Subnautica 2 Guide: How to Get Necrolei Cysts and Craft Strong Acid

Quick Answer: Swim 300 meters Northwest of your Lifepod until you find giant, pink-frilled plants. Look for green, onion-like Stilt Orbs on the seafloor and slash their top flowers with your Survival Multitool to harvest Necrolei Cysts. Take two cysts to a Processor to craft Strong Acid.

Eventually, paddling around the shallows stops being fun. If you want to dive deeper and actually progress the story, you need a Tadpole vehicle. To build that vehicle, you need a steady supply of Strong Acid.

The game gives you two different ways to manufacture this highly corrosive material. You can either gather Necrolei Cysts from a specific early-game biome, or you can brave the volcanic depths for Gold and Sulfur. For most players just starting out, hunting down the cysts is significantly easier.

Locating the Necrolei Cysts

You will not find this bizarre flora anywhere near your starter area. You need to pack your Survival Multitool and head out on a very specific heading.

Drop directly below your Lifepod, point your compass straight Northwest, and swim for exactly 300 meters. You will suddenly enter a vibrant biome dominated by massive, dark green plants that look like giant flowers with bright pink frilled edges.

Once you spot these massive plants, look down at the seafloor. You are searching for clusters of green bulbs anchored to the ground by pink, fleshy roots. These are called Stilt Orbs.

How to Harvest

You cannot pick these up with your bare hands. Equip your Survival Multitool and slash the small flower growing right at the top of the Stilt Orb bulb. Each swipe will yield exactly one Necrolei Cyst. Since these orbs always spawn in clusters of two to eight, you can grab a massive haul in a single trip.

If you are gearing up for major vehicle construction, you will need more than just acid. Make sure your base is fully stocked on power components by checking out our Subnautica 2 Guide: How to Find and Farm Salt before you head back home.

Manufacturing Strong Acid

Once your inventory is glowing with cysts, head back to your base. You cannot make Strong Acid in a basic Fabricator; you must run the materials through a Processor.

If you have progressed far enough to unlock the Heat Tolerance Adaptation, you actually have a second option for crafting Strong Acid that bypasses the cysts entirely.

The Volcanic Alternative (Gold & Sulfur)

If you prefer mining over botany, you can source the mineral ingredients from the lava biome, located about 230 meters Southeast of your Lifepod.

• Sulfur: Look for bright yellow deposits scattered around active volcanic vents and tight rock crevices.
• Gold: Search the massive stone arches and columns for large, honeycomb-shaped mineral clusters. You cannot break these by hand. You must blast them with a Sonic Resonator, which will drop five pieces of Gold ore per node.

For early-game players, sticking to the Stilt Orbs Northwest of the Lifepod is far less dangerous than dodging lava spouts. Harvest the cysts, process your acid, and get that Tadpole built!

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