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Subnautica > Guides > LokkNar's Guides
226 ratings
Things I wish I had known when starting out
By LokkNar
Subnautica is a great, fun game, but there are some things that the game doesn't tell you that it should. Here are some of them.
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Created by
LokkNar
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Category: Gameplay Basics
Languages: English
Posted
Updated
30 Dec, 2018 @ 1:09pm
31 Mar, 2020 @ 12:08am
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Guide Index
Overview
Things I wish I had known when starting out 
Comments
Things I wish I had known when starting out
Okay, I will give not much introduction and anything, just some wisdom for people who are just starting out:

1. Batteries can be changed by pressing R (the game will only tell you when the battery is dead)
2. Moonpools have the antenna thing on the "back", and they can not be rotated. Their orientation is dependend on the orientation of the original base part it is attached to.
3. Fragments of basically everything can be reached with an unupgraded Seamoth.
4. Don't worry about things that need special harvesting equipment. You will find enough other stuff to build something that can harvest them.
5. Don't worry about any resources while we are on the topic. You will get there eventually, I promise.
6. Scanning room speed upgrades are worthless. Range upgrades are the best.
7. Cameras have one good use, and that is as beacon.
8. Subnautica doesn't have a map or let you generate one, so you NEED to mark all points of interest, see Point 7 (but there is a mod that adds a map, it's very useful).
9. That said, always have at least two beacons with you.
10. Nuclear reactors can not be disassembled while containing an active reactor rod. Make sure you have put it in the absolute right spot before you start it up or wait for a long time.
11. The propulsion cannon is basically the same as in Half Life and crates/doors/benches aren't melted to the ground.
12. Copper is very important, always have plenty. Silver too.
13. Scan EVERYTHING YOU CAN and pick up/harvest everything you can pick up or harvest (use the knife!), you'll never know if you might need it in the future.
14. As long as your base has an integrity over 0, it's ok. Don't worry about reinforcing until then.
15. Bulkheads can only be built onto "compartments", e.g. if you connect two function rooms, like scanner and multi purpose room, you can't put a bulkhead between.
16. Don't read guides/wiki before you have cleared the game by yourself. Trust me, in the end you will say to yourself "I wish I hadn't read that guide".


That is everything I can think of right now. Feel free to comment/criticize.
Edit: Added some comments' suggestions.
84 Comments
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wigglyb 16 Apr @ 9:31pm 
something i wish i knew before playing is that game is kinda spooky. beware headphone users!
tylerh0718 12 Mar @ 7:33pm 
why am i reading this i have 211 hours on this game
AnthoKaT 4 Nov, 2023 @ 6:57pm 
i looked at guides and the wiki because i thought i already knew everything about the game but sadly i didnt and lots got spoiled so yeah
Bits The Protogen 26 Jul, 2023 @ 9:38am 
WARNING! Carry on reading! Or no one will care I've read this a million times on different community pages and it's never happened. realise nobody cares about that and think about what you get in return for posting that.NOTHING. I'm really sorry i had to say this on a page that actually has a use
Masterfarm 25 Jun, 2023 @ 3:31pm 
WARNING! Carry on reading! Or you will die, even if you only looked at the word warning! Once there was a little boy called Joey, he was ten-years-old and he lived in a mental hospital because he posted a shitty copypasta onto a People Playground mod's comment section. He got so bad he went to kill all the staff in the hospital so the Feds decided that best idea was to get rid of him so they set up a special room to kill him, as inhumane as possible. And he sat there in agony for hours until he died. Now every week on the day of his death he returns to the person that reads this letter, on a monday night at 12:00 a.m. He creeps into your room and kills you slowly, by pegging you and watching you bleed to death. Now send this to ten other profiles on this one site, and he will haunt someone else who doesn't. This isn't fake. apparently if u copy and paste this to ten comments in the next ten minutes nothing will happen
Psycho 23 Jan, 2023 @ 10:33pm 
A very newbie point but it's easy to neglect the radio, Check in every so often to see what's happening to advance the story and get loot coordinates. Some of the story based loot (data pods) is almost impossible to find otherwise. Missing out on that makes the game much harder.
JoanCiao 20 Sep, 2022 @ 2:30am 
should not read this guide lol
Insubordinate 4 Jun, 2022 @ 11:37pm 
Someone probably already beat me to it, but those little mounds that look like they have mouths all over them, found in the safe shallows, they produce air bubbles. You can recharge your o2 by hanging out above one for a short time.
dreamrider 29 Sep, 2021 @ 7:24am 
Base pumps don't need a power source. They just need to attach to a base piece...or platform. It can be easier to build a simple base piece (2x Ti) and attach a base pump (2x Ti), than to deploy a floating pump and run pipe from it.
dreamrider 29 Sep, 2021 @ 7:19am 
- Once you have the related blueprint, all fragments produce 2x titanium lumps when scanned. This is a significant source of titanium, only slightly less than the scattered metal scrap, and more so than the limestone outcrops. Make sure you have the room in inventory for the titanium lumps before you scan any excess fragments.
- learn how pumps and pipes work. Don't be afraid to make and use lots of pipes.
- pipes can be branched at any joint.
- an single extra pipe branched off a longer pipe string will make an air recharge point. Function / amount of air in the rest of the string will not be affected.
- Learn how power transmitters work.
- Try EVERYTHING biological as bioreactor fuel. Some organisms or produce or samples are vastly better energy sources than average stuff. So much so that they can complete with nuclear, given that the fuel is easier to obtain.
(I know what they are, and they can be found online, but I am assuming this is a spoiler free list.)