Revision 16

The Wakemaker is a handheld propulsion tool in Subnautica 2, not a vehicle. It is a battery-powered twin-fan device the player holds and uses to boost swim speed across the oceans of Proteus. Because it occupies the player's hands and runs on a battery, it sits in the tools and equipment roster rather than the vehicles lineup. The only buildable vehicle in the current Early Access build is the Tadpole.

Overview

The Wakemaker is a personal-mobility tool built around two fans that drive the player forward faster than unaided swimming. It is the early traversal upgrade most players reach for when they want to cover distance between dive sites or outrun a slow threat. As a handheld tool it provides speed only: it offers no cockpit, no storage, no oxygen supply of its own, and no protection from creatures or environmental hazards. For enclosed travel and depth progression, players rely on the Tadpole instead.

Key Features

The following details are confirmed for the current build:

How It Works

The Wakemaker's two fans generate forward thrust when the player activates it, raising movement speed above the baseline swim rate. While it is running, the player's view is partly obscured by the effect of the device, a trade-off for the extra speed. Because it draws from a battery, sustained use drains charge over time, so players carry spare power or return to a base to recharge during longer expeditions. Exact speed values, battery duration, and the recipe's precise material costs have not been published, so those specifics are not documented here.

Unlocking the Wakemaker

Like most equipment in the game, the Wakemaker is gated behind the scan-to-unlock progression. Its blueprint becomes available after the player scans several fragments scattered across the world. Once the blueprint is unlocked, the tool is crafted at a Fabricator. This mirrors the wider crafting and resources loop, where exploration and scanning drive access to new gear.

Crafting the Wakemaker

Scanning three Wakemaker fragments unlocks the blueprint. Eight fragments sit within roughly 270 meters of the Lifepod in the starting region, inside wrecked crates, under plateaus and in the first colonist camp, so only the nearest three are needed. The tool cannot be made at the Lifepod's Fabricator; it needs a Fabricator inside a powered base, which makes a small solar-powered starter base the practical prerequisite. The recipe below is the launch-build cost and no patch note through Buddy System Hotfix 1 (September 2026) has changed it.

Silver is the gating material: it is mined from cave walls and ceilings north of the Lifepod, and Hotfix 2 and Early Access 1.1 both added Silver deposits and a hint line to make it easier to find. The battery drains with use and is swapped from the tool's reload menu; Early Access 1.2 fixed a bug where a fully drained Wakemaker made the player slower than swimming without one.

Role in Player Mobility

The Wakemaker sits at the personal-mobility tier of traversal. It is the fastest way to move on foot, so to speak, before committing to a built vehicle. The table below places it alongside the other traversal options in the current build:

Multiplayer Considerations

The Wakemaker fits Subnautica 2's co-op multiplayer. Each diver can carry and use their own Wakemaker to keep pace with the group, and because it is a personal tool rather than a shared vehicle, several players can use one at the same time without contention. For group descents that need to move bulk cargo or many players together, the Dive Elevator covers that role instead.

What Remains Unknown

As of September 2026, the following Wakemaker details are still not stated in the first-party patch notes or roadmap:

• The exact numerical swim-speed boost over baseline swimming

• Battery capacity and how long a charge lasts in use

• Whether it has upgrade modules or higher tiers