Fiber is one of the earliest crafted materials in Subnautica 2, and it gates a handful of practical items, including Basic Fins, Basic and Enhanced First Aid Kits, and Fiber Mesh. To make it, you need Fibrous Pulp harvested from specific underwater plants near your starting Lifepod.
What you need before harvesting
Fibrous Pulp cannot be picked up by hand. You have to cut the source plants with the Survival Multitool, which is an early-game tool crafted at a Fabricator. The Fabricator inside your Lifepod is already powered and ready to use from the start of the game.
The Multitool recipe takes 2 Titanium Ore, both of which you can salvage from broken metal debris on the seabed around the Lifepod. Once equipped, the Multitool lets you chop plant matter and collect Fibrous Pulp with each strike.
Where to find Fibrous Pulp near the Lifepod
Several plants in the starting shallows drop Fibrous Pulp when cut. Each plant can be struck multiple times, returning one pulp per cut, and many regrow after a short interval.
| Plant | Appearance | Approx. location from Lifepod |
|---|---|---|
| Whip Gorgon | Thick red tufts resembling tentacle grass; blends in with non-harvestable seagrass | Directly beneath the Lifepod |
| Feather Kelp | Orange stems with dark pink leaves, growing on cave walls | Cave roughly 29m southwest, depth ~27m; also ~100m northwest in a seafloor cave |
| Curtain Gorgon | Brown wavy coral on rock formations and larger corals | ~31m southwest, depth ~15m |
| Cradle Shootroot | Sea-green leaves with a bright orange bulb (the bulb is Lucifer Rotsac) | ~70m east, depth ~15m |
| Macaron Sponge | Flat purple mushroom shape with pink flaps | ~250–302m northeast, depth ~30m |
| Lucifer Rotsac | Plants with glowing orange pentagonal bulbs | Scattered around the base area; respawns after time |
Feather Kelp is the most reliable early source because it grows in most caves, including the one directly under the Lifepod. Whip Gorgon is convenient but easy to confuse with the visually similar seagrass that yields nothing when struck.
Fibrous Pulp sources in the Axum biome
Once you push past the gap guarded by the Creature Leviathan into the Axum biome, harvest sources thin out. The Freesia Flower yields a small amount of Fibrous Pulp when cut. For a larger stockpile, Lucifer Rotsac grows on top of a Research Facility located roughly 1,290m east of the Lifepod at a depth of around 127m.
How to craft Fiber at the Fabricator
Fiber is processed at any Fabricator under the Resources tab, in the Basic Materials section. The recipe is straightforward and only consumes Fibrous Pulp.
| Output | Station | Ingredients |
|---|---|---|
| Fiber x1 | Fabricator | Fibrous Pulp x2 |
Step 1: Approach a Fabricator with Fibrous Pulp in your inventory. The Fabricator built into the Lifepod is powered from the start; freestanding Fabricators in player bases require a power source such as a Solar Panel.
Step 2: Open the Fabricator menu and move to the Resources tab. Under Basic Materials, the Fiber recipe will be highlighted as long as you have at least two Fibrous Pulp on you.
Step 3: Select Fiber to craft it. Each craft consumes two pulp and outputs one Fiber. Repeat as needed to stockpile for downstream recipes.
What Fiber is used for
Fiber feeds into several useful crafts. Some of the recipes are locked until you scan the appropriate item in the world.
| Recipe | Station | Fiber required |
|---|---|---|
| Basic First Aid Kit | Fabricator | 1 |
| Enhanced First Aid Kit | Fabricator | 1 |
| Fiber Mesh | Fabricator | 2 |
| Basic Fins | Fabricator | 2 |
| Medkit Fabricator | Habitat Builder | 1 |
| Single Bed | Habitat Builder | 3 |
| Tailing Rug | Habitat Builder | 3 |
| Hanging Tailing Jar | Habitat Builder | 2 |
| Tailing Jar | Habitat Builder | 1 |
Fibrous Pulp itself is also a food ingredient. It is the key component of Oily Salad, one of the earliest cooked meals available, so don't burn through every piece you pick up on Fiber alone if you also need food.
Tips for stockpiling efficiently
Inventory pressure is the main obstacle. Fibrous Pulp is light to gather but heavy to carry in bulk, and Fiber recipes downstream chew through it quickly. Drop a Portable Locker near a productive plant cluster, fill it during a harvest loop, and ferry the stack back to base when you surface for oxygen. There's already a locker in the cave directly under the Lifepod that you can use.
Increasing your inventory capacity also helps. Interact with Biobeds scattered around the world to expand your maximum carry size, which makes longer harvest runs viable before you need to dump materials.
Subnautica 2 is currently in Early Access, so plant names, locations, and recipe costs can shift between updates. If a node looks different than expected after a patch, sweep nearby caves and reefs. Most pulp-bearing plants stay clustered, and finding one usually means more are within swimming distance.