My full guide to Subnautica 2 after surviving the perils of an alien water planet

Getting shipwrecked on a hostile alien planet with an ocean as far as the eye can see is a pretty bad way to start your day, but that's exactly what happens in Subnautica 2. A rampant AI prints you a new body and sends you off into the water to figure out what's going on.

There's plenty to find, even in early access, but your first few hours can be very confusing. Which isn't ideal when you're trying not to die. But we've already sunk tens of hours into Subnautica 2, and can impart our learnings onto you so you don't have to meet the same fate (as often, at least).

Played by

Played by

Rory Norris

After spending upwards of 30 hours in the harsh waters of Subnautica 2's aquatic alien planet alongside fellow survivalist (and senior guides writer) Sean Martin, we've learned a lot. In fact, you tend to learn the hard way here—venturing too deep and a scary fish eats turns you into a snack. To make your new life on the water easier, we've prepared all our tips to help you from your very first breaststroke to building a base and beyond.

First hours in Subnautica 2

Once you've survived the shipwreck and launched your Lifepod, only to have it also crash back down to the watery planet, you're more or less left to your own devices. NOA, the onboard Lifepod AI, will occasionally offer a black box quest to guide you, but these typically either progress based on time played or when you complete a specific task.

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Be sure to follow the black boxes, as these lead you to habitats that contain tools and furniture you can scan to gain their blueprints.

And if you're planning on playing with friends, be sure to check out our guide on how Subnautica 2 multiplayer works, as it can get quite complicated.

Besides reading our Subnautica 2 tips guide and using the best settings, here's what we recommend you do in your first few hours:

• Learn to digest food: Your body doesn't start off able to consume aliens, funnily enough.
• Increase your oxygen: Making air bladders and crafting the standard air tank will let you explore underwater for longer.
• Build the Scanner: Scan everything to unlock new blueprints
• Build a base: You need to unlock the Habitat Builder before you can construct a deep-sea house, and I'd suggest the best base location for you right now would be under the Lifepod. You'll have to look elsewhere to unlock rooms though.
• Make a fully functional Fabricator: It's required to make all the best tools to progress further.
• Fabricate the Wakemaker: This handy tool lets you swim faster, once again helping you explore further.
• Craft the Sonic Resonator: This mining tool lets you break the big ore deposits, which is really handy in expanding your base.

Exploring the ocean

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Now that you've got a simple base setup with your basic collection of tools, it's time to set your sights further afield. Or deeper into the ocean, I should say. You'll continue to follow traces of black boxes, but you'll also want to brave tougher (scarier) areas to find new scannable blueprints and resources.

• Increase inventory size: Find Biobed locations to upgrade both your inventory and hotbar space.
• Build a Tapdole: This handy submarine lets you dive much deeper into the ocean without worrying about your oxygen.
• Make a Repair Tool: You'll need it for your Tadpole after you inevitably crash it.
• Destroy Bloom Biofilm: Remove this hazard to get inside various colony ruins and steal everything in sight.
• Clear Angel Combs: Get the Heat Tolerance Adaptation to survive and explore hot areas, like the volcanic vents to the southeast.
• Investigate the Tadpole Pens: Journey to the farthest reaches of the ocean.

Collect these materials

There are a number of tricky materials you'll need to find and collect in order to craft tools, vehicles, or expand your base. These are the resources we had the most trouble finding: