The Sonic Resonator is a handheld tool in Subnautica 2 that fires a short pulse of focused sound. It has two jobs: it shatters the hardened mineral deposits that hand-gathering and the Survival Multitool cannot break, and it pushes aggressive lifeforms away without killing them. That second role fits the game's no-weapons design.
Before the resonator is in hand, large ore veins report that an unknown tool is required, so it functions as a hard gate on the mid-game resource tier rather than a convenience. The in-game description presents it as an industrial phased-array sound amplifier repurposed for mining, with several components in its blueprint that do not match any known human engineering.
How to Unlock It
The blueprint is not crafted from a recipe card. The player unlocks it by scanning two separate Sonic Resonator fragments in the world with the Scanner. Two fragments sit inside the Old Habitat in the Anemone Hills area, which is the fastest way to clear the requirement in one trip. Further fragments are scattered around the wrecks and caves of the Coral Gardens and the shallow start zone, and at least one sits on a cliffside near the Karakorum Power Plant in the deeper Karakorum region, so a player who misses the Old Habitat pair has several alternatives.
Recipe
Once the blueprint is unlocked, the tool is built at the Fabricator.
Component | Quantity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
2 | Refined from titanium at a processor | |
Lead | 2 | Common early-game ore |
Wiring Kit | 1 | Intermediate electronics component |
1 | The finished tool runs on a battery and needs recharging |
Using It
Mining. A pulse fractures large resource deposits that cannot be picked up by hand, including the nodes flagged in the interface as needing a resonator. Some resource nodes carry a resonatable flag and some do not, and Early Access 1.1 corrected several that had the wrong flag.
Bloom clearing. The pulse breaks apart Bloom growths, which is the main way of pushing back the Blight infestation in an area.
Creature deterrence. A pulse aimed at an aggressive creature drives it off rather than killing it. Since Early Access 1.1, most creatures also enter a brief dizzy state after being hit, and hold off retaliating for a short window afterward except in self-defense.
Power. The resonator draws from a battery, so it runs down with use and has to be swapped or recharged at a base.
Confirmed deterrence targets in the current build include buried and free-swimming Sandspears, a Bullethead already on its attack run, and Electric Geordies clamped to the Tadpole, several of which detach from a single pulse.
The Buddy System update on August 19, 2026 extended the creature stun to ten seconds, which is long enough to swim past a blocked corridor or finish a resource node without being interrupted.
Feedback Resonator Upgrade
The Sonic Resonator is the base item for the Feedback Resonator, an upgraded version built at a Modification Station. The upgrade converts the close-range pulse into a projectile with real reach, which matters against armored Bloom growths that are dangerous to approach. Building it consumes a Sonic Resonator, so the player needs one in hand before starting the upgrade.
Related Pages
Tools and Equipment
Feedback Resonator
No-Weapons Philosophy