Subnautica has given many of us an incredibly positive gaming experience. With such a unique environment and easy-to-grasp mechanics, it is easily one of the most creative and engaging open-world survival games ever made.
One of the most comprehensive portions of the game is building your base(s). There's a lot to think about when you're making your humble (or not so humble) abode, and it can be a daunting task getting started. Here are some things to think about when making your seabase:
Updated February 5, 2022 by Jerrad Wyche: Despite the sequel to Subnautica, Subnautica: Below Zero, releasing in 2021, there are still tons of players hopping into the original underwater adventure for the first time. The world seems peaceful at first, but the more you discover, the more complicated everything becomes. Some of the systems in survival games can become overwhelming, but with a few helpful tips, you can make the most out of it.
13 Avoid Locker/Window Combos
In games where you can partially customize the interiors of certain rooms, it's always important to consider how the addition of one object could affect the others. In Subnautica, lockers are a beautiful storage solution, but they can cause a ton of headaches if their location isn't given some thought before they're crafted. Building a locker near a window or reinforcement means that if you want to remove those last two items you'll first have to tear down the locker. Save yourself the frustration and plan ahead accordingly.
12 Ladder Location Is Essential
A ladder is a tool designed to help us humans ascend to places above us more easily. How hard can it be to place a ladder and why does it matter where it goes? Well, the answer to that may not be complicated but it is useful to know. Ladders act as pseudo-teleporters in Subnautica and the decision to build a vertically oriented base could lead to a more efficient and streamlined operation. All of those saved minutes of traversal will add up by the time you're done with the game.
11 Efficient Power Usage
Subnautica operates in a fashion in which the systems in place for all of the technology and tools you are using work together in specific ways. One interaction to be cognizant of is that a biofuel reactor can't generate power at the same rate that two water filtration units use said power. It's off by only the slightest amount, but it's enough to drive you crazy if it's a realization you have in the middle of a project in which you're balancing several tasks at once.
10 The Shallows
Starting out in the game, you'll find yourself in the shallows; a relatively safe area with a lot of resources and a wide variety of life. You'll be spending a lot, and we do mean a lot of time here, especially in the early going.
There are a ton of resources here that you'll need for the early-going stages, and building your first base somewhere here allows you to swim around grabbing stuff to expand. Later on, you'll probably want a big base somewhere else, but starting out, you can't get better than here.
9 Multipurpose Rooms
Multipurpose Rooms are probably going to be the bread-and-butter of your base. You can put just about anything you're going to need in these, and they're super versatile with where you can place them. You can connect them side-by-side with a small tunnel linking them together, you can stack them vertically with a ladder leading to and from, you can stick lockers in them, you can stick growbeds in them, you can throw in a bioreactor; you get the idea. You're going to be using a lot of these.
8 Solar Panels
As soon as you enter your base for the first time, you'll notice that it lacks one important thing: oxygen. Powering your base will solve this problem, and there are quite a few different ways you can do so. The easiest, most low-maintenance way to do this is with Solar Panels. These work best the closer they are to the surface, making them great for powering your first base in the shallows. They give less power the darker it gets, but each Solar Panel holds a charge of 75 energy, so as long as you have enough of them, your base should still stay powered throughout the night. Litter the top of your base with them, and you won't have to worry about power for quite a while.
7 Hull Integrity
You'll notice pretty quickly that every time you build a new section of your base, your Hull Integrity changes. This can become a pretty significant problem if not managed properly, but it's pretty easy to keep this under control.
Each Foundation that you place will increase your Hull Integrity by quite a bit, as well as Reinforcements on the wall, and Bulkheads separating different sections of your base. Properly supporting your base can cost quite a bit of Titanium, so make sure you've got a healthy stockpile when you're building.
6 Aesthetics
All this talk about Hull Integrity might lead you to think that structurally sound bases have to be built for function and not style, but that's not the case. The tug-of-war between making your base look pretty without turning it into a crushed can... can be a constant struggle, but a balance can be struck without sacrificing too much in the beauty department. Each window you add will decrease Hull Integrity, as do Observatories. But, there are plenty of places you can put Foundations that aren't an eyesore, and you don't need to place many Reinforcements to keep that Hull Integrity safe. Just tactically place Reinforcements in places where there's not a good view anyways, and you won't have a problem.
5 Moonpool
Down the road when you've got the Seamoth unlocked, you'll want to build a Moonpool in order to keep it charged and docked in your base. You'll need some room to maneuver directly below the Moonpool to get in and out quickly and to keep from needing to constantly repair the hull of your Seamoth. Keep it towards the edge, or at least the bottom of your base, and you're in good shape.
4 Growbed
Growbeds are going to make your life a lot easier. There are Growbeds that can be placed inside, as well as Growbeds that can be placed outside, so whatever it is you're looking to grow, you won't have much trouble. Growing potatoes is both a good way to keep an easy, early-game food source around that you don't really have to worry about too much, and it's also pretty convenient to throw into a Bioreactor if you've got one. Outside, you'll want to keep some Acid Mushrooms around for sure; you're going to need a lot of them.
3 Expansion
After you progress a bit, you'll definitely want to have multiple bases around. Not only is it convenient to have a base to duck into wherever you happen to be, but these can be integral to finding wrecks and resources. If nothing else, just throw a Scanner Room and a power source in. Each Scanner Room has a limited area in which it can detect whatever it is you're looking for, so spreading a few of them around the world can make finding what you're looking for a heck of a lot easier.
2 Beacons
Every place you happen to slap down a base, make sure to toss out a beacon, as well. Getting disoriented and losing your sense of direction is inevitable, and these beacons could very well keep you from swimming right into the open mouth of a wandering leviathan. The more beacons you've got out, the more detailed I would recommend making them; include depth, biome, resources around, etc. You'll probably need some kind of shorthand for this, but once you've got them out, it'll make navigating so much easier.
1 Base Locations
Once you start putting out multiple bases, it's a good idea to keep them around places that have unique resources. There are a ton of unique biomes in this game with unique resources and dangers, so having an easy place to both store those resources and duck from danger nearby is immensely helpful; not to mention some of these biomes are ludicrously deep underwater, so having the extra oxygen right there is great.