The Bioreactor converts any biological material into power for your Seabase, providing an endless source of free power as long as someone is around to keep feeding it material occasionally.
The big payoff from venturing out to the Floating Island is that we now have the pieces needed to start farming food in the Seabase. Edible plants also provide a source of H2O, meaning that as long as you’re in the area around your base you no longer need to consume fish or bottled water – those things can be reserved for longer trips away from home, and you can stockpile cured fish to bring on those missions.
Now that you’ve reached the Floating Island, it’s time to start exploring it. There a lot to see and do on the island, but this guide will focus on basic goals for your first visit that will enable you to build a more advanced Seabase and farm your own food.
Once you’ve acquired the Seamoth, a run to the Floating Island should be your first road trip as it is key to unlocking your ability to farm your own food, which also helps reduce your need to drink bottled water.
This tutorial picks up where the early game tutorial ends – right after acquisition of the Seamoth. Early game was mostly focused on close-range exploration, getting basic tools built and basic survival needs met.
Mid-game, enabled by the use of an underwater vehicle, will involve deeper exploration, longer missions away from home, further automation of survival needs, acquisition of more advanced blueprints, and development of the story line.
The Seamoth submersible vehicle is one of the most game-changing items that can be acquired in Subnautica. It allows the player to quickly reach and return from distant parts of the map, and to explore deep underwater without ever worrying about running out of O2.
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.
Up to this point in the tutorial, everything that’s been covered can be accomplished within a 300 meter radius of your Lifepod. During this early game exploration we’ve come across the first two biomes of Subnautica: The Safe Shallows and The Creepvine Forest. In this chapter we’ll look at your journey beyond the 300m zone into the next biome: The Grassy Plateaus.
The Repair Tool and Radiation Suit are two items that I’ve deliberately put off until later in the tutorial, despite being somewhat early-game items in terms of the materials needed in order to fabricate them.
Once you’ve finished crafting your Habitat Builder, you can use it to start building your first Sea Base.