Subnautica 2 works a little differently from the original game when it comes to resources respawning. Fans of the original aquatic adventure will remember that resources never respawned, which forced players to venture further afield and to explore new locations to find more crafting materials.
Some players loved this as it encouraged them to get out of their survival pod and delve deeper into the world, while others found it annoying and felt it limited how much they could craft in a playthrough. Subnautica 2 takes a bit more of a balanced approach in an attempt to please both camps.
Do resources respawn in Subnautica 2?
The short answer is yes, some resources do respawn in Subnautica 2, and the game’s survival and single-player modes are more forgiving than the original game.
However, there are some caveats to this, and the good news is that everything that does and doesn’t respawn in Subnautica 2 makes logical sense. So, when wondering if something will, ask yourself if it would in real life.
For example, when it comes to wildlife like small fish, snails, and basic underwater minerals, these do respawn, as, like in a real ocean, there’s a near-unlimited supply of them. Even if you clean out an area, you’ll be able to return later and farm it again.
The idea is that there will always be more fish, bugs, and rocks to find if you look hard enough.
How long does it take for resources to respawn in Subnautica 2?
While no concrete respawn time has been confirmed by the developers, we’ve come back to a location several in-game hours later and found that an area has been repopulated with fauna.
However, when it comes to flora like growbeds, things work a little differently. Flora does respawn in Subnautica 2, but it takes much longer as the plants need to grow back. This is realistic, as while new fish could always swim into an area, plants need time to grow after being harvested.
So, if you clean out an area of flora and need more resources, your best bet will be to go to a new location. The developers haven’t revealed how long flora takes to grow back, but we noticed an area was slightly repopulated after playing over a weekend – but this was several in-game days.
What does not respawn in Subnautica 2?
Not everything respawns in Subnautica 2. The large nodes of rare minerals and salvage (like tech, components, and other rare materials) do not respawn.
So, if you crack open a node of Quartz, don’t expect this to come back. Generally, anything that involves you needing to break it to access the minerals doesn’t respawn, while the bits you pick up by hand do once you leave the area and return some time later.
For this reason, break open and farm minerals from nodes as you find them. Seeing fresh nodes is also a good way to tell if you’ve already explored an area, or if you still need to farm its resources.
It’s unknown if any of the above will change in a future update, after all, Subnautica 2 is still in early access. So, if this happens, we’ll be sure to update the information here.
