Hydroneer Relic Locations: Dig Directions for All 6 Buried Relics

Hydroneer relic locations are the one thing the game refuses to mark on your map. Six ancient artifacts sit buried under a handful of dig sites, and the only hint you get is that they exist somewhere beneath the dirt. That matters because turning in enough relics unlocks one of the game's best-hidden secrets — and, according to community walkthroughs, you only need four of the six to get there.

Plenty of guides for Hydroneer relic locations are little more than a screenshot with a red X scrawled on it, which is exactly what a player complained about in a Steam discussion thread posted May 20, 2024. This walkthrough takes the other approach: every relic is described as a counted number of blocks from a landmark you can actually see.

Spoiler warning: the rest of this article names the relics and the cave they unlock. The Bridgepour community wiki's Skull Relic page hides the same information behind a spoiler gate, so if you want to stumble onto the secret yourself, stop reading here.

How Relics Work in Hydroneer

Relics are buried collectibles, not loot to sell. The Bridgepour wiki describes them as lost ancient artifacts found deep underground that may unlock a hidden secret once you have found enough of them. Their payoff is tied to a specific cave rather than to a sale price.

That cave sits in the starting area of Ember Cradle. Once you have at least four relics, you carry them inside and set them on the pedestals. The wiki calls the destination the "cave of the ancients" and warns there is more than one cave in that region — the one you want is not the one full of lava and dwarven statues.

Each dig site that holds relics also has a page on the Bridgepour wiki with a "Show Relics" toggle listing what spawns there and a "Show Relic Locations" overhead map of rough positions (as captured on November 14, 2026). Those maps are a useful cross-check, but they are rough by design, which is why counted directions are easier to follow in the field.

Hydroneer Relic Locations at a Glance

The table below summarizes the six Hydroneer relic locations reported in the community walkthrough. Counts are measured in small concrete blocks, and the depth figure is how many blocks you dig straight down after covering the horizontal distance.

Table: Community-reported Hydroneer relic locations (walkthrough labeled version 2.2.5; player experience, not official coordinates)

Step-by-Step Directions by Dig Site

Before you dig into the individual Hydroneer relic locations, one rule matters more than any number in the table: the corner blocks count. When the walkthrough says nine, it means nine blocks including the one sitting at the corner. One block off in either direction is the difference between a relic and an empty hole.

The written counts tell you the distance, but the landmark descriptions need the video's visuals to be unambiguous — a "lamp in the starting area" or "the tree at the quarry" is easy to identify once you see it on screen.

Ember Cradle — Sword and Spyglass

Both Ember Cradle relics are anchored to a lamp in the starting area, which makes this the best dig site to practice your counting on.

• Sword: place your first small concrete block inside the lamp, then count 9 blocks one way and 14 the other, and dig 4 blocks down.
• Spyglass: place the block in the inside corner of the lamp, then count 10 out, 10 across, and dig 5 blocks down.

Because the two reference points are so close together, dig the sword first and backfill the hole before you start the spyglass count. A pre-dug trench makes it easy to lose track of which block is your starting marker.

Mildew Aquifer — Goblet

This site holds a single relic and the longest horizontal walk in the set.

• Goblet: start at the Mildew Aquifer sign, set your first block there, count 35 out and 33 across, then dig 6 blocks down.

Thirty-five blocks is a long line to hold in your head. Place a block at every count so the trail itself shows you where you stopped.

Dreck Quarry — Skull

• Skull: place your first block in front of the tree at the quarry, count 32 out and 14 across, then dig 9 blocks down.

The wiki's Skull Relic entry repeats the same instruction the video gives: it is found deep underground, and it belongs in the cave with the other relics.

South Hope — Cross and Arrow

South Hope matches Ember Cradle with two relics, and both landmarks are rocks rather than man-made objects.

• Cross: place your first block against a rock so it sits kitty-corner and touching it, count 13 out and 31 across, then dig 9 blocks down.
• Arrow: wedge your first block between the two rocks at the reference spot, count 20 out and 19 across, then dig 10 blocks down.

Digging These Hydroneer Relic Locations Without Missing

Small habits save the most time when you are working through a long count.

• Use one block type. Small concrete blocks are the standard measuring stick here; switching to a differently sized block partway through a count breaks the math.
• Anchor the first block precisely. Every direction is relative to the landmark, so a block placed a step away from the lamp or rock shifts the whole hole.
• Leave a visible trail. Place a block at each count instead of counting in your head. If a dig comes up empty, you can see exactly where the line drifted.
• Count the corner. The walkthrough explicitly includes corner blocks in every horizontal figure.
• Keep the holes shallow. Depth counts run from 4 to 10 blocks. In the same May 2024 Steam thread, players reported that most relics sit only a few blocks under the surface, so a 20-block pit usually means a counting error.
• Check the name before you commit. Bridgepour's relic group page, as captured on November 14, 2026, lists entries such as the Arrow Relic and the Axe Relic, while the 2.2.5 walkthrough refers to a sword among the Ember Cradle finds. If you are hunting one specific item by name, confirm it against the wiki database for your game version first.

What Happens Once You Turn In the Relics?

With four or more relics collected, head to the cave in Ember Cradle's starting area and place them on the pedestals inside. The walkthrough that supplies these Hydroneer relic locations deliberately stops short of describing the result, and the wiki keeps the outcome behind its spoiler gate as well. That is the community's way of preserving the discovery.

If you have all six, you can still place them — nothing in the reports suggests extras go to waste. But you do not need a full set before the cave becomes useful, so a player who is stuck on one relic can move on and come back later.

FAQ

How many Hydroneer relic locations are there? The community walkthrough labeled version 2.2.5 covers six relics across four dig sites: two in Ember Cradle, one in Mildew Aquifer, one in Dreck Quarry, and two in South Hope.

Do you need every relic to open the cave? No. The walkthrough states that you technically only need four relics to use the pedestals in the Ember Cradle cave, even though six exist.

How deep are the Hydroneer relic locations? The reported depth counts range from 4 to 10 blocks below the surface. Players in a Steam thread from May 2024 also described most relics as sitting only a few blocks down, so shallow digs are normal.

Where do you take the relics after you find them? To the cave in the starting area of Ember Cradle, where you place them on the pedestals inside. The wiki refers to it as the cave of the ancients — not the lava-filled cave nearby.

For the base game itself, the official Hydroneer Steam store page is the place to check version notes and updates before trusting any single guide's directions.