One of the most frustrating parts of early Enshrouded play is hitting a cliff or chasm you can’t climb, or spotting a rare chest on a ledge you have no way to reach. That’s exactly why learning how to make a grappling hook in Enshrouded is one of the first priority crafts you should work toward once you leave the starting canyon. I spent my first three hours running in circles trying to find a path up to a surface relic, only to realize I could’ve skipped all that effort with a single crafting project. The grappling hook doesn’t just cut down travel time, it also unlocks entire sections of the map you can’t access on foot, including hidden shroud areas with high-tier loot. This simple traversal tool changes the entire flow of Enshrouded gameplay, so it’s no surprise the grappling hook is one of the most sought-after early game items.
What You Need to Make a Grappling Hook in Enshrouded
You don’t need to unlock any late-game workbenches to craft this tool, but you will need to gather a few specific resources that aren’t always obvious to new players. I recommend gathering all these materials before you head back to your base, so you don’t have to make extra trips back out into the shroud. All crafting materials are easy to find in the starting Springlands region, so you won’t have to venture into dangerous high-level areas to get them.
- 4 String: You can get string by looting plant fibers from small bushes and crafting it at your handcrafting menu, or by looting enemy camps and broken wagons scattered around the map.
- 7 Metal Scraps: Metal scraps drop from defeated scavenger enemies, or can be found by breaking rusted barrels, old tools, and abandoned metal furniture in ruins.
- 10 Wood Logs: Chop any medium or large tree with a stone axe to get wood logs, no special wood type required for the base grappling hook.
- 1 Workbench: You can craft the grappling hook at any tier 1 workbench, you don’t need an upgraded blacksmith station for the base model.
It’s easy to mix up wood logs with wood planks here, so double check your inventory before you start crafting. I made that mistake once and had to run back out to chop more trees when I realized I’d turned all my logs into planks for building walls. If you’re short on metal scraps, head to the first scavenger camp west of the starting ancient spire, you can usually get 10 to 15 scraps in a single run with minimal risk.
Step-by-Step Crafting Process for Your Grappling Hook
Once you have all your materials gathered, the actual crafting process only takes a few seconds, but there are a couple small settings you should adjust to make sure you get the most out of your new tool right away. First, open your workbench menu and scroll down to the traversal tools tab, don’t waste time looking in the weapons or building tabs, that’s where most new players get stuck. The grappling hook is automatically added to your tool wheel once crafted, so you don’t have to drag it to your hotbar manually if you don’t want to.
After you craft it, head to your controls menu to adjust the grapple sensitivity if you’re playing on controller. The default setting is a little too high for most players, and you’ll end up overshooting ledges more often than not if you leave it as is. I dropped mine down to 30% sensitivity and noticed my hit rate for grapple points jumped almost immediately. You also don’t have to aim perfectly at a grapple point to use it, the game has a small aim assist that will snap to valid points as long as you’re within 10 meters of them.
One thing a lot of players miss: you can use the grappling hook while you’re falling, which is a lifesaver if you slip off a cliff or jump too far across a chasm. Just pull up your tool wheel and select the grapple as soon as you start falling, and you’ll snap to the nearest valid point if one is in range. I’ve saved myself from losing 20 minutes of shroud exploration progress more than once with that trick.
Common Mistakes to Avoid With Your Enshrouded Grappling Hook
Even though the grappling hook is a pretty straightforward tool, there are a handful of mistakes almost every new player makes when they first start using it. Avoiding these will save you a lot of frustration and wasted durability on your tool. First, don’t try to grapple to surfaces that are covered in shroud mist unless you’re sure the point is solid. A lot of shroud-covered rock faces have hidden voids, and your grapple will pass right through them, leaving you falling to your death.
Another common mistake is using the grappling hook when you’re carrying too much weight. If you’re over your encumbrance limit, your grapple range drops by 50%, and you’ll move much slower when you pull yourself up to a ledge. I always drop excess ore and building materials in a storage chest at my base before I go out exploring, so I never run into this issue when I’m trying to outrun a shroud timer.
You should also avoid using the grappling hook to pull yourself directly into groups of enemies. The animation for pulling yourself up to a ledge leaves you vulnerable for almost two full seconds, and enemy archers can take half your health before you even have time to draw your weapon. If you see enemies on a ledge you want to reach, climb up a nearby spot out of their line of sight first, then sneak over to take them out.
Finally, don’t forget to repair your grappling hook regularly. It loses 1 durability every time you use it, and if it breaks mid-grapple, you’ll fall straight down. You can repair it at any workbench with just 2 metal scraps, so it’s cheap to keep it in good condition. I make a habit of repairing all my tools every time I’m back at base, so I never run into unexpected breaks out in the field.
Upgrades to Make Your Grappling Hook Even More Useful
Once you progress a little further into the game, you can unlock upgrades for your grappling hook that make it far more powerful than the base model. You don’t need these upgrades to enjoy the early game, but they’re well worth working toward once you start exploring the northern regions of the map. The first upgrade most players get is the extended range mod, which adds 15 extra meters to your grapple range, letting you reach much higher ledges and cross wider chasms without having to find a path around.
Another great upgrade is the quick pull mod, which cuts the grapple pull animation time in half. This is a game-changer for combat, because you can grapple up to high ground mid-fight without leaving yourself vulnerable for long. It also makes traversal feel much smoother, especially if you’re moving through mountainous areas with lots of ledges to climb.
The shroud-resistant grapple hook mod is a must-have if you spend a lot of time exploring deep shroud zones. This mod lets you grapple to shroud-covered surfaces without the risk of your grapple passing through voids, and it also doesn’t take extra durability damage when you use it in the shroud. I use this mod almost exclusively now that I spend most of my playtime farming high-tier materials in the mid-game shroud zones.
You don’t have to pick just one mod, either. Once you unlock the upgraded workbench, you can equip up to two mods on your grappling hook at the same time. I usually run the extended range and quick pull mods for general exploration, and swap to extended range and shroud-resistant when I’m heading into deep shroud areas. There’s no wrong combination, so pick the mods that fit your playstyle best.
At the end of the day, taking 10 minutes to gather materials and learn how to make a grappling hook in Enshrouded is one of the best investments you can make in your early game progress. It cuts down travel time, unlocks hidden loot, and makes exploring the world feel far less restrictive. Don’t put off crafting it just because you think you need to progress further first, all the materials are available within the first hour of play, and you’ll wonder how you ever played without it once you have it in your tool wheel.