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11 Flares are throwable light sources in Subnautica 2 that serve as the primary confirmed tactical tool for dealing with hostile creatures. They exploit the game's stimulus-based creature AI, which reacts to environmental stimuli including light, sound, and movement. By throwing a flare away from the player's position, the light draws a creature's attention toward the flare and away from the player, creating a window to escape. Flares were detailed in Dev Vlog 3 (September 16, 2025) alongside the Collector Leviathan reveal.
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33 How They Work
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55 The player throws a flare in a chosen direction. The flare emits a bright light source that registers in the creature AI's stimulus system. Hostile creatures that use dual utility reasoning (like the Collector Leviathan) evaluate the flare's light stimulus against the player's presence, noise, and movement. If the flare's stimulus outweighs the player's, the creature shifts its attention toward the flare.
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77 The distraction is temporary. Because the AI "constantly re-evaluates the situation in real time" (as AI Gameplay Lead Antonio Munoz Gallego described it), the creature will shift focus back to the player if the player generates competing stimuli: moving too fast, making noise, or getting too close. This means flares create a window for evasion, not a permanent solution.
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99 Against the Collector Leviathan
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1111 The Collector Leviathan is the primary creature against which flares have been demonstrated. The Collector is described as "intelligent but easily irritable" with a dislike for "anything it does not recognize." Its four tentacles can grab, crush, and swat both players and vehicles. In the Sparse Plains biome where it lives, the open terrain offers limited natural cover, making flares one of the few reliable evasion tools.
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1313 The Collector has a shockwave attack that can knock flares away from their landing position. This counter-mechanic prevents flares from being an easy, guaranteed escape. Players must account for the possibility that the shockwave will displace their distraction, requiring quick repositioning or a second flare.
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1515 Evasion Strategies
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1717 Flares work best as part of a broader evasion approach rather than as a standalone solution:
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1919 StrategyHow Flares FitThrow and swimThrow a flare in the opposite direction from the escape route, then swim quietly away while the creature investigates the light.Combined with darknessTurn off the flashlight and throw a flare. The creature's AI weighs the flare's light against other stimuli; reducing personal light output makes the flare more effective.Multiple flaresIf the shockwave knocks the first flare away, a second flare can re-establish the distraction.Cover approachUse a flare to draw the creature away from a terrain feature, then use that feature as cover to break line of sight.
2020 Responses by Species
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2222 Field reports and patch notes now document how individual species react to a lit flare. The table below covers the confirmed cases.
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2424 SpeciesResponseNibbler MangoPacified outright: it fixates on the light, rolls in the water, and follows a thrown flare.MarrowbreachStrongly attracted. Throw the flare away from your route to pull it off patrol; avoid holding one.HammerheadDrawn to flares as a distraction; Hotfix 3 fixed a bug where individuals occasionally ignored them.Collector LeviathanDistracted while it re-evaluates stimuli, but its shockwave can knock a flare away from where it landed.
2525 No-weapons philosophy
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2727 Flares embody the no-weapons philosophy in action. Rather than damaging or killing the Collector Leviathan, the player outsmarts its AI through environmental manipulation. The flare does not harm the creature; it exploits the stimulus system's light-reactivity to redirect attention. Design Lead Anthony Gallegos stated: "The solution shouldn't just be bash them until dead. That's boring af." Flares represent the kind of creative, non-lethal problem-solving the developers intend.
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2929 What Remains Unknown
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3131 Crafting recipe and material requirementsHow many flares can be carried at onceDuration of the light emission before the flare burns outWhether flares work against all hostile creatures or primarily against leviathansWhether upgraded or specialized flare variants exist