Subnautica 2 Guide: How to Find and Farm Lead

Quick Answer: To find Lead early in the game, grab your compass and swim exactly 340 meters Northeast from your Lifepod. Dive down 60 meters to the Cicada Wreck (Lander Garage), where you will find massive clusters of Lead scattered across the seabed.

You are going to hit a progression wall pretty early on Proteus, and its name is Lead. Unlike Copper or Titanium, which you trip over every five seconds in the starting shallows, Lead is incredibly scarce.

You absolutely need this heavy metal to craft the Sonic Resonator, which is arguably the most vital mining tool in the game. Without it, you cannot break open the massive resource deposits scattered around the map. Here is exactly where you need to go to load up your inventory.

The Best Early Game Lead Location

The earliest and most reliable place to mine Lead is right underneath the Cicada Wreck, specifically the Lander Garage section.

Since the ocean is massive and easy to get lost in, use your Lifepod as your starting anchor.

1. Climb on top of your Lifepod and pull out your compass.
2. Face Northeast. Adjust your view so the center marker sits right between “NE” and the “60” mark.
3. Swim in a completely straight line for 340 meters.
4. Look down. You will see a massive piece of Alterra wreckage resting at a depth of roughly 60 meters.

Once you reach the seafloor beneath the wreck, you will spot dozens of Lead deposits littering the sand. If you are a bit further into the story and the NOA has already given you the “Blackbox – Ruby” signal, you can just follow that waypoint instead. The Cicada Wreck is sitting right next to it.

Swimming 340 meters back and forth with a full inventory takes forever. Save yourself the headache and craft a submersible first by checking out our Subnautica 2 Guide: How to Build the Tadpole.

Harvesting Lead Deposits

When you finally reach the wreck, you will encounter different sizes of ore nodes. How you harvest them depends on the gear you brought with you.

Right now, only small and large nodes are confirmed to spawn around the wreck. If you do not have the Sonic Resonator yet, do not panic. There are more than enough small chunks lying around to hand-pick what you need to craft the tool back at base.

Automating the Search with a Scanner Station

Manually hunting for small grey rocks in the dark gets old fast. As soon as you establish a custom seabase, you need to construct a Scanner Station.

This base module is an absolute game-changer. Once powered, it tracks every single resource within a 300-meter radius, throwing a glowing HUD marker directly onto your screen. You unlock the blueprint by scanning broken room fragments inside various Alterra wrecks.

The 100-Meter Base Trick

Because the Scanner Station is hard-capped at a 300-meter range, building it right next to your Lifepod will not help you find Lead. The Cicada Wreck is 340 meters away.

To solve this, build your starter base at least 100 meters Northeast of your Lifepod. This perfectly overlaps your Scanner’s radar ping with the Cicada Wreck, allowing you to track every single piece of Lead from the comfort of your living room.

Scanner Station Recipe

To construct this room, use the “Interior Facilities” tab on your Habitat Builder with the following materials:

• 3x Titanium
• 1x Wiring Kit
• 1x System Chip

Get your radar online, grab your Sonic Resonator, and you will never struggle with heavy metal shortages again.

For more tips, walkthroughs, and everything else covering the game, check out our full collection of guides.