[Top 15] Subnautica Best Mods (2020 Edition)
Like any game worth its salt, Subnautica has motivated players around the world to create mods. Mods are a great way for the player base to tell the developer exactly what they’re looking for. They also are a great way to customize your experience and keep enjoying a game even when the storyline has been completed.
In this list, we’re going to look at the best mods for Subnautica. We’ll be looking at mods that make playing the game more convenient, mods that add simple things, and mods that completely change the experience of playing the game.
15: More Quick Slots
It always seemed like an oversight to me that in a game in which a difference of three seconds can decide if you die or not, there weren’t enough quick slots to put all the different tools right on your Hotbar. This mod does exactly that.
How the Mod Makes Things More Fun:
- Adds up to 12 quick-slots
- Means you no longer have to worry about guessing which tools you will need in your Hotbar for any specific adventure
- No more getting jump scared while trying to get your propulsion cannon out of your inventory and into your hand
You can get it here.
14: Autosort Lockers
Yet another simple, yet incredibly effective, quality-of-life mod. This one, rather than helping you sort your inventory, helps you sort your lockers. It allows for one locker that you can throw all of your garbage in, which will automatically sort that garbage into designated lockers around your base.
How the Mod Makes Things More Fun:
- Eliminates the need to sort all of your junk
- Is bigger than a standard locker
- Labels each locker with the item inside and the amount of that item
You can get it here
13: Vibrant Shaders
This is by far one of the most essential and basic mods for Subnautica. Although it is already a very gorgeous game, this mod increases the look of Subnautica 7-fold. The colors are brighter, the shadows are sharper, and the graphics are overall smoother-looking.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Increases vibrancy of colors
- Makes graphics more realistic
- Glowing fish and plants become stunning
You can get it here.
12:Better Alien Containment Unit
This mod deals with the Alien Containment Unit. In vanilla Subnautica, this item is there so that the player can breed fish. However, this mod allows this unit to be able to breed more fish than usual, have the fish be automatically moved into bio-reactors, and also has customizable amounts of fish that can be bred into a unit.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Automatically moves fish into bioreactors, meaning you essentially have unlimited power, even when you are out of the base
- When bioreactors are full, it releases the fish into the ocean around you to repopulate the area
- Breeding Ampeels powers your base
You can get it here.
11: Alien Rifle
I knew this mod was going to be around the second I scanned the alien rifle in the quarantine facility. I wanted nothing more in life than to break the forcefield surrounding it and go kick some leviathan butt. Now, I can.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Finally, there is a way to fight back against all the baddies in the game besides just shooting rocks at them
- Shoots aesthetically pleasing green lasers with a nice ray-gun-like sound
- Insanely powerful, can kill a reaper leviathan in 5 or 6 shots
You can get it here.
10: Map
Another essential mod that makes life thousands of times easier while playing Subnautica. It’s simple, adding a map within the PDA, but it can save you hours of swimming around aimlessly looking for that one landmark you used to know.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- The map can completely change how you play the game
- Can map by biome, world, ect.
- Can be paired with a scanner room
You can get it here.
9: Defabricator
This mod does exactly what it sounds like. Put in any item which requires fabricating and the defabricator will break it down into its ingredients. This is very helpful for retrieving hard to get resources out of items you no longer need.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- The player is able to recycle items into their base ingredients
- Good for when you just need one recourse but that recourse is hundreds of meters away.
- No loss of ingredients when defabricated
You can get it here.
8:Alterra Industrial Deep Driller
The thing that always gave me anxiety while playing Subnautica (Besides the giant monsters that wanted to eat me whole) was the fact that resources did not respawn. I was always worried that I would run out of silver or gold and be stuck somewhere. This mod eases that fear.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- The drill placed in different biomes will drill for different resources
- Several different attachments for powering and drilling
- This mod means that you never have to worry about running out of materials
You can get it here.
7: Laser Cannon
This mod, much like the alien rifle mod, allows you to finally fight back. It can be mounted on the cyclops and sea moth with the vehicle upgrade consoles in the moonpool. With a simple left-click, you can start getting revenge on the monsters of the ocean.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Shoots two green lasers from the front of the sea moth
- Has enough power to fight leviathans
- Is easily craftable and placed
You can get it here.
6: Upgraded Vehicles
Usually, there are only a few upgrades you can add to a sea moth, prawn suit, or cyclops. With this mod, you can stack these upgrades as well as gain additional perks. It also adds a few new upgrades.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Depth modules will now go up to MK5
- Making modules will now result in armor, efficiency, or speed upgrades
- Essentially means that you can get anywhere with any vehicle
You can get it here.
5: Realistic Recipes And Increased Difficulty
The first part of this mod reworks the recipes in the game, including the vehicles, to be more realistic. It also makes the game much harder. Monsters do more damage, exploration without vehicles last longer, and increased consumption of batteries.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Makes the game more realistic
- Increases the difficulty for a second or third playthrough
- Compatible with most other Subnautica mods
You can get it here.
4: EasyCraft
The most important quality-of-life mod there is. This mod, as the name suggests, makes fabricating resources, tech, and items easier.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- No more annoying menus
- Pulls resources directly from lockers in your base
- .Works up to 100 meters away from your base
You can get it here.
3: Red Baron
The red baron mod completely changes the game. If there is one thing everybody playing Subnautica had wanted to do at some point… was fly. This mod allows for just that.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- With this mod, you can make a special vehicle upgrade that will allow vehicles to leave the water
- Controls while in the air are exactly the same as in the water
- Works with the sea moth AND the cyclops
You can get it here.
2: Tech Pistol
This pistol is one of the coolest and most overpowered weapon mods. It creates a craftable pistol that has three modes, cannon mode, which fires a cannon projectile, laser mode, which fires a laser, and scale creature mode, which changes a creature size.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Has 3 modes with varying damage
- Can also be used to customize creatures by enlarging or shrinking them
- It can be fabricated normally and simply uses batteries.
You can get it here.
1: Nitrox Multiplayer Mod
You know what they say, there is nothing better than friendship. This mod allows you to bring you or a group of your friends into the same Subnautica world. The depths seem less scary when you’ve got your buddies to back you up.
How the Mod Makes Things Great:
- Bring your friends online!
- Find resources easily and explore with confidence
- Compatible with other mods
You can get it here.
If you haven’t played through Subnautica before, I highly suggest playing the game through vanilla the first time around. But if you are looking for a challenge or to just make your next playthrough more interesting, definitely consider downloading one of these mods.
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