You will collect a ton of needed crafting resources and a lot of useless items along the way. You will need a place to store all those goodies. Especially all those useless Floaters, Alien Eggs and tons of Acid Mushrooms you enevitably collect /s.

Storing the items you collect and pick up will be the first main issue. But, you can construct a simple base with storage lockers very early on by crafting a Habitat Builder tool.

Even though the game pushes you to make the Repair Tool early on, it's not critical. If at all possible, use depleted batteries to craft new tools.

Next is to grab 2 or 3 glowing yellow Seed Clusters from the Creepvine to make Silicone Rubber. Craft a Survival Knife and Fins from the Personal items menu. Now you can swim faster and use the knife to collect the Table Coral Samples from the rock faces.

Start locating the rock outcroppings to gather their resource. The flat grey stones produce Titanium or Copper and the brownish round stones give Gold, Silver or Lead.

Craft the components in the priority list until you are able to make the Habitat Builder tool. From there, you can construct your first base. List below are some great examples including Simple Bases, Outposts and Depots. Each list the advantages and materials needed.

Once you have your first base, you can start on the other game objectives. To get the Repair Tool, you will need to explore some caves for the Cave Sulpher, which are in the scary Crash Fish blubs in the caves. To do that, you'll need to craft the Flashlight=Titanium+(Battery=2 Acid Mushrooms+Copper). Avoid the caves at night without a light source (Flashlight/Sea Glide). Not only will you miss important resources, but also risk getting lost and drowning.

A Strategy to avoiding the exploding Crash Fish; Swim back from them as they approach, then quickly swim back to where it came from. They are fast, but can't turn around quickly.

For late stages of the game, it could be advantageous to utilize the Connected Gates for base building.

Simple Base #1
3-Way Tub Base. For your initial base, place this close to the escape pod so it will be easier to find. Near the cliff edge next to the Creeper Vine forest is an excellent location, but anywhere in the Shallows is fine.

Construct:	Inventory	Gear:
3-Way Tube Entry Hatch Solar Panel x2 Wall Locker x6 Fabricator Medical Kit Fab Radio

Optional, but not needed immediately, is a Beacon to help locate your base. Spot Light or Flood Lights could also help. Although this simple base can be used anywhere as a depot, there are better options (see Outposts below).

Helpful Hint:
Naming your lockers will save you a lot of time and frustration. Keeping your stored inventory in an organized fashion will make production a lot easier and help to prevent wasted trips for a single item you already have on hand.

Designate a locker near your Fabricator for Titanium, since that resource gets used the most. Avoid using names like 'miscellaneous', 'stuff' or unnamed locker.

Eventually some lockers can be divided, like SILVER, GOLD and BATTERIES.

Construct:	Inventory	Gear:
Scanner Room 3-Way Tube Entry Hatch Solar Panel x2 Wall Locker x8 Fabricator Speed Mod Range Mod Medical Kit Fab Radio

Keep in mind your bases' structural integrity as you add pieces to your base. Add Reinforced Panels to at least two of the outward 3-way Tubes, which will add to hull integrity. Attach these before adding Wall Lockers on the inside, as anything attached to the walls may prevent you from adding the reinforcement panels. Moon Pool entrance is on the bottom and you launch toward the end without the rotating radar. Be sure to allow enough space to dock your Seamoth. In extended depths, a foundation can be placed well below the Moonpool to allow you to dock a Prawn Suit.

Construct: Phase 1	Inventory	Gear:
Moonpool Scanner Room Solar Panel x3 3-Way Tubes x2 Reinforcement x2
Construct: Phase 2
3-Way Tubes x2 Speed Mod Range Mod Fabricator Wall Locker x6+ First-aid Radio
(Optional)
Multipurpose Room

Outposts
These are are for areas you want to search. Upgrade the Scanner Room with Speed and Range modules you can make from the on-board Module Fabricator .

Construct:	Inventory:	Gear:
Scanner Room Entry Hatch Solar Panel Wall Locker x2 Fabricator Speed Mod Range Mod	.

.

Construct:	Inventory:	Gear:
2-Way Tube Entry Hatch Wall Locker x4 Beacon	.
Solar Panel

HINT: It can be helpful to name the beacon based on the biome and compass heading, such as 'Shallows-South'. You can also add the depth if desired, 'Dunes-West 120m'.

High Capacity O2 Tank

Std tank +

Battery Charger

Bio Reactor