Looking for some advice in survival

JesmasterzeroJesmasterzero UK Join Date: 2016-05-24 Member: 217425Members
Hey all,

I really like Subnautica, but I'm struggling to make any progress. I usually enjoy trying to work stuff out for myself, but after having made literally no progress for about 3 hours (which is a lot of my available gaming time) I'm starting to get burned out. I'd rather not switch to an easier mode, but it's honestly getting a little frustrating.

I have 3 objectives at the moment that will help significantly. My main objective is to find some way of powering a base so that I can try and un-tether myself from the initial life pod after about 8 hours of game time. This will help me explore other biomes. I think I've found one part of a blueprint for solar panels, but that's it. I don't even know if that will do the job. So, I'm giving up and asking for advice! How do you power a base?

Next up is finding blast powder so I can craft a welder. I must have released 20 of those little buggers and I still don't have any blast powder. Is there a good place to farm them? Seems to take me ages to find a cave that even has them in and I'm now very, very bored of trying to find blast powder. A note to the devs if you're reading this: making blast powder basically a "luck of the draw" type thing sucks. I feel it goes against the exploratory nature of the game. I have spent ages in the shallows just trying to find blast powder, whereas everything else encourages you to explore the ocean.

My final mission is to make a laser cutter, but I'm pretty sure I'll find diamond by going down a bit deeper. Haven't found any yet at a depth of ~250 meters, but I haven't spent long looking.

I would ask this on the PC forum, but their version is different so powering bases etc might be different.

Thanks for your help!

Comments

  • Mini_GaaraMini_Gaara England Join Date: 2016-05-19 Member: 217049Members
    edited June 2016
    1. You can find multiple types to power bases but they all require fragments as far as I am aware, solar panels work better the closer they are to the sun. You will find the other fragments for the solar panels around the same spot you found the first.

    2. Blast powder might be bugged a little, if you can't find it after trying repeatedly you can either restarting a new world or do the following.
    Pressing down LB, RB, A ( if that does not work try LT, RT, A, I often forget the way xD ). then type "item crashpowder" ( I have not spawned it in before but I imagine that is the command.

    3. You can find diamonds lower down I think, but it is much easier to gather them in my opinion on the mountain island. ( Not the floating island )

    You can try to find the island by yourself but I will leave a link to a video where I show the locations of the islands. ( okay apparently I will leave the video, I thought it would just be the link xD

  • EverReddyEverReddy UK Join Date: 2016-05-23 Member: 217355Members
    edited June 2016
    My main objective is to find some way of powering a base so that I can try and un-tether myself from the initial life pod after about 8 hours of game time. This will help me explore other biomes. I think I've found one part of a blueprint for solar panels, but that's it. I don't even know if that will do the job. So, I'm giving up and asking for advice! How do you power a base?

    Is the Solar Panel blueprint in your PDA? You need to scan 2 fragments to complete it. Once you have the complete blueprint and and have fabricated a Habitat Builder you just need 2 quartz and 2 titanium to build one next to your base.
    Next up is finding blast powder so I can craft a welder. I must have released 20 of those little buggers and I still don't have any blast powder.

    This is a known bug and should be fixed in the next update. You can live without the Welder for a fair while though as you only really need it to make sub and base repairs. Just make sure you keep an eye on your base integrity while building. Fixing your life pod is nice, but in no way a requirement. I stopped looking for the stuff deliberately and just found one organically eventually. Much hair pulling saved there!
    My final mission is to make a laser cutter, but I'm pretty sure I'll find diamond by going down a bit deeper. Haven't found any yet at a depth of ~250 meters, but I haven't spent long looking.

    If you're still at the stage where you're working on sourcing power, I wouldn't bother with the Laser Cutter for a while as you only really need that to explore Wrecks. Focus on survival and base building. To save yourself loads of time, get yourself a sustainable source of food and water with a Large Aquarium so you're not chasing fish around all day, work towards a Radiation Suit to protect you in areas near the Arora and then a Seamoth and Moonpool. Once you have transport, the laser cutter and welder become far more useful and the parts much more easy to collect.
  • OlympicwolfOlympicwolf Join Date: 2016-05-22 Member: 217320Members
    For powering your first base, solar panels are your friend. Ineffective at deeper depths, but perfect for cutting that umbilical cord to the lifepod. The fragments can be found around the safe shallows and the nearby kelp forest. If you can't find any or get any to spawn (I had that issue for the longest time), then try to find some Bioreactor Fragments. They're also found in the kelp forest.

    For Crash Powder, its not really a "luck of the draw" deal. It 'should' spawn every single time you lure a Crash out of it's plant, however there is a glitch that makes it so Crash Powder simply doesn't exist in some people's games. The remedy for those unfortunate few such as yourself is to resort to Console Commands, which can be accessed with RB+LB+A or mashing both triggers, bumpers, and A+B+X+Y until it pops up, whatever works for you. Commands can be found at http://subnautica.wikia.com/wiki/Debug_Console_Commands.

    Diamonds are plentiful in the underwater islands, but can also be found at the mountain islands to the south of the Aurora or in the nearby volcanic geyser in the safe shallows if you're lucky.

  • Mini_GaaraMini_Gaara England Join Date: 2016-05-19 Member: 217049Members
    Made a quick look at 3 of the power options in action, sort of. Someone else can explain the thermal plant :P. I left the locations of things out in case you want to explore for them.
  • WarViperWarViper Texas Join Date: 2016-04-27 Member: 216062Members
    OP here is a good guide for starting out. Also please note that subnautica is not a very fast game and starting out can take a long time until you get some crucial items to help speed things along.

    1. find solar panel fragments. They are found in the starting area around the life pod. Solar panels are effective down to about 150 meters or so and after that they really aren't worth using until you get the other power options.
    2. Build a starter base and a large aquarium and stock it with a fish named "reginald" and maybe some airsacks for easy water. These are the best food in your current build of the game.
    3. find the Seamoth. Stack up on a few air tanks and a sea glide with a couple extra batteries. Parts for the seamoth can be found fairly deep between the kelp forrest and the floating island. The seamoth makes survival so much easier and it gets you around the map quickly. It can also be equiped with extra cargo storage for those extended gathering trips.
    4. Find the moon pool fragments. This is crucial to maintaining your seamoth and recharging it so you don't have to craft new power cells (Tip if your seamoth runs out of power the battery is located on the bottom side of the seamoth. Just click on it to change out the power cell if you have a fresh one in your inventory.) The moon pool fragments are located in the Grand reef zone which is easily recognized by the large blue floating orb plants and numerous membrane trees. Be careful exploring at this depth since if you do not have a seamoth pressure module upgrade you will be pushing your seamoth to its default crush depth of 200 meters. Use the seamoths lights to locate containers and then swim out to scan them as there is no limit to how far you can dive when outside of a vehicle.
  • JesmasterzeroJesmasterzero UK Join Date: 2016-05-24 Member: 217425Members
    Wow thanks for the tips everyone, very much appreciated :smiley:
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