man's Chest

• Buried Treasure

Madman's Chest Naming

The buried container at the center of this quest is formally called the Madman's Chest in most community guides. The name comes directly from the flavor of the diary fragment that triggers the quest, which describes the writer unraveling before hiding their final stash. The chest itself is mechanically identical to other buried chests on the starting island: surfaced by a Shovel dig, guarded on open by a Drowned ambush, and randomized for loot.

Visual Tells and Preparation

Once you are close to the correct patch of ground, faint sparkles appear in the soil before you commit to digging. If the sparkles are not visible, you are not standing on the right tile yet. Walk slowly across the center of the skeleton cluster and watch the ground texture; the cue is subtle but consistent. If you dig and hit nothing, circle the cluster by a few steps and try again rather than digging random holes.

Because the chest-opening ambush is the real combat encounter, most deaths on this quest come from players who dug the chest under-equipped and were surprised by the wave. A reasonable preparation checklist before engaging:

• Healing. Carry at least three to four Healing Potion stacks, and ideally a few Great Healing Potion if you have them.

• Tool upgrades. If you are still early game, upgrade your Copper Axe and Copper Pickaxe before this trip. Faster resource gathering matters more than a slightly better melee weapon at this stage, and the Drowned hit harder than the tutorial enemies suggested they would.

• Food buffs. Stack two cooked food buffs before the dig. A stamina or endurance buff pairs well with the hit-and-run pattern that clears the ambush reliably. See Cooking Recipes.

• Bring the chest, not the corpse. If you die in the ambush, the Madman's Chest stays put. The quest does not fail. Return with better gear rather than burning potions on a cascade of respawns.