Subnautica Game Guide

Underwater adventure! This game guide contains helpful tips and tricks on how to survive in sea depths. Here you will find valuable information about game mechanics like gathering resources, collecting items, and using the in-game crafting system.

Last update: 27 March 2021

This guide to Subnautica and the DLC Subnautica Below Zero covers all the necessary information about these two games. The detailed information and tips contained in our guide will allow you to explore all the biomes, get all the necessary raw materials and items, uncover the secrets of Planet 4546B and unlock all trophies.

Our guide is divided into two main parts - the first part focuses on all aspects relevant to the base game of Subnautica, and the second part is entirely devoted to the DLC Subnautica Below Zero.

Once you read the first part of our guide, you will know how to start playing Subnautica, and what resources you can gather during gameplay. On separate pages of this chapter, we have described all biomes that you can visit when exploring the vast world of Subnautica. The first part of this guide ends with FAQ chapters, which provide answers to frequently asked questions, and an appendix where you will find Subnautica's system requirements, controls and trophy guide.

The second part of this guide focuses on Subnautica Below Zero, and contains e.g. useful beginner tips, oxygen sources and HUD description. The second chapter of that part of the guide is dedicated to the FAQ, where you will find answers to frequently asked questions. In a separate chapter, you will find a list of all the biomes available in Subnautica Below Zero, along with their detailed description. This part of the guide ends with chapters devoted to Cheats and Codes and an appendix which covers Subnautica Below Zero's system requirements and trophy guide.

Subnautica: Quick Beginner's Guide
Subnautica: All biomes
Subnautica: PC system requirements
Subnautica: FAQ - I have a problem and I'm looking for answers
Subnautica Below Zero: Quick Beginner's Guide
Subnautica Below Zero: All biomes
Subnautica Below Zero: PC system requirements
Subnautica Below Zero: FAQ - I have a problem and I'm looking for answers
Subnautica and Subnautica Below Zero: the games in a nutshell

Subnautica: Quick Beginner's Guide

Don't collect too many raw materials - Don't pick up every single item you come across, only those that are necessary for crafting a specific tool. You start with a limited storage room which can get filled up fast with unnecessary resources.
Craft a knife as soon as you can - Use the Fabricator to do that. A knife allows you to collect plant samples necessary for crafting certain items and to defend yourself from aggressive creatures.
Don't try to explore deeper parts of the ocean right away - Some parts of the ocean are 100 meters deep which means that you will need a lot of oxygen. Without a large oxygen tank, you won't be able to reach the bottom or collect any resources. You will also need food, water and first aid kits.
Avoid Aurora - Aurora is a great source of materials and blueprints. There is no point in exploring that place at the beginning of the game. The wreckage is in a radiation zone - you can stay there while wearing a Radiation Suit. It will be unlocked after Aurora's explosion.
Build a Scanner - This item allows you to scan fauna, flora and the remains of Aurora. Scan objects to unlock entries in the encyclopedia, and new blueprints.

For more tips and tricks on how to play Subnautica, check out the separate Beginner's Guide page.

Subnautica: All biomes

Safe Shallows - this is the starting biome. A peaceful zone, full of various and unique resources.
Kelp Forest - this biome is located in the central part of the map. It is divided into three separate areas, which adjoin most of the biomes located on the map.
Crash Zone - a very large radioactive biome that will initially be inaccessible.
Grassy Plateaus - a biome located in the central part of the map, the bottom of which is almost completely covered with red grass.
Floating Island - one of the two terrains located above sea level.
Sparse Reef - a relatively small biome located southeast of the launch site.
Mushroom Forest - two separate, identically built areas.
Underwater Islands - a large group of small rock formations that are located at depths from approx. 70 to 300 meters.
Jellyshroom Cave - the caves extend for the most part under the Kelp Forest.
Mountains - Definitely the most dangerous biome in the game. This area is filled with Reaper Leviathans.
Mountain Island - the second area located above the water surface.
Dunes - a large biome located to the west of the map which does not stand out in terms of available resources.
Blood Kelp Caves - a small area formed as a deep trench which cuts through the map.
Blood Kelp Zone - compared to the Blood Kelp Caves, it is much larger, and the Blood Kelp formations grow on small, floating islands.
Grand Reef - here, you can find passages to deeper parts of the ocean.
Bulb Zone: this biome is rich in large clusters of Bulb Bushes. This species is specific to this biome and you will not find it anywhere else on the map.
Sea Treader's Path - this biome features a cave system and is the home of Sea Treader Leviathans.
Lost River - a huge location that stretches below almost the entire base map. This biome is so big that it was divided into three smaller locations - Disease Research Facility, Giant Cove Tree, and Bone Fields.
Inactive Lava Zone - a biome virtually devoid of vegetation - it is covered in congealed magma, broken up by oozing lava.
Lava Lakes - aggressive Lava Lizards and Warpers swim all over the biome.

Subnautica: PC system requirements

Operating System: Windows Vista SP2 64-bit;
CPU: Intel Core i3 2.5 GHz;
Graphics Card: Intel HD 4600 512 MB;
RAM: 4 GB;
Disk space: 20 GB HDD.

The requirements for other graphics settings in Subnautica can be found in a separate section titled System requirements.

Subnautica: FAQ - I have a problem and I'm looking for answers

How to repair a base? - holes appear in your base when it gets attacked or when its durability reaches zero. Check this page to learn how to make it operational again.
How to craft items? - the game's main focus is on collecting resources and crafting tools. Check this page to learn how to use a Fabricator.
How do I upgrade the Seamoth? - this is the basic vehicle in the game, which is able to get almost everywhere, but it has certain limitations. This page covers all relevant information about the Seamoth.
How to build the base? - the game gives you the option to build your own base. Check this page to learn how to build your own underwater fortress.

Other important questions related to Subnautica have been discussed on separate pages of the FAQ section.

Subnautica Below Zero: Quick Beginner's Guide

Watch out for ice floes - Your character has to resurface from time to time to enter the base or to replenish oxygen. Remember that you are in an arctic zone. The water's surface is full of ice floes of different sizes.
Build a Grav Trap - Unlock Grav Trap blueprint as soon as you craft yourself a Scanner. Grav Trap fragments are near the first base. Deploy them to catch food with greater ease.
Avoid deeper caves - In the initial stages of the game, your character has limited supplies of oxygen. Your mobility is low, too. Avoid bigger caves until you upgrade your oxygen tank and Seaglide vehicle. You won't be able to resurface in them and get oxygen.
You lose a few things upon death - when your health bar drops to zero, your character will die and you will lose some of the items from your inventory. You can, however, return for the lost items - they will stay at the location where your character died.
Look carefully - In the original game, the majority of item fragments were kept in various chests or near wrecks. In Below Zero, the majority of the parts is hidden in grass on the ocean's bottom. They are easy to miss.
Get oxygen tank as fast as possible - Your initial oxygen supplies are very limited. You only have enough oxygen to stay under the water for a brief moment. Because of that, you won't be able to reach deeper parts of the map. Invest in Standard O2 Tank. It increases your oxygen supplies, and you can get it right from the beginning.

For more tips and tricks on how to play Subnautica Below Zero, check out the separate Beginner's Guide page.

Subnautica Below Zero: All biomes

Shallow Twisty Bridges and Twisty Bridges - the first is the starting location, the latter lies deeper. Twisty Bridges is inhabited by only one predatory species.
Arctic and Deep Arctic - zones which are almost completely overrun by the majestic, as well as friendly, beings.
Methane Ice Caves and Sparse Arctic - an extremely deep zone that reaches up to 900 meters.
Lilypad isles - This zone is hard to miss, mainly because of its inhabitants. This chapter will tell you who are we talking about - you'll also learn of other characteristic traits of this biome.
Delta Island and Thermal Spires - locations above sea level.
Arctic Kelp Forest and Glacier - two shallow zones.

Subnautica Below Zero: PC system requirements

Operating System: Windows Vista SP2 64-bit;
CPU: Intel Core i3 2.5 GHz;
Graphics Card: Intel HD 4600 512 MB;
RAM: 4 GB;
Disk space: 20 GB HDD.

The requirements for other graphics settings in Subnautica Below Zero, along with a list of the available graphics options can be found in a separate section titled System requirements.

Subnautica Below Zero: FAQ - I have a problem and I'm looking for answers

Where can I find titanium? - titanium is a basic resource used for crafting the majority of items. Check this chapter to learn where you can find it.
What are the sources of oxygen? - In opposition to the base title, Below Zero offers a few new ways of getting oxygen. This chapter contains a detailed description of the new ways of getting oxygen.
How to build a base? - In opposition to the base title, in Below Zero, getting a base builder is a much more difficult task. This chapter will tell you how to get a base builder and how to build bases.

Other important questions related to Subnautica Below Zero have been discussed on separate pages of the FAQ section.

Subnautica and Subnautica Below Zero: the games in a nutshell

Both Subnautica and the DLC Below Zero are action games with survival elements. Both games take place on planet 4546B, but the storylines are a few years apart and take place in different parts of the plant.

Aurora's wreckage - the main character of Subnautica has survived its crash.

In Subnautica, you play as Ryley Robinson, the only survivor of Aurora's crash. He ends up in an enormous underwater crater with a diverse ecosystem. This place consists of various biomes inhabited by creatures unique to them. Ryley's goal is to cure himself of a mysterious disease and leave the planet.

Your adventure in Subnautica: Below Zero starts inside a beautiful base. It is a shame that the base gets destroyed.

Subnautica: Below Zero takes place two years after the events of the original game. This time, you play as Robin Goodall - an employee of a research station located in the arctic part of 4546B. When the station gets destroyed, she is forced to survive in open sea full of various creatures.

Both games have similar gameplay mechanics. The player's goal is to explore underwater biomes, collect resources necessary for crafting items, and take care of your character's needs. Since both the original and the expansion take place under the water, you also have to keep an eye on your oxygen level. If you run out of it, your character will die.