Follow this route when you want the cleanest early-game order: Prologue, First Hour, Flashlight, Angel Comb Digestion gene, Welcome Center, southwest wreck, first Tadpole fragment, then Habitat Builder and your first base.
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This is the short, practical route chain for a new save. Each step links to the detailed guide when you need screenshots, exact room order, recipes, or hazard notes.
Leave the tutorial with PDA, NOA, oxygen, Pressure Tolerance, basic supplies, black box recovery, biological bed, and Launch complete.
Follow the prologue prompts in order instead of rushing outside. The important part is getting your survival systems online before the first real dive.
Next: Once Launch finishes, use the World Tree and compass as your first orientation anchor.
Build the early routine: save, pin recipes, gather Titanium and Quartz, make the Scanner, craft Water, and start mobility upgrades.
Keep loops short. Basic Battery, Scanner, Water from Water Slug, Basic Fins, and storage discipline matter more than a long sightseeing swim.
Next: After the Scanner and basic comfort are handled, move into the Flashlight fragment route.
Scan the Lifepod cave fragment and the northeast wreck fragment, then craft the Flashlight before dark caves become routine.
Use the Lifepod cave first, then take the northeast wreck route. Watch oxygen and threats, then craft the tool back at a Fabricator.
Next: With visibility fixed, follow the Anita black box route to the Angel Comb.
Fix Digestive Incompatibility so local fish, Oily Salad, Coral Mash, Halfmoon Jerky, and similar food become useful for hunger.
Read Anita in NOA, swim northeast toward the black box signal, interact with the Angel Comb, confirm Digestion, then collect Anita black box below it.
Next: Now you can support longer trips without relying only on starter food.
Swim southeast at about 150 degrees, scan the Habitat Builder fragments, restore power, and choose your first biomods.
Bring Scanner and one spare Basic Battery. Scan Habitat Builder, Dining Table, Biolab, both wall lights, and New Life Poster, then use the battery terminal to power the facility.
Next: Do the southwest wreck immediately while you are already positioned near the Welcome Center.
Start the vehicle chain and reveal Power Cell plus Strong Acid planning before returning home.
From the Welcome Center, aim southwest between 210 and 240 degrees. At the shallow 25m wreck, scan Dive Elevator, Beacon, and one Tadpole fragment, then open the nearby supply crate.
Next: Return home, gather Titanium on the way, and craft the Habitat Builder.
Turn the Welcome Center route into a real base-building setup.
Craft Habitat Builder with 2 Titanium, 1 Glass, 1 Basic Battery, and 1 Copper Wire. Glass needs 2 Quartz; Copper Wire needs 2 Copper.
Next: Use Recipes, Base Parts, Vehicles, Biomods, and Map pages when choosing the next branch.
Bring Scanner, one spare Basic Battery, enough Water, and a little food. If you already unlocked Digestion, local food becomes much easier to use.
Surface first, then enter. The route is short, but the interior, cave oxygen stop, power terminal, and Biolab pick are cleaner with full air.
Treat the deep seep near the southwest wreck as a quick look. Use Dash with W plus Left Shift to move forward, and keep Air Bladder ready for emergencies.
These recipe searches are the ones that turn the route into a first base instead of another scouting trip.
Follow a short first-hour loop: use the World Tree and compass, open storage, pin recipes, gather nearby Titanium and Quartz, make Scanner and Basic Battery planning your priority, craft Water, then move toward Flashlight and Angel Comb.
Go after the basic first-hour setup, Flashlight route, and Angel Comb Digestion gene if possible. Bring a Scanner and one spare Basic Battery, then swim southeast at about 150 degrees from the Lifepod.
The Angel Comb route unlocks Digestion, which makes local food useful. That makes the Welcome Center and southwest wreck follow-up easier because hunger is less fragile.
After the Welcome Center, swim southwest between 210 and 240 degrees to the nearby 25m wreck. Scan Dive Elevator, Beacon, and one Tadpole fragment there.
Craft Habitat Builder first: 2 Titanium, 1 Glass, 1 Basic Battery, and 1 Copper Wire. Glass needs 2 Quartz, and Copper Wire needs 2 Copper.
PDA, NOA, Pressure Tolerance, black box, biological bed, and Launch.
Starter recipes, Scanner, Basic Battery, Water, Basic Fins, and storage.
Lifepod cave plus northeast wreck scans before darker routes.
Anita black box route, Angel Comb interaction, and food unlock.
Habitat Builder, Biolab picks, southwest wreck, Beacon, Dive Elevator, and Tadpole.
Interactive prep list for Habitat Builder materials, Welcome Center power, southwest wreck scans, and first-base return.
Route markers for Angel Comb, Welcome Center, southwest wreck, and later trips.