The short version: Subnautica 2’s Early Access map has 12 biomes in three regions, plus the Void, and the Subnautica Wiki puts them anywhere from the surface to 750 m down. Depth decides which resources you can reach, but it is rarely what stops you. A tool, a body adaptation or a leviathan crossing does. Titanium, Quartz and Copper are everywhere. Lead and Silver need one trip out of the Shallows. Gold, Sulfur and Lithium sit behind the Sonic Resonator and the Heat Tolerance adaptation. Celestine, Atacamite and Troilite sit in the deep east, past a Collector Leviathan.
Everything below was checked against that wiki on 8 October 2026, the week after Early Access 1.2’s second hotfix (6 October). Where the wiki’s own pages disagree, I show both numbers. New to the game? Start with our Subnautica 2 beginner’s guide, then use this page to plan routes.
Quick start: a dive order that respects every gate
This order is mine, built from the requirements in the rest of the guide. It is not an official route.
- Take Pressure Tolerance in Sleep Bay 3. The wiki says you cannot leave the room without it, and it is the one adaptation that needs no Bloom clean-up (Pressure Tolerance page).
- Stock Titanium, Copper and Quartz in the Shallows and scan Sonic Resonator fragments. Several sit shallow: Hills Wreck 1 (20 m), Camp One (33 m) and the Old Habitat (55 m).
- Visit the Lead Zone (34–65 m) for Lead. The wiki’s Lead page lists the Sonic Resonator recipe as 2 Titanium Ingots, 2 Lead, a Wiring Kit and a Basic Battery.
- Get a Rebreather before 100 m. Fragments sit in the Lander Garage wreck (50 m, needs a Repair Tool) and on the south edge of the Necrolei Hills (25 m).
- Build the Tadpole. It takes 3 fragments, found between 35 and 150 m. Our Tadpole vehicles guide covers chassis and modules.
- Cure two Bloom Nodes for Heat Tolerance, then enter the Graveyard.
- Raise crush depth before going under 250 m (details in the gates section).
- Cross the Intermediary Basin last, with Distraction Flares in the quick bar.
All 12 Early Access biomes at a glance
The Graveyard is the first biome that needs a real unlock, and the Intermediary Basin is where a patrolling predator can end a run in one grab. Depths below come from each biome’s own wiki page; a later section covers where the overview table disagrees.
| Biome | Depth (wiki) | Resources worth the trip | Main threat | Gate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shallows | 3–224 m | Titanium, Copper, Quartz | Marrowbreach with Houndgars | None |
| Plateaus | 23–119 m (overview) | Silver, Copper | Marrowbreach | None |
| Necrolei Hills | 0–100 m | Necrolei Cyst, Silver | None documented | None |
| Dolerite Spires | 0–128 m | Lithium (inside the Great Jaw), Silver | Great Jaw, Hammerhead | Sonic Resonator for Lithium |
| Lead Zone | 34–65 m | Lead, plus Tadpole and Rebreather fragments | None documented | None |
| North and South Raceway | 0–85 m (South) | Copper, Salt, Quartz | None documented | None |
| Graveyard | 80–310 m | Gold, Sulfur, Salt; Lithium in the caves | Marrowbreach, Houndgars, vent heat | Heat Tolerance |
| Intermediary Basin | 0–250 m (overview) | Celestine, Salt | Collector Leviathan | Leviathan crossing |
| Overgrown Ruins | 210 m | Lead, Salt, Gold, Sulfur | Needler Mango | Basin crossing, Sonic Resonator |
| Root Canyon | 364–750 m | Celestine, Gold, Sulfur, Conduit Crystal | Collector, Twin Sitaray, Epicurean | Crush depth (450 m module) |
| Karakorum Metal Farms | 470 m | Troilite, Atacamite, Celestine | Collector above, Epicurean, Twin Sitaray | Feedback Resonator |
| The Void | 0 to 5,000+ m | None | Shiver Leviathan pack | Early Access Barrier |
Four gates decide your route, and depth is only one
Depth never blocks you on its own: the wiki’s Depth page says the player takes no damage from depth, however far down they swim. What depth changes is how fast your air drains and how long your vehicle survives.
| Gate | What it stops | How you pass it |
|---|---|---|
| Depth: air | Oxygen drain rises with depth. Base supply is 45 seconds. | Rebreather flattens the drain; the High Capacity Air Tank lifts supply to 120 seconds. |
| Depth: hull | The Tadpole takes constant damage below its crush depth: 250 m with no module, 450 m with Mk. 1, 800 m with Mk. 2. | Depth Module datacards. Mk. 2 is unavailable in Survival Mode for now. |
| Adaptations | Heat blocks the Graveyard; Axum Vision blocks the Power Plant restart. | Cure the Bloom Nodes (Sonic Resonator for Heat, Feedback Resonator for Axum Vision), then the Angel Comb opens. |
| Tools | Deposits will not break by hand. | Sonic Resonator for most deposits, Feedback Resonator for Atacamite. |
| Leviathans | Two Collector Leviathans guard the way east. | Flares, surfacing, hiding under rocks, or (over the Metal Farms) staying below 350 m. |
Read as an if-then list, the gates become a troubleshooting tree:
- PDA says the resonator is “not strong enough”: you are trying to break Atacamite with the Sonic Resonator. Build the Feedback Resonator.
- You take damage near vents with no vehicle: you lack Heat Tolerance.
- The hull creaks: you are below crush depth. Turn up, or keep the Repair Tool out, because the wiki says it usually out-heals the damage, temporarily.
- Air vanishes below 100 m: equip the Rebreather before anything else.
- A sonar ping and a turn toward you: a Collector has noticed you. Break line of sight now.
One catch. The Tadpole Mk. 1 datacard is listed at about 294 m in the Karakorum Power Plant, below the 250 m crush depth of an unmodified Tadpole. The first trip down is therefore on foot or with hull damage you repair as you go. That is my reading of two wiki pages, so test it before you commit a Tadpole you cannot afford to lose.
Coral Gardens: eight biomes, one real unlock
Coral Gardens is the shallowest region and has the smallest population of aggressive life, but the wiki still lists the Marrowbreach among its predators, hunting with Houndgars that flash prey to dazzle it.
Shallows
The Shallows give you Titanium, Copper and Quartz with no gate at all. The wiki’s Shallows page also lists Silver and Medical Gel Sacs. Quartz is densest around the Coral Domes. If a Hammerhead rams your Tadpole, bright flares distract it; the wiki says it treats them as a threat.
Plateaus and Necrolei Hills
Silver is the reason to leave the Shallows. The Plateaus and Necrolei Hills both carry it, and the Necrolei Hills add Necrolei Cysts and Buds, the crafting input the biome is named for. Neither page documents a patrolling predator. Large, immobile jellies in the Plateaus are scenery, not danger.
Lead Zone
The Lead Zone is only 34–65 m deep and has sparse life, but it is the most important small biome in the game. Lead is the input for the Sonic Resonator, and the Lander Garage wreck on its east side holds fragments for the Tadpole, Rebreather and Repair Tool. Plan one early visit and you cover three bottlenecks.
Dolerite Spires
The Dolerite Spires hold the only Great Jaw in the game, a 62 m ambush clam that shuts on anything triggering its sensors and fills the shell with neurotoxin. Lithium pearls sit inside it. The wiki’s tip is to slip in through the west-side hole between the tendrils, and a loose Lithium on a nearby tailing table is the only piece you can take without a Sonic Resonator, per the Lithium page.
Graveyard
The Graveyard is a volcanic, sulfur-yellow biome where vents hurt you until you adapt. Heat Tolerance needs a Sonic Resonator: cure the western Bloom Node (about 230 m west of the Lifepod, under the Spider Dome) and the northern one (about 240 m north), then open the Angel Comb. It does not make you immune to standing on a vent. Once adapted, you get Gold, Sulfur and Salt on the surface, Lithium deposits in the Graveyard Caves, and the Tadpole Pens, which hold Tadpole fragments.
Raceways
The North and South Raceways are flat, sandy and mostly empty, with Copper, Salt and Quartz. They are fine for a base-material run and not much else.
Karakorum Ruins: where the tool chain gets long
Karakorum is the eastern region, and three biomes sit behind one idea: each rare material needs the previous tool. In order, it runs Lead, then Sonic Resonator, then Conduit Crystal, then Feedback Resonator, then Atacamite.
Overgrown Ruins
The Overgrown Ruins are the first Karakorum biome, and the wiki calls them mid-game because you must cross the trench with a Collector Leviathan to reach them. The page lists nine raw materials, but it also says you need the Sonic Resonator for the large deposits. Lithium is on that list; the Lithium page does not place it here, so do not plan a run around it. Needler Mangos guard the Needler Nest, the only source of Creature Enamel; they fire volleys of six needles for 2–3 damage each, per the wiki. The Observatory stays shut until the Power Plant is repaired.
Root Canyon and the Power Plant
The Root Canyon is the deepest accessible biome in the current build, at 364–750 m, and Beebom gives the same 365–750 m. Below the Karakorum Power Plant sits the Axum Vision Angel Comb at about 417 m. Axum Vision needs the Feedback Resonator, and the wiki puts the three Bloom Nodes between roughly 200 and 410 m. Repairing the turbine then costs 10 Axum Ingots, 10 Strontium and 10 Titanium Ingots. Below 450 m you are on foot or damaged, because the 800 m module is not yet obtainable in Survival. Expect Twin Sitarays: they bite for 15 and their electric pulse drains your vehicle’s power, per the Twin Sitaray page.
Karakorum Metal Farms
The Metal Farms hold the end-of-early-access materials: Troilite from respawning Mineralized Clinkers, Atacamite that only the Feedback Resonator can break, and Celestine. A Collector patrols above and, per the wiki, will not notice you if you stay below 350 m. The Epicurean bites for 25 and, when a Tongue Thief parasite sits on its tongue, turns more aggressive. The Sonic Resonator expels the parasite. At 470 m the Farms sit 20 m below the Mk. 1 module’s 450 m limit, so by the wiki’s numbers a Tadpole there takes slow hull damage, and the Feedback Resonator fragments lie at 420–472 m. I have not timed the damage.
The Intermediary Basin, the Void and the barrier
The Intermediary Basin is a mostly empty trench between Coral Gardens and Karakorum, and its one resident is a Collector Leviathan. That is one of two places where a predator literally patrols; the other is the water above the Metal Farms. The wiki lists a hit at 40 damage, a grab at 30, and being eaten at 150, which is an instant death cutscene. It cannot be killed.
What works, per the wiki: Distraction Flares, the Camouflage biomod, breaching the surface with the Tadpole, the Cavitation Muffler datacard from Root Canyon (about 375 m), and hiding under the table-like rocks. Stay under them too long and it reaches in with its tentacles. In co-op it tends to pick on the lagging Tadpole, so keep convoys tight; the Haul chassis in our vehicles guide seats four in one pod.
Past the map edge, the Early Access Barrier is an orange wall that shows up only up close. Cross it and a Shiver Leviathan spawns; the female does not attack, but the males that ride her chase at speed, and building is disabled beyond the wall. The Void on the other side is said to run past 5,000 m. Hotfix 2 stopped the Shiver from interacting with unpiloted vehicles, so a parked Tadpole should no longer attract it. The Scorpius region (360–660 m) is mostly outside the barrier and is the focus of the next update.
Resource lookup: what, where, and what you need
Quartz and Titanium need nothing, Lead and Silver need one trip, and the last four rows are the only ones that need a deliberate expedition.
| Resource | Where (wiki) | What you need |
|---|---|---|
| Titanium, Quartz | Every biome (Quartz: all except the Metal Farms) | Hands or any tool |
| Copper | Shallows, Plateaus, Necrolei Hills, Dolerite Spires, Lead Zone, Graveyard, Basin, Overgrown Ruins | Hands; Sonic Resonator for big deposits |
| Silver | Plateaus, Necrolei Hills, Graveyard, Dolerite Spires, Silver Mines | Hands; Sonic Resonator for big deposits |
| Lead | Lead Zone, Overgrown Ruins | Hands |
| Salt | Graveyard, Basin, Overgrown Ruins, Root Canyon | Hands |
| Gold, Sulfur | Graveyard, Thermal Vent Clusters, Root Canyon (Gold) | Heat Tolerance; Sonic Resonator for deposits |
| Lithium | Graveyard Caves, inside the Great Jaw | Sonic Resonator |
| Celestine | Basin, Needler Nest, Root Canyon, Metal Farms, below the Power Plant | Sonic Resonator |
| Conduit Crystal | Cliffs below the Power Plant | Sonic Resonator |
| Atacamite | Metal Farms, below the Power Plant | Feedback Resonator |
| Troilite | Metal Farms (respawning Clinkers) | Sonic Resonator |
Where the depth numbers disagree, and what I trusted
The wiki’s overview table and its biome pages do not always agree, so plan for the wider range and check your in-game depth readout. Early Access numbers also move with patches.
| Biome | Overview table | Biome page |
|---|---|---|
| Graveyard | 0–266 m | 80–310 m |
| Overgrown Ruins | 0–600 m | 210 m |
| Karakorum Metal Farms | 0–500 m | 470 m |
| Shallows | 0–224 m | 3–224 m |
| Oxygen drain below 100 m | Depth page: 2 per second at 100–199 m, 3 below | Rebreather page: 3 per second at 100–200 m, 5 below |
I used the biome page where it gives a number and the overview where it does not, and the chart above shows both. For oxygen I only rely on the steps at 100 m and 200 m, not the rates. Verified against the Subnautica Wiki on 8 October 2026; values may change with each Early Access patch.
Older and fan sources add noise. The fan map at Subnautica2Map still lists a Kelp Forest, a Crash Zone and a Brine-style route, and its own page calls some of that a “watchlist marker from pre-launch community references”; the wiki has no Kelp Forest in the current build, and “Sparse Plains” was the old code name for Scorpius. The wiki’s Anemone Hills address now redirects to the Plateaus. Our own creature guide predates the launch, so treat its biome labels with the same caution.
Which route fits your player type
| Player type | Do this | Avoid this |
|---|---|---|
| New player | Stay in Coral Gardens until you own the Sonic Resonator, Rebreather and Tadpole. Learn the Lead Zone first. | Crossing the Basin with a stock Tadpole and no flares. |
| Casual | One Graveyard trip after Heat Tolerance for Gold, Sulfur, Salt and Lithium together. | Chasing every Silver node; four early biomes carry it. |
| Hardcore | Scan the Axum metal farms to unlock the Metal Farm machine; the wiki lists recipes for it (a 20-minute Atacamite cycle, for one), so you may need each rare deposit only once. I have not verified yields. | Descending beyond 250 m in an unmodified Tadpole. |
| Completionist | Blackboxes in the Graveyard Caves, the Needler Nest enamel, and the Observatory after the turbine repair. | Planning for 100% of Scorpius; it is unfinished. |
If you would rather build than dive, the wiki says depth has no effect on seabases, so a deep base is as safe as a shallow one. Building is disabled beyond the barrier. Our base building guide covers the layout order, and the creatures guide lists what lives where.
What changes next
The wiki says the next update, EA2, centres on Scorpius, with new lifeforms such as the Tar Eel and Descender, and that the barrier will grow as biomes are added. Mk. 2 depth modules are not yet available in Survival. Early Access itself began on 14 May 2026, and the 1.2 Buddy System update added the co-op revives and trading that help group runs. Expect the depth table to shift, so re-check it after each patch.
FAQ
How many biomes are in Subnautica 2 Early Access?
Twelve by the wiki’s list: eight in Coral Gardens (counting both Raceways), three in Karakorum Ruins and the Intermediary Basin, plus the Void. Fan maps show more names, but several are leftovers from pre-launch speculation. I only counted biomes with their own wiki data page.
What is the deepest you can go?
Root Canyon, at 364–750 m, is the deepest accessible biome. The Void is deeper but sits behind the barrier with a Shiver pack, and the 800 m Tadpole module is not available in Survival yet. So 750 m is the practical floor.
Which biome should I farm first?
The Graveyard, once you have Heat Tolerance. It puts Gold, Sulfur, Salt and Lithium in one trip. The Overgrown Ruins list more materials, but they sit behind the Collector crossing and the wiki calls them mid-game, so they are the second stop. That is my judgement, not a game rule.
Is there a Kelp Forest in Subnautica 2?
Not in the current Early Access build. The wiki has no Kelp Forest page and lists none among its biomes. The nearest thing is Feather Kelp in the Shallows caves.
Sources
- Subnautica Wiki. Biomes (Subnautica 2) — regions, depth ranges, resources. Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Shallows (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Plateaus (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Necrolei Hills (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Dolerite Spires (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Lead Zone (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Graveyard (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Overgrown Ruins (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Root Canyon (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Karakorum Metal Farms (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Intermediary Basin (Subnautica 2; served at the old Sparse Plains address). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Scorpius (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Void (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Early Access Barrier (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Depth (Subnautica 2) — player oxygen and vehicle depth stages. Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Tadpole (Subnautica 2) — crush depth, fragments, upgrade datacards. Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Rebreather (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. High Capacity Air Tank (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Pressure Tolerance (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Heat Tolerance (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Axum Vision (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Karakorum Power Plant (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Sonic Resonator (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Feedback Resonator (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Lead (Subnautica 2 raw material). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Lithium (Subnautica 2 raw material). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Celestine (Subnautica 2 raw material). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Atacamite (Subnautica 2 raw material). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Troilite (Subnautica 2 raw material). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Collector Leviathan (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Great Jaw (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Marrowbreach (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Needler Mango (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Epicurean (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Twin Sitaray (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Subnautica Wiki. Shiver Leviathan (Subnautica 2). Subnautica Wiki
- Unknown Worlds. Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 — Buddy System Update. Steam Community announcements, 19 August 2026
- Unknown Worlds. Subnautica 2 Early Access Buddy System Hotfix 2. Steam Community announcements, 6 October 2026
- Wikipedia. Subnautica 2 — Early Access release on 14 May 2026. Wikimedia Foundation
- Beebom. All Subnautica 2 Biomes and Regions (updated 19 May 2026). Beebom
- Subnautica2Map. All 8 Early Access Biomes Explained (fan map). subnautica2map.com
I've been playing video games for over 20 years, spanning everything from early PC titles to modern open-world games. I started Switchblade Gaming to publish the kind of accurate, well-researched guides I always wanted to find — built on primary sources, tested in-game, and kept up to date after patches. I currently focus on Minecraft and Pokémon GO.