Subnautica Trophy Guide - Avid Achievers

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Arron is a featured team writer and lifelong gamer. Ever since he started playing games on his old SNES, he's been hooked. Once the Xbox 360 was released he quickly found himself hunting down achievements and trophies as fast as he could. There are plenty of games that he has only played for the achievements or trophies, but he also plays a little bit of everything, with a particular love for deep RPGs and skillful shooters. Currently, he is working to 100% both Pillars of Eternity games while he waits for the biggest upcoming releases and some standout indies.

General Tips

If you are a player entirely new to Subnautica before trying to tackle its Platinum trophy, there are some tips you should know. This is especially true for some of the game’s unique quirks and aspects that help set it apart from other survival titles out there. One of the biggest tips that may initially seem insignificant is to make sure you have chairs in your base.

Many of the game’s menus and information are found on its in-game PDA, but your hunger and hydration do not stop draining while you do so. However, sitting down in a chair pauses both of those meters from depleting, so you will want plenty of chairs throughout your base to sit down in while you spend time navigating the PDA.

Another big tip is to make sure that you take full advantage of beacons, as Subnautica does not have an in-game map like many survival games do. This makes beacons critical, as you can drop them to leave a waypoint next to essential areas or sections of the map that you want to return to that are always visible.

These beacons can even have their colors changed, allowing you to tag them with what their purposes are, whether you want green for food, fish, blue for resources, or whatever else makes sense to you.

Finally, you’ll want to make sure you capitalize on Subnautica‘s more hidden mechanics as well. A simple one of these is using the heat vents scattered across the map to cook food much faster than you can by yourself. You should also know that any crafting recipe that requires a battery can be completed with a drained battery that doesn’t have any charge in it.

While you can also recharge batteries eventually, this is a helpful way to get rid of dead batteries that you don’t want to spend the resources to recharge. Finally, you can significantly speed up base building and upgrades by taming the game’s Stalkers with any edible fish.

They only remain tamed for a limited period, but during that time, they will scavenge around the surrounding area and bring you valuable metal scrap.

Trophies

Getting Your Feet Wet

Rarity: Bronze
Average Percentage Achieved: 93.22%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 0

This trophy is extremely easy to get, and you will get it pretty much immediately. When you first start the game, you will be contained in a burning escape pod that will act as your initial base of operations.

Not only does it have a few healing items, but it has a crafting mechanism as well. After you put the fires out with the fire hydrant, you will be able to leave the pod, unlocking the trophy.

Once you’re free of the pod, you’ll want to work on gathering supplies and familiarizing yourself with the game’s controls. You should get some bottled water and fish to eat, but don’t cook them until you’re ready to eat them as they will rot rather quickly once cooked.

You also need to craft starting gear such as the Scanner, Survival Knife, Standard Oxygen Tank, Fins, and Repair Tool. Once you get the Scanner, you’ll want to start searching for wreckage from your old ship to scan to unlock new recipes and gear.

Personal Propulsion

Rarity: Silver
Average Percentage Achieved: 45.11%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 2

The first wreckage pieces you’ll want to focus on finding are for the Seamoth, a small pod submarine that will act as your primary mode of transport throughout your entire playthrough. To craft it, you will need first to create the Mobile Vehicle Bay. To do so, collect a total of 1 Titanium Ingot (10 Titanium), 1 Lubricant (1 Creepvine seed cluster), and 1 Power Cell (1 Silicone Rubber and 2 Batteries).

Once that is built, you can find the 3 Seamoth pieces in the Grassy Plateaus, which is the area near your pod covered in red grass. Once you have the Seamoth pieces scanned, you can craft it with 1 Titanium Ingot (10 Titanium), 1 Power Cell (1 Silicone Rubber and 2 Batteries), 1 Lubricant (1 Creepvine seed cluster), 2 Glass (4 Quartz), and 1 Lead.

After you have the Seamoth, you’ll want to turn your attention towards finding your first Degasi habitat on a floating island.

Seaside Living with an Ocean View

Rarity: Silver
Average Percentage Achieved: 39.68%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 3

Throughout the story, you will visit multiple Degasi bases, but the very first nets you this trophy and gives you some critical crafting recipes. Once you have your Seamoth, you’ll want to start from your pod and look to the southwest (to make this easier, you can craft a compass by finding a blueprint by a lifepod in the Kelp Forest near your pod).

If you aren’t sure whether or not you’re looking the right way, look for a static cloud that sits just above the horizon as it is right over the floating island you’re heading to. However, you shouldn’t embark until you have a Survival Knife, a Beacon, a Scanner, and some water in case you end up spending a lot of time there. There is always plenty of food to eat on the island.

Once you head towards the cloud, you will eventually come upon the island with a small shore that you can park your Seamoth by and climb onto the beach. You’ll want to drop your beacon there so that you have an easier time finding your way back.

You then want to start exploring and ensure you’re thorough in getting all of the valuable crafting blueprints. One of the most important of these is the Multipurpose room, which you’ll need to build your base.

Settling in for the Long Haul

Rarity: Silver
Average Percentage Achieved: 45.49%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 3

After you have the blueprint for the Multipurpose room, you’ll want to head back to your Lifepod and craft a Habitat Builder tool with 1 Wiring Kit (2 Silver), 1 Computer Chip (2 Table coral samples, 1 Gold, and 1 Coopper Wire), and 1 Battery (1 Copper and 2 Acid Mushrooms). Then, you can start building your base with whatever pieces and rooms you see fit.

This trophy will unlock once you create a Multipurpose room with six Titanium and put a hatch on it with one Quartz and two Titanium. Once you’ve started building your base, the first thing you should add to it is solar panels to give it energy so that you can power tools, have it provide you with oxygen, and have it serve a purpose.

You’ll also want to continue expanding and upgrading your base as you progress through the game, but there are three rooms that you should prioritize building as soon as possible. The first is the Moonpool, which can be used to upgrade your Seamoth. Then, you should get a Storage room. This will enable you to have one room to store all of your minerals and resources to keep them organized and efficient.

Finally, you should build a food farm that will let you grow food. If you fill it with Marblemelons, you’ll quickly have enough food to last you through the rest of the playthrough.

Another valuable addition to your base to consider are some Exterior Growbeds that you can use to grow Acid Mushrooms, Blood Oil, Creepvines, Deep Shrooms, and Gel Sacks that will all be very useful for crafting moving forward.

Ancient Technologies

Rarity: Silver
Average Percentage Achieved: 43.03%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 3

At some point, as you play, you’ll receive a message that will cause a 45-minute timer to appear on your screen and a waypoint. Luckily, the waypoint is not that far north from your Lifepod, so you shouldn’t be under too much pressure to get the objective done within the time limit.

Before you head to the waypoint, however, you will want to upgrade the storage of your Seamoth if you can and bring a beacon either way, as the island is an excellent place to gather mid-game resources, and you’ll likely head to it a few more times.

The only natural hazard around the island is the new Warper fish that can teleport you out of your Seamoth, but it is more of a nuisance than anything at this location.

At the marker, you will find an alien building that can only be accessed via a purple table located on the hill to your right when looking at the building’s forcefield. The trophy will pop when you get access to the building, a linear path on the inside that you’ll want to follow and interact with everything you can along the way.

After exploring the entire interior, you can head back to the exterior and explore the remainder of the island for Shale and Lithium, which are both extremely valuable. Once you’re done with this island and take all of the Shale and Lithium you can carry back to your base, you can head to the Jellyshroom Cave biome to find another Degasi base.

Follow the Degasi

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 33.03%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 3

This trophy is unlocked by finding your second Degasi base in the Jellyshroom Caves. The biome is at a depth of 250m, so if you can, you’ll have an easier time exploring the base after you upgrade your Seamoth’s depth module. Finding this biome is done by going to the Grassy Plateaus and finding the entrance to the caves near the waypoint you receive for Lifepod 17.

Once you enter the caves, the base is easy to find on the cave bed. This area will also introduce you to the enemy known as Crabsnakes. They are easy enough to avoid, but make sure that you don’t leave your Seamoth unattended for too long, as they can destroy it even if you aren’t using it.

While inside the base, make sure that you avoid the glowing plants as they deal a ridiculous amount of damage. You can then start exploring the base to gather blueprints. Make sure you grab the water filtration system before going outside the base to find the other blueprints.

You can find two for a new Seamoth Depth Module, two for a Seamoth Sonar Module, and three for a Sonar Module on the Cyclops. Once you have all of those, you can leave the biome without returning except to grab the valuable Magnetite mineral.

Extinction Event Avoided

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 35.48%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 3

After the passing of 3 in-game days, the reactor of the Aurora ship will explode in an exceptional spectacle. You will then be tasked with repairing the ship’s reactor and can do so at any time.

However, finishing up the second Degasi base is a great time. First, you’ll have to craft the Radiation suit, which you’ll receive a blueprint for once the reactor explodes. To prepare it, you need 2 Fiber Mesh (4 Creepvine Samples) and 2 Lead. You’ll have to equip all three pieces of the suit to negate the lethal radiation in the water surrounding the Aurora.

Before leaving to repair the reactor, make sure you take with you some charged Batteries as well as the Repair Tool, Laser Cutter, Propulsion Cannon, and a couple of Fire Extinguishers.

Once you head to the Aurora, you’ll want to aim for the middle, as massive Leviathan Reapers can spawn in front of and behind the ship. Try to avoid them, but take a good look because they are awesome-looking.

Once you find your entrance into the ship, follow the linear path until you make your way to Cargo Bay 3. The passcode for the door is 1454 and will open to let you continue deeper into the ship.

Eventually, you will make your way to a room with the ship’s drive cores that have 11 breaches on them that are easy to find by the sparks they spit out. Use your Repair Tool to fix all of them to unlock the trophy. You’ll also want to make sure you explore the ship as much as possible and scan everything you can find.

As you explore, you’ll find the Captain’s Quarters which has a locked door opened with the code 2679 that you need to get into to get a blueprint for the Neptune escape Rocket.

There is also a door to Cabin 1 locked and opened with the code 1869, and a Laboratory door opened with 6483. Once you have the reactor repaired, you can unequip the Radiation Suit and equip more optimal pieces of equipment.

Seamonsters

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 28.5%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 3

This trophy is earned by finding the third and last Degasi base in the Deep Grand Reef. To do this, you’ll need to equip your Seamoth with the MK2 depth module, but a MK3 will make it even easier. Once you’re ready to find the base, go to the shore of the floating island where you found the first one.

Then, go straight down to the seabed below and head south until you find an area with blue orbs that are tied to the floor. Look around until you find an arch of stone with three spheres tied to it, and go to the left of the arch to find the entrance to the Deep Grand Reef.

Once you get into the new biome, you’ll find the base directly to the north. Once you’re in, make sure you turn off the headlights of your Seamoth so that you don’t attract the Crab squids that can disable your Seamoth with an EMP attack.

You can get into the base through two entrances, but getting the trophy only unlocks if you go through the hatch on the top floor, so make sure you use that one. Once in the base, explore everywhere and scan everything possible, but make sure that you get the Alien Containment blueprint and the Creature Egg as you’ll need those for another trophy.

Man’s Best Friend

Rarity: Silver
Average Percentage Achieved: 26.2%
Missable: Yes
Difficulty: 2

This is Subnautica‘s only real missable trophy for hatching a Cuddlefish. Since you just got the Creature Egg from the last Degasi base, you can head back to your base to build the Alien Containment and get started on hatching it.

The Alien Containment requires 5 Glass and 2 Titanium and a Hatch that requires 1 Quartz and 2 Titanium. Once the tank is built, simply climb in and drop the egg. It will take 20 minutes to hatch once you drop it, and then you have to pick it up out of the tank and drop it outside of your base to get the trophy.

Find the Lost River

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 28.55%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 4

If you already have the MK3 depth module equipped for your Seamoth, you can go straight for this trophy after finding the last Degasi base. If not, you’ll have to head back to the base to navigate to the next area for the story. From the base, stick close to the floor and head north until your screen gets a green filter over it.

This denotes that you have entered the Lost River biome. Once in the Lost River, keep going straight and hug the wall to your right to avoid the reaper nearby until you come to a cluster of alien pillars. These are part of a facility you have to explore to unlock the trophy.

40-Foot Sub For One

Rarity: Silver
Average Percentage Achieved: 33.09%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 3

For this trophy, you’ll have to build the massive Cyclops submarine, which you’ll also need to continue progressing. In total, you have to scan nine fragments to craft the Cyclops that is split into its hull, bridge, and engine. The hull and bridge fragments are best found in the Mushroom Forest, and the engine fragments are found in a wreck within the Underwater Islands.

Once you have all the fragments, the Cyclops can be built at your Mobile Vehicle Bay with 3 Plasteel Ingots (3 Titanium ingot and 6 Lithium), 3 Enameled Glass (3 Glass and 3 Stalker Tooth), 1 Lubricant (1 Creepvine Seed Cluster), 1 Advanced Wiring Kit (1 Wiring Kit, 1 Computer Chip, and 2 Gold), and 3 Lead.

The Cyclops is built to operate as a mobile base and can be upgraded in several ways at its interior fabricator. T

o make progress through the rest of the game more manageable, you will eventually upgrade its depth module to MK2 or MK3, craft its Energy Efficiency Module, build the Sonar Module and Creature Decoy Tube Module before traveling to the Inactive Lava Zone. Getting all of the upgrades will help you in the long run, but they are not all necessary.

Ordered the Prawn

Rarity: Silver
Average Percentage Achieved: 32.49%
Missable: no
Difficulty: 3

After getting your Cyclops fully fitted, you should turn your attention towards the Prawn Suit. The Prawn Suit is a mech with two arms customized with different modules. To build the suit, you’ll need 2 Plasteel Ingot (2 Titanium Ingot and 4 Lithium), 2 Aerogel (2 Gel sack and 2 Rubies), 1 Enameled Glass (1 Glass and 1 Stalker Tooth), 2 Diamonds, and 2 Lead.

You’ll be best suited for the arm modules with the drill arm and the grapple arm. You should equip the Depth Module, Jump Jet Upgrade, Storage Module, and the Thermal Reactor for the four upgrade modules. Once you have your Prawn fully set up, place it in your Cyclops, and you’ll be ready to head to the Inactive Lava Zone.

Thermal Activity

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 26.09%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 4

Once you’re ready to continue, you’ll want to head towards the waypoint for Lifepod 12 in your Cyclops, which you received after crafting your Laser Cutter. Once you’re at the Lifepod, follow the seabed to the north until you reach a cave entrance to your left and below you. Once in the entrance, stick to the left wall and stay close to the bottom.

If you come across the Ghost Leviathan (which you most likely will), use your Cyclops’ decoys to distract it while you go below it through another entrance to a lower biome.

Go down in your Cyclops until you reach a depth of 1220m. Then, turn off your Cyclops to protect it from the highly aggressive Seadragon enemy. Then, leave your Cyclops in your Prawn Suit and go south/southwest until you reach a vast formation known as the Lava Castle. Along the way, you’ll find blue crystals called Kyanite that you’ll want to harvest with your drill arm.

You need a total of 18 Kyanite to craft everything. You will eventually find a tunnel that will lead you to a large room with an alien structure in the middle. Walk around its base to get your trophy, and then use your grapple arm to get up to the entrance.

Fourteen Thousand Leagues Under the Sea

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 25.71%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 4

Once you take your Kyanite back to your Cyclops to keep upgrading the depth module of your Cyclops and Prawn Suit, you can continue towards the next trophy. From where you parked your Cyclops for the previous trophy, you’ll need to follow the flowing lava southwards in your Prawn Suit.

This will lead you to another hole in the ground to drop down, but make sure you only go down if you have the grapple arm and jump jet upgrade equipped, as you need them to get back. In the large room, you enter, you’ll see a lake of lava with a building on the opposite side of it. That building is the Containment Facility, which you need to explore to get this trophy.

Optimal Health

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 25.16%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 4

At the end of the Containment Facility, you should come across five eggs from the Emperor Leviathan. You need to take those and activate two terminals to get the blueprint for the Hatching Enzyme. Then, search the nearby seabed until you find a strange glowing plant called a Sea Crown.

Hit it with your knife to collect one of its seeds before heading back to the room with the respawning ion cubes and grab all of them. In the room, there are six doors that each teleport you to a linear cave you must explore to gather materials for the Hatching Enzyme, although doors 2 and 5 both have data entries. You can do the doors in any order, but 1, 4, 6, 3 is the recommended order.

This will give you the resources to craft the Hatching Enzyme, which you should head back to either your base or your Cyclops to do. Once it is crafted, go back to the Moonpool by the Emperor Leviathan, drop the five eggs in it, and insert the hatching enzyme. You will then unlock the trophy and can return to your base.

Go Among the Stars

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 24.88%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 4

When working on the Neptune Escape Rocket, the first thing you should do is head back to the base found in the Ancient Technologies trophy and interact with the machine to disable the facility. This will allow you to escape the planet.

Then, you have to build the Rocket Base at your base with 4 Lead, 2 Titanium Ingots (20 Titanium), and 1 Computer Chip (2 Table Coral Samples, 1 Gold, and 1 Copper Wire).

You then can build the four components of the rocket, which will likely take some time and grinding for resources. Once it is built, you have to interact with the Auxiliary Power Unit, Communications Array, Hydraulic Systems, Primary CPU, and Life Support System before launching. Then, you can complete your time capsule.

Leave Only Time Capsules

Rarity: Gold
Average Percentage Achieved: 24.88%
Missable: No
Difficulty: 1

The last thing you have to do before launching is preparing your time capsule. This will be started when you reach the cockpit of your rocket and simply requires you to include one item, one screenshot, and a short message of your choosing. Then, you can launch and complete Subnautica.

FAQs

Question: Are there Any Missable Trophies in Subnautica?

Answer: The only missable trophy is Man’s Best Friend for hatching and releasing a Cuddlefish.

Question: Is Subnautica a Horror Game?

Answer: No, there are tense or scary moments in the game, but its focus is more on survival than horror.

Conclusion

When you unlock the platinum trophy in Subnautica, its alien oceans will feel like a second home. There is a lot of charm to find in its cute and sometimes unsettling fish, its esoteric flora, and the vast quietness that accompanies you on your journey.

The game offers a unique take on the survival genre, and it is worth playing for a lot more than just the trophies.