Collect Copper for batteries, wiring and your first base

These are corroborated published landmarks. Kingy has not recorded this trip, and the cave is not a guarantee of a particular haul. The resource-routes guide covers nearby Acidic Raion gathering when you also need a battery ingredient.

1. Dive beneath the Lifepod and look for coral recesses and the cave opening below them.
2. Inspect walls, ceilings and the undersides of the coral. Copper has a brown-orange crystalline appearance; confirm the resource label before collecting it.

   Older footage · checked Oct 25, 2026 · before Subnautica 2 Early Access 1.2 (Buddy System, August 19, 2026)

   0:45–0:51 · 6 sConfirming the Copper label on a cave-wall nugget

   0:45–0:51Confirming the Copper label on a cave-wall nugget
3. Gather only while you have enough oxygen to retrace the entrance and return. Check the inventory count once you are back.

Small Copper pieces can be collected by hand. Large veins require the Sonic Resonator: mark them for later if you do not have the tool yet. For other formations, check the current interaction prompt instead of assuming every Copper node behaves alike.

Adaptive Measures corrected misleading Sonic Resonator prompts on regular resource nodes and overlapping Copper nodes in a cave near Old Habitat. Those released fixes do not establish a universal tool rule or a current node count.

This table counts only Copper, with all components made from scratch. Other ingredients, blueprints, base construction and power still apply. A new Scanner plus Habitat Builder needs 6 Copper; a full Fabricator plus first Processor needs 4, excluding the Builder and base. These are recipe calculations.

Subtract components you already own before gathering. Keep enough raw Copper for immediate recipes before processing ingots. Copper, Copper Wire and Copper Ingots are separate ingredients; use the linked crafting guide for station setup.

Once you can recharge batteries, keep depleted ones and use the existing charging guide. Building another battery consumes Copper that could go toward the next tool.

Use the Beacons and signals guide to mark a useful cave and your return location. If your powered Scanner Station offers Copper, select a displayed contact and follow its signal. The station guide covers missing filters and contacts; a marker does not change the gathering tool required.

GameWith lists Copper as an accepted Metal Farm input. After unlocking and powering the farm, reserve a raw Copper sample for its input and follow the displayed timer and harvest prompt. The existing farm guide covers construction and power.

Buddy System corrected farm power faults and resource-swap timing exploits. Plan around the current display rather than a fixed cycle time. This guide does not promise natural-node respawns, per-node yields or a fastest collection route.