You can break the Salt cluster inside the white paper boat cave near Gnarly Bark without a Tier 4 hammer by throwing a Croaksworth into the water beneath it and striking the explosive with a spear.
Salt progression is only partly available in the Into the Abyss update: deposits are visible, but the intended Tier 4 tools and related crafting are not part of normal progression yet. The cave beneath Gnarly Bark offers an alternate interaction built around an underwater explosive.
How Croaksworth bypasses the Tier 4 Hammer requirement
The cave’s Salt clusters display a Tier 4 Hammer requirement when approached directly. Croaksworth does not mine the deposit; its underwater explosion shatters the cluster and releases the Salt Shards for collection.
Compatibility with an unmodified survival save remains unresolved. The world settings used for the successful harvest were not visible, while the current progression state otherwise places usable Salt Shards outside normal survival, so this workaround may depend on Creative or Custom settings.
Prepare Croaksworth and your cave equipment
Craft Croaksworth at a Workbench using Raw Tadpole Meat, an O.R.C. Receiver, Unstable Goo, and Sunken Bone. It is a Tier 3 underwater explosive, so it must be used in water rather than thrown at a dry deposit.
Bring a spear for triggering the explosive and a light source for the dark cave. Put Croaksworth on your hotpouch before entering the water beneath the Salt cluster.
How to get Salt Shards without a Tier 4 Hammer in Grounded 2
Follow the paper boats to the Gnarly Bark cave, then use the shallow water beneath the Salt cluster to trigger Croaksworth.
STEP 1/10
Find the three paper boats
Look for the cyan, purple, and white paper boats near the Gnarly Bark tree.
STEP 2/10
Locate the cave beneath Gnarly Bark
Use the map and surrounding tree roots to find the cave entrance directly beneath the landmark.
STEP 3/10
Light the cave
Equip your light source as you enter so you can follow the dark passage.
STEP 4/10
Cross toward the white paper boat
Continue through the cave until you reach the folded white boat lodged inside.
STEP 5/10
Find the Salt clusters
Look along the inside of the boat for the white deposits marked as requiring a Tier 4 Hammer.
STEP 6/10
Equip Croaksworth
Place the underwater explosive on your hotpouch before approaching the water below the deposit.
STEP 7/10
Enter the water beneath the salt
Drop into the shallow water at the base of the paper boat wall.
STEP 8/10
Throw Croaksworth beside the cluster
Position the explosive in the water next to the Salt cluster rather than leaving it on a dry surface.
STEP 9/10
Strike Croaksworth with your spear
Attack the explosive to detonate it and shatter the Salt cluster above.
STEP 10/10
Collect the Salt Shards
Pick up the broken shards after they fall from the boat wall into the water.
If spear strikes do nothing, reposition Croaksworth until it touches water; the explosive cannot be destroyed and detonated while dry.
Video help
Salt Shard respawns, bonus loot, and current uses
The cluster may return after a short wait, potentially making the white paper boat cave a repeatable farming location. Its respawn cycle was not shown during the single showcase run, however, so revisit the cave before relying on it as an indefinite farm.
Breaking the cluster may also award a Salty Trinket, which applies salt attacks to your weapons. That bonus did not appear during the demonstrated harvest, so it should not be expected from every cluster.
Salt Globs can currently be crafted in the Oven, and the current game includes salt-based weapon recipes that use the collected shards. The Salty Shard, Salty Jewel, and weapon-upgrade systems from the first Grounded do not apply to Grounded 2.
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