Subnautica 2 FAQ

Catch Boomerang Fish (provides food) and Bladderfish (craft into filtered water at the Fabricator). Creepvine Fruits are a reliable renewable food source once you find them. Always prioritize water first — dehydration kills faster than hunger in Subnautica 2.

Fabricator → Scanner → Repair Tool → Habitat Builder. The Fabricator unlocks all crafting. The Scanner lets you collect blueprints. The Repair Tool fixes your radio (story progression). The Habitat Builder lets you build a base. This order minimizes backtracking.

Find and scan High Capacity Tank fragments in small caves in the Safe Shallows. Craft it at the Fabricator with Titanium and Glass. Later, upgrade to Ultra High Capacity Tank (120s oxygen) for deep exploration. You can also look for Crevice Vines in caves that release oxygen bubbles restoring 15s of air.

Equip the Scanner tool and aim at any glowing blue fragment on the seafloor. Hold the scan button until the progress bar completes. Most blueprints require 2-3 fragment scans to unlock. Fragments are found in specific biomes — check our Blueprints page for exact locations.

After repairing the radio in your lifepod, you will receive a distress signal from Lifepod 7. This triggers a waypoint marker in the Twisty Bridges biome. Follow it to progress the story, find key blueprints, and unlock the BioMod system.

Titanium is everywhere. Collect scrap metal from the seafloor — each piece gives 4 Titanium when broken down at the Fabricator. Limestone outcrops also yield Titanium. The Safe Shallows alone has enough Titanium for your entire early game.

Quartz is most abundant on the sandy seafloor of the Safe Shallows and Twisty Bridges biomes. Look for translucent white crystals. Quartz respawns slowly over time, so mark rich areas with a Beacon for return visits.

Break Limestone Outcrops found on the seafloor and attached to walls in the Safe Shallows. Limestone yields either Titanium or Copper at roughly 50/50 odds. Collect at least 10-15 outcrops to get enough Copper for early tools.

EA 1.0 includes five main biomes: Safe Shallows (starting area, 0-50m), Twisty Bridges (early exploration, 30-150m), Purple Vents (mid-game, 80-300m), Deep Spires (late-game, 200-500m), and Crystal Caves (endgame, 400-800m). Each biome has unique resources, creatures, and blueprints.

Drop Beacons at key locations (base entrance, cave entrances, rich resource areas). Pay attention to biome color palettes — each biome has distinct water coloring and lighting that helps with orientation. The Seaglide has a built-in compass when equipped.

Scan BioMod Station fragments in the Twisty Bridges biome around the Lifepod 7 wreckage. Craft the station at your base with Titanium x3, Copper x2, and a Computer Chip. Then scan specific flora and fauna to unlock gene blueprints.

The Digestion Gene. It gives +50% nutrition from raw food, dramatically reducing how often you need to return to base for food. It is unlocked by scanning the large glowing flora in the Twisty Bridges biome near the entrance to Purple Vents.

EA 1.0 includes 8 discoverable genes: Digestion, Pressure, Light, Speed, Radiation, Armor, Healing, and Sonar. Each gene has 3 upgrade tiers. Finding all 8 requires exploring every biome, including the deepest parts of the Crystal Caves.

Yes. The BioMod Station has 4 gene slots. You can equip any combination of discovered genes. Swapping genes costs nothing. Recommended loadout for general exploration: Digestion + Pressure + Speed + Light.

First, build a Vehicle Bay (requires Plasteel x2 + Lubricant x1 + Computer Chip x1). Then craft the Tadpole at the bay using Plasteel x3, Enameled Glass x2, Lubricant x2, and Computer Chip x2. The Tadpole is your primary exploration vehicle and can be customized with module upgrades.

The Speed Module. It increases top speed by 40%, making biome traversal much faster. Build the Cargo Module second for resource gathering. The Armor Module is best saved for deep biome exploration when you encounter leviathan-class creatures.

The Wakemaker is a late-game personal propulsion device found in the Alien Research Facility in the Deep Spires biome. It functions as an upgraded Seaglide with vertical thrust. You will need the Depth Module MK2 or MK3 to reach it safely.

The Safe Shallows at 10-20m depth on flat terrain near your lifepod. Close to abundant Titanium, Quartz, and Copper. Shallow enough for solar panels (best efficiency above 30m). Later, build a forward base at the Purple Vents edge (120-180m) for deep exploration.

Unlike Subnautica 1 that used fixed room shapes, Subnautica 2 lets you sculpt compartments freely. Equip the Habitat Builder and use the shape tool to stretch, curve, and size rooms. Start with a simple box and expand outward as you collect more building materials.

Solar Panels for shallow bases (0-50m, free and low maintenance). Bioreactor for mid-depth bases (burns organic matter, very reliable). Thermal Plant for deep bases near heat sources (best long-term solution). Combine Solar + Bioreactor for the most reliable mid-game power setup.

The host saves all world progress (built structures, story progression, resource depletion). Each player keeps their inventory and equipment when leaving. Only the host needs to progress the story — guests can explore freely. The host should save before closing the game.

The Reprint mechanic spawns them at the nearest base or lifepod. Reprinting costs Titanium x1 + Copper x1 if no base is within 100m. If a base is nearby, it is free. Surviving players can also revive a downed teammate with a 6-second interact prompt.

Yes, Subnautica 2 supports cross-platform play between PC (Steam) and Xbox Series X/S. Console players need Xbox Game Pass or a full game purchase. Invite friends through the in-game friends list menu. Crossplay requires both platforms to be on the same game version.

Yes. The host world is separate from your single-player save. When joining a co-op game, you use your own inventory and equipment, but any changes to the host world are saved to the host save file. Your single-player progress is unaffected.

Yes, the game is Steam Deck Verified. It runs well at medium-high settings at 40-60 FPS. Controller support is built-in. Recommended Proton layer: Experimental. Note that co-op multiplayer requires an active internet connection.

Verify game files in Steam (right-click Properties, Installed Files, Verify). Update your graphics drivers to the latest version. Try running in DirectX 11 mode by adding -dx11 to launch options. Disable any mods or overlays. If it persists, check the official Discord for known startup issues.

This is a known early access bug. Save and reload the world — the host scan progress will propagate to all players. As a workaround, have the host do all critical scanning if the issue persists in your session.

Report bugs on the official Subnautica 2 Discord server or the Unknown Worlds forums. Include your system specs (CPU, GPU, RAM, OS version), a description of what you were doing, and any error messages. Screenshots and video recordings help the developers diagnose issues faster.

Unknown Worlds aims to maintain save compatibility across EA updates. However, major content patches may require starting a new save. Check the patch notes before updating if you care about your current playthrough. Back up your save files manually to be safe.