Subnautica 2 Guide: How to Swim Faster Early
Paddling away from a hungry predator at a snail's pace is a guaranteed way to end up as (Alien) fish food.
When you first drop into the ocean, your base swimming speed is agonizingly slow. Trying to reach the surface for a gasp of oxygen or attempting to outmaneuver hostile creatures feels like a complete grind. Before you waste hours inching your way across the seafloor and getting eaten, you need to prioritize upgrading your mobility. The good news is that you can unlock several massive speed boosts very early in your adventure.
Crafting the Basic Fins
Your first permanent mobility upgrade comes in the form of Basic Fins. These provide a constant, overall improvement to your base swimming speed, making general exploration far less frustrating.
Gathering the Materials
You need to hit up your Fabricator to construct these, and the recipe requires two pieces of Rubber and two pieces of Fiber. Both of these refined materials come from the exact same type of local plant, but you harvest them differently.
To get Fiber, you need Fibrous Pulps. Pull out your Survival Multitool and hack away at the plants that have orange orbs in their center. To get the Rubber, you need Lucifer Rotsacs. These are the actual orange orbs sitting inside those same plants, and you can just pluck them directly with your hands.
Unlocking the Speed Biomods
Fins are great for a passive boost, but they will not always save you when a fast predator lunges. For serious evasive maneuvers, you need to alter your genetics using Biomods.
The Welcome Center Bio Lab
You can unlock these powerful body modifications almost immediately. Leave your Lifepod and swim exactly 87 meters to the southeast. Look for an underwater facility sitting roughly seven meters below the surface. This is the Welcome Center. Once you get inside and turn the power on, you can interact with the Bio Lab. This terminal allows you to equip a mix of active and passive abilities, and two of the best movement options are available right away.
Dash and Sea Skimmer
The Dash ability is an active biomod. If you press the left analog stick, you get a sudden, rapid burst of speed in any direction. This ability has a short cooldown of a few seconds, making it your ultimate panic button. If your oxygen is running out or a predator spots you, you spam this to survive.
The Sea Skimmer is a passive biomod with a highly specific trigger. It massively increases your swimming speed, but only when you are hugging underwater surfaces or the seafloor. It is not great for escaping threats in open water, but it is absolutely perfect for speeding up your general resource runs along the bottom of the ocean.
