Subnautica 2: Beginner Tips For Survival

Unknown Worlds' latest entry into the Subnautica series, Subnautica 2, has finally arrived and entered its early access period, but there's already plenty to do and discover out there in the open ocean. For new players to the series, it can be quite a lot to take in all at once, particularly since the game doesn't do much to hold your hand. Trial and error are a key part of success in Subnautica, as is exploration and pushing yourself beyond your shallow comfort zone.

To start with, you'll need to master the basics of simply surviving in this aquatic world. Once you've got the basics of survival down, you can then start thinking about exploring, and once you've got some familiarity with the surrounding environment, then you can move on to developing and thriving on the planet Proteus. Here are some key survival tips to ensure that you don't die any more than you have to while playing Subnautica 2.

8 Manage Your Breathing

Priority Number One

Arguably the most important resource in Subnautica 2 is oxygen. Without it, you're pretty much cooked, and everything else is of secondary concern. Fortunately, there are countless ways to get oxygen and improve your O2 capacity. The first and most obvious way to top up on oxygen is to swim to the surface and get your breath back or to absorb air bubbles when they rise from certain plants, but for deeper regions, you will need a slightly more robust plan than that.

Using O2 tanks can dramatically increase the amount of time you have to explore, while crafting the Tadpole vehicle will grant you much greater underwater exploration time. Building a base and ensuring it is fully powered can also provide a good refuge from which to work and breathe, even if it is only a small one to begin with.

7 Think Like a Fish

Or Die Trying

One of the core themes in Subnautica has always been adaptability. Rather than simply eviscerating every fish in the ocean with overpowered weaponry, the game makes it quite clear that you are not the alpha predator in this scenario. The water is full of mysterious and deadly alien creatures ranging from toxic corals to full-fledged Leviathans which will devour you in a single bite.

Considering your very limited arsenal for dealing with such an abundance of threats, one of the best things you can do is learn to use the environment to your advantage. Much like a smaller prey fish, you can swim into small caverns and ravines in order to evade larger predators, or make use of the Dash biomod to avoid their attacks. Strong currents can also get you out of danger when faced with certain foes, and there's always the trusty Air Bladder to lift you out of danger in emergencies.

6 Scan Everything

You Never Know What You Might Find

The key to making any meaningful progress in Subnautica 2 is scanning. Almost every item you come across can be scanned, and you should always make an extra effort to scan human debris. Scanning human items will enable you to learn their blueprints and later craft them. This is crucial for crafting essential items like the Repair Tool and Habitat Builder Tool. Generally, you will have to scan multiple parts of the same item in order to unlock its blueprint.

When it comes to natural items such as alien sealife, scanning them can reveal different uses and tricks, including the preferred attacks and behaviors of the respective creature. While it is not as important to scan these creatures as it is to scan technology items, it is still extremely useful to do so. When it comes to plant life, scanning also helps to understand what different materials can do and what you can craft by using them.

5 Battery Efficiency

Don't Get Caught Dead in the Water

Once you have crafted a few basic tools, the next most important thing is to ensure that they stay running. Given that most of the important tools in the game rely on batteries to keep charged, it helps to have a spare supply of batteries at hand, as well as a charging station at your base, even if it is just a small one.

For larger items, Power Cores will likely be necessary but operate the same way as batteries in terms of charging. You'll also need to watch out when it comes to powering your base with solar panels as they are not very efficient and often lead to the base going offline at night.

4 Plan Ahead

Expect the Unexpected

Planning your excursions is key to survival in Subnautica 2, and it often helps to have some kind of purpose in mind before venturing out. That's not to say you won't have plenty of time for free exploring, but you'll want to make sure that you at least have a small amount of food, water, and medical supplies in your inventory. Ensuring that you have the right tools, powered up and in good condition, will also save you a lot of time when it comes to exploration.

As you progress further in the game, the resources you'll require to construct new tools and items will become more specific. Therefore, it also helps to make sure you have enough inventory space to bring back whatever you might find, so always leave room in case of any surprise discoveries.

3 Stock Up

On Absolutely Everything

Much like the first game, Subnautica 2 can often feel like a battle of attrition against the environment. You will constantly need to balance needs from food and hunger to oxygen and power. In order to make life a little easier, it helps to stock up on consumables as much as possible to ensure you have a dependable supply.

On top of that, it can be surprisingly easy to churn through resource materials once you start seriously building out your base(s). Constructing lockers and making use of storage space for larger material hauls will be essential later down the line, so it is often good practice to organize your lockers depending on what you plan to contain in them.

2 Build, Build, Build

After All, What Else Are You Going to Do?

Once you've got to grips with the basics of survival, the next thing you'll need to do is build yourself a comfortable base of operations from which to operate. Building a base will not only give you a place to take in oxygen and craft new items, but it can eventually turn into a thriving habitat complete with growable food, self-sustaining power supplies and vehicle docking bays.

Experimentation is key to refining your perfect base design, and you can always build multiple bases in different locations. In fact, building several bases will become something of a necessity later down the line as you explore some of the more extreme regions of the map. In order to prevent endless backtracking, it can be good practice to build small hubs in each of the different biomes to ensure you always have somewhere to craft new tools and items.

1 Make Use of Beacons

Get Your Bearings

One of the most underrated items in Subnautica 2 is the simple, trusty beacon. As anyone who has played the game for more than a couple of hours will know, it can be quite easy to get lost in all that water, particularly at nighttime and with only a giant alien tree as your topside reference point.

To ensure that you don't accidentally lose that ultimate silver deposit forever, or to mark that intriguing destroyed base you didn't have enough oxygen to explore, placing beacons is key for successful underwater navigation. The other great thing about beacons is the fact that you can always move them and repurpose them once you're done exploring a given location — and the additional bonus of being able to give them customized names will also be a great help to get your initial bearings.