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Metro 2039Tadpole Upgrades
Subnautica 2's Tadpole has four upgrade slots for six modules made at the Modification Station: Engine Efficiency, Strike Armor, Cavitation Muffler, Photovoltaic Charger and Depth Modules Mk. 1 and Mk. 2. Mk. 1 raises crush depth from 250 m to 450 m.
The Tadpole in Subnautica 2 takes up to four upgrade modules in a small compartment at its back, chosen from six known as of Nov 4, 2026: Engine Efficiency, Strike Armor, Cavitation Muffler, Photovoltaic Charger and the Tadpole Depth Module Mk. 1 and Mk. 2 (Game Rant, May 22, 2026; Game Rant, May 16, 2026). They are crafted at the Modification Station, the base machine that also makes Prototype Tool Modifications, and each blueprint is found out in the world, mostly around the Alien Ruins far east of the Lifepod. The most sought is Depth Module Mk. 1, which raises the Tadpole's crush depth from 250 m to 450 m. Every recipe below is from guides written on the launch build (May 16 to 22, 2026); no guide has republished them since updates 1.1 and 1.2. The vehicle itself is on Tadpole, and its chassis on Tadpole Chassis.
Quick facts
| Slots | 4, in a compartment at the back of the Tadpole |
| Made at | Modification Station (Titanium x2, Celestine x2, Copper x2) |
| Modules | 6: Engine Efficiency, Strike Armor, Cavitation Muffler, Photovoltaic Charger, Depth Module Mk. 1, Depth Module Mk. 2 |
| Stacking | Engine Efficiency stacks (20% each, 80% with four); depth modules do not |
| Depth | 250 m default; 450 m with Mk. 1; Mk. 2 800 m in Gaming with Griff Griffin's Creative-mode test (May 18, 2026) |
| Recipes from | Game Rant (May 22, 2026) and Destructoid (May 16, 2026), the launch build |
Sources: Game Rant (Mehrdad Khayyat), May 22, 2026; Game Rant (Nahda Nabiilah), May 16, 2026; Destructoid (Madison Benson), May 16, 2026.
Every Tadpole upgrade module
| Module | Recipe | Effect | Blueprint |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engine Efficiency | Titanium Ingot x1, Glass x2, System Chip x1 | 20% less engine draw on the Power Cell per module; four give 80% | Inside the Alien Ruins base: through the hatch, then right |
| Strike Armor | Enameled Glass x2, Strontium x2 | The Tadpole takes less damage when hit | 203 m at 195 degrees from the Alien Ruins, going deeper, on a platform with boxes |
| Cavitation Muffler | Titanium x3, Strontium x2 | Hostile creatures do not notice the Tadpole unless close | Northeast from the Alien Ruins' Angel Comb toward the Metal Farms, along the left cliffs, on a half-buried platform |
| Photovoltaic Charger | Copper Ingot x1, Strong Acid x1, Troilite x1 | Recharges the Power Cell in shallow water by day | In the Cicada Wreck's crashed base with the Bioscanner, 540 m at 125 degrees from the Alien Ruins |
| Tadpole Depth Module MK. 1 | Celestine x3, Enameled Glass x2, System Chip x1 | Crush depth 450 m | Beside a wrecked Tadpole down a chain of cliff holes (see below) |
| Tadpole Depth Module MK. 2 | Dedicated Core x2, Troilite x2, Mangalloy Ingot x2 | Deeper than Mk. 1; 800 m in one creator's Creative-mode test | Not found in Survival on the launch build (Gaming with Griff Griffin, May 18, 2026) |
Sources: effects, blueprints and the first four recipes from Game Rant, May 22, 2026; depth module recipes from Destructoid, May 16, 2026, and Game Rant gives the same for Mk. 1. The game writes the depth modules "MK. 1" and "MK. 2". Enameled Glass, Strontium and the cores are made at the Fabricator and Processor; their recipes are on Crafting Recipes.
Where is the Depth Module Mk. 1 in Subnautica 2?
Both Game Rant guides put it beside the remains of a Tadpole, below holes in a cliff. The May 22 guide says to travel 268 m at 155 degrees, find a hole in the cliff below and follow the connected holes down to the blueprint next to a wrecked Tadpole. The May 16 guide calls it a recipe data card by Tadpole remains under a hole near "Blackbox - Ruby 2," about 300 m south (165 degrees) of the Alien Ruins. The two directions differ, but both describe the same kind of spot. Some advanced materials spawn below 400 m, which is why the module matters: without it the Tadpole takes slow hull damage past 250 m. Gaming with Griff Griffin's May 18, 2026 guide, on the launch build, takes the 165-degree heading from the Alien Ruins, leaves the Tadpole above 250 m and swims down a hole to the data card, with a Haul chassis fragment beside it.
Depth Module Mk. 2
The Mk. 2 recipe (Dedicated Core x2, Troilite x2, Mangalloy Ingot x2) is in Destructoid's list, but no written guide read gives its blueprint location or its crush depth as of Nov 4, 2026. Gaming with Griff Griffin's May 18, 2026 guide, on the launch build, says its blueprint could not be found in Survival then, crafts it at a Modification Station in Creative mode, and gives it 800 m. That was before updates 1.1 and 1.2, and no later video or guide read says where the blueprint is. Game Rant's writer reached 753 m at the bottom of the area near the starting hole, without saying which module was fitted. The two depth modules do not stack: fitting both does not add their depths (Game Rant, May 16, 2026).
The Modification Station
The Modification Station costs Titanium x2, Celestine x2 and Copper x2 at the Habitat Builder (Interior Facilities). Its blueprint, with the Bioscanner's, is scanned in a Cicada Wreck in the Alien Ruins behind a door that needs the Repair Tool (TheGamer, May 22, 2026). Update 1.2 (Aug 19, 2026) gave it a Databank entry, an icon and a proper name (Unknown Worlds). The tool modifications it also makes are on Tools and Modifications.
Which modules to fit first
Game Rant ties Depth Module Mk. 1 to the advanced materials that spawn below 400 m and calls Strike Armor optional. Engine Efficiency is the only module that stacks, so a Tadpole used for long trips can carry several. The Cavitation Muffler and Strike Armor help around leviathans, and the Photovoltaic Charger is useful only in shallow, sunlit water; Game Rant notes it does not charge in the deeper Alien Ruins, and Jay Dunna's May 25, 2026 guide, before update 1.1, says it charges above 40 m of depth, collecting its data card in the Cicada Wreck where the Repair Tool opens the doors. Since update 1.2, modules whose effects do not stack can no longer be fitted twice in one Tadpole (Unknown Worlds).
More upgrades coming
Unknown Worlds promised "more vehicle upgrades" when it moved Early Access to 2026 (Jul 9, 2025). For Early Access 2, due in December 2026, it has announced the Frog chassis and new Biomods, but no new Tadpole modules as of Nov 4, 2026 (Nov 3, 2026).
Frequently asked questions
How many upgrade slots does the Tadpole have in Subnautica 2? Four, in a compartment at the back. Engine Efficiency can fill all four for 80% less engine draw; other modules fit once each since update 1.2.
Where do you make Tadpole upgrades in Subnautica 2? At the Modification Station, built with the Habitat Builder from Titanium x2, Celestine x2 and Copper x2 after scanning it in a Cicada Wreck in the Alien Ruins.
How deep can the Tadpole go with the Depth Module in Subnautica 2? Depth Module Mk. 1 raises the crush depth from 250 m to 450 m. Mk. 2 goes deeper: Gaming with Griff Griffin's May 18, 2026 guide gives 800 m, crafted in Creative mode because its blueprint was not found in Survival then.
What is the Depth Module Mk. 2 recipe in Subnautica 2? Dedicated Core x2, Troilite x2 and Mangalloy Ingot x2, as Destructoid listed it on May 16, 2026, on the launch build.
What does Engine Efficiency do in Subnautica 2? Each module cuts the Tadpole engine's draw on its Power Cell by 20%, and four together cut it by 80%.
Sources
- FAST Subnautica 2 Tadpole Depth Module MK1 & MK2 Location Guide (How to Upgrade Depth), Gaming with Griff Griffin, May 18, 2026 (video)
- Subnautica 2 How To Get All Tadpole Upgrades !, WIRED GAMING, May 19, 2026 (video)
- Every TADPOLE UPGRADE & Where to Find Them in Subnautica 2 (w/ Timestamps), Jay Dunna, May 25, 2026 (video)
- An Update on Subnautica 2 Early Access, Unknown Worlds, Jul 9, 2025
- Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 - Buddy System Update, Unknown Worlds, Aug 19, 2026
- From Creatures to Chassis - Voyage to Early Access 2, Unknown Worlds, Nov 3, 2026
- All Tadpole Upgrades and Tool Modifications in Subnautica 2, Game Rant (Mehrdad Khayyat), May 22, 2026
- How to Go Deeper with the Tadpole, Game Rant (Nahda Nabiilah), May 16, 2026
- All blueprints and recipes in Subnautica 2, Destructoid (Madison Benson), May 16, 2026
- How To Unlock Every Biomod In Subnautica 2, TheGamer (Kaitlyn Peterson), May 22, 2026
Moments
Subnautica 2 How To Get All Tadpole Upgrades !
WIRED GAMING
*FAST* Subnautica 2 Tadpole Depth Module MK1 & MK2 Location Guide (How to Upgrade Depth)
Gaming with Griff Griffin
Every TADPOLE UPGRADE & Where to Find Them in Subnautica 2 (w/ Timestamps)
Jay Dunna
Related
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Base PowerSubnautica 2 bases run on Solar Panels (1 to 8 energy per second by time of day), Hydroelectric Turbines in water currents, Thermal Plants by heat vents and Bioreactors burning fuel, linked by Power Transmitters and buffered by Power Storage. Without power a base makes no oxygen.
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Best Base LocationsThe guides' best base spots in Subnautica 2 are a plateau by a water current about 200 m east of the Lifepod for free turbine power, the thermal vents about 630 m east for steady Thermal Plant power, and an outpost near the Alien Ruins about 1,150 m east for the late game.
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FarmingFarming in Subnautica 2 means Growbeds, built for Titanium x1, that grow plants from a seed item such as a Pent, Lucifer Rotsac or Fibrous Pulp, and since update 1.2 Necrolei Cysts. The Metal Farm, an Axum machine, grows a chosen resource on base power.
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Anemone HillsThe Anemone Hills are Subnautica 2's biome of towering pink-and-green anemones about 300 m northwest of the Lifepod, 0 to 151 m deep, where the infected Heat Tolerance Angel Comb waits behind Bloom you clear with the Sonic Resonator.
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Coral GardensCoral Gardens and North Coral Gardens are Unknown Worlds' names for Subnautica 2's early coral areas around the Lifepod; update 1.1 (Jul 8, 2026) put a second Biolab and more Silver there, and 1.2 gave North Coral Gardens its own music.
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Dolerite SpiresThe Dolerite Spires are a maze of jagged volcanic pillars in Subnautica 2's starting region, shallow to mid depth, with Lithium and Titanium, Quaker's Meetinghouse and two Spires wrecks that All Things How lists for the High Capacity Air Tank and the Rebreather on the launch build.
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GraveyardThe Graveyard is Subnautica 2's hot, orange-watered biome, 0 to 266 m deep, that needs the Heat Tolerance Adaptation; it holds Gold, Salt, Sulfur and Lithium, the Tadpole Pens, Tailings Village, a Cicada Wreck, Nahema's Lab and hundreds of Water Slugs.
See also
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Metal FarmsThe Axum Metal Farms are the far eastern edge of Subnautica 2's Early Access map, about 2,000 to 2,200 m east-northeast of the Lifepod beside the Karakorum Power Plant, the only source of Troilite and Atacamite and where you find the Axum Bacterial Culture to build a Metal Farm of your own.
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TroiliteIn Subnautica 2, Troilite is a late-game resource broken out of green Mineralized Clinkers with the Sonic Resonator around the green pools of the Axum Metal Farms, far east of the Alien Ruins and below about 400 m, with a Collector Leviathan nearby. Hotfix 2 added more Troilite areas, and it makes Mangalloy Ingots, the Ultra High Capacity Air Tank and the Depth Module Mk. 2.
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Fabricator and ProcessorIn Subnautica 2 the Lifepod's Fabricator is damaged and cannot be fixed, so recipes marked "Requires Fully Functional Fabricator" need a new Fabricator built in a powered base (Titanium, Copper and Quartz, one each). Ingots come from the Processor, whose blueprint is scanned from a broken Processor in an abandoned base north of the Lifepod and which draws 10 energy per second.
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Crafting RecipesSubnautica 2's recipes by station, as listed by Destructoid on May 16, 2026 (the Early Access launch build) with conflicts from other guides beside them, for example Titanium Ingot (Titanium x3 at the Processor), Wiring Kit (Silver x1, Copper Wire x1) and Basic Battery (Copper x2, Acidic Raion Pouch x1). Hotfix 3 cut Interior Wall cost to a quarter, and no guide has republished a full list since updates 1.1 and 1.2.