Overview
This is a spoiler free, complete guide for base building from finding and using the Habitat Builder to constructing a grand late game base.
Foreword
Welcome to this complete guide about building a habitat in Subnautica Below Zero. In this game and its predecessor I have found that base building is highly underrated, probably due to a lack of a tutorial explaining the mechanics around it. I hope to clear this up in this guide.
I understand that Subnautica Below Zero is a story driven game and therefore will minimise spoilers as much as possible. To do this i will split the guide up into three sections for early, mid and late game. Although this differs for different players, generally I would suggest that first time players in their first 3 hours are in early game and players in their first 10 are in mid game. As well as that the locations where blueprints can be discovered will be covered with a spoiler tag which reveals its contents when the mouse hovers over it like this. Nice
So you don’t have to scroll any further than necessary I’ll conclude the guide here. Please comment any suggestions for changes, I am one person and can make mistakes! As well as that please comment on any of the guides content that you believe is a spoiler, I have erred on the side of caution but as somebody who has “completed” the beta it is hard to imagine experiencing the game blind. Besides that, I hope you enjoy reading.
The Habitat Builder
The Habitat Builder is a tool which is required to build all habitat components. Like other tools it requires a battery to be used.
A Habitat Builder with no battery can be found in Supply Crates, either floating above the Shallow Twisty Bridges or on Rocket Island
After you have found one, the blueprint is unlocked. It is crafted at a Fabricator, costing a wiring kit, a computer chip and a battery.
Finally I would like to state some uses of the habitat builder some people seem to miss, these are rotating objects with the Scroll Wheel and deconstructing objects to obtain a full refund with q.
Early Game
At the start of the game your best option for building a base are the I Compartments. These tubes are unlocked instantly and provide a small about of wall space for the cost of two titanium per Compartment. My early game bases usually consist of two of them connected end to end. For those wanting to make larger bases there are other compartments available from the start including the T and X for intersections and curved L Compartments.
To enter the base you will need to attach a hatch to the compartment, I prefer the end. This costs a quartz and two titanium.
Your base also needs power. Solar Panels are the easiest way to power a base and each one costs two quartz, two titanium and a copper, although a single one is usually sufficient. They are placed on the roof of a compartment and produce energy during the day which is stored for use during the night at a maximum capacity of 75 units. The deeper you go, less energy is gained with 80% of maximum at 40m, 60% at 100m and only 20% at 200m. If your base is more than 100m deep I recommend crafting a second. When your base has sufficient power it automatically produces oxygen for you.
Now it’s time for the interior. The most useful interior piece will be the Wall Locker. For the price of two titanium you get 30 storage slots which is much more efficient than the measly 16 slots the twice as expensive Waterproof Locker gets you. By clicking on the name you change it, allowing for organisation of items. Other useful items include the Fabricator, identical to the one in your lifepod, which costs a titanium, two copper and three quartz; and the self explanatory Battery Charger which costs a wiring kit, a copper wire and a titanium. At this point the base is superior to the lifepod and can be used instead of it. Using a beacon, crafted with one copper and one titanium, will make sure you never lose your base, it floats in the water and can be renamed like the Wall Lockers.
Finally be aware of your bases Hull Integrity. each base starts with 10 units and adding pretty much anything decreases it. If it reaches zero, cracks will appear and the base will flood until they are repaired with the Repair Tool. Although you probably wont be building enough for this to be a worry at the start of the game, if it does building foundations with two titanium and two lead increases the Hull Integrity of a base by 2 units.
Mid Game
During the mid game you get access to lots of new rooms. The staple of the midgame base is the Multipurpose Room which can be crafted for 6 titanium after the blueprint is discovered by scanning the preexisting one on Rocket Island . It is an open circular room with plenty of wall and floor space. There is also a Glass Dome Roof Version which is discovered by scanning the one in Research Base Omega however it costs two enameled glass, two titanium and a lithium; and a fully transparent observatory also scanned at Rocket Island but this is less functional than the multipurpose rooms, only boasting great views.
Other useful rooms include the Scanner Room, blueprint found in a data box in the Twisty Bridges . It costs five titanium, two copper, a gold and a table coral and has a variety of functions such as locating desired resources and being the home of controllable scouting cameras. This can be excellent for locating rare resources but consumes a lot of power so make sure you’ve got a good power supply to your base, and remember to turn it off when you’ve finished scanning.
If you have a vehicle, building a Moonpool is crucial. The Seatruck and Prawn Suit can be docked here where their power cells are charged off the base’s power, and as well as that the vehicles can be customised and upgraded at the Vehicle Upgrade Console, separately crafted for three titanium, a computer chip and a copper wire.
All this new stuff consumes lots of power! Although adding extra solar panels can work there are ways to generate larger amounts of power.
The Bioreactor composts organic matter into energy. It is unlocked instantly and can be placed in the centre of a Multipurpose Room for three titanium, a wiring kit and a lubricant. If your base is in a biome with lots of flora and fauna it can be very easy to keep a large base running smoothly, or you can grow some in your base to have a permanent supply. It can be stocked with 16 slots of organic matter to continually produce and store up to a maximum of 500 power.
If you don’t want to constantly resupply your power source try using a Thermal Plant. After a hefty crafting cost of five titanium, two magnetite and an aerogel, this consistently produces power around the clock as long as it is near a source of heat. This is perfect if your base is near a geyser, or you can build power transmitters from the Thermal Plant to your base if it’s far away. It produces power proportional to the temperature around it and stores a maximum of 250. The blueprint is obtained by scanning fragments in the Active Mining Site or Tree Spires .
There are also lots of new and useful Interior Modules to fill your base with. One of the most important is the Modification Station whose blueprint is acquired by scanning the pre-existing one on Rocket Island. Once it is crafted for a computer chip, a titanium, a diamond and a lead it gives access to important upgrades that cannot be crafted at the fabricator.
As well as that the player can construct an Aquarium of an Alien Containment. The former only stores fish but the Alien Containment allows them to reproduce giving you a sustainable food source, and I therefore highly recommend it over the Aquarium for utility. Its blueprint is automatically unlocked with the multipurpose room and it can be placed in the centre of one for five glass and two titanium. Once two fish are placed in they will automatically reproduce over time with a maximum capacity of 10. Aquatic flora can also be planted in there which allows for farming of it for crafting or for bioreactor power.
For growing non aquatic flora you can place an Indoor Growbed in your base for four titanium after finding the blueprint in the Snowfox Base. It can grow 16 slots of flora which is useful for food, water and bioreactor power, my personal favourite being the returning Marblemelon Plant.
Another method of producing water is using a Water Filtration Machine which can be attached to the side of a multipurpose room. It continually produces salt and bottles of Large Filtered Water, which storage for two of each, however it consumes a lot of power. Despite the power cost I still recommend due to the inventory efficiency of the Large Filtered Water, giving 50 per space. It is crafted for three titanium, a copper wire and an aerogel after the blueprint is scanned at Lilypad Islands, either on a portion of the Mercury II ship or at Research Base Omega.
Other Interior Modules include the expensive yet useless Power Cell Charger as the Moonpool charges the power cells in your vehicles off your bases power already, and various miscellaneous decorative pieces crafted from just titanium. A notable exception is the coffee from the Coffee Vending machine giving you +50 “heat” which is useful for exploring land. The blueprint is discovered when the player scans the one at the Snowfox base or Research Base Omega.
Finally with the huge amount of additions to your base the hull integrity will suffer. The reinforcement costs a lithium and three titanium and adds 7 hull integrity when placed on most walls in the base, making it the go-to for increasing hull integrity.