Surviving the first hour
Stay in the surface biomes, scan every fragment you swim past, gather Titanium and Quartz, and build a Tadpole as soon as you have the materials. The opening loop is scan, harvest, retreat to oxygen, repeat. Anything past 100 m without a Rebreather is a bad trip.
The Shallows and the Plateaus need no depth module and have the resources that gate everything else. Both are full of Halfmoon and Geordie, which are food once you unlock the Digestion Adaptation. The fauna that can actually hurt you tends to live deeper.
Starter biomes
| Biome | Depth | Why go here |
|---|---|---|
| Plateaus | 2-99 m | 1,292 loose Titanium, 202 loose Silver, plus Copper and Quartz. The richest surface biome |
| Shallows | 1-100 m | Best surface Copper (277 loose) and Quartz (229 loose). Close to the Lifepod |
| Anemone Hills | 3-81 m | Silver and Copper at safe depths. A good secondary sweep |
| North Raceway | 3-98 m | Early Sulfur (44 loose) and Salt deposits |
Priority list
Scan every fragment and new lifeform. Fragments are how most blueprints unlock. They're scattered across the seafloor and inside wrecks. Scanning a new lifeform fills your encyclopedia. Picking up all crafting materials for a recipe can also unlock it automatically.
Get the Digestion Adaptation. You cannot eat anything until you interact with an Angel Comb near the starting area. Without this adaptation, all food gives zero nutrition. Find one early so you can actually use the fish you catch.
Stockpile Titanium from the Plateaus. The Plateaus have 1,292 loose Titanium pickups. That's more than any other surface biome by a wide margin. Titanium is in most early recipes, so this is where you build your stash.
Grab Copper and Quartz from the Shallows. Copper is for batteries and most early electronics. Quartz becomes Glass. The Shallows are the best surface source for both.
Cook fish. Halfmoon and Geordie cook into reliable food at the Fabricator. Geordie are slow and easy to catch.
Build a basic habitat. A Hatch, a power source like a Solar Panel, and a layout you can swim back to. A powered base with a Hatch generates oxygen inside automatically. Your first base is a refuel point, not a project.
Build the Tadpole. The vehicle that unlocks everything past 100 m. See Tadpole and chassis.
Skip these
Do not dive below 100 m without a Rebreather. Oxygen consumption triples past 100 m. The Tufa Towers and Leadzone both push past that line and will drain your tank before you know it.
Do not sprint to Lead. The Leadzone has Lead at 3-101 m, but the biome stays uncomfortable until you have vehicle support. Mark it for later.
Do not fight anything. Fauna in Subnautica 2 are not killable. The Survival Multitool can swat small predators to make them back off, but it's a harvesting tool, not a weapon. Swim around threats, scan from a distance, and run when something gets close.
Ready to move on
You're ready for the next layer when:
You have Tadpole fragments scanned and the blueprint completed.
You've stockpiled enough Titanium, Quartz, and Copper to craft for a while without going back.
You have a base with a Fabricator and a Battery Terminal for recharging tools.
The next step is the Tadpole and its chassis. The Scout Ray turns it into a fast scout. The Haul Rig turns it into a cargo hauler. Both let you reach the Graveyard and the Observatory, where the next tier of resources lives. For details on what to mine once you get there, see How to find resources.