Subnautica 2: What to Build in Your Base First — Priority Order Guide

TL;DR

• Build power first — Solar Panels on the roof are your easiest early power source.
• Place a fully functional Fabricator inside as your top interior priority.
• Add storage (Wall Lockers) immediately — the Lifepod fills up fast.
• Install a Habitat Beacon so you can always find your base.
• Build a Biobed to set your respawn point at your base instead of the Lifepod.
• Plan space for a Moonpool early — retrofitting it later is a pain.
• Replace Solar Panels with Hydroelectric Turbines near an underwater current once unlocked.

Getting a base built is one thing. Knowing what to put inside it is another. A lot of new players in Subnautica 2 build their first room, stare at an empty shell, and then either fill it with the wrong things or waste time and materials on upgrades they do not need yet.

This guide covers exactly what to build first, in order, and why each piece matters. No fluff, no decorations — just the structures that actually change how well you survive.

If you have not unlocked the Habitat Builder yet, start with our guide on how to unlock the Habitat Builder and start building a base in Subnautica 2.

Before You Build — Stockpile Titanium

Almost everything in a Subnautica 2 base costs Titanium. Rooms, corridors, foundations, hatches, Solar Panels — it all burns through it faster than you expect. Before you place a single structure, stockpile far more Titanium than you think you need. Collect it from the seabed and coral formations in your starting area until your inventory is full, then go back for more.

Running out of Titanium mid-build and having to stop to gather more is one of the most common frustrations new players face. Front-load the gathering and it will not happen to you.

Priority 1: Foundation and Structure

Before you place any rooms, lay a Standard Foundation. Skipping it works in the short term but causes structural problems as your base grows. It gives you a stable build platform and keeps everything level on the seafloor.

Once the foundation is down, place a Room (5x Titanium). This is your main interior space. Everything important — your Fabricator, storage, Biobed — goes inside. Corridors (2x Titanium each) are cheaper but give you almost no interior space for machinery. Use corridors to connect rooms later, not as your primary living space.

Add a Hatch (1x Titanium, 1x Quartz) to create an entry point. Once you have power, the interior fills with oxygen and becomes a proper habitat.

Priority 2: Power — Solar Panels First

A base without power is a dark, airless box. Power is what makes the interior breathable and the equipment functional. Your first job after placing a room and hatch is getting power online.

subnautica 2 solar panels

Solar Panels are the right choice for your first base. They attach to the exterior roof, require minimal materials, and need zero maintenance. In shallow water — which is where your first base should be — they generate a reliable 1 to 8 power. Check your current power production and draw at any time by getting close to your base and looking at the indicator in the top left corner of the screen.

Install at least two Solar Panels when you start. More panels mean more power buffer for when you add energy-hungry equipment later. Place a Habitat Beacon at the same time — it marks your base with a permanent waypoint so you can always find your way home.

Solar Panel Limitation to Know

Solar Panels do not work at night and lose effectiveness past 200 meters depth. For an early shallow base they are fine, but plan to upgrade. The best long-term replacement is a Hydroelectric Turbine placed inside a natural underwater current (the blue flowing tunnels you see in the ocean). Turbines generate steady power around the clock regardless of depth. You connect them to your base using Power Transmitters. Build your first base near a current so this upgrade is easy to install when the time comes — roughly 60 meters east of your Lifepod there is a strong current that goes right up to the surface.

Other power options unlocked later include the Bioreactor (burns organic material, generates 10–20 energy per second) and the Thermal Generator (uses geothermal heat near volcanic zones).

Priority 3: Fully Functional Fabricator — Most Important Interior Item

The moment your base has power, build a Fabricator inside it. This is the entire reason you built a base in the first place.

Fabricator recipe: 1x Titanium, 1x Copper, 1x Quartz — mount it on any interior wall.

The Lifepod’s Fabricator is damaged and restricted. It cannot produce Wiring Kits, System Chips, or other advanced components required to progress the story. Your base Fabricator removes all those limits immediately. The moment it is powered and running, your full crafting menu opens up. Wiring Kits, advanced batteries, First Aid Kits, prepared meals — all of it becomes available.

Everything else in this guide is secondary to getting this Fabricator running. Do not build anything else inside until it is placed and working.

Priority 4: Storage — Wall Lockers Everywhere

Storage is the second most urgent thing after the Fabricator. The Lifepod storage fills up within the first hour of serious resource gathering, and portable lockers are not a real solution. Wall Lockers are.

Each Wall Locker holds 20 inventory slots and mounts directly onto walls, so they take up no floor space. Build them at the top and bottom of the same wall section and you double your storage in one small footprint. The blueprint for Wall Lockers unlocks automatically when you scan two Habitat Builders — it comes free with the Habitat Builder unlock.

Items stored in lockers are automatically accessible at nearby crafting stations. You do not have to manually carry materials from storage to your Fabricator. The game does it for you within a generous radius. Line every available wall with lockers. You will use all the space eventually.

Priority 5: NOA Terminal — Stay Connected to Story Progression

The NOA Terminal blueprint also unlocks automatically when you unlock the Habitat Builder. Build one inside your base as soon as you have the space. It lets you communicate with NOA from your base instead of having to swim back to the Lifepod every time a new signal drops.

This is a small but meaningful quality-of-life upgrade. Every NOA mission update requires interacting with a terminal. Having one at your base means you spend less time commuting and more time exploring.

Priority 6: Biobed — Move Your Respawn Point

Every time you die before you have a Biobed in your base, you respawn at the Lifepod. If your base is far from the Lifepod — which it should be — that is a long swim back to your gear every single time.

The Biobed sets your respawn point to your base. It also lets you change your character appearance and gives access to inventory slot upgrades found at Colonist Bunkers.

To unlock the Biobed blueprint, find and scan one at the Colonist Bunker located approximately 220 meters southeast of your Lifepod at a depth of 42 meters. Once scanned, build it inside your base immediately. Interacting with it at your base sets it as your active respawn point.

Colonist Bunker Biobeds also give permanent upgrades — inventory slots and extra hotbar slots — when you interact with them in the world. Visit every Colonist Bunker you find while exploring. There are at least four in the early game area.

Priority 7: Scanner Station — Find Resources on Demand

The Scanner Station is one of the most useful utility structures in the game. Once built and powered (it draws 10 energy per second while active), it tracks the exact location of any resource within 300 meters of your base. Ores, habitats, wrecks, and anomalies all show up.

To unlock it, scan a Scanner Station Fragment inside Camp One, approximately 250 meters north-northeast of your Lifepod. Once built, interact with it, select a resource, and a marker appears in the world pointing you directly to the nearest deposit. Tag specific nodes to get a precise in-game bullseye marker that shows the material and distance as you swim.

One Scanner Station can only track one resource at a time. If you need to track multiple things simultaneously, build multiple stations — but generally one is enough.

Priority 8: Moonpool and Vehicle Dock — Plan Early, Build When Ready

The Moonpool (5x Titanium) creates an opening in your base floor that connects directly to open water. You swim up through it to enter your base from below, and vehicles dock here. The Tadpole Dock and Vehicle Fabricator attach to the Moonpool and are how you build, maintain, and upgrade your Tadpole submarine.

The Moonpool must be built into the floor of a standard room. The critical thing to plan for: there needs to be enough vertical clearance between the Moonpool hatch and the seafloor for your Tadpole to physically fit underneath. If you build your base flat against the seabed with no gap, the game blocks you from using the Moonpool correctly. Elevate at least one room off the ground when you build your base, even if you are not placing the Moonpool immediately.

You do not need the Moonpool on day one, but you need to have planned the space for it. Retrofitting it into a poorly laid-out base is the most common base-building mistake in Subnautica 2.

Priority 9: Biolab — Manage Biomods From Base

The Biolab lets you swap your Active and Passive Biomods directly from your base instead of having to travel to an external facility. Early on you can use the Biolab at the Welcome Center (85 meters southeast of your Lifepod), so this is not urgent. Once you have your base built out and are regularly adjusting Biomods before expeditions, having one at home saves significant travel time.

Power Sources Ranked — What to Use and When

• Solar Panels — Start here. Easy to build, no maintenance, good for shallow early bases. Shut off at night and stop working below 200 meters.
• Hydroelectric Turbines — Upgrade to these as soon as possible. Placed inside underwater currents, connected via Power Transmitters. Run 24 hours a day regardless of depth. Best mid-game power source.
• Bioreactor — Burns organic material (Fibrous Pulp, Pent, etc.) for 10–20 energy per second. Good backup power that works anywhere. Can be switched on and off as needed.
• Thermal Generator — Uses geothermal heat near volcanic areas. Extremely powerful in later biomes but not relevant for early bases.

Building Tips to Avoid Common Mistakes

• Do not build too close to the Lifepod. Story objectives push you east. Build at a distance so return trips are not exhausting.
• Do not build too deep early on. Solar Panels stop working below 200 meters. Keep your first base within 50 meters of the surface if possible.
• Build near a current. You will want a Hydroelectric Turbine eventually. Having one nearby from the start saves you chaining Power Transmitters across long distances.
• Leave floor space for the Moonpool. Plan for it before you need it, not after.
• Demolish freely. Press Q and left-click to deconstruct any structure and get all materials back. Nothing is permanent. Build wrong, refund it, try again.
• Do not skip the Foundation. It looks unnecessary but saves headaches as your base expands.

Recommended Build Order Summary

1. Foundation → Room → Hatch
2. Solar Panels (exterior roof) + Habitat Beacon
3. Fabricator (interior wall)
4. Wall Lockers (fill every available wall)
5. NOA Terminal
6. Biobed (scan first at Colonist Bunker 220m southeast)
7. Scanner Station (scan fragment at Camp One, 250m NNE)
8. Moonpool + Tadpole Dock + Vehicle Fabricator (when ready for the Tadpole)
9. Biolab (quality of life, not urgent)
10. Hydroelectric Turbine (replaces Solar Panels for 24/7 power)

More Guides to Help You Progress

• How to unlock the Habitat Builder and start building a base — Fragment locations and crafting recipe.
• Fix the “requires fully functional Fabricator” error — Now you know exactly how to solve it.
• How to craft the Scanner — Required for unlocking the Scanner Station and other blueprints.
• How to unlock blueprints and crafting recipes — Scan everything inside ruins to unlock base furniture.
• How to cure Digestive Incompatibility — Sort out food before long building runs.
• Best early food sources in Subnautica 2 — Stay fed while gathering building materials.
• Where to find Copper in Subnautica 2 — You need a lot of it for the Fabricator and wiring.
• How to make water in Subnautica 2 — Stay hydrated during long resource runs.
• How to swim faster in Subnautica 2 — Cover more ground between base and resource spots.
• Best early upgrades and progression path — What to prioritize alongside base building.
• How to get the Flashlight blueprint — Useful for scanning inside dark structures.
• Subnautica 2 multiplayer co-op guide — Build and survive with up to three friends.
• Subnautica 2 beginner tips and tricks — The complete new player survival guide.
• Subnautica 2 Early Access launch times — When the game went live in your region.
• Subnautica 2 PC requirements — Make sure your setup is ready.
• Subnautica 2 release date, platforms, and price — Everything about where to play.

Get Subnautica 2 on Steam or play through Xbox Game Preview during Early Access right now.