Drain the Lake Post-Ending Content — What to Do After the Phone Ending

Completing the phone ending in Drain the Lake is a major milestone, but it is not the end of the game. Reaching the Abyss checkpoint and picking up your phone is an accomplishment achieved by roughly 62% of players, but the core incremental loop continues indefinitely. After reclaiming your phone, you can continue draining, upgrading, collecting badges, and pursuing completion goals. This guide covers everything you can do after the phone ending, including advanced farming strategies, bucket collection, and badge hunting.

What Changes After the Phone Ending

Key point: The game does not end when you reclaim your phone. All progression, currencies, and upgrades are preserved. You can keep playing normally with full access to every depth zone, allowing you to optimize your token multiplier and farm efficiently at the deepest levels.

Post-Ending Goals

Priority 1: Claim the Ancient Bucket

If you have not yet earned the Ancient Bucket, this is your most impactful post-ending upgrade. The Ancient Bucket is a Legendary-tier bucket that provides +10% Token earnings and enables higher-tier gem digs, making it the best bucket for sustained token farming in the Abyss.

• Count your badges — you need exactly 10 to qualify
• Join the IWTM10GTMPLS group if you have not already
• Claim the bucket from the lobby
• Note: You do not need to equip it immediately, but its passive bonuses to token earnings apply as soon as it is active

Priority 2: Complete the Skill Tree

Invest remaining tokens into maxing out your Skill Tree. The spend-immediately principle remains critical: never hoard tokens, invest them immediately to compound your earnings. The Skill Tree contains six families:

• Fill Speed: Increases how fast your bucket fills with water. This is your top upgrade priority because it directly accelerates the core loop.
• Capacity: Increases the maximum water your bucket can hold before draining. Upgrade this second to ensure each drain action yields more tokens.
• Token Multiplier: Boosts the base token value of each drain. Push this to the highest available level after Fill Speed and Capacity.
• Movement Speed (Character): Increases your walk speed, reducing travel time between the water and the drain point.
• Depth Unlock: Already maxed if you reached the Abyss, but verify all nodes are filled.
• Automation: Generates idle tokens while offline. Invest heavily in this only after your active loop is fully upgraded.

Completing the entire Skill Tree earns you the Fully Trained badge.

Priority 3: Collect Remaining Badges

After the phone ending, you likely have several badges still to earn. There are 30 badges in total, offering approximately 830+ Gems in cumulative rewards. Badge rarity tiers range from Common to Legendary:

• Farm for rare badges like Ocean's Worst Nightmare (earned by only 56 players globally) and Bottomless Treasure
• Complete easy badges you may have missed, such as First Drop (drain your first bucket, 10 Gems) or Plunge (swim in the lake, 10 Gems)
• Trigger the shark encounter to get caught and earn the Shark Bait badge (10 Gems)
• Aim for 30/30 badge completion for maximum Gem rewards

Priority 4: Bucket Collection

Work toward owning every bucket in the game. Each bucket offers distinct advantages for different farming strategies:

• Common Bucket: Free, no bonus. Your starting bucket.
• Plastic Bucket: 200 Gems, +5% Fill Speed. A cheap early upgrade.
• Metal Bucket: 500 Gems, Uncommon rarity, improved drain efficiency.
• Magnet Bucket: 1200 Gems, Rare rarity, attracts nearby items including chest pickups.
• Toxic Bucket: +10% Token earnings and a 10% chance to instantly drain when full, saving travel time.
• Golden Bucket: 2000 Diamonds (premium currency), Legendary rarity. The best bucket for gem farming and increases Token earnings significantly.
• Ancient Bucket: Legendary, +10% Token earnings, higher-tier gem digs (requires 10 badges + group join).
• Wheel Spin Exclusives: Try the Wheel Spin bonus mechanic for exclusive buckets like the Toilet Bucket and Use the Bucket.

Priority 5: Automation Investment

With your active loop maxed, shift focus to Automation:

• Invest heavily in Automation nodes in the Skill Tree
• Leave the game running or close it for idle token generation while offline
• Check back regularly to spend accumulated tokens following the spend-immediately principle
• Automation is less efficient than active play but provides steady progress during downtime

Depth Scaling & Farming Optimization

The Abyss is the most efficient farming zone post-ending due to its massive token multiplier. Understanding depth scaling is essential for optimizing your route to the drain point.

Post-ending, you have permanent access to the Abyss, where the 8-12x multiplier drastically accelerates token accumulation. The core loop—fill bucket, drain for tokens, upgrade Skill Tree—remains the same, but at these multipliers, every drain action yields substantial returns.

Post-Ending Farming Metrics

With the Ancient Bucket equipped and a fully optimized Skill Tree, expected returns in the Abyss are:

Chests found while draining contain Gems and sometimes rare items. The Magnet Bucket (1200 Gems) is useful for attracting nearby items and chests, reducing the need to manually walk over pickups. However, the Ancient Bucket or Golden Bucket will maximize your token and gem yields respectively.

Comprehensive Bucket Acquisition Guide

Choosing the right bucket for your post-ending goals depends on whether you prioritize token farming, gem collection, or movement efficiency. Below is a complete breakdown of all available buckets.

The Wheel Spin is a bonus mechanic that offers a chance to win exclusive buckets like the Toilet Bucket and Use the Bucket. These are typically cosmetic or minor variants, but essential for completionists. Use spare Gems on the Wheel Spin only after purchasing the core buckets needed for efficient farming.

Badge Hunting & Rarity Breakdown

Badges in Drain the Lake serve as both achievements and a primary source of Gems. With 30 badges available and approximately 830+ total Gems from all badges, completing your badge collection is a highly efficient way to fund bucket purchases.

Badge Rarity Tiers and Gem Rewards

Easy Badges to Check Post-Ending

If you missed any easy badges during your initial playthrough, these can be knocked out quickly:

• First Drop: Drain your first bucket. Over 10M players have earned this. Rewards 10 Gems.
• Plunge: Simply swim in the lake. Rewards 10 Gems.
• Shark Bait: Get caught by the shark in the lake. Rewards 10 Gems. The shark encounter is random, so spend time swimming on the surface to trigger it.

Rare Badges for Completionists

• Ocean's Worst Nightmare: Only 56 players have earned this badge, making it the rarest in the game. The exact requirements are difficult, requiring extensive post-ending farming or specific hidden interactions.
• Bottomless Treasure: Another Legendary-tier badge tied to rare chest drops or extensive gem accumulation.
• Find My Phone: Reach the Abyss checkpoint and pick up your phone. You likely have this if you completed the phone ending. Rewards 50 Gems.
• Fully Trained: Fully upgrade the Skill Tree. Requires significant token investment. Rewards fall within the Legendary tier.

FAQ

Is there a "new game plus" after the phone ending? No — Drain the Lake continues as normal after the phone ending. There is no restart, prestige system, or new game mode. Your stats, currencies, and upgrades remain intact, and you retain full access to all six depth checkpoints.

Can I lose my phone again? No — once reclaimed, the phone stays recovered. The Find My Phone badge is permanent, and the story objective is considered complete. You do not need to worry about the phone falling back into the lake.

What is the best bucket for post-ending farming? The Ancient Bucket is the best all-around choice for token farming due to its +10% Token earnings and higher-tier gem digs. If you are specifically farming Gems from chests, the Golden Bucket (2000 Diamonds) is superior for gem farming and also increases Token earnings. For general play, the Toxic Bucket's 10% chance to instantly drain when full can save significant travel time.

Are there any active codes for free Gems or Diamonds? As of July 2026, there are no verified codes for Drain the Lake. The developer, IWTM10GTMPLS, is expected to release codes via the official Discord server and Roblox group following future updates. Avoid scam websites claiming to offer free Diamond or Token codes.

How do I earn the Ocean's Worst Nightmare badge? Ocean's Worst Nightmare is the rarest badge in the game, earned by only 56 players. While the exact trigger is obscure, it likely requires extensive interaction with the lake's hidden mechanics or reaching an extreme milestone far beyond the standard phone ending. Focus on maxing your Skill Tree, collecting all chests, and exploring every depth zone thoroughly.

Visit our phone ending walkthrough for the full guide, or check our badges guide for remaining badge goals.