As is the case with any good survival crafting game, there are certain crafting milestones you reach that dramatically open the game up more than what was previously possible. For Subnautica 2, in its current early access state, arguably the biggest milestone to reach is when you craft your first Tadpole, the vehicle that lets you explore the alien ocean with ease.
Essentially, half of what's currently available to explore in the game is locked behind your ability to craft a Tadpole, so you're going to want to get there as soon as you can. This guide will show you direct steps on how to get there, so you can start exploring the whole of Subnautica 2 at your own pace as soon as you want.
For more on Subnautica 2, check out our tips and tricks guide, or our guide on how to find Silver, one of the more important resources in the game.
It should go without saying that there are a few things you're going to need before you can even be ready to craft a Tadpole. You will, at the very minimum need:
Of course, discovering how to craft all of these yourself is part of the game's opening hours, particularly the Scanner and a habitat of your own equipped with, at the very least, a Fabricator. Basically, a Tadpole is not something you'd realistically be able to speedrun towards crafting, at least without ignoring other significant bits of kit you should craft before you get to this point.
As for the Repair Tool, it's a vital piece of equipment to have since your Tadpole bruises very easily. If you can't repair it, then going through all this trouble to craft one won't be worth it.
To craft most major pieces of gear in Subnautica 2, you have to scan versions of that piece of equipment multiple times to unlock the full blueprint. In the case of the Tadpole blueprint, you'll need to scan three Tadpoles in order to unlock the blueprint. While there are multiple crashed Tadpoles to be found and scanned in the opening area, three of them are particularly easy to find, starting from your Lifepod's location.
Old Habitat - About 430m north of your Lifepod, on the north side of the Old Habitat, you'll find a crashed Tadpole on the ocean floor. If you're at the Old Habitat for the first time, then be sure to scan several other important items there, like the Sonic Resonator, the Processor, and Wakemaker if you've yet to craft one by this point.
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East Ravine - About 260m east-northeast of your Lifepod at a 75 degree bearing you'll find a ravine where there's another crashed Tadpole for you to scan. You'll also find a Power Transmitter here that you can scan, and the surrounding area is a great place to find Lead early in the game.
South Drop Off - About 60m south of your Lifepod, you'll notice there's a major drop-off with several bits of ruins a little bit of the way down. At a depth of 90m, you'll find another crashed Tadpole to scan, and while this is easily the closest Tadpole to your Lifepod, it's probably not the one you want to try and reach first. Its depth means that you'll have to come prepared for diving that deep without drowning, which could mean having multiple Air Bladders ready, equipping your Wakemaker to swim faster, and ensuring your O2 has been upgraded either through unlocking the Rebreather or the Standard Air Tank. Whatever combination of elements, unless you want to simply kill yourself on purpose, best to make sure you have a way to hold your breath.
Once you have all of those scanned, the next part is actually getting the resources together to build a Tadpole.
You may have noticed that most of these screenshots feature a bunch of pinned recipes for different bits of equipment. All of them are necessary for a Tadpole, and whenever you're building towards a specific goal in Subnautica 2, it's helpful to have a reminder of what you need always there.
Before you start crafting a Tadpole, you'll first need to craft a Moonpool, which is essentially a space on the floor of your base that is high above the ground where you can park your Tadpole when you're done using it. A Moonpool is fairly simple to craft, only requiring 5x Titanium pieces.
Once you have your Moonpool set, you'll need to craft a Vehicle Fabricator, which is only slightly more complicated as it requires 2x Glass, 2x Titanium Ingot, and 1x Copper Ignot. Titanium Ignots require 3x pieces of Titanium to craft, and you can craft them by using the Processor. Copper Ignots also require 3x pieces of Copper to craft, which you'll also toss into the Processor. Glass is much easier, simply requiring 2x pieces of Quartz.
Place your Vehicle Fabricator on whichever side of your Moonpool you prefer, and you're nearly ready to craft a Tadpole. Next up is crafting the Tadpole Dock, which is technically an optional step if you want to live your life in Subnautica 2 like a maniac and just let your Tadpole float about and keep a steady supply of Power Cells handy to keep your Tadpole running.
If you'd rather not require multiple Power Cells and have your Tadpole parked safely and securely when you're done using your Tadpole, best to craft the dock as well. The Tadpole Dock requires another 2x Titanium Ignots, 1x Silver Ignot, and 2x Copper Wire.
Once you've done all of that, we've come to the moment of truth. You're finally ready to craft a Tadpole, which you can do through the Vehicle Fabricator you just built, while the rest of what you've built so far can be done through the handheld Habitat Builder.
Your Tadpole will cost you another 2x Titanium Ignots, 1x Glass, 1x System Chip, and 1x Power Cell.
All together then, the raw materials you'll need (after you've already crafted the required tools like a Fabricator, Habitat Builder, Scanner and Processor) are:
You'll need all of that Titanium between crafting the Titanium Ignots and the Moonpool, the Silver for the Silver Ignot, and to craft a Wiring Kit, which you'll then have to use to craft the necessary System Chip.
The Quartz is for the Glass and the System Chip, while you'll need the Copper for the Copper Wire, Copper Ignot, and to craft 2x Basic Battery (which is also where the 2x Acidic Raion Pouches, 1x Salt, and 2x Necrolei Cysts come from), which you'll then use to craft a Power Cell. The Power Cell requires 2x Basic Battery, 1x Strong Acid, and 1x Salt. You can craft the Strong Acid by finding 2x Necrolei Cysts and tossing them in the Processor.
The Power Cell you'll use to craft your Tadpole gets recharged when your Tadpole is docked, so you don't have to worry about crafting multiple. That's another reason why the dock is a non-optional piece of equipment.
All of the crafted materials needed to finally craft a Tadpole, the Tadpole Dock, Moonpool, and Vehicle Fabricator are:
Once you've gathered all the necessary materials, your Tadpole will be ready to go!
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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