Crafting and resources

Crafting and resource gathering form the backbone of the gameplay loop in Subnautica 2. Players explore the oceans of Planet Zezura, discover raw materials, and use them to craft tools and equipment, vehicles, and base structures. The crafting system follows a progressive loop designed to push players deeper into the world as they advance.

The crafting loop

Subnautica 2 structures its crafting around a five-stage loop that mirrors the design of the original games while introducing new changes:

1. Explore: Swim out into the world, discover new biomes, and encounter unknown creatures and environments.

2. Discover: Find new materials, scan objects with the Scanner, and uncover recipes for advanced equipment.

3. Craft: Use gathered resources to build new tools, equipment, vehicle components, and base modules.

4. Build: Expand your base with new rooms, modules, and infrastructure to support deeper exploration.

5. Survive: Manage your health, hunger, thirst, oxygen, and other survival needs as you push further into dangerous territory.

This loop encourages players to gradually expand their reach. Early crafting provides basic survival tools, while later crafting unlocks the means to explore deeper, more dangerous, and more resource-dense areas of Zezura.

Starting equipment

Players begin the game with access to basic tools that establish the core gameplay systems:

• Scanner: Used to scan objects, creatures, and materials in the environment. May include a radar feature to help locate nearby resources and items of interest.

• Flashlight: A basic illumination tool for navigating dark underwater areas, caves, and deep biomes.

As players explore and scan their surroundings, they find "recipes for more advanced tools, equipment, and submersibles" according to the official game description. This mirrors the blueprint discovery system from the original Subnautica, where scanning fragments and data boxes gradually expanded the player's crafting options.

Resource gathering overhaul

One of the most significant changes in Subnautica 2 is a redesign of how players collect raw materials. In the original Subnautica and Below Zero, players would break open generic limestone, sandstone, and shale outcrops that dropped randomized materials. This system created unpredictability in resource gathering, as players could never be certain which material they would receive from a given node.

Subnautica 2 replaces this system with resource-specific nodes. Each type of raw material now has its own distinct node in the environment that can be identified visually and collected by hand. This means players can specifically target the resources they need rather than relying on chance drops. The change makes resource gathering more deliberate and reduces time spent hunting for specific materials.

Base building improvements

The base building system has received a significant overhaul with greater flexibility and new structural options:

• Support pillars: New structural elements that give bases more architectural variety and stability.

• Superconducting foundations: A new foundation type that provides additional functionality beyond simple structural support.

• New compartments: Additional room types and compartment shapes beyond the corridors, multipurpose rooms, and moonpools of previous games.

• Greater overall flexibility in how pieces connect and snap together, allowing for more creative and functional base designs.

These improvements aim to give players more creative freedom when constructing underwater habitats, which serve as both a survival necessity and a personal expression of the player's style.

Progression and recipes

The crafting system in Subnautica 2 is designed around a progression curve that gates access to advanced equipment behind exploration milestones. Players must venture into new biomes, scan new technologies, and gather biome-specific resources to unlock higher-tier recipes.

This ties directly into the DNA adaptation system as well. Some areas may be inaccessible without specific genetic adaptations, meaning the crafting and adaptation systems work in tandem to drive exploration forward.

Note: Specific fabricator types, complete crafting trees, and full material lists have not been officially revealed. This article will be expanded as more details become available during Early Access.

Multiplayer crafting

With the addition of multiplayer co-op for up to four players, crafting in Subnautica 2 takes on a collaborative dimension. Players can divide resource-gathering duties, share materials, and collaborate on base construction. The specifics of how crafting inventories, shared storage, and recipe progression work in multiplayer have not been fully detailed, but the cooperative structure suggests that group play will make the crafting loop more efficient.