Beginner's Guide

Beginner's Guide

Survive your first dive

From your first breath to your first Tadpole. Filter the tips by what you need, or follow the early-game route step by step.

Quick reference — readable without JavaScript
  • Use the Lifepod as your anchor
  • Mind health, hunger, thirst & oxygen
  • Eat and drink smart
  • Scan everything you meet
  • Gather with the right tool
  • Keep batteries charged
  • Manage your inventory
  • Drop beacons at resource spots
  • Scare predators with flares
  • Build your base early
  • Build next to a current
  • Unlock the Tadpole
  • Strap storage to the Tadpole
  • Upgrade via the roof slot
  • Boost DNA with Adaptations
  • Hunt Biomods and Biobeds
  • Beware the Leviathans
  • Demolish to relocate
  • Toggle quest markers
  • Keep exploring the unknown
  • Never strike creatures with the Multitool
  • Build storage before deep dives
  • Watch hull integrity — bases can flood
  • Some blueprints unlock on pickup
  • The Wakemaker beats the Flashlight
  • Silver is your first real bottleneck
  • Power the Welcome Center first
  • Hit Camp One early
  • Stack Tadpole engine upgrades
  • Grab Power Storage from bunkers
  • Bioscanner earns Biomods from creatures
  • Almost everything is north
  • Oxygen starts at 45 and drains fast
  • The Air Bladder is your panic button
  • Water runs out faster than food
  • Don't eat native fish before Digestion
  • Medical Gel Capsule is the quick +10 HP fix
  • Empty food or water drains your health
  • Use natural oxygen vents
  • Share loot by standing close in co-op
  • Die? You respawn at the Biobed
  • Pair the Rebreather with your tanks
  • Heat Resistance is your depth gate
  • Power comes in three tiers
  • Alien Ruins are your mid-game hub
  • Build a second base at Red Grass Mesa
  • Blueprints are scan-gated
  • Cross the Trench carefully
  • Triolite is finite, build Metal Farms
  • The Great Jaw mouth is a vault
  • Base at the Observatory
  • Beware the Collector Leviathan
  • Blue lights lead to colony habitats
  • A Scanner Station reveals nearby materials
  • Farm with a Portable Locker
  • The Sonic Resonator is a multi-tool
  • Carry a Repair Tool with your Tadpole
  • Release the Lifepod clamps early
  • Black Boxes hide more than story
  • Biobeds grant inventory and hotbar room
  • Tadpole Pens are keycode-locked
  • Scan Leviathans from safety
  • Pick your explorer
  • There is a debug console
  • Watch the Early Access roadmap
  • Decoy Flare Stick lures predators
  • Finish the full NOA conversation
  • Creative vs Survival
  • Leviathans are unkillable — treat them as zone boundaries
  • Freeze Nibbler packs with a Distraction Flare
  • Learn each Leviathan's roar
  • Beacon Leviathan territory for co-op
  • Equip Dash or build a Seaglide before deep dives
  • Great Jaw: scan the shell, never the mouth
  • Scanning unlocks recipes, not just lore
  • Know which Leviathan owns each zone
Early-game route

Your first hours on Proteus

A proven order of operations for the opening acts of Early Access.

⏱️

First Hour

Scan, gather, and craft your core tools.

🌅

First Day

Build a base, unlock your first adaptations.

🗓️

First Week

The Tadpole, story blackboxes, and real depth.

Survival autopsy

How did you die?

Every death on Proteus has a cause — and a fix. Learn the patterns before they end your run.

Controls

Common default keybindings

The essentials to get moving. Bindings are rebindable in settings — these are the game's defaults.

🕹️ Movement

WASD swim · Space ascend · Ctrl / C descend · Shift sprint · Mouse look & steer

🖐️ Interact

E interact / pick up · F flashlight · Tab inventory & PDA · R swap battery

🔧 Tools

Left click use tool (Scanner, Multitool) · F flashlight toggle · build mode from the Habitat Builder

🧭 Navigation

Esc opens the PDA — your coordinates and signals live there · the HUD compass is always on. There is no world map.