How to build a Tadpole in Subnautica 2

Sailing about in a Tadpole is one of the best parts of Subnautica 2, and it’s certainly nice to have the protection and extra oxygen when you’re exploring more hostile waters. Zooming about under the sea, while sitting snugly behind a plate of glass, is how the ocean was meant to be enjoyed, though that won’t stop local fauna trying to pry you out of there like a tasty morsel.

As with any new tool or gadget, you’ll have to scan Tadpole fragments in different locations, then set up a variety of apparatus in your base to accommodate it. All that said, here’s how to get a Tadpole in Subnautica 2.

Subnautica 2 Tadpole scan locations

You’ll have to scan three Tadpoles with your Scanner in order to unlock it as a craftable blueprint. I’ve found five of them in the early areas of the game, so here are the most efficient to grab.

1. The Old Habitat

This one is just north of the Old Habitat colony ruins, which are around 370 meters due north of the Lifepod. NOA will send you here to find Quaker’s black box at this location. Once you arrive at the ruins, head northwest a little way up the ravine to find a crashed Tadpole, close to the entrance to the ruins themselves. While here, make sure to scan all of the valuable tools in the area, such as the Sonic Resonator, the Processor, and the Scanner Station.

2. In a ravine east of the Lifepod

Incidentally, this is the same place you can find lead early on when crafting the Sonic Resonator. The fragment is located in a ravine 280 meters northeast of the Lifepod. Head northeast with a bearing of 75° until you spot a blue natural current below you can drop into. Take this down into the ravine below where you’ll spot a colony ruin platform on the left with the fragment close by.

3. On the edge of the abyssal crater

This is relatively close to The Great Jaw at a lower depth, so I’d suggest increasing your O2 with Air Bladders and the Standard Air Tank upgrade, also potentially the Wakemaker to swim there faster. Head northeast from the Lifepod over the drop-off and follow the wall straight down to the edge of the crater dropping into the abyss, where you’ll see a bunch of colony wreckage. Among all this is the last Tadpole fragment you need.

How to build a Tadpole in Subnautica 2

Build a big room with plenty of space below so you can fit your Moonpole and Tadpole Dock (Image credit: Unknown Worlds)

Once you’ve unlocked the blueprint, you’ll need to build a Moonpool in your base. First off, build a big room with plenty of open space underneath—the Tadpole Dock you also have to construct goes down quite a long way, so you’ll need clearance. You’ll also have to construct a Vehicle Fabricator on the side of the pool. Altogether, setting this up will cost you:

5x titanium4x titanium ingots2x copper wire2x glass1x copper ingot1x silver ingot

You can produce the ingots with the Processor facility. Now, you can activate the Vehicle Fabricator to actually craft your Tadpole. This will cost you:

2x titanium ingots1x glass1x system chip1x power cell

All of these materials are straightforward enough apart from the power cell, which requires Strong Acid and salt. The easiest way to get the former is by harvesting Necrolei Cysts in the jelly forest near the Old Habitat, but there are more details on that in the linked guide. Salt is easy to find nearby, in the cave where Chap’s habitat and black box are located.

With all of that, you can build your Tadpole. It’s also worth crafting an extra power cell for emergencies, and I recommend unlocking the Repair Tool as soon as possible, since this is your only way to keep your Tadpole swimming after sea creatures bash it about, or you accidentally ram it into a cliff.