Walkthrough (Subnautica)
This page serves as a full-game Survival Mode walkthrough of Subnautica. It also contains gameplay tips and helpful pointers for successfully mastering the oceans. Keep in mind that this page will have spoilers, as it also summarizes the events as you follow along with the story. Note that if at any point in the playthrough you become unable to progress due to a bug, check Console Commands to see if any commands can help. If you are simply looking for exploration tips, check out Exploration Tips or Getting Started.
Background
You play as Ryley Robinson, the Non-Essential Systems Maintenance Chief aboard the Aurora, a spacecraft sent to the Ariadne Arm by the Alterra Corporation to build a phasegate. Following the ship's catastrophic hull failure and subsequent crash landing, he must find a way to escape from the water planet known as Planet 4546B, and discover the cause for the Aurora's crash.
Beginning
Opening Sequence
After the Aurora's hull failure, Ryley enters Lifepod 5 and ejects the lifepod. It lands in the Safe Shallows, the first biome the player will enter. Following the cinematic sequence, the player will wake up, and after a short struggle to get out of the chair, will stand up. This is when the player will gain control of Ryley. A fire has started in the lifepod, move towards the Fire Extinguisher on the ground, (see Key Bindings for game controls), and pick it up. Aim the fire extinguisher at the base of the fires and use it to put the fires out until you can no longer see their bright red and orange glow. After the fire has been put out you will boot up your PDA, a tablet that will act as a databank, inventory, beacon and screenshot manager, as well as act as your virtual assistant for the duration of the playthrough, giving game hints and anecdotes.
The Lifepod
Inside the lifepod, there is a storage chest with a red top, inside the chest, you will find two Nutrient Blocks and 2 Filtered Waters. These will serve as your food and water source until you can create your own. Along with these, there will be 2 Flares, which can be used to light up dark areas until a more reliable light source is found. Also inside the lifepod is a Medical Kit Fabricator, which will automatically provide First Aid Kits for the player to use when they get injured. It is recommended to take a first aid kit so you have a way to heal if you are attacked by fauna. Also inside the lifepod is the Fabricator, which is used to craft natural resources into other materials, including food and water sources. It is also used to craft several tools, the most vital ones being the Scanner, Repair Tool, Standard O₂ Tank, Fins, and the Survival Knife. Finally, you will see the Damaged Radio and damaged secondary systems. These can both eventually be repaired using the Repair Tool.
Into the Ocean
There are two hatches on the lifepod, one on the top and one on the bottom, choose one of the hatches and use it to exit the lifepod. At this point, it is important to begin collecting resources to build your basic equipment. The easiest one to craft is the scanner, which requires one titanium and one battery. Begin your search by looking for Limestone Outcrops, they can be found on the floor and walls of several biomes, including the Safe Shallows. These can contain Copper Ore or Titanium, both of which are vital resources early onto the game. Collect at least one of each resource, along with several Acid Mushrooms, which are used to craft batteries. While exploring keep an eye on your Oxygen meter, if it runs out you will have mere seconds to reach the surface before the screen fades to black and you die. Once you have collected the appropriate resources, use the fabricator to craft a battery, and then a scanner. The scanner can be used to scan fragments, which will allow the player to unlock new blueprints, and to scan Flora, Fauna and Coral. Once you have crafted your scanner, begin collecting more titanium for a standard O2 tank and survival knife.
In survival and hardcore, keeping your water and food levels high is important if you want to stay alive. The nutrient bars and filtered waters in the lifepod will help you start, but can only get you so far. The earliest sources of food and water both come from small fish, such as the Boomerang, Bladderfish and Peeper. All of these fish can be caught by hand, and cooked with the fabricator to provide a steady food source. However, one fish, the bladder fish, can also be crafted into filtered water, so it is recommended to reserve bladderfish for water. Another source of water, though slightly harder to obtain is Bleach, which is crafted with a Salt Deposit and a Coral Tube Sample. Bleach can be crafted into two Disinfected Waters, which provide slightly more water per bottle than filtered waters, which makes disinfected water a more ideal water solution after crafting the survival knife.
There are dozens of different resources in Subnautica, many of which can only be found in certain Harvesting Nodes. Titanium is one of the most important resources in the game, and as such is also one of the easiest to collect. Metal Salvage is a common resource found throughout the map, and, using the fabricator, it can be crafted into four titanium. There are three main harvesting nodes, Limestone Outcrops, Sandstone Outcrops and Shale Outcrop. Each type of outcrop can give different resources, and most biomes only contain one or two types of nodes.
Crafting Important Tools
The survival knife is an important tool, used throughout the game for various reasons. It requires Silicone Rubber to be crafted, which in turn is made from Creepvine Seed Cluster. These are groups of small, yellow balls found on certain Creepvines, tall, green kelp. Creepvines can only be found in a biome known as the Kelp Forest, which is distinguished by the abundance of creepvines and Stalkers. It is recommended to collect the seed clusters as fast as possible, avoiding stalkers, to minimize the damage taken by an under-equipped player. After collecting the required resources, head back to your lifepod and begin crafting the required materials to make the oxygen tank and survival knife.
The next tool you should focus on is the repair tool, which will be used to repair the lifepod's secondary systems and the radio. Crafting it requires one titanium, one Cave Sulfur and one silicone rubber. The most difficult of these to gather will be the cave sulfur, as titanium is fairly easy to get, and you can use the extra silicone rubber leftover after crafting the survival knife. Cave sulfur can be found in Sulfur Plants, which are found in the Safe Shallows Caves and the Kelp Forest Caves. Each plant contains one cave sulfur, however, the plant is guarded by a defensive fauna known as the Crashfish, which hides inside the plant until the player approaches it, at which point they will be released from the flower and will charge at the player. These fish will swim towards the player at a rapid speed, and soon after exploding, dealing massive damage to anything in its blast radius. Crashfish can be dangerous to players who lack the proper equipment, however, certain strategies can be used to avoid them. After launching from the flower, instead of swimming away from the crashfish, swim towards it. Due to its high speed, they are unable to maneuver back towards the player and will swim away, exploding harmlessly. At this point, collect the yellow cave sulfur from the flower and return to your lifepod to craft the repair tool.
Exploring Further
Distress Call
Soon after repairing the radio, you will receive a radio message, interact with the radio to listen to it. After listening to the message you will receive a beacon leading to the location of Lifepod 3, and its crew. Swim towards the beacon, watching out for any aggressive fauna, and also keeping an eye on your Oxygen meter. Upon reaching the beacon you will find a destroyed Lifepod 3, with no crew in sight. Explore the wreck and you will find several new items, including a Data Box. Interacting with the databox will allow the player to unlock new technologies, and this specific databox will grant the player the ability to craft the Compass, which can be used for navigational purposes. There will also be an abandoned PDA, these PDAs can be found scattered throughout the world, often containing important information. The final item that can be seen is a Seaglide Fragment, using the scanner, scan the fragment.
Throughout the world dozens of different types of fragments can be found, these can all be scanned using the scanner and doing so will unlock the item being scanned. Many Blueprints require several of their fragments to be scanned to unlock that technology. Scanning the first fragment will often unlock a Databank entry, giving information about the item. The recipe for the item can only be unlocked once the necessary amount of fragments have been scanned. Wrecks are abundant with fragments, and as such is a good place to unlock new blueprints.
Several blueprints are not unlocked through scanning blueprints, but rather by opening Data Boxes. Unlike most fragments, only one data box needs to be opened to unlock the recipe, although several of the same data boxes can spawn.
Abandoned PDAs can be found scattered across the map, most often in places like wrecks and destroyed lifepods. These PDAs often contain information about the story of Subnautica and can hold codes and clues to help the player. Some PDAs will also provide beacons to important story checkpoints. It is recommended that the player picks up as many of them as possible, to more easily follow along with the story and learn more about the world that surrounds them.
Exploration Equipment
Several pieces of equipment will allow you to go farther, faster and deeper, as well as help you to navigate through the depths. Perhaps one of the most important pieces of equipment is the seaglide, which will allow you to swim at much higher speeds. Unlocking the seaglide requires you to scan two seaglide fragments. If you have already scanned one at Lifepod 3, then you only need to scan one more. Seaglide fragments can be found around the Safe Shallows, in small wrecks known as Scatters. Find one of these scatters and search for seaglide fragments, while you're at these small wrecks, it is recommended that you also search for Beacon and Grav Trap fragments. The grav trap can be a useful tool in the collection of fish for food and water. The beacon is a Deployable that can be placed to mark the location of an important or interesting location.
After crafting the seaglide, two more important pieces of equipment are the Compass and the High Capacity O₂ Tank, which will further increase the player’s Oxygen limit. Both of these recipes require Silver Ore, which can be found in Sandstone Outcrops. These outcrops are most easily found in the Kelp Forest and Grassy Plateaus, which is a flat biome defined by its large rock pillars and red grass. Consider using the seaglide to decrease travel time, as well as using it to avoid predators.
Lifepod 17
Soon after building the seaglide, you will receive a radio message that gives you a beacon to lifepod 17. Lifepod 17 provides a beacon that can help lead the player to the Grassy Plateaus if they are having trouble finding it. Lifepod 17 also leads you to the fragments of an important vehicle, the Seamoth.
Habitat Builder
The Habitat Builder is an essential tool used for building bases. The lifepod cannot fulfill the needs of the player forever, and a more suitable habitat must be built. The habitat builder allows the player to craft several new base pieces that can assist them in their journey, these include Battery Chargers, Beds and Lockers.
Vehicles
Vehicles are instrumental in traversing the world of Subnautica; they can increase your diving depth, travel distance and can be useful tools.
Mobile Vehicle Bay
Crafting any vehicle requires the use of the Mobile Vehicle Bay, a portable crafting station that is used throughout the game. The Mobile Vehicle Bay has unlocked through scanning three fragments, which can be found in the Kelp Forest. Search the Kelp Forest for any Cargo Crates, as several of them contain Mobile Vehicle Bay fragments inside.
Seamoth
The Seamoth is a submersible that can be used to extend the player’s safe diving distance, as well as increase their travel speed. Its fragments can be scanned in the Grassy Plateaus, mainly around wrecks, therefore it is recommended that the player often searches wrecks for fragments. The Seamoth can be used for a majority of the game and can be customized with different Upgrade Modules.
Radiation
Early into your playthrough, the degradation of the Aurora's drive core will cause it to explode. The explosion itself poses little risk to the player, the larger threat is the introduction of Radiation. A rather large part of the map, specifically the area around the Aurora, is now covered in radiation, when the player enters this area, they will take damage. The only way to safely swim near the Aurora is using the Radiation Suit, which, when the mask, suit and gloves are equipped, will negate the effects of radiation. The player must wear all three parts of the suit or they will take continuous damage while in the radiation zone.
Deeper Exploration
Rebreather
The Rebreather is another essential piece of equipment, allowing for deeper dives. When passing 100 or 200 meters the rate at which the player’s oxygen depletes increases dramatically, decreasing the player’s dive time in deeper areas. The rebreather negates this effect and is therefore recommended for all exploration.
Vehicle Upgrades
Although the Seamoth is a very useful exploration tool, it has its limits and can only dive so deep before it reaches its crush depth. To increase its safe diving depth, a Seamoth Depth Module MK1 must be crafted.
