Seabases are constructed, and de-constructed, exclusively with the use of a handheld tool called the Habitat Builder. Compared to other items you’ve built up to this point, the Habitat Builder is fairly expensive and complicated to build, involving multiple layers of intermediary products that you’ll have to fabricate. Fortunately, you should only have to build it once.
By this point you may have already noticed a couple of kinds resource deposits that haven’t yet been discussed: Salt Deposits and Sandstone Outcrops. These two new types of resource are key to upgrading your H2O supply and O2 tank capacity.
The Seaglide and Grav Trap are two tools that greatly enhance your ability to progress forward, but you won’t have the blueprints for them at the start of the game.
The Handheld Scanner is one of the most essential items in Subnautica as it is required in order to unlock blueprints for other items. Now is also a good time to gather materials for the Flashlight.
At the start of the game, the player is already given access to dozens of blueprints, which can be viewed on the Blueprints tab of the PDA and can be used to fabricate items from resources at the Fabricator. Most of these blueprints will not be usable until later in the game, and it may not be obvious which items the player should prioritize building.
Now that you’ve got your H2O and food supplies established, it’s time to go out into the water and start finding some resources. By now you’ll have probably run into some of the dangerous fauna that live in the areas surrounding your Lifepod.
If you’re just starting a new game of Subnautica, you’ll quickly find that keeping up with your depleting hunger and thirst bars is critical to survival.
Your Lifepod will function as your base of operations for the early part of the game – but first you need to put out the fire.
Similar to many other open-world, sandbox-style games, Subnautica encourages exploration and experimentation by providing a rich and complex gameplay experience with lots of detailed game mechanics and a minimum of in-game tutorials and explanation. Additionally, the story line and progression through the game hinge on the player solving complex puzzles and hunting down specific items.