The Laser Cutter in Subnautica has only one purpose: Cutting holes in Sealed Doors, in the wreckage of the Aurora. We were able to get through the large wreck near Lifepod 17 without it, but the Laser Cutter will be required for our next large wreck exploration.
For the initial trip to the Mountain Island the main goal was to acquire 2x Diamonds in order to build the Laser Cutter, so we skipped over exploration of the Quarantine Enforcement Platform and broke it out into this separate chapter.
There is still one more island to check out, and now is a good time to make a quick run out to it. Although it doesn’t hold any blueprints like the Floating Island, it’s a very easy source of some Tier 3 materials that would otherwise require deep-diving to acquire. In particular we need 2x Diamonds in order to build a Laser Cutter, which will be needed for exploring wrecks.
The Propulsion Cannon is a multi purpose tool and weapon that can grab objects and then either release them gently or launch them forward as a projectile.
The visit to Lifepod 17 leads the player to a massive piece of nearby wreckage from the Aurora. This large wreck can be a challenge to explore but yields a number of important new blueprints.
After Lifepod 3, Lifepod 17 is the next shallowest one at 100m. It sits in a Grassy Plateaus biome, not far from a large piece of wreckage from the Aurora.
In addition to aiding in navigation around the map, the Compass is helpful for making use of the in-game clues that mention cardinal directions, including the location of Lifepod 4, Lifepod 6, and Lifepod 7.
Of the sunken lifepods, Lifepod 3 is at the shallowest location, just 18m deep. Notable rewards for visiting it are the Compass blueprint and the Seaglide and Mobile Vehicle Bay fragments scattered around the area.
In Subnautica, the player is guided to important discoveries through story line cues. One of the earliest examples of this is the task of seeking out the other lifepods, as prompted by radio messages.
Since most of the Subnautica map is underwater, the Exterior Growbed will most often be used for farming aquatic plants – but it can also be placed on any surface above the water to grow terrestrial plants.