Your First Hours: A Step-by-Step Guide

Step 1: Assess Your Situation

You wake up in a falling Lifepod. Once you hit the water:

1. Exit the Lifepod — you are in the Safe Shallows
2. Swim to the surface to catch your breath
3. Check your inventory — you have a Fabricator and basic supplies
4. Put out the fire in the Lifepod with your hands

Step 2: Gather Basic Resources

Priority hand-collecting:

• Titanium from Limestone Outcrops
• Quartz crystals on the seafloor
• Copper from Limestone Outcrops
• Coral Tube near coral structures
• Creepvine Samples in the Kelp Forest

Step 3: Craft Core Tools

Use the Fabricator to craft: Survival Knife, Scanner, Habitat Builder, Air Tank, Fins.

Step 4: Explore and Scan

Scan everything you encounter. Scanning unlocks new blueprints and adds to your database.

Step 5: Build Your First Base

Find a flat area in the Safe Shallows. Build a Foundation, Compartment, Solar Panel, and Fabricator.

Step 6: Food and Water

Catch fish by hand, cook at the Fabricator. Purify water with Salt + Coral Tube.

Step 7: Prepare for Deeper Exploration

Build the Radiation Suit, construct the Seamoth, explore Grass Plateaus, scan for Vehicle Bay fragments.

Always check your oxygen gauge. When the warning beeps, you have about 15 seconds to reach the surface.