Rak's Subnautica playthrough (moved from the what are you playing thread)

[PoeticallyPsyco]

Rather than build tons of bases, you may be better off building a single base with everything you need and just returning to it. That worked for me for the vast majority of the game. (I did eventually build a puny little second base at the bottom of the fossil caves, but it was made mostly redundant by the Cyclops, except for the scanner room).

[Rakaydos]

My basebuilding has evolved from "Solar panels have to be in the sunlight, above the water, right?" to "What's structural integrety and why is my base flooding?", to a minimalist tube/hatch/panel/replicator/locker setup, to replacing the tube with a scanner, and now expiriments with power relays and new room types.

I may have to try the aquarium/bioreactor combo.

[Kareeah_Indaga]

the seaglide is huge, but essential for long trips away from a vehical- but if I'm more than a full oxygen load from the surface, it may be best to leave it somewhere safe and reclaim the inventory space. on the other hand, it has the built in flashlight and holomap- so the flashlight might be left at home.

My unsolicited recommendation is to keep the Seaglide and leave the flashlight. Even if you’re too far from the surface to reach air, it’s useful for escaping predators. Whereas if you need a long term dedicated light source, you can always go back for the flashlight.

[Anteros]

My unsolicited recommendation is to keep the Seaglide and leave the flashlight. Even if you’re too far from the surface to reach air, it’s useful for escaping predators. Whereas if you need a long term dedicated light source, you can always go back for the flashlight.

No way. The light on the flashlight is so much better than the seaglide light. It's definitely worth it's tiny inventory cost. Especially if you play on filmic, it's basically unplayable without the flashlight.

[Triaxx]

Don't overthink your inventory too much. Carry at least one beacon with you, and have the inventory module in the Seamoth with a second. Leave them at any wreck you can't complete on the first try and name them with the reason. RT for repair tool, cut for the cutter. So you can see what to bring on the signal. The Cyclops makes a good mobile base station. Build a Radio and fabricator aboard and you have them portable.

Unless you know you're going to need the Prawn Suit, bring the Seamoth. It's less durable but much easier to replace, and is more maneuverable for a lot of tasks. Plus it floats so you can use it as a portable oxygen tank.

[Destro_Yersul]

Honestly once I have access to the cutter, I just carry all the one-tile tools with me at all times, along with a spare battery. I basically never worry about the seaglide past the point of having the seamoth. Would it be useful? Maybe sometimes, but six inventory slots is a lot.

[factotum]

My mobile base setup was basically a hatch, multipurpose room, bioreactor, and scanner room (and I think a tunnel to connect the two, can't actually remember if that was needed or not)--you can easily fit the components for all that in a Seamoth, and to power the bioreactor you just go outside and catch a few of the local fish. That much power will last plenty long enough to scan for anything you might need.

As for taking the Cyclops into a cave, the ones that you really need to investigate to finish the game's story are Cyclops navigable, albeit things can get a bit tight in places. Do remember that the Cyclops can move straight up and down without having to move forward or backward at the same time, which makes things easier (it controls somewhat like helicopters do in video games).

[Rakaydos]

Sleeping on the idea, my base site last session really is a good place for resources, now that I finally have a power setup in place. I'll probably make a run back to the lithium stores I have back at the lifepod, then build this into a big base, with a vehical fab on the surface, and possibly an elevator (chained vertical ladders, climbed instantly) if I have enough lithium for the nessisary reinforcement.

My views on the seamoth and Prawn are colored by the fact I do not have the vehical modification upgrade yet- Seamoth can only be an airstation 199m down, which isnt even to the sea floor in interesting places. Meanwhile the Prawn can reach 900, but has a little trouble getting back up. Both work as air stations, both can carry the cargo module.

[Triaxx]

There's a single Seamoth depth upgrade hidden on the Aurora that bumps it to 600 meters crush depth.

[Eldan]

For what it's worth, I used to build bases every few hundred meters too, especially around cave entrances. Mainly to recharge my submarines, secondarily for food and water. Found that to be totally worth it. A room with a bioreactor, recharger and a half-dozen plant pots is not that hard to build.

[factotum]

There's a single Seamoth depth upgrade hidden on the Aurora that bumps it to 600 meters crush depth.

That's not right--there are three levels of depth upgrades for the Seamoth, which take it to 300m, 500m and 900m respectively. 900m is deep enough to get almost anywhere apart from the end-game locations.

[Silverraptor]

Fun fact, for each solar panel you build, even on bases deep enough that don't get solar panel, you increase that base's maximum power supply. So say you have a deep base, you are generating enough power overall, but find you can only do a couple things before the power runs out and you need for it to recharge, if you just throw on a few solar panels as wingy bits onto that base, you can increase the maximum power and do more things without waiting for the power to recharge.

[Triaxx]

Ah, right I had 300 being the default in.my brain. With two upgrades, not three. I guess I just always snag the one from the Aurora early.

[Rakaydos]

1 day, 24 minutes



Building this was relatively simple. Moonpool, with a scan room in 1 direction, a multipurpose room on another (Bio, 2 aquariums, and a desalination plant), a cliff on a third side, and a short tube with a vertical shaft 50m up on the 4th side. Moonpool has easy access to shale in the mushroom forest below.

The vertical shaft opens at a convient height to access the kelp forest, with metal and sandstone common. The intersection leads to another tube and vertical shaft, to just below the surface.

The surface level has access to a Safe Shores biome over my right shoulder in this image, with Table coral and a coral tube highlighted with a Power Relay connection. It also has a vehical fabricator just a few meters past the hatch.

All in all, I like the base and it's location.

What I dont like, is hunting down Stalker teeth.

I need 3 Enamled glass to create a cyclops, but the only Stalker teeth I'm picking up are far below the level geometry. I need one more, before I can build the sub.

[DeTess]

I need 3 Enamled glass to create a cyclops, but the only Stalker teeth I'm picking up are far below the level geometry. I need one more, before I can build the sub.

Spoiler: A relatively easy way to get stalker teeth

Show

You can cause stalkers to drop teeth by 'feeding' them a bit of scrap salvage.

[Rakaydos]

I'm already trying that, thanks to that speedrun I watched last year. The RNG is not my friend though.

[Rakaydos]

1 day, 57 minutes.

A reload of the game seems to have cleared the problem. Stalker tooth aquired, cyclops crafted. Replicator added to the storage deck.

Also, a lifepod was 500m down. PDA retrieved, deepshrooms aquired, and now I'm getting creepy alien messsages.

Ok, that may be related to something that happened last session. When searching for shale in the mushroom forest, a cave had some kind of alien waterlock. Inside was an arch of some kind.

[Destro_Yersul]

I forget what triggers the alien messages, but I think it's entering a specific biome.

And yeah, stalker teeth are terrible.

[Rakaydos]

1 day, 3 hours

Sunbeam is coming to get me! (yea right...)

so the Sunbeam's radio messages started awhile back, first as "I cant believe these people... do you really need assistance? we'll try again tommorow" to "oh ****, the debris... the people... we didnt know..." to "we'll be in orbit shortly."

I now have a rendevous point.

I've been working on outfitting the Cyclops for a MAJOR expedition, with resources to build a major base wherever and the spare parts to build anything the datapad suddenly remembers is useful. Two fishtanks in the room foward of the upper prawn bay are leaded with Bladderfish and Peepers, with lockers for salt and cured food, and the locker hall has... considerably more lockers in it, several of which are starting to get sorted and labled resources in them.

This was while I was parked with the cyclops hatch just outside the High Base's mid level hatch, which meant that grabbing a water consisted of entering the base when returning from a resource run, synthesizing something to tighten my inventory, grabbing the water from the desalination plant, taking a ladder, to a hatch, turning to enter the cyclops, dropping off metals, climbing another ladder, and returning to work on the galley.

This was interrupted by the rendevous point and time of arrival for the Sunbeam. Time to take the Cyclops out for a test drive. I'm light on bottled water, but the bladder fish will do fine for a surface mission- I can load up on bleach later. (because of course this isnt going to work)

Reaching the rendevous point... it's on an island, with an alien facility. There's a force field that wants a tablet... and a purple tablet. 30 minutes until arrival. How will I spend my time?

[Destro_Yersul]

There should be some caves on the island, you could always try exploring.

[Anteros]

Be careful of using the lockers on your Cyclops. If something moves your Cyclops while you have a locker open it can cause you to clip through the floor and fall to your death. It's a huge pain in the rear when you're playing hardcore and suddenly fall to your death through no fault of your own. Less troubling on non hardcore modes, but still annoying. Basically if you notice the cyclops start to shift while youre in a locker, hurry up and close it.

[Rakaydos]

1 day, 5 hours, 14 minutes.

With half an hour to kill before the Sunbeam arrives, I build a scanner station, and start collecting sandstone to fill out my slvr&gld locker. There's a lot of hostile wildlife in the area, and I get a scan on a Warper in exchange for about half my health. good thing I installed a medkit dispensor on the cyclops. There's more alien structures underwater, but I dont really examin them.

I have to stock up on water. Fortunately there's bladderfish on these here shores.

Finally, the Sunbeam arrives... and fails. You know how it goes.

No longer on a time limit, I explore the alien facility, marking the alien sub-bay with a beacon. The doomsday device seems excited to see me... the main control room seems considerably less so. Stab. Ow. Having gotten all I can from it, I left from the sub bay. There's another alienarch underwater, on top of a buildin with no visible entrances.

Some cave diving got me raw lithium and uranite, though not enough for a second fuel rod. An upper cave also has an arch, and another purple tablet. I cut my exploration short when my water starts running low again- it was time to head home.

For a first trip, the Cyclops did well. Needs more provisions though. Setting the scanner to Limestone, turning my salt reserves to bleach, and stashing the +50 waters from the base filter on the cyclops, in the room I've designated the mess hall. more salt turns peepers into cured food, which also goes in lockers. One Aquarium is designated for Enzyme peepers- I dont know what to do with them yet, but having a few around will probably be useful at some point. A Power Cell charger gets added to the base, just inside the midlevel entrance I use with the cyclops. As long as I can keep the bioreactor filled, I can charge the cyclops up 2 cells at a time.

More copper, more titanium, more fish, more bioreactor fuel, more filtered water and salt to turn into bleach. Only peepers get cured, and only if they dont have the enzyme. Putting a tool locker by the hatch of the cyclops, and a deployables locker next to it, though as of present it only has a floating locker and a few beacons.

I'm about halfway to where I want to be, when a cloud starts appearing inside the sub with me. It's locked with my visor, as it resolves into an alien face. "Who are you?"

[Rakaydos]

1 day 8 hours.

Falling down the base management hole. My reserves of various common and partially refined materials are rising, and the only new thing to come in on the radio is the code to the captian quarters. An accidental launch of the Prawn led to an expansion of the base- now the mid level has a moonpool with Foundation under it, that leads under where I park the Cyclops. I could launch the prawn from the sub, walk it over to the new moonpool and berth it there, and vice versa. Along with some Plasteel production (all I need now is another stalker tooth to build a second cyclops) my titanium reserves are a bit low.

But I should launch an expedition soon- to stock up on Ruby and uranite, if nothing else.

[Destro_Yersul]

There's not really any use for a second cyclops. You can put interior growbeds on board the one you've got though, if you have the blueprints for that. If you don't, you need to do more exploring and scanning. Then all you need is something to grow in them, and the Cyclops becomes more or less self-sufficient, since food grows faster than you get hungry.

[Rakaydos]

1 day, 11 hours.

A Cyclops depth upgrade requires ruby, and I'm fresh out. A swim to my southerly bases detected a few deep in the grand reef, and I set out far and deep. Good uranite findings, and a broken Degasi base. Multiple levels, but I couldn't figure out how to get in to anything but the lowest level. Also got scans of a crab spider.

Used pretty much the last of my magnatite making a thermal generator down there, about 500m below the floating island. It easilly powers a Scan room, which found me plenty of ruby. I compressed much of the Uranite into fuel rods for transport.

On my way back, I explored the floating island again- found outdoor grow beds with edible food, but no indoor grow facilities. Also another alien gateway.

Returning to the sub, I upgrade the depth to match the Prawn suit, and go explore the fossil cave. Scans indicate a biome called the "lost river".

Approaching my depth limit, I come across a broken alien facility. More ion cubes, more data, and my own infection progresses. Leaving the planet while infected, is of course a recipy for the same meal Sunbeam bought.

Reading the new data back on the cyclops, the "Sea Emperor" is in an "isolated research facility" in a Vocanic region 1.4 KM down. (cough cough "lava castle"), and is the best shot at a cure. Not like I can go there now. If I had more magnatite, I might try the air station approach, but right now each air station would need to be a utility room with a nuclear reactor and a hatch... which seems overkill. Could be doable, with the resources on the Cyclops... but I should probably go back for more upgrades and more magnetite.

[Rakaydos]

"Hmm, people arnt really replying to my letsplay thread. Are people even interested?"
"wait, I know. Check to see how the view count changes after each post. That means booting up the laptop instead of the phone, so you can see view numbers."
"Ok, where am I at n- FOUR THOUSAND VIEWS?"

[Destro_Yersul]

Well, I'm interested, for sure. I'm playing Subnautica again because of this, and I had forgotten how terrifying some parts of it are. I'm not even afraid of the ocean normally, but just knowing what's out there in Subnautica is somehow worse than not knowing.

There's absolutely an indoor growbed on the floating island, but there's also at least one in a wreck somewhere. As for the base in the grand reef, check for ladders. You can swim up those.

[Rakaydos]

The Grand reef's abandoned base is a stack of three multi-purpose rooms, and I didn't see any connections between levels other than the multi-purpose rooms. I know how to swim up vertical connectors, but I didn't see any ladders on that base.

[Destro_Yersul]

Ladders can exist in multipurpose rooms. I'm pretty sure that base has some. I think it also has hatches on each level, but they don't all work.

[Anteros]

The Grand reef's abandoned base is a stack of three multi-purpose rooms, and I didn't see any connections between levels other than the multi-purpose rooms. I know how to swim up vertical connectors, but I didn't see any ladders on that base.

Two levels are connected by a vertical ladder. It sounds like you found the one level that wasn't connected. All 3 are accessible.