Hey All,

I know guides are kind of not well received here since the point of the game is exploration and not spoiling yourself and yada-yada. However, having suggested this game to several different friends during it's free-period on Epic Games, and getting their separate reactions and thoughts on the game, I decided that there are many different types of people that play this game, and one of the biggest frustrations for a lot of people that don't have the pure love of random exploration is the game's lack of clear information on what the hell to do.

Also I figure with the release on console, the Epic Games release, as well as hype for Sub Zero, plenty of new players will be trickling in here from time to time, and I aim for this to be a one-stop-shop for newer players that older members here can link to, that is new-player friendly, and a bit more descriptive than "go deeper". Progress in the game can definitely be frustrating, this guide aims to relieve some of the more frustrating areas by providing brief, mostly-spoiler-free (the story itself will never be spoiled here, but some locations as well as different tools and whatnot are named) guidelines.

So without much more exposition, I came up with an idea for a compromise. I will spoiler mark basically everything in this guide except the headers, allowing any prospective help-seeker to come in and obtain specifically the information they want to know if they are stuck. I will keep all story elements out of the game and instead just reference general locations and depths. You'll have to "unspoiler" each paragraph, as I don't think there's a way to spoiler multiple paragraphs under the same spoiler tag, apologies.

For those that want to do most of the game themselves but just need a little bit of a leg-up on where to go, this is for you.

As an aside and a precaution to new players who absolutely wish not to be spoiled on anything, I cannot moderate the comments below. Hours within posting this there are already story spoilers. View comments below at your own peril. This main post will never contain spoilers.

GENERAL TIPS

I won't spoiler this section as it applies in a general way with no real 'story progress' involved. The general tips anyone on this sub will give you are as follows:

• If you don't know where to go, it's a safe bet that "deeper" will probably solve your problems. If you have the tools and resources to dive to 500m but you haven't ventured past 300m, you should go deeper. If you're at 500m, and you're pretty sure you've done everything you need to do at 500m, figure out how to get the tools necessary to go deeper, and then go deeper.

  • Sometimes a bit of exploration is necessary to figure out how to go deeper, as in sometimes you need to travel further OUT from your life pod in order to go DEEPER as well.

• The scans your PDA holds will often point you to where you need to go. Not all of it is lore-related fluff. Particularly if it is a "download" of sorts (several types of downloads exist in the game), it will often give you more information. Certain areas are not blatantly obvious until you look at your PDA, which will mention clues, hints, and even blatantly where to go sometimes.

• There are a few tools that are absolutely, soul-crushingly vital to progressing further. One of those is the moonpool and subsequently the vehicle upgrade console (that is only craftable inside the moonpool). You get the moonpool from normal scans. You get the vehicle upgrade console from the "data boxes" you can find inside some of the larger wrecks or the lifepods. The vehicle upgrade console allows you to craft several modules for your vehicles, so if you're stumped as to how to go deeper and don't have a vehicle upgrade console, that's likely why.

  • Because of the above, the habitat builder is also a necessary tool. One of my friends was really, really stumped as to what to do, and when I came over to his house I asked him where his "base" was, and he had no idea what I was talking about. He had crafted like 10 deployable lockers and was using those for storage. Even if it's small, even if it's right next to your lifepod, build a small base with actual wall lockers (or the glass ones, if that's your fancy), and eventually build a moonpool. That's all you really need, but you should at least craft those.

• The Aurora is explorable and has a ton of great stuff. I'll expound a bit below with spoiler tags, but just understand that at a certain point in the story (which will become evident) early on, you can explore the Aurora.

• Listen to any radio broadcasts! Early- to mid-game the radio will send you to several important locales. It acts as soft-progression in the game, as it ends up sending you to places where you can find the tools necessary to progress.

• The "F1" key (on PC) will open a debug menu, which includes a LOT of data that is mostly not relevant for you. However it contains two pieces of information that are useful for finding your way around, if you wish to utilize it - nav coordinates (Long, Depth, Lat), and biome name (Safe Shallows, Kelp Forest, etc.). I am not aware of the command for this on the console version of the game, nor if that command even exists, I apologize.

  • The Nav Coordinates are, as mentioned, (Long, Depth, Lat). A negative Longitude means West, positive is East. A negative Depth is below sea level, most of your depths will obviously be negative. A negative Latitude means South, positive is North.

HOW TO BEST USE THIS GUIDE

I highly recommend, as I mentioned above, feeling out each 'section' of this guide on your own first. Meaning if you are at, say, the 100-300m portion of progress (you just got your seamoth), explore around and try to figure things out yourself first. THEN, after you are stumped and just don't quite know what to do, come back here and reveal the relevant portions for you.

Just walking through these tips on another open screen or something will severely cheapen the experience for you. If the game did a bit better job of blatantly telling you a few crucial things, there would be no need for this guide, but I know a few of my friends were very frustrated and ready to give up on the game because they just had no clue what to do.

Sometimes that's all you need, and that's what this guide is here for.

Also realize that my way is not the only way, nor is it necessarily the best way to progress. The beauty of this game is that there are several avenues to success. There are very few biomes that exclusively hold that "one" resource you need, you can almost always find that resource elsewhere.

STARTING THE GAME - 0m to 100m

So you just started the game, your character just woke up with a nasty headache, and maybe you're looking at a fire in your lifepod wondering what to do. I actually recommend exploring a bit on your own first just to get a feel and to at least attempt the game in some form before immediately seeking help, but I know some of you really want a hand-hold at the beginning and then you can take the training wheels off, so to speak, and do the rest on your own. This section is for you! :)

Obviously you should first put the fire out. ;) Note that exiting through either hatch (there's a hatch above you and below you) will both give you different small "cutscenes". The bottom hatch is faster after that first cutscene, though.

Crafting Your Tools

First, you need to obtain your basic tools. You're looking specifically to craft a scanner, a knife, a repair tool, fins, and an oxygen tank. You will obtain all the materials you need in two biomes, the safe shallows (the one you're in), and the Kelp Forest (the green area with Kelp stalks (called "Creepvine") you should be able to see close by).

You're looking for limestone chunks, creepvine clusters (orange glowy blobs on the kelp stalks), Acid Mushrooms (you'll see these everywhere in the shallows), and one (or two) cave sulfur (venture into a cave, you'll find sulfur in the shallow caves). Once you've obtained a good helping of these materials, venture back to your lifepod and craft everything you can, making note of any other materials you may need to finish crafting if necessary. Once you have crafted the knife, you can then use it to slice the table coral (little shelve-like coral formations that jut out of the walls around you) for later blueprints that require more advanced electronics, like the computer chip.

There are a few other tools that you can technically craft right now, such as the High Capacity O² Tank. Feel free to do so if you want to take the time, or move on to the next section and just do it when you have the resources.

I will not be including most of the tools you will eventually need along your journey. I leave that up to you to use your noggin. The game will warn you if you've dived too deep, etc., and when it gives you a warning like that, it means you need to craft something to have better access to deeper places. Many tools are somewhat "useless" - I had no need for grav traps, etc. - but a little experimentation never hurt anyone! Just note that you only have a limited amount of space in your inventory, and most tools (outside of equippable things like masks, tanks, fins, suits, etc.) take up some of that space.

Scanning for new Blueprints

Your scanner can be used on a lot of things, but it is a necessary tool for progression because it's the only way you can learn how to craft most new blueprints, many of which are tools that help you survive deeper, longer, or to travel faster. To that end, some of the necessary scans right now are: the laser cutter, the seaglide, the seamoth, and the mobile vehicle bay. You can find all of these scans in the first three biomes you'll encounter - Safe Shallows, Kelp Forest, and Grassy Plateaus. You may have to search for that last piece of whatever for a while, but I promise you'll find it (and then you'll find 100s of them afterward, haha).

You may have to venture beyond these biomes to find some of the resources for them. The Laser Cutter, for instance, requires Diamond to craft. The story will eventually direct you to an area that has a ton of Diamond, just be a bit patient, and keep listening to radio messages. The breakable rocks (Limestone, Sandstone, Shale) are your friends at this point (and likely throughout the story), as well as quartz and the metal salvage from the Aurora (the ship you crash landed with) you see scattered everywhere. Even if you're a minimalist you're gonna need a TON of titanium.

EARLY SEAMOTH EXPLORATION - 100m to 300m

There are a LOT of things to do once you first obtain your Seamoth. A very large chunk of the game is spent in this "phase", particularly collecting blueprints and data boxes, and even a few story-driven events as well. Only the basics of this is covered here, which should be enough to progress you to the next "stage." Subnautica is a game about exploration and reaching out into the dark, and I suggest you do so - don't just do the things mentioned here, visit a new biome, explore it, dive down a bit, see what's below you, etc. That's how you truly enjoy this game.

Venturing Beyond the Grassy Plateaus

Once you have crafted your Seamoth, getting around the ocean is a lot easier. It provides you with a replenishable source of air close by, as well as safety up to 200m deep from the get-go. Your first goal is to get the scans for a moonpool, as well as the data box containing the Vehicle Upgrade Console. Note that the NEXT SPOILER-MARKED MESSAGE BELOW contains the locations that contain that data box. DO NOT REVEAL THE NEXT SPOILER if you want to explore and find it yourself. Again the only reason I include this, and not other stuff, is because it is so vital to progression and can be very hard and sometimes frustrating to find.

START OF SPOILERY PARAGRAPH Grassy Plateaus Wreck (~400-500m N-NE of lifepod, about 70m deep), Mushroom Forest Wreck (~700-800m NW of lifepod, about 120m deep), Sparse Reef Wreck (~700-800m SW of lifepod, about 210m deep). Two of these wrecks have multiple data boxes, but they definitely all have the VUC you're looking for, just keep searching, you likely missed an air duct or something. Also note that the lifepod actually has a somewhat random spawn location, it doesn't spawn right at (0,0,0), it can spawn anywhere within about 2-300m of the very center of the map, you may have to search around a little bit if you feel you are close to my directions. END OF SPOILERY PARAGRAPH, feel free to reveal anything below! :)

Once you have crafted these two vital things and have docked your Seamoth in the moonpool, you can craft a depth module for it allowing you to dive to 300m, as well as storage modules so you can store more stuff on your journey! Hurrah! At this point it might be helpful to set up a more permanent base.

Your First Base

So you've crafted a Moonpool, but it might be in a weird location, or perhaps you've picked up the scanner room blueprint (if you haven't, go searching for it, it's a great addition to any permanent base!). Your next goal is then setting up a base that has access to several key biomes, as well as good access to many types of resources. I will suggest two locations, see below:

First, the Safe Shallows near your lifepod is a perfectly fine area to build a base. Many beginner players do so and I did on my first play through and it worked really well. It gives you easy access to water, table coral, copper, titanium, as well as close proximity to the Kelp Forest which is a good source for Sandstone outcrops (Lead, Gold, and Silver), and more titanium salvage, as well as Stalkers (the things with the really long mouths), which are important for a specific, hard-to-see resource that will be necessary later on.

Second, the Southern Grassy Plateaus is another fantastic area to build a base. My second play through I built one here, and it has access to later-game resources, is still pretty close to the Kelp Forest (and marginally close to the safe shallows, though it's a bit more of a drive than I'd like, but you end up not needing much from there later on), as well as other later-game biomes which I won't spoil here. Most importantly, it has direct access to a very important biome called the "Jellyshroom Caves". More on this a bit later.

The essentials to any permanent base include: A moonpool with a vehicle upgrade console, a scanner room, a power source (duh), and if you're playing on survival or hardcore, an indoor growbed, and a bunch of wall lockers (or glass lockers). If you don't have the indoor growbed yet, the story will lead you to a location that has them, as well as a plant called "Marblemelon" that will make your life a whole lot easier (whack them with your knife to get the seeds, replant them, profit). If you're wondering whether or not you've "passed" that point in the story yet, I'll ask you a question - have you received an actual 'timed' event yet? One that put a clock on your display? If so, then yes, you have. If you still don't have the growbeds and marblemelons it means you didn't explore the area it sent you to well enough. Go back there! If you haven't received that event yet, then worry not, you will eventually receive it, explore thoroughly! :)

Other than that, get as crazy as you want with your base! Build a monstrosity that covers a whole biome, or have a minimalist base that just contains all the essentials, whatever you want! I would just suggest having it in a relatively open space so your vehicles can access it easily. Having an outdoor growbed "garden" with resources from other biomes (such as creepvines from the kelp forest, plant the orange globs, not the green plant samples) is another way to help you with crafting, etc.).

Obtaining Magnetite

Very quickly into building a scanner and some of the vehicle modules, etc. you'll notice you lack a resource called "Magnetite." This little guy can be somewhat difficult to find, unless you know where to look! There is a reason I suggested the southern Grassy Plateau area as a base suggestion above, and it's because it is close to a "hidden" biome called the Jellyshroom Caves (the story actually will eventually send you there if you are diligently exploring other areas you are sent). This is a completely self-contained biome that is actually pretty large, but it is underneath the grassy plateaus, kelp forest, and even the safe shallows! The easiest way to find it is to go to the border between the grassy plateaus and the kelp forest, and drive along it until you see some purple, glowy mushrooms above a cavernous hole. Dip down into the hole and be amazed! I'll try to include a picture of the location later, I'm currently at work.

If you don't have the first depth module for the Seamoth, you'll basically have to hug the ceiling (the ceiling is at like 190m, haha), but you can still explore it, just be careful of the nasties in here. However, the most important part of this cave is the abundance of magnetite it contains! Magnetite looks very similar to Lithium (which is also in this cave), and even looks similar to Shale (contains Diamond, Gold, Lithium) from a distance (which is also located here), but it is littered all over in this cave! Take some time in here, you'll discover a few really neat things, and load up ~10 magnetite which should keep you healthily stocked for a long time. Magnetite isn't used in too much stuff, but some of the stuff it's used in makes life much more convenient, like the range upgrades for the scanner room, as well as the HUD chip so you can see resources the scanner is picking up on your screen, instead of guesstimating them on the map in the scanner room itself. Probably the most important is the MK2 depth module for your Seamoth, which allows you to reach 500m. Going deeper is always your goal.

Story-Related Stuff

So doing a spoiler-free, story-related section is somewhat difficult, but I'm just including it here for completeness, because some of you will be very quick in getting stuff and may 'get ahead' of the timed events that happen in the game. No 'blatant spoilers' for the story are included anywhere in this section. I've mentioned these story-related events here and there already in the guide, so if you haven't run into them yet, don't worry! The game will eventually lead you to these events as long as you are listening to the radio when a new message is announced on your screen. The 'timed' event (gives you 40 minutes or so on a timer on your screen) in particular is very important both story-wise and progression-wise. Be sure to immediately go to the location it gives you on your screen. You'll understand why when you get there. Also just go to locations the radio sends you to in general. Always fully explore every area the game sends you, when it sends you (assuming you have the ability to go there, at least. Sometimes things are too deep), as it's likely relevant to progress as well as story. Something to note is that if a pinged location disappears from your view after arriving, you can reactivate it in your PDA's "beacon" section, which will allow you to find that area again.

Another story-related event is the exploration of the Aurora. The next section gives more detail on it, I have this here just in case you don't want to spoil anything about the Aurora at all.

Care before revealing this section, reveal the one above first. The game will hand you a specific blueprint that will allow you to "safely" explore the Aurora after about 45 minutes of play time, you'll know it when it happens. You can explore it at any time past this event, but just know that you need quite a few tools to fully and completely explore the Aurora, as well as get through a hefty number of radio messages, as one of the messages gives you vital information for fully exploring the Aurora as well. The Aurora exploration is the only area of the game in which I "don't not recommend" spoilers and looking up the direct guide, as it is the only puzzle element of the game, and not much story-wise is spoiled by doing so, and there are a lot of rewards and areas that are easy to miss if you don't know what you're doing. With that in mind the wiki page on the Aurora is the only page on the entire wiki that I recommend you visiting on your first play-through, if you just want to "get it over with." If you enjoy a good puzzle, I strongly encourage you to figure out everything there yourself, then once you are done, check the wiki page under "Resources" and see what you missed, if you just can't find them, then look at the guide. Alternatively, if you want to be brutal on yourself, just don't look at it all! :) There is only one vital item on the Aurora that is actually only obtainable on the Aurora, the game will tell you what it is when you're exploring it. The other stuff just helps shortcut a bit of progression, or acts as neat, unique decorations. End of 'dangerous reveal' section. ;)

LATER SEAMOTH EXPLORATION AND THE PRAWN - 300m to 1700m

Whoa, that's a big drop in depth! Yup! As I stated in the above section, a very large portion of the game is spent in the 0m to 300m areas, for many reasons. Firstly getting your feet wet and understanding how the game plays and works, secondly a lot of story-related events as well as no real familiarity with the landscape, and thirdly because you have a lot of things to scan and craft in the early game, and this slows down (as far as progress goes, at least) later on.

As a 'stat check', of sorts, before starting this section you should have the Seamoth Depth Module MK2, have the blueprints for the PRAWN, and you should have started on the blueprints for the Cyclops, more than likely. This will be the last section, and things move faster from here, you ready?

Getting further and further and deeper and deeper

Part of the allure of the game is the fear of the unknown. Running into a new biome with new creatures, new, creepy-looking plants, and maybe a darker atmosphere is by game design. That fear of the deep – thalassophobia – is an integral wall to progress. Getting over it, putting your big boy/girl pants on, and deciding to ‘take the plunge’, both literally and figuratively, is how you beat the game and sometimes even your own fears. In these next few sections we’re going to be doing exactly that, and in doing so, discover some new, perhaps scary biomes, explore them a bit, get used to their feel, and perhaps meet a few nasties along the way!

I want you to travel due west from your lifepod until you get to the grassy plateaus. Explore the western edge of this biome - careful not to wander into the dunes - until you see a large, dark, mega-creepy trench. Take the plunge. Go to the max depth your trusty seamoth can handle. Explore this little area fully and completely. It has literally everything you need for now. Scan things, pick up new resources - you have new mushrooms here, new little purple balls, a few new ores, etc. Are there a few new nasties lurking here? Absolutely. Have fun. :)

The Pressure Reactive Armored Waterproof Nano Suit

After the above section, you should have all the resources you need to build the P.R.A.W.N. The only thing you might be missing is enameled glass. For that you need Stalker teeth, which, you guessed it, you get from Stalkers in the Kelp Forests. Stalkers will grab titanium - their favorite toy - and they have a ~15% chance to drop a tooth every time they do! The teeth are insanely hard to see, so you may need to search for them with your handy-dandy Scanner Room.

The PRAWN is an interesting vehicle because of the different arms you can attach to it, all of which you need to find and scan first. I have only ever used the Grappling Arm and the Drilling Arm, but don't underestimate the value of no attached arm - the PRAWN's punch packs quite the wallop! You can find all sorts of upgrades for the PRAWN but for now all you need, if you wish to use the PRAWN instead of the Seamoth, is the grappling and drill arms. Resources you drill are automatically added to the PRAWN's inventory (which you can expand with the same modules you use on your Seamoth), and using the grappling arms is a bit awkward at first but actually makes the PRAWN the fastest way to get around in most areas. That Trench I sent you to previously? The PRAWN can handle its FULL depth. Make sure you have grappling arms first, then again - TAKE THE PLUNGE! Have fun with it. Getting mass resources should be much easier once you have the PRAWN. Just set up a scanner room and go out drilling from those large resource deposits you couldn't do anything with earlier.

Later on you will reach depths that the Seamoth cannot handle. I found the Seamoth to be the easiest to control for obvious reasons, but you'll eventually have to abandon it for either the PRAWN, the Cyclops, or both.

A New Biome!?

Don't worry this whole section is spoiler free, unless you consider the 'reveal' that you will find an ambiguous new biome a spoiler, I suppose. If you went to the trench I previously mentioned, you likely stumbled upon an interesting new biome. You'll definitely know it when you see it (drastic color change is the obvious sign ;)). Follow my advice in previous sections, constantly seeking new resources to add, and new story-related areas to visit (again, you'll know them when you see them). This area is rich with story-related content, be sure to explore it fully and scan it thoroughly. Are there nasties in this biome? Of course! >:D

This new biome will be the access-point to both of the deeper biomes as well. You will know the 'entrances' to these other biomes when you see them, they're obvious.

Nickel

Like Magnetite, Nickel can be very hard to find, and it is required for multiple upgrades as well as several other late-game blueprints. It looks almost exactly like outcrops, bubbles, fish, the walls and floors, basically everything. So be sure to search thoroughly, but this newly discovered biome has this resource, I promise you. It might be worth setting up a scanning room near a thermal vent here (I hope you picked up Thermal Reactor scans along your journey!), just to help you find it.

The "Best" Tools

Note that this is just advice mixed with my personal opinion, but as you traverse the game it gives you several options for several different types of tools, such as O² tanks, power sources, and different modules on your vehicles. No need to read this if you want to feel these tools out for yourself, and/or not get spoiled on some of the 'later game' tools. Again there are no story spoilers here, just the tools.

I made it all the way to the end with only the basic tools in my actual inventory (Scanner, cutting tool, thermoblade, repair tool, etc.) and a seaglide. There are a lot of peripherals like the stasis rifle or propulsion cannon that you can fill your inventory with, but I never found them that useful. If you want to go reaper-hunting (I did this on my second play through, kind of fun), then the stasis rifle makes this much simpler. Other advanced tools just kind of bloat your inventory, so I would only suggest ONE advanced tool, the basic tools, and the seaglide.

As far as bases go, the absolute best sources of power are solar panels near the surface, and thermal reactors underneath. Thermal reactors restrict you to specific areas of heat, but those are common the further down you go. A lot of people suggest nuclear reactors as well, I've never tried them, but they do give you plenty of power for a long time, and the resource to refill them is plentiful and pretty easy to find, when you know where to look. Bio Reactors are suggested by some, but to me it's too much hassle. You have to regularly refill it, and it becomes relevant at the same time Thermal and Nuclear reactors do - why not just have an infinite or near-infinite power source?

"Equippable" items - the light-weight, high capacity O² tank is usually enough, though the ultra-high capacity is fine too. I do not believe the seaglide's speed is affected by fins or "weight" of your tanks, but I could be wrong. Swimming regularly definitely is, though. If you're using your seaglide often, just use whatever. Swim-charge fins are nice for the seaglide as well if you find them, it's basically infinite power for it. I never found a real use for the still suit, and you kinda need the reinforced suit anyway.

Vehicles - You'll have to abandon your Seamoth eventually, but above 900m it's definitely my favorite. I also use the seaglide everywhere, even the 5m to that resource in front of my Seamoth. Below 900m you can do, as I mentioned above, whatever you want. Cyclops is a bit unwieldy to maneuver in some areas, and it's extremely vulnerable to the bigger nasties, but it is a mobile base which is nice to have, and it's a bit easier to surface with than just the Prawn. If you know what you're doing with the PRAWN it can be pretty quick, but climbing is still somewhat of a chore, and it likes to get caught on everything. Going solo with either vehicle is viable as well. Every resource is obtainable through pick-up, you don't need to drill anything, and every location is reachable with either vehicle (or "outside of" them, you may need to park them somewhere and go to the location with the seaglide). However, if you're taking the Cyclops, you may as well take the PRAWN with it.

Mods on Seamoth/PRAWN - 3 storage mods and a depth module, done. You don't really need anything else. I carry two drill arms with me and have two grappling arms on the PRAWN suit, two drills go faster, and two grapples give you extra mobility.

Even Deeper?

Once you've collected your nickel and improved the depth of your PRAWN and/or Cyclops, it's time to venture deeper. Again, if you've thoroughly explored you'll know the location(s) you can do this in. This is where I leave you, the end game is all for you to explore and figure out. You're almost done, there are a few more things to find, and they aren't exactly very obvious. I believe in you, though. You have all the tools you need at this point, it's just about collecting a few new resources and doing a bit more exploring. Best of luck, you'll make it!

CONGRATULATIONS!

If you have made it to the end of the game, then congratulations are in order for figuring out the very end game on your own. You did it! Seriously, congrats. I hope it was as enjoyable for you as it was for me, and I hope this guide fulfilled its purpose of guiding you to where you need to go, while not spoiling what you don't want spoiled! Leave a comment below if you're a veteran or a newbie, or if this has aged long enough to be archived, feel free to reach out to me through a PM. I love talking to people about the guides I've created.

Suggestions? Concerns? Angry and/or hate-filled remarks? Leave them below, and Happy Diving! :)