Exploring the Grassy Plateaus presents some new challenges because of the depth of the seabed. The Floating Air Pump and Pipes can be very helpful in this early stage of the game where you don’t yet have more convenient options for refilling your O2 tank while deep underwater.
This chapter explores several different options for deeper water exploration, and these options can be combined as needed. Keep in mind that all of these options solve a temporary problem, so don’t invest too heavily here – once you acquire the blueprints for the Seamoth submersible vehicle, you’ll have an endless supply of O2 that you can bring deep underwater.
Option 1: Scout at the Surface
You can do pretty well simply by swimming along the surface, and making brief dives directly down to the seafloor to explore, using your Seaglide to make the trip to and from the surface as quickly as possible.
Option 2: Bring a Spare O2 Tank
If you want to invest some materials, you can bring one or more spare O2 tanks in your inventory, and equip them as needed to extend your diving session. This option does have a few drawbacks: It is costly, and you likely won’t need the extra tanks for very long. You have to remember to switch out and fill up all of your O2 tanks when you surface or you will end up regretting it later.
Option 3: Use the Floating Air Pump and Pipes
If you find an area that you’d like to spend more time exploring, it can be helpful to fabricate a Floating Air Pump and some Pipes to deliver air to a location closer to to seabed.
How to Use the Floating Air Pump and Pipes to Breathe Underwater
You can deploy the Floating Air Pump by equipping it on your hotbar and using it below the surface of the water
Once the pump is deployed, similarly equip and use the Pipes to connect them in a chain, starting at the air pump.
When you start to run low on O2, just swim up next to the end of the Pipe where the bubbles are coming out and your tank will quickly refill.