Beginner's Guide

1:49 The first thing to do in Subnautica 2 is make water: pick up Water Slugs around the Lifepod and turn them into Water at its Fabricator, then gather three Titanium for a Survival Multitool, in the order Game Rant's progression guide lays out on the launch build. From there the early game is a chain of unlocks: the Scanner, the Welcome Center's Biolab, the Digestion Adaptation that makes local food safe, Fins and an air tank, a base with a working Fabricator and a Processor, the Sonic Resonator that opens Heat Tolerance, and the Tadpole. The steps below follow Game Rant's and Destructoid's launch-week guides (May 14 to 23, 2026); distances are from the Lifepod. Since then 1.1 (Jul 8, 2026) made creatures flee the Multitool and added Biolabs, and 1.2 (Aug 19, 2026) added co-op revives and cut the Repair Tool to two scans. No story spoilers here. The clips on this page are Kysen's May 14, 2026 beginner guide, on the launch build.

Quick facts

Sources: Game Rant, May 14, 2026; Game Rant's tips, May 14, 2026; Destructoid, May 14, 2026; Kotaku, May 14, 2026; Game Rant's mode guide, May 21, 2026.

Before you start: Survival or Creative

The mode is set when a save is made and cannot be changed later. Survival is the default and the intended way to play; Creative gives unlimited oxygen, food, water and power, every blueprint and Adaptation, free building and non-reactive creatures (Game Rant, May 21, 2026). This guide is for Survival. A solo save can be turned into a co-op one later; see Game Modes and Co-op and Multiplayer.

First dive: water and the Survival Multitool

0:00 The opening chamber gives you Pressure Tolerance, the first Adaptation. Once at the Lifepod, take the Nutrient Blocks from its storage: they are the only safe food until Digestion (Game Rant). Then:

1. Pick up Water Slugs, the small blue and pink creatures on rocks and cave floors, and make Water at the Lifepod Fabricator (+40 Water each). Raw, a slug gives only +15 Water and costs 5 Food (TheGamer, May 15, 2026).
2. Gather at least three Titanium from the seafloor caves around the Lifepod and craft the Survival Multitool (Game Rant). It cuts Fibrous Pulp and Acidic Raion Pouches, and since 1.1 it makes most creatures flee.

Talk to NOA in the Lifepod when it calls: it gives black box waypoints, and early black boxes sit next to key blueprints and Adaptations. NOA also adds a Survival Guide at the top of the Databank (Game Rant).

Second dive: the Scanner

3:54 The Scanner needs Titanium x2, Quartz x2 and a Basic Battery (Destructoid, May 16, 2026). Quartz grows inside the orange Coral Domes nearby at 10 to 30 m (Game Rant). The battery is Copper x2 and an Acidic Raion Pouch, both in the hole and cave under the Lifepod (Game Rant). The Flashlight's first fragment is in a metal container at the bottom of that same hole (Game Rant). Make a second Basic Battery while you are there.

Third dive: the Welcome Center and Digestion

1. Welcome Center, about 85 m southeast. Put a Basic Battery into the wall panel to power its Biolab and NOA, who gives the base-building lesson, and scan the two Habitat Builder fragments: a metal box by the sign and a container through the hole in the floor, next to an Oxygen Tunic (Destructoid, May 14, 2026). At the Biolab, equip Oxygen Control and Dash or Sea Skimmer (see Biomods).
2. Digestion, north-northeast. The Angel Comb is about 130 to 180 m out between north and northeast, near Anita's blackbox; nothing is needed to take it (Destructoid, May 17, 2026; Game Rant). Now fish are food: cook Halfmoon, Harvestmoon, Bluemoon or Geordie at the Fabricator.
3. Scan as you go: the Flashlight's second fragment about 30 m east, the Wakemaker's three fragments 95 to 125 m north-northwest, and the Sonic Resonator's two (Quaker's abandoned base about 415 m north, and a white box on a platform about 235 m at 248 degrees). Full list: Blueprints and Scanning.

Fourth dive: Fins, an air tank and Silver

12:32 Basic Fins (Rubber x2, Fiber x2) and the Standard Air Tank (Titanium x2, Rubber x1, Silver x2, +30 oxygen) are known from the start (Game Rant; Game Rant). Rubber comes from the glowing red Lucifer Rotsac on the Cradle Shootroot, about 70 m east. Silver is the hard part: it is in caves north of the Lifepod, roughly 200 to 350 m out and about 35 m deep, with orange Pent plants at the entrances; Unknown Worlds added more of it in Hotfix 2 and 1.1. Keep the first two Silver for the tank. Starting oxygen is only about 45 seconds, so make an Air Bladder (Titanium x2, Rubber x1, +25 oxygen per use) for cave trips. More on Oxygen, Food and Water.

Then: a base, the Processor and the Sonic Resonator

25:41 Craft the Habitat Builder (Titanium x2, Glass x1, Basic Battery x1, Copper Wire x1) and build a small base. Game Rant's order: a power source (Solar Panels on the roof), a Fabricator, storage, the Processor, a Scanner Station, then the Vehicle Fabricator and Tadpole Dock (Game Rant, May 14, 2026). A base Fabricator makes the recipes the Lifepod one cannot ("Requires Fully Functional Fabricator"); the Processor makes ingots and draws 10 energy per second, so give it two or more panels. Its blueprint is a broken Processor in an abandoned base north of the Lifepod. Details: Fabricator and Processor, Base Building, Base Power. Game Rant suggests siting the base at least 100 m northeast of the Lifepod so a Scanner Station's 300 m reaches the Lead field (Game Rant); see Best Base Locations.

28:54 Next, the Sonic Resonator (Basic Battery, two Titanium Ingots, two Lead, a Wiring Kit). Lead is on the seafloor northeast at about 60 m. The Resonator breaks large nodes, clears the Bloom and opens the Heat Tolerance Angel Comb about 200 m northwest of the Lifepod, which in turn opens the hot areas with Gold, Sulfur and Lithium. Add a Biobed in the base so you respawn there.

After that: the Tadpole and the east

36:51 The Tadpole (Titanium Ingot x2, Glass x1, System Chip x1, Power Cell x1) is built at a Vehicle Fabricator on a Moonpool and carries you past its 250 m default crush depth only with depth modules. Guides then head east: the Tadpole Pens' keycode door, the Alien Ruins, the Repair Tool door to the Modification Station and Bioscanner, then Celestine, Creature Enamel and the far Angel Comb (TheGamer, May 22, 2026). The route passes the Collector Leviathan, so read its page first. The story side is on Story Walkthrough.

Tips

• Take every Silver and Lead you see early; both run short (Game Rant).
• Pin recipes: right-click a Fabricator recipe to pin its materials on screen; since 1.2 pinned items highlight when you pick one up.
• Save inventory space: turn Lucifer Rotsac into Rubber early, and keep Metal Salvage whole (one slot becomes four Titanium) (Game Rant). Upgrade Biobeds in colonist bunkers add slots; see Equipment.
• Lockers feed stations: items stored next to a Fabricator count toward its recipes.
• "Requires unknown tool" means a tool you have not unlocked yet; come back later.
• Breathe from vehicles and bases: the Tadpole uses no oxygen, and a powered base with a hatch refills you; an unpowered one does not.
• Creatures: most flee the Multitool since 1.1, the Sonic Resonator stuns for 10 seconds since 1.2, and Flares draw them off. There are no weapons. See Dangerous Creatures.
• Stay inside the border: the Shiver Leviathans guard the edge of the Early Access map and attack as soon as you cross the red border; retreat inside and they lose interest (PCGamesN, May 21, 2026).
• Death costs consumables: you reprint at your Biobed with full stats, but carried food and water stay in a yellow container where you died, with no marker. See Death and Respawning.
• Settings: a field of view slider arrived in 1.1; see Settings and Accessibility.
• Co-op: blueprints, bases and black box progress are shared, inventory and Adaptations are not, and since 1.2 friends can revive you.

Frequently asked questions

What should I do first in Subnautica 2? Make Water from Water Slugs at the Lifepod Fabricator, eat the Lifepod's Nutrient Blocks, then gather three Titanium for the Survival Multitool and build a Scanner (Game Rant's launch-build order).

Where do I go after the Lifepod in Subnautica 2? The Welcome Center about 85 m southeast (power its Biolab with a Basic Battery and scan the Habitat Builder), then the Digestion Angel Comb about 130 to 180 m north-northeast.

How do I build a base in Subnautica 2? Scan the two Habitat Builder fragments at the Welcome Center, craft the Habitat Builder, and place rooms, a hatch and Solar Panels; then add a Fabricator and a Processor.

Why can't I eat fish in Subnautica 2? You need the Digestion Adaptation from the Angel Comb north-northeast of the Lifepod; until then only the Lifepod's Nutrient Blocks are safe.

Is Subnautica 2 hard for beginners? It gives little guidance by design, and early oxygen is short (about 45 seconds). Following NOA's black box waypoints and the order above covers the first hours.

Can I play Subnautica 2 without danger? Creative mode turns off survival needs and makes creatures non-reactive, but it must be chosen when the save is created.

Sources

• Subnautica 2 Progression Guide: What to Do First, Game Rant (William Parks), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: Beginner Tips & Tricks, Game Rant (William Parks), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: What to Build in Your Base First, Game Rant (William Parks), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: Inventory Management Tips, Game Rant (William Parks), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: Oxygen Upgrade Guide, Game Rant (William Parks), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: How to Swim Faster, Game Rant (Chris Jecks), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: Quartz Farming Location, Game Rant (Hamza Haq), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: How to Get a Flashlight, Game Rant (Hamza Haq), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: How to Cure Digestive Incompatibility, Game Rant (Mehrdad Khayyat), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: Where to Find Lead, Game Rant (Hamza Haq), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2: Should You Choose Survival or Creative Mode?, Game Rant (Hamza Haq), May 21, 2026
• How to unlock base building in Subnautica 2, Destructoid (Madison Benson), May 14, 2026
• All blueprints and recipes in Subnautica 2, Destructoid (Madison Benson), May 16, 2026
• All Angel Comb and modification locations in Subnautica 2, Destructoid (Arka Sarkar), May 17, 2026
• Subnautica 2: All Food, Water, And Health Recipes, TheGamer (Kaitlyn Peterson), May 15, 2026
• How To Unlock Every Biomod In Subnautica 2, TheGamer (Kaitlyn Peterson), May 22, 2026
• All Subnautica 2 Leviathans and where to find them, PCGamesN (Paul Kelly), May 21, 2026
• 12 Hours With Subnautica 2, Kotaku (John Walker), May 14, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.1 - Adaptive Measures Update, Unknown Worlds, Jul 8, 2026
• Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System Update, Unknown Worlds, Aug 19, 2026
• Subnautica 2 - The Ultimate Beginner Guide!, Kysen, May 14, 2026 (video)