Play styles for Subnautica

Bored with Subnautica? This guide has different challenges on how you play the game./

Introduction-How to use this guide

In this guide, you will find a variety of different ways to play Subnautica, each way presented as a "Career". Simply follow the instructions under the heading, and you're good to go! For best gameplay, stick to one or two "careers", but feel free to try any combo! Also, sorry about the lack of pictures. I might add some soon.

Farmer/Gardener

Set up a bunch of growbeds, both inside and out. Stock them with all sorts exotic plants and crops. You can get plant seeds by hitting any plantable flora (see subnautica wiki for a list of these plants) with your survival knife (EXCEPTION: Creepvine, which you can just pluck the seed clusters off). Create a lush garden paradise of your dreams, or create fields of edible crops and never starve again!

Breeder

Build an Alien Containment Unit (after you find all the fragments, of course!) in a Multipurpose room. An A.C.U. is basically a big aquarium where you can plant flora and place fauna eggs. Gather eggs by searching the sea bed for them. Once placed, eggs will slowly hatch...and once they do, you got yourself a new friend! Hatching eggs is the best way to keep your sanity and you can have as many best friends as you want!

Homemaker

While building your habitat, the PDA says "Treat this space as your home...but never forget it is not." Why? Since rescue seems impossibly far, Why not make it YOUR new home? Grab your builder and set your game mode to creative. Scout out the perfect place for your new crib...location, location, location! Once you picked your spot, build away to your heart's content! Don't forget to stock the inside with furniture! Build a mansion fit for the eccentric, a secret undersea laboratory (see Scientist), or a hotel for millionaires!

Explorer/Nomad

Alternatively, build a Cyclops Submarine, stock up furniture, appliances, and more, and hit the underwater road! Why settle down when there's so, SO much ocean to explore? After all, you can build whatever you need inside the Cyclops. Fabricators, chargers, plant pots with land plants, who needs a fixed seabase? Travel from biome to biome, making the occasional pit stop to find materials and study wildlife, and channel the spirit of the late, great, Jacques Cousteau.

Auto Mechanic

Set up a Vehicle Modification Station in your Moonpool, and park your Seamoth or PRAWN suit inside. Spend hours on end souping up your ride. Give it a personalized color scheme, name it, and upgrade to create the ultimate sub/suit!

Scientist

Set aside space in your Seabase (or build a seperate base, preferably) for a fully-stocked labratory, and prepare to geek out! Non-functioning Lab Equipment, though useless, are essential here, as well as anything else that screams "SCIENCE!!!" Remember: Knowledge is Power. The more you know about this (literally) alien environment, the better chance you have of surviving it. Grab your scanner and scan as much as you can. For the budding Marine Biologists, try to scan every species of flora and fauna out there, including the Leviathans. Don't forget your lab coat and goggles!

Salvage Operator

Someday your gonna leave this forsaken planet your PDA calls Planet 4546B. And when you do, other people will come and clean up the Aurora's wreckage. Why not give them a headstart? Grab your laser cutter, repair tool, flashlight, propulsion cannon, and fire extinguisher and find some wrecks. If you're going into the Aurora itself, bring a rad suit if you haven't sealed up the drive core's breaches yet. You'll find a lot of cool stuff you can use to decorate your seabase, like posters (especially the "Keep Calm" kitty poster!). As for small piles of debris, use your propulsion cannon to clean them up into big piles for easy clean up. And don't forget to pick up all the scrap- Do your part to save Ea-err, Planet 4546B!

Miner

Since your gonna need a huge amount of materials for your seabase, Cyclops sub, or other stuff, why not make a career out of it? To start out, break outcrops to get small chunks of minerials, such as Titanium, Copper, Silver, Gold, Diamonds, and Nickel. As soon as it's feasible, outfit your P.R.A.W.N. Suit with a drilling arm and mine up the bigger outcrops. To get to hard-to-reach places, I suggest adding the grappeling hook arm and get the jump-jet upgrade. Now that you have a massive haul of minerials, Build whatever you want. Or, better yet, sell your surplus goods to nearby traders. Oops, heh heh, I forgot. Oh well.

Hunter

A wise woman once said: "When seamonsters are hunting you, you don't hide. You hunt the seamonsters. Then you build a bigger boat out of seamonster bones, and you hunt bigger monsters. Keep going until there aren't any monsters left to hunt you." With this (not so) sage advice in mind, quit cowerin' and take on the big, bad, bullies of the deep! Equip the following: Reinforced dive suit, survival knife, propulsion cannon, stasis rifle, lightweight high-capacity tank, and ultra-glide fins. Good luck on taking on those Reapers!

The Virgin Landlubber

There's waaay too many scary stuff lurking in the deep. Leviathians, an Alien plauge, and who KNOWS what else. Why not stay on the surface? After all, you can grow plenty of food in growbeds. Just build a base on the Floating Island and stay there until rescue comes. After all, it can't be too long until they come right? ...Oh yeah... that's right... Well, in that case...

The Chad Survivor

Who needs a base anyway? Just whip up some modifcations to your suit and just to swim everywhere you need to go! A Thermoblade, Stillsuit, Swim-charge fins, and a Ultra-High Capacity Tank is all you need. No need for that fancy seabase stuff. Become one with the fish, and become the true survivor!



(Okay, the last two were a joke, but you should try them anyway)

Gordon Freeman

Build a Propulsion Cannon, fill your inventory with batteries, and use it as your signiture weapon. Use the enviornment to your advantage when dealing with hostile wildlife. Wreckage, Boulders, Crash Fish, Floaters, and Drooping Stingers make perfect ammuntion for your weapon. There may never be a Half-Life 3, but when you got enough batteries to choke an Ampeel, why complain? (IMPORTANT: Do NOT talk / Crowbar not included.)

Note

This is my very first Steam Guide, so go easy on me, m'kay? Did you like it? Great! Was there something wrong? Leave a comment, a like, or favorite it(it will make my day!). If it seemed like too little, it's because I'm not done yet. Stay tuned for the full version!

UPDATE: Guide complete! Thank you all for your support. More guides coming soon!

[Lex Daemon]

Momoko, what if I were to tell you that there is an end to the game.

[Greene]

True, I honestly didn't play it because it had no sense to do it without having any end to the game

[atlantic_penguin2k]

Ah, yes. I'm currently waiting for Below Zero to become more fleshed out before diving in.

[Greene]

You also can buy Below Zero

[Chwiztid]

Add a section titled: "Install Mods"

[Capax]

These aren't alternate play styles, these are basically all things you should be doing when playing the game regularly. Some people have commented with actual challenges to change gameplay I would suggest either including them in your guide (while giving credit of course), or change the title to something more appropriate, like, "Things to do in Subnautica"

[jacken hoffmen]

LOL A

[Katzilla]

I enjoyed this! It's so fun finding new ways to make the most of this game! Well done :D

[Citroën AX 1.4D]

I do everything from the list in my basic playthrough

[SpiderLukas]

wow