Early on in Subnautica 2, you will be grabbing ore by hand. It’s a painfully slow process, and your basic tools simply cannot break the large ore veins you’ll encounter in the deep. If you try, the game will display a message stating that an unknown tool is required.
This is where the Sonic Resonator comes in. This heavy-duty mining tool allows you to blast large deposits of titanium, silver, and lead with ease. It is essential for collecting materials en masse, which you will need once you start building bases and crafting complex equipment. Additionally, you can use it to destroy stubborn Bloom Biofilm blocking your path.
Finding the Sonic Resonator Fragments
To unlock the Sonic Resonator, you must find and scan its fragments. While there are multiple locations across the map, you only need to scan two different locations to unlock it as a craftable blueprint.
The most efficient early-game locations are clustered near the Lifepod:
- The Old Habitat: Located approximately 370 meters north of the Lifepod, this structure also houses Quaker’s black box for an early task.
- Fragment 1: Enter the building through the main door; the first fragment is directly to your right.
- Fragment 2: Move directly ahead into the next section of the building. The second fragment is located next to a toppled table.
- Near the Lifepod: Head 345° north for just a few meters to find a small cave. Inside, you will find a desk with the third fragment.
- The Spider Dome: Located around 240 meters southwest (240° on the compass) of the Lifepod, look for a giant coral dome resembling a spider. The final fragment is inside the overturned crate behind Wander’s black box.
Scanning just two of these locations is sufficient to unlock the blueprint.
Crafting the Sonic Resonator
Once the blueprint is unlocked, you can craft the tool at a Fabricator in your base. Note that you cannot use the basic Fabricator inside the Lifepod; you must have built a Fabricator in your own habitat.
The crafting recipe requires the following materials:
- 1x Basic Battery: Also required to recharge the tool later.
- 2x Titanium Ingots: You can find pre-made titanium in caches, but it is more efficient to build a Processor to refine ore yourself.
- 2x Lead: Large lead blocks cannot be broken yet, so look for small chunks. A reliable source is a ravine located about 250 meters northeast of the Lifepod.
- 1x Wiring Kit: Crafted using one piece of silver and one copper wire.
Using the Sonic Resonator to Mine
With the Sonic Resonator in your hand, mining large ore veins becomes trivial. Simply swim up to the deposit and charge the tool to smash the ore into collectable chunks.
The resources are automatically collected into your inventory, provided you have enough space. Because the tool consumes energy, remember to recharge the Basic Battery regularly to ensure you don’t run out of power while harvesting valuable metals.
