Subnautica – Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Gather mats, build a base, run out of materials, gather mats again. I got tired of this process so I compiled a quick list of materials needed to for a small forward expansion. The goal is to set up a self-sustaining base with a scanner room, in a single run despite your 48 inventory slot limit.

Bioreactor Base

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

A Bioreactor forward base that uses Marblemelons for food, fuel and water. The Reinforcement is optional and will free up a lot of valuable space if you choose not to build it.

What to Bring:

  • Habitat Builder – 1
  • Thermal Knife – 1
  • Titanium – 28 (25 Without Reinforcement)
  • Quartz – 1
  • Lithium – 1 (Optional for Reinforcement)
  • Lubricant – 1
  • Copper – 2
  • Copper Wire – 1
  • Gold – 2
  • Aerogel – 1
  • Wiring Kit – 1
  • Advanced Wiring Kit – 1
  • Table Coral – 2
  • Ruby – 2
  • Marblemelon – 1

Construct:

  • Multipurpose Room – 6 Titanium
  • Corridor – 2 Titanium
  • Hatch – 2 Titanium, 1 Quartz
  • Plant Pot – 1 Titanium (place Marblemelon, use knife to turn it to seeds, replant)
  • Water Filter – 3 Titanium, 1 Copper Wire, 1 Aerogel
  • Bioreactor – 3 Titanium, 1 Wiring Kit, 1 Lubricant 
  • Scanner Room – 5 Titanium, 2 Copper, 1 Gold, 1 Table Coral
  • Fabricator – 1 Titanium, 1 Gold, 1 Table Coral
  • Power Cell Charger – 2 Titanium, 1 Advanced Wiring Kit, 2 Ruby
  • Reinforcement* – 3 Titanium, 1 Lithium (optional) 

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Build a Marblemelon garden ASAP using the knife->seed technique. This will be your unlimited supply of food, water and fuel. It takes 8 Marblemelons to fully replenish both Food and Water from 0-100, and 4 Marblemelons in the Bioreactor will last for a (few) day(s).

Some Pictures

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Place the Marblemelon in the Plant Pot then use your Knife to turn it into 4 Marblemelon Seeds. Replant the seeds again.

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Some plants and fish for the Bioreactor while waiting for the melons to grow.

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Scanner Room operational!

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Despite the constant 1 Power (Water Filter uses a lot of energy) I was able to survive in this base for an hour living off of fish, marblemelons and the ocassional bottle of water.

Thermal Plant Base

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Seamoth storage module will come in handy when building this base. If you don’t have one then you will have to gather whatever materials you need on site. Titanium is usually the easiest (Bulb Zone has plenty of Titanium, Jellyshroom Cave has more Gold). Some locations may also need more than one Power Transmitter if there are no flat areas to build around. Reinforcement is optional and will open up much needed inventory slots if you don’t need it.

What to Bring:

25 Titanium (22 without Reinforcement). Collect 7 Titanium on-site to finish the interior.

  • Habitat Builder – 1
  • Thermoblade – 1
  • Lantern Fruit – 1
  • Titanium – 32 (29 without Reinforcement)
  • Quartz – 1
  • Table Coral – 2
  • Copper – 2
  • Copper Wire – 1
  • Gold – 3
  • Ruby – 2
  • Magnetite – 2
  • Advanced Wiring Kit – 1
  • Aerogel – 2
  • Lithium – 1 (see Reinforcement)
  • TOTAL – 55/48 Inventory Slots

Construct:

  • Multipurpose Room – 6 Titanium
  • Corridor – 2 Titanium
  • Hatch – 2 Titanium, 1 Quartz
  • Plant Pot – 2 Titanium (place Lantern Fruit asap)
  • Water Filter – 3 Titanium, 1 Copper Wire, 1 Aerogel
  • Thermal Plant – 5 Titanium, 2 Magnetite, 1 Aerogel
  • Power Transmitter – 1 Titanium, 1 Gold
  • Scanner Room – 5 Titanium, 2 Copper, 1 Gold, 1 Table Coral
  • Fabricator – 1 Titanium, 1 Gold, 1 Table Coral
  • Power Cell Charger – 2 Titanium, 1 Advanced Wiring Kit, 2 Ruby (for the Seamoth)
  • Reinforcement* – 3 Titanium, 1 Lithium

Build a Lantern Tree garden using Interior Grow Beds. 1 Fully Grown Tree gives 160 food and 48 water. 1 Grow Bed can house 4 Trees.

Some Pictures

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Base <- Power Transmitter <- Thermal Plant <- Lava Geyser

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Using the Scanner Room to look for a few Titanium to finish the base. Frequent blackouts will occur while the Scanner is on.

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

A fully grown Lantern Tree gives 16 Lantern Fruits. The tree refills over time so no management is required. Just plant and forget!

Subnautica - Quickly Setup a Self-sustaining Outpost in One Go

Get a Lantern Tree garden up as soon as possible to cover all your food and water needs.

Volodymyr Azimoff
About Volodymyr Azimoff 7951 Articles
I love games and I live games. Video games are my passion, my hobby and my job. My experience with games started back in 1994 with the Metal Mutant game on ZX Spectrum computer. And since then, I’ve been playing on anything from consoles, to mobile devices. My first official job in the game industry started back in 2005, and I'm still doing what I love to do.

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