Subnautica 2 Beginner Tips Guide: What to Know Early

Survival in Subnautica 2 can feel overwhelming at first. Oxygen disappears quickly, most food hurts you, and important mechanics may seem opaque. Fortunately, with just a handful of tips and tricks, you'll be able to get through the first hours of Subnautica 2 early access without much pain.

You can find additional oxygen, food, and water tips in our Subnautica 2 survival guide hub.

Subnautica 2 Beginner Tips: Quick List

• Prioritize oxygen upgrades before deep cave exploration.
• Use Water Slugs to solve hydration early.
• Unlock Digestion before relying on native food.
• Craft the Scanner early and scan everything.
• Build the Survival Multitool to gather key organic materials.
• Do not ignore Portable Lockers and Biobeds for inventory space.
• Build a powered base to unlock a fully functional Fabricator.
• Follow NOA black box missions for early progression.
• Return to blocked areas after unlocking new tools and Adaptations.
• Use movement upgrades like Fins, Biomods, and the Wakemaker.

Oxygen Is the Biggest Early Threat in Subnautica 2

You'll run into some hostile fauna and toxic flora while you're trying to figure out what to do first, but running out of oxygen is a much more common concern. If you're struggling with air, keep these tips in mind:

Craft a Standard Air Tank as Soon as You Find Silver

Making a Standard Air Tank should be a top early-game priority, as it gives you +30 max oxygen. The Silver used to craft this item can be a bit hard to find initially, but the extra survivability that it provides is extremely helpful.

Use Oxygen Tunics During Long Dives

Oxygen Tunics are blue bulbous plants you'll find underwater. Come into contact with the blue bubbles that they expel to refill your oxygen and eliminate the need to return to the surface.

Carry an Air Bladder

Craft an Air Bladder at your Lifepod's Fabricator as soon as you get some Lucifer Rotsac and Titanium for an additional way to manage your oxygen. This emergency tool instantly restores 25 oxygen when used and automatically refills every time you surface.

Water Is Easy to Solve, But Food Takes Longer

Water and Food are two of the core survival mechanics, and you need to manage both of them. While Water is easily addressed, you'll need to put in a little work before you have access to a consistent food source.

Water Slugs Solve Hydration Almost Immediately

You'll find Water Slugs, translucent blue creatures, all over the ocean floor, including near your Lifepod. This fauna can immediately be distilled into Water at your Lifepod's Fabricator and makes staying hydrated easy.

Most Food Hurts You at First

You'll have Digestive Incompatibility at the start of the game, which prevents you from eating foods created from native flora and fauna. You can start using some of the best food sources after finding an Angel Comb that unlocks the Digestion Adaptation, and an early-game black box will lead you to it.

Check Lifepod Storage for Emergency Food

If you need food before you unlock Digestion, check the storage in your Lifepod. You'll find a few Nutrient Blocks that you can eat there.

Start Scanning Early and Never Stop

Scanning is tied directly to progression in Subnautica 2. New tools, facilities, vehicles, and upgrades are all unlocked through scans, making the Scanner one of the most important tools in the game.

Scan Everything You Encounter

The importance of scanning cannot be overstated, and here are the types of things in the environment you should target with your Scanner:

• Flora
• Fauna
• Tools
• Materials
• Furniture

Many Blueprints Require Multiple Scans

One of the biggest reasons to scan objects is that doing so can unlock blueprints that allow you to craft those objects, including tools, facilities, and base customizations. However, scanning just one of an object is often not enough to unlock its blueprint, with many requiring you to find two or three.

Duplicate Scans Still Reward You

Once you've unlocked a blueprint, scanning the same type of object again awards material. While scanning is unlikely to be the main way you earn resources, this feature gives the Scanner a bit of additional functionality. For more info, see our guide on how blueprint scanning works.

Don’t Ignore Other Tools

The Scanner certainly isn't the only important tool, and there are others that make exploration easier and even give you access to new materials and areas.

The Flashlight Makes Early Exploration Much Easier

Parts of the ocean can get dark, and you can use a Flashlight to get through those areas. Notably, you'll need to scan two Flashlights in the environment before you can make the tool, and you should look for them carefully.

The Survival Multitool Unlocks Important Materials

The Survival Multitool is something you can craft straight away, and doing so should be one of your first priorities. This tool will give you quick access to the Fibrous Pulp that is needed to create fiber.

The Sonic Resonator Opens Up New Areas

While it takes some time to get to the point where you can make a Sonic Resonator, this tool is extremely important. Not only does it allow you to harvest large nodes, but it also allows you to cut through Bloom Biofilm and access brand new areas.

Inventory Space Becomes a Problem Very Quickly

You'll start the game with just 20 inventory slots, and they can fill up very fast when gathering. If you're having trouble with inventory management, keep these tips in mind:

Portable Lockers Help Early Exploration

Look for Portable Lockers during early exploration. These containers have 15 slots, and you can offload your carried inventory into them and carry them back to the Lifepod for additional early-game storage.

Biobeds Permanently Increase Inventory Space

You'll run into underwater structures called Colonist Bunkers while you're exploring, and they house Biobeds. Interacting with those facilities gives you additional inventory slots, allowing you to carry more materials.

Take Just What You Need at the Beginning

While it can be tempting to collect every material you see, taking a more calculated approach is a good way to deal with early-game inventory management. Notably, you can right-click on a recipe in the Fabricator to pin the required materials to the top-right corner of the screen, making it easy to know how many of each resource you currently need.

The exceptions to this are Silver and Lead. If you run into those materials early, take as much as you can.

Your First Base Unlocks a Lot of New Systems

You can survive out of the Lifepod for quite a while, but building your first base opens up several important systems and removes a lot of early limitations.

A Base Fabricator Removes the “Fully Functional Fabricator” Limitation

The Fabricator in the Lifepod is not a "fully functional fabricator," and it cannot be used to craft everything. You'll address this issue by putting a Fabricator into the first base you build, as it won't have that limitation.

Scanner Stations Make Finding Resources Much Easier

You can build a Scanner Station in your base, which allows you to track the precise positions of resources. This makes it much easier to collect bottleneck materials like Silver and Lead, and it's worth setting up a Scanner Station as soon as you can.

Storage Issues Become a Thing of the Past

With the ability to build lockers in your base, it becomes much easier to deal with a limited inventory. Notably, facilities can pull materials directly from nearby lockers, which is extremely helpful when crafting.

Follow NOA Missions Early On

You'll occasionally be notified that the NOA on your Lifepod has something to tell you. Make sure to interact with that facility when you receive such a notification to get a waypoint to a black box.

Black Boxes Lead to Important Unlocks

The first black boxes are located next to important scans, new mechanics, and even Adaptations. While you can visit these locations before you receive a waypoint from the NOA, it can be worth double-checking them after you receive the mission to make sure you didn't miss anything of note.

Check the Survival Guide

You can also get a Survival Guide by interacting with the NOA. This appears at the top of your Databank, and it can give you some direction in the early game.

Some Areas Are Meant to Be Revisited Later

Subnautica 2 is built around progression-gated exploration, and you may not always be ready to tackle an obstacle when you encounter it for the first time.

"Requires Unknown Tool” Usually Means You Haven’t Unlocked What You Need

As you approach certain objects, "requires unknown tool" will appear on the screen. This message means you haven’t unlocked the required progression tool yet, and you’ll need to return later.

Environmental Hazards Can Require Adaptations

Tools are not the only thing required to get through progression blockers, as Adaptations also play a role in exploration. For example, you'll encounter hot areas that trigger Heat Intolerance, and you'll need the Heat Tolerance Adaptation to explore them safely.

Movement Upgrades Make Exploration Much More Enjoyable

Movement can feel a little sluggish at first. Fortunately, there are some early game options for increasing your speed and improving your maneuverability.

Fins Are a Great Early Crafting Upgrade

Make sure to get some Lucifer Rotsac and Fibrous Pulp as soon as you can. Those materials can be turned into the Rubber and Fiber that are needed for Fins, which provide a small speed boost.

Biomods Can Fundamentally Change Exploration

You can activate Biomods through facilities called Biolabs, and they can enhance movement. For example, the Dash Biomod gives you the ability to boost in a direction, while Sea Skimmer lets you swim faster at the surface and seafloor. While you'll ultimately have a Biolab in your base, you can access one early by powering up the Welcome Center that is 85m southeast of the Lifepod.

The Wakemaker Combines Mobility and Visibility

The Wakemaker is a tool you'll unlock after scanning it in the environment, and it increases underwater maneuvering. Additionally, it has a light, allowing it to replace the standard Flashlight.

The Game Rewards Careful Exploration

While it can be tempting to swim as quickly as possible to your next waypoint, there are certainly reasons to be thorough and take things slow:

Wrecks and Small Structures Hide Important Scans

Go through wrecks carefully to find important objects to scan. Additionally, the Colonist Bunkers where you can increase your inventory slots can be well-hidden in caves, and you should be on the lookout for underwater lights that can lead you to them.

Rare Materials Are Hidden in Specific Environments

Materials like Silver and Lead can be hard to find in the early game, and it's very easy to miss harvestable nodes if you aren't looking carefully. Missing such a node can delay some very important upgrades, like an Air Tank, and make exploring much more difficult.

Returning to Earlier Areas Is Worthwhile

Don't hesitate to return to areas you've already explored after unlocking things like an Air Tank and the Sonic Resonator. Those items will allow you to explore more deeply and access things you may have missed during your previous visit.

More Subnautica 2 Guides

Looking for more help in the early game? Check these Subnautica 2 guides:

• How to Swim Faster
• How to Build a Tadpole