To complete Secrets of the Deep, accept the task from a job board, speak to Art in the Fancy House north of Town, and reach the third floor of the Mall Mines. Return to Art afterward to receive Blueprint: Preserving Barrel.
The order matters: take the job and speak to Art before treating a previous mine visit as completion. This objective concerns Mall Mines F3, not the Old Woods Mines or a similarly numbered floor in the Catacombs. The mine entrance requirements can change, so read the requirement shown on your current visit.
Accept the job and speak to Art
Secrets of the Deep is a Job Board Task. Pick it up from a board, then visit Art for the details. His location is the Fancy House, also identified as Amelia and Martin's House, in the northern part of Town.
Use the task name to confirm that you are following the correct request before leaving for the Mall. Art's conversation is an explicit stage, rather than optional background dialogue you can skip simply because you already know the floor number. The Town map guide helps with navigation if finding his house is your current obstacle.
The task has four practical stages:
- Accept Secrets of the Deep from a job board.
- Speak to Art at the Fancy House.
- Reach Mine F3 in the Mall Mines.
- Return to Art and claim the reward.
Reach the third floor of the Mall Mines
Go to the Mall Mines after starting the job and continue until you reach Mine F3. Reaching the Mall building, the mine entrance, or only the first two floors does not match the named destination. Check the floor you have actually entered before returning to Town.
The entrance requirements are described as changing. There is no single item list established here that will open the mine on every visit. Follow the condition the game currently shows instead of collecting an assumed permanent entrance item.
If you are trying to reset the mine rather than satisfy Art's task, use the mine reset guide. Resetting and reaching the required floor are different objectives. A reset alone is not the final stage of Secrets of the Deep.
Return for Blueprint: Preserving Barrel
After reaching F3, speak to Art again. The reward is Blueprint: Preserving Barrel. The blueprint is the listed completion reward; this task does not hand you a finished barrel as a substitute.
The most useful completion check is therefore the final conversation and receipt of the blueprint. If you have reached the third floor but have not spoken to Art again, finish the hand-in before planning another descent. If you visited the floor before accepting the job, follow the active task's sequence rather than assuming the earlier visit satisfies it.
This page establishes the blueprint's quest route. It does not establish the barrel's crafting material quantities, processing recipes, or production timers. For a different confirmed processing station, the Drying Rack guide covers that separate workbench and should not be treated as the Preserving Barrel recipe.
Check the missing stage before repeating the route
A task that is still unfinished can have a different cause at each step. Use the journal and the reward you have received to identify which stage remains. That avoids another full mine trip when the only action left is speaking to Art.
| Current position | Next step to check |
|---|---|
| Task not yet accepted | Pick up Secrets of the Deep from a job board |
| Job accepted but Art not visited | Speak to Art at the Fancy House |
| Mall Mines visited but F3 not reached | Continue to the named third floor |
| F3 reached after starting the task | Return to Art for the hand-in |
| Blueprint received | The quest reward has been claimed; crafting the barrel is a separate action |
No additional boss defeat or special fish hand-in is established as part of this task. Follow the named floor objective and final conversation rather than adding requirements from another mining or Lakefront job.
Editorial verification
This guide was source-checked on . Confirmed game details, community observations, older-build behavior, and unresolved evidence gaps are identified in the article instead of being presented as equally certain.
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