Subnautica 2 First Hours Walkthrough – What to Do First

Key Takeaways

• Hour 1: Scanner → Knife → Fins → O2 Tank. Don't build anything else.

• Hour 2: Repair Tool → Seaglide → Beacon. Now you can explore safely.

• Hour 3: Mobile Vehicle Bay → Seamoth. Game opens up completely.

• Never let oxygen drop below 30 seconds. Drowning is responsible for 80% of early deaths.

Hour 1: The Bare Minimum

00:00-00:10 — Lifepod assessment. Open your lifepod storage. Grab the free Fire Extinguisher (keep it, fires permanently destroy resources). Exit lifepod.

00:10-00:30 — First resource run. Swim to the seafloor directly below your lifepod. Gather: 4 Titanium (metal salvage), 2 Copper (limestone outcrops), 2 Quartz (white crystals), 3 Creepvine samples (tall green plants).

00:30-01:00 — Crafting rush. In order: Scanner → Survival Knife → Fins → O2 Tank. Each one depends on the previous. Scanner identifies blueprints from fragments. Knife harvests samples. Fins double your speed. O2 Tank gives you breathing room.

Hour 2: Exploration Tools

01:00-01:30 — Repair Tool. Find Cave Sulfur (explode a Crashfish nest, grab the sulfur before it despawns). Combine with Silicone Rubber and Titanium. Now you can fix the radio — this triggers story events.

01:30-02:00 — Seaglide. Materials: Battery (1 Acid Mushroom + 1 Copper), Copper Wire (2 Copper), Lubricant (1 Creepvine Seed Cluster), Titanium. Seaglide has built-in sonar — reveals terrain within 50 meters. Game-changing.

02:00 — Deploy Beacon at your lifepod. You WILL get lost without it. The ocean looks different from every angle.

Hour 3: Mobility

02:00-03:00 — Mobile Vehicle Bay. Craft from 1 Titanium Ingot, 1 Lubricant, 1 Power Cell. Deploy on water surface. It's a floating platform that builds vehicles.

03:00 — Seamoth. Materials: 1 Titanium Ingot, 1 Power Cell, 2 Glass, 1 Lubricant, 1 Lead. Seamoth provides mobile oxygen, reaches 200m depth (vs your 100m), and travels 3x faster than swimming. It's your mobile base for the next 5-10 hours.

Base Location: Where to Build

Best early base spot: Shallow Reef, near a thermal vent (free energy later) and close to Kelp Forest border (easy Stalker tooth farming). Avoid building deeper than 50m — Solar Panels work best near the surface.

What NOT to Do

• Don't explore caves without a Seaglide — you'll get lost and drown

• Don't approach the Aurora wreck until you have a Radiation Suit

• Don't eat raw Bladderfish — cook them for water (Bladderfish = Filtered Water in Fabricator)

• Don't ignore the radio — each broadcast unlocks new story locations and blueprints