How to get the Bioscanner in Subnautica 2

Subnautica 2 Bioscanner: The Bioscanner tool on a metal structure next to a door.
(Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

The Bioscanner is a very important late-game upgrade to your trusty Scanner in Subnautica 2, since it lets you scan marine life to unlock additional Biomods. I recommend you grab it as soon as you can, as unfortunately the scans aren't retroactive. You'll have to find and scan any creatures you might have already catalogued.

You'll need to have reached the Alien Ruins area, which comes after completing the task at the Tadpole Pens and crossing the large, open stretch of ocean. After that, I recommend you grab the Depth Module for the Tadpole so you can explore this area without getting crushed by the pressure of the deep sea.

Subnautica 2 Bioscanner location

To unlock the Bioscanner upgrade, you need to head to the Cicada wreckage where you're sent to find Iso's blackbox directly 130 degrees southeast of the Alien Ruins Research Outpost, 500 meters away. If you don't have the objective to find this blackbox yet (you have to do Ruby's second blackbox, first), then it'll look like you're driving into the abyss, but keep going and you should soon see alien structures and then the Cicada wreck soon enough. You can see the full route in the video above.

Once you've arrived at the wreckage, you can enter through the open hatch on the eastern side. Then:

  1. Go inside and use your Repair Tool to fix the damaged door
  2. Pass through the room ahead of you and take a left into the room with Iso's blackbox—grab the Photovoltaic Charger upgrade recipe for your Tadpole while you're here, and Bio Lab here if you didn't grab the one back at the Welcome Center when you started the game
  3. Swim down the chute in the corner of the room
  4. Swim through the square hole in the wreckage wall ahead of you
  5. Scan the Bioscanner next to the broken door at the end of the wreckage

You could repair the door to escape out the bottom, but it's easier to get out the way you came in. There is also a Modification Station you can scan back up top, which you'll be needing, but there's one in the Alien Ruins Research Station as well.

How to craft the Bioscanner in Subnautica 2

Since the Bioscanner is an upgrade to the standard Scanner, you need to return to your base and build a Modification Station. This requires the following materials:

Then, to actually craft the Bioscanner upgrade, you'll need:

As mentioned above, the Bioscanner is used to scan marine life. If you visit a Bio Lab, you'll now be able to view a bunch of active and passive Biomods that you can unlock by scanning various creatures—including the Collector Leviathan. Good luck.

Rory Norris
Guides Writer

Rory has made the fatal error of playing way too many live service games at once, and somehow still finding time for everything in between. Sure, he’s an expert at Destiny 2, Call of Duty, and more, but at what cost? He’s even sunk 1,000 hours into The Elder Scrolls Online over the years. At least he put all those hours spent grinding challenges to good use over the years as a freelancer and guides editor. In his spare time, he’s also an avid video creator, often breaking down the environmental design of his favourite games. If you can’t track him down, he’s probably lost in a cave with a bunch of dwarves shouting “rock and stone” to no end.

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