Subnautica 2: Full walkthrough

Subnautica 2 may still be in Early Access, but there's plenty to be getting on with. While you start in a fairly tranquil biome to whet your whistle, you'll need to venture further and further to unlock items and chase down missions.

Most of your exploration can be self-guided and you really won't go far wrong if you just take a look around (unless you run into a Leviathan you're ill-prepared for). But, your time in Subnautica 2 is also prompted by mission signals, triggered by NoA, your Noetic Advisor. You'll want to hit these points to make sure you're progressing in the game.

If you're wondering how best to tackle the Early Access world, here's your full walkthrough on the areas of interest, missions and more. Or, maybe you've already done a fair bit and you're just sat there wondering if there's something you've missed. We've got it all in one place!

On this page:

To see this content please enable targeting cookies.

Manage cookie settings

Starting out

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

You're dropped into the treacherous oceans of Subnautica 2 without much warning. Unsurprisingly, you're going to feel like the literal opposite of a fish out of water. While I've put together a guide on what to do first in Subnautica 2, there's definitely some essentials that you really want to make sure you've got before you head too far from your Lifepod.

Here's a list of items you should craft to prepare you for your adventure:

Note: You'll want to craft the Survival Multitool first in order to gather resources for sustenance and for crafting other items on the list, e.g. Basic Fins.

Exploring the first Biomes

When you start out in Subnautica 2, your Base is your Lifepod. Don't worry, you'll get to the point of building your own Base pretty soon. But, for now, you're in the first Biome of the game called the Shallows. Not too far from the Shallows, you'll also arrive at the Coral Gardens. These areas are where you'll want to focus your time in the opening hour(s) of Subnautica 2 and here's why.

In the first Biome, you'll want to explore:

Welcome Center

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

The Welcome Center is one of the first abandoned buildings you're going to come across in Subnautica 2 because it's located around 100 meters southeast of your Lifepod. While you've crafted the first tools you'll need, you'll also want to start unlocking Blueprints to get more. Here's where you'll find the two Habitat Builder fragments you need to scan. One is just outside the Welcome Center and the second is in a hole in the middle of the Welcome Center.

You'll also need to bring power to the Welcome Center, so craft a Basic Battery using 2x Copper, 1x Acidic Raion Pouch and place it in the glowing red terminal inside. Then, you'll be able to activate the NoA, which will unlock intel about the missing Colonists, prompting a signal to Camp One. Don't head there yet though.

By powering up the Welcome Center, you've also turned on the Biolab which you can now interact with and activate your first four Biomods. You can only pick two and I'd recommend Dash and Oxygen Control. You can check out all the Biomods in Subnautica 2. Again, you don't want to start chasing them down yet. Be sure to scan the Beacon fragment just outside in a cave where you'll notice an upward current is emerging from.

Angel Comb, Digestion

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

In the prologue of Subnautica 2, you will have activated your first Adaptation in the game. These Adaptations are important as they'll change your character's DNA to survive the environment. You will have placed your hand in a glowing purple plant for Pressure Tolerance. You'll soon come to know this plant as an Angel Comb. Fortunately, the second Adaptation and Angel Comb isn't too far from your Lifepod.

Around 160 meters northeast of your Lifepod, you can interact with the Angel Comb to activate the Digestion Adaptation, negating the Digestive Incompatibility you will have noticed if you've tried to eat, well, anything. Activating all the Adaptations in Subnautica 2 is also integral to survival, but you're literally not well-equipped enough to head for number three yet, so park this for now.

At the Angel Comb, you'll also find the Anita black box, which you may have been prompted to visit from NoA. Head a little southwest of here and you'll notice a cave with a blue light outside. Head inside and you'll notice a second Beacon fragment you can scan to pair with the one from the Welcome Center.

Coral Gardens

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

The Coral Gardens are full of Coral Domes, home to some lovely resources and namely inside the Domes, Quartz. This is also an area where you can unlock the Wakemaker with three fragment scans. The first is at an outpost 200 meters northeast of your Lifepod. The second is around 90 meters east of your Lifepod, just before the Digestion Angel Comb. The third is in a crate just southwest of the Digestion Angel Comb.

Here's the helpful items you can craft after exploring the first Biomes:

Note: Around the first Biomes, grab up all the resources you can get, from Titanium, Copper and Quartz for crafting, to fish and Water Slugs for sustenance.

Moving to the Plateaus

First things first, now is a good time to build a Base with your Habitat Builder. If you need help deciding where, check out our guide on the best Base locations.

Before you head north to the next areas of interest and missions in Subnautica 2, you may find that NoA has triggered the Chaps black box signal after you grabbed Anita's. Visit here first, located around 220 meters southeast of your Lifepod.

Here you'll find a Colonist Bunker where you can gather the transmission and scan various items like Repair Tool (though you'll need three fragment scans to unlock it), Bioreactor (1 of 3) and the Floor Locker. Interact with the Biobed console here and you'll also give your inventory a little boost.

Now, it's time to head north of your Lifepod to visit these areas of interest:

Camp One

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

You will have triggered Camp One's location in the Welcome Center, but you'll also be able to find it yourself around 250 meters north-northeast of your Lifepod. This area's a little more spicy with Nibbler Mangoes and Marrowbreacher's patrolling, so keep your wits about you.

This is also home to the Big Friendly Jellyfish, aka BFJ, who has become known by this nickname, rather than it being its actual name. If you scan it, it'll come up as Behemoth Finger-Legged Jelly. Head inside Camp One and grab scans along your way for items like the Power Cell Terminal, Oxygen Tunic, Scanner Station, Biobed and Dining Chair.

Most importantly, you'll want to swim underneath the wreckage until you find a tunnel that will grant you access to a room where the Tuba black box is. This will then trigger NoA to want to alert you to the Quaker black box located at the Old Habitat.

Old Habitat

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

This is a big area of interest located around 350 to 400 meters north of your Lifepod. You'll have a signal if you've got the Quaker black box unlocked, but if not, it's pretty hard to miss. You'll learn more about the colonists here, but you'll also be busy scanning and grabbing what you can.

To get into the Old Habitat, you need to swim under the structure and through a hole in the floor. You'll be able to grab both Sonic Resonator fragment scans you need here, One near Wu's audio log and one in the next room over. You can also scan a Biobed here before swimming through the corridor to the next building.

Here you can scan a Battery terminal, Processor and Bioreactor, as well as finding the Room blueprint that is essential for Base building. Grab all the logs you come across and be sure to interact with the NoA terminal here, too.

You'll also find the Hydroelectric Turbine here, which requires two fragment scans. These are just south of the Old Habitat near the water current and just east in an abandoned research station. Head 150 meters east to grab the second Bioreactor scan, too.

Cicada Wreck (Lander Garage)

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

Located around 300 to 400 meters northeast of your Lifepod near the Lead Zone is the Lander Garage. This place is worth exploring especially if you're trying to figure out where to find Lead in Subnautica 2. This place has it in abundance. It's also where you'll pick up another scan of the Repair Tool, as well as the Scanner Station, Power Cell Terminal and Bioreactor.

Using all the scans you've picked up in these areas of interest, you can craft:

Curing the infected Angel Comb

After all your exploration and investigations so far, you'll have learned that Bloom Cankers are infecting the Angel Combs. You'll need to cure these to unlock the third and fourth Adaptations.

For this, you'll need to make sure you've got certain items crafted, specifically the Sonic Resonator, which you'll have fortunately unlocked the Blueprint for by now. You'll also have unlocked the Processor which you need to craft to get Titanium Ingot for the Sonic Resonator.

Here's the areas of interest you'll explore next:

Angel Comb, Heat Tolerance

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

Head to the infected Angel Comb and third Adaptation around 180 to 200 meters west-southwest of your Lifepod. It's a large stone structure with a noticeable hole in the bottom that you'll need to swim down into. You need to blast all the Bloom Cankers, appearing as glowing purple globules, with your Sonic Resonator.

Follow the tendrils to each area to destroy the Bloom Cankers and you'll be triggered to interact with the Angel Comb once everything is cleared. This will unlock the Heat Tolerance Adaptation that will aid your further exploration.

Cicada Wreck (Canteen)

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

In the Cicada Wreck (Canteen), located around 280 meters south-southwest of your Lifepod at 90 meters deep, you can find some more important scans. Here's where you'll get the Rebreather, High Capacity Air Tank, and the final scan for the Repair Tool.

Great Jaw Leviathan

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

This will be where you come across your first Leviathan in the game, unless you've been so bold as to seek them out in our where to find all Leviathans in Subnautica 2 guide. The Great Jaw Leviathan is located 310 meters south of your Lifepod at around 40 meters deep.

You can venture inside for some great resources and to unlock the Portable Oxygen Generator, but be aware if you hit the purple, gooey strings stretching across the inner sanctum, the Great Jaw will shut with you inside of it. It's also a treasure trove if you're trying to figure out where to find Lithium.

Here's some of the items you can craft after exploring these areas:

Note: You can also head back to the Shallows to retrieve the Wander black box if you've been prompted by NoA. This is located around 220 meters southwest of your Lifepod back in the Shallows and will provide more intel. You'll need your Sonic Resonator for this one.

Time to get your Tadpole

Now, if you follow our guide on how to get the Tadpole in Subnautica 2, you can figure out a way to get the Tadpole earlier in the game. But, if you're following the natural progression of things, this is when you'll unlock the Tadpole in the easiest way alongside an important Tadpole upgrade.

Here's the areas of interest you'll explore next:

Tadpole Pens

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

If you've been following NoA's signals and picking up recordings, you'll eventually reach the Tadpole Pens located around 670-700 meters east of your Lifepod. You won't have been able to travel this far without the Heat Tolerance Adaptation because you're entering biomes that are much hotter.

Here you can scan all three Tadpole fragments you need, as well as the Tadpole Scout Ray Chassis. You can also grab the Moonpool data card inside resting on a bottom bunk bed. Note: I do recommend unlocking the Tadpole earlier using our guide because getting to the Tadpole Pens is much easier with it – and so is pretty much everything else in Subnautica 2.

Follow our guide on how to investigate the Tadpole Pens to find the keycode to explore the whole area. Inside, you'll get some cool things like the Axum Wall Light and Scout Ray Poster.

Tailings Village

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

The Tailings Village is located around 500 to 600 meters southeast of your Lifepod at around 90 meters deep. This place is worth a visit if you want to unlock a ton of Tailing Furniture Blueprints to decorate your Base.

This is also where you'll be able to scan two fragments of the Thermal Plant to unlock it. One is 500 meters east of your Lifepod at around 80 meters deep on a cliff edge. The other is in a cave directly below it. You'll need Gold to craft this, so be sure to check out our guide on where to find Gold.

Here's some of the items you can craft after exploring these areas:

Heading to the Alien Ruins

The inevitable has happened, it's time to face the Collector, one of the biggest and arguably scariest Leviathans in Subnautica 2. Your journey so far has kept you in blue waters for the most part, a little red hued in the heat Biomes. Regardless, it's about to get a lot darker as you head to the Alien Ruins, but it's absolutely necessary to progress.

From all your NoA signals and various exploration, you'll know by now that the Colonists have come into contact with the aliens and their futuristic technology. Now it's your turn to have a look at what they've been up to in the depths of the ocean.

Note: There's also plenty of black boxes to find in this area, depending on if NoA has transmitted a signal. Be sure to keep collecting them to progress.

Here's the areas of interest you'll explore next:

Alien Observatory

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

To get to the Alien Observatory located around 800 to 100 meters east of your Lifepod, you're going to need to travel over the gorge where the Collector is. I recommend skimming the top of the ocean with your Tadpole with Tadpole Scout Ray Chassis upgrade. I've only been caught once and that's because I was dilly-dallying.

The Alien Observatory is hard to miss because it's massive. There's not much to grab here yet aside from a few Batteries, but you'll be back later once you've powered up the Power Plant following our how to open the Observatory door guide.

Alien Ruins Research Lab

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

Head onto the Alien Ruins Research Lab just a little past the Alien Observatory. It's an abandoned base that you might quite fancy using whilst you're here, though you should also set up your own Base.

Inside, you'll come across the Modification Station that you should scan, the Engine Efficiency data card upgrade for your Tadpole and the Biobed that you can set as your reprint location. You'll also be able to scan the two fragments of the Growbed, on the roof of the Research Lab and on the seabed west.

Needler Nest

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

The Needler Nest is located around 300 meters southeast of the Alien Ruins. It's named as such because it's absolutely swarming with Needler Mango. No risk, no reward, right? Head on in to collect the Ruby 2 black box, Tadpole Haul Chassis and Tadpole Depth Module MK 1.

Around this area, you'll also be able to scan the three Blueprint fragments for Improved Fins, which you can look up in our where to find all Blueprints guide.

Power Plant

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

The Power Plant is found east of the Alien Ruins Research Lab at around 200 to 300 meters deep. Again, it's pretty hard to miss because it's got a massive arch above it. This will come into play once you've unlocked the Angel Comb, Axum Vision as you'll be able to figure out how to power up the not-so-Power Plant.

For now, be sure to head to a cliffside northeast and scan both the Entangled Power Cell fragments there.

Cicada Wreck (Therapy Room)

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

For the final Adaptation at the Angel Comb, Axum Vision, you're going to need a Feedback Resonator. Visit the Cicada Wreck (Therapy Room) for the first Blueprint fragment. This is located 760m east-southeast of the Alien Ruins. It's around 300 meters east-northeast of ISO's black box. You'll get the second one at the Metal Farms.

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

Located around 400 to 500 meters east of the Alien Ruins you'll find the Metal Farms, a very dark area with lots of glowing green lights (and sea nasties). The second Feedback Resonator fragment can be found here. In fact, there's a few that you'll inevitably stumble upon.

Metal Farms is also a great location for other things like rare resources e.g. Troilite and Atacamite, the Tadpole Cavitation Muffler and Metal Farm Blueprint.

Angel Comb, Axum Vision

Image credit: RPS/Unknown Worlds

The Axum Vision Adaptation is the last Adaptation currently in Subnautica 2 Early Access. It's also the hardest to get. Luckily, we've detailed where to find all Adaptations and how to unlock them with the important steps you'll need to get it.

Here's some of the important items you can craft after exploring these areas:

So, there we have it! While that's the full Subnautica 2 walkthrough in Early Access, including the main areas of interest, missions and more, there's still plenty of exploration you can do on your own. For this, use our companion guides on how to unlock all Tadpole upgrades to get you geared up and all Biomods and how to unlock them to alter your entire character's DNA for the better.