Surviving the Abyss: Beginner’s Tips for a Perfect Start

As you might imagine, operating a facility on the ocean floor in Surviving the Abyss is a very unique challenge. Not only is it not apt for human life, but it’s also an unnervingly dark and scary place.

With all that said, you can imagine how challenging and overwhelming the game can be for a beginner.

That’s where we come in to give you the information you need to make your first playthrough run as smoothly as possible.

Beginner’s Tips for a Perfect Start in Surviving the Abyss

Before we start, keep in mind that the game is currently in Early Access.

As developers update the game, some things may change drastically and make some of these tips not as useful.

Build Sonar Towers

First thing you want to do is to build Sonar Towers. Try to space them out as far as you can from your main hub. Sonar Towers cover a very large area, so there’s no reason to build them too closely.

Also, make sure to have a couple built early on so that you know what resources are nearby.

Research is Extremely Important

The second truly essential tip concerns research. Make sure you get a Basic Research Lab as fast as you can. This lab is your only source of research data in the early game.

Research Data is used to unlock technology that opens up new buildings.

On that note, research Air Purifiers early as water quality is always important in the game. Coal Extractors and Generators are also very important, as coal can be harvested to use as fuel, powering your buildings.

You also want to get the Carbohydrate and Protein Harvesters quickly as they are used to generate food from habitats.

Other important research includes efficiency upgrades such as the Coal Efficiency Upgrade and O2 Output Upgrade. These will help you make the most of your available resources.

Be selective of what to research and when. Focus on what you actually need. Assess what resources are nearby and research relative to them.

There’s no point in investing research into extracting iron before you actually have iron ore resources nearby, for example.

Find and Utilize Habitats      

Third, look for habitats. These are resource nodes full of wildlife that can be harvested for many uses. They can be used for food production but also for research into genetics and power generation.

Depending on what you need, you’ll have to build certain buildings on top of habitats.:

• Fauna Traps can be used to capture wildlife for research or use as bait. Try to have at least two of these to keep your cloning labs operating.
• Protein Harvesters can be used to use wildlife for food.
• Biomass Generators can be used to use the habitat to generate power without fuel costs, but they destroy the habitat.

Make sure to also put Marine Stabilizers near habitats with Fauna Traps on them. These buildings will replenish the fauna and are vital to ensure that you don’t fully deplete habitats.

Utilize Outposts

The fourth tip is a simple one. Make sure to place Outposts, being mindful of their placement. Focus on locations with lots of resources that are too far from your main hub.

While Outposts don’t provide as much light as Light Towers, they are a good source of light, power, and oxygen.

Ideally, you want to make sure you place your outposts near large chunks of resources.

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