Subnautica 2 Guide: All Improved Fins Fragment Locations

Q: How do you craft Improved Fins?

Once you have all three scans, head to a Fabricator to craft them. You'll also need a Processor to produce some of the required materials beforehand. The full recipe is: 1x Basic Fins (your starting fins, already in your inventory) 1x Fiber Mesh (crafted from Fiber and Strong Acid at the Processor) 2x Conduit Crystal (harvested at the Power Plant in the Alien Ruins area, the large dome structure beyond the Observatory Tower) Fiber can be found in multiple locations across the ocean floor. For a breakdown of where to source every material you need, the Subnautica 2 all resources list covers every resource by category with farming tips. Conduit Crystal is the most location-specific ingredient. You'll need to visit the Power Plant dome in the Alien Ruins zone specifically to harvest it. If you haven't explored that structure yet, it sits beyond the Observatory Tower.

Q: Why should you prioritize Improved Fins early?

The speed difference between Basic Fins and Improved Fins is noticeable from the first swim. Faster movement means you cover more ground per oxygen tank, reach your Tadpole vehicle faster when things go wrong, and escape creature encounters that would otherwise end a run badly. The upgrade becomes especially valuable once you start pushing into deeper biomes where oxygen management and creature pressure both increase. Getting Improved Fins before you start regular dives past 200 meters is the right call. The fragments also happen to sit in the same zone as several story objectives, so picking them up during your natural progression costs almost no extra time. For more on what else is waiting in those deeper zones, check out the Subnautica 2 confirmed Leviathans guide before you head down there. Knowing what you're swimming toward changes how you plan your dives. For everything else the game has to offer during Early Access, the full Subnautica 2 guides collection has you covered on blueprints, biomods, bunker locations, and more.

Swimming slowly through open water while a predator closes in is one of the most stressful experiences Subnautica 2 has to offer. Improved Fins fix that. This upgrade significantly boosts your swimming speed and maneuverability, making every dive more efficient and every escape more survivable. You need to scan 3 fragments to unlock the recipe, and all of them cluster around the same alien ruins area east of your life pod. Here's exactly where to find them.

Where are all the Improved Fins fragment locations?

All three fragments sit within the Alien Ruins zone, roughly 1,300 to 1,416 meters east of your life pod. There are actually more than three scannable fragments in this region, but the three listed below are the closest together and the fastest route to unlocking the recipe.

info

If you have the Alien Ruins signal already unlocked on your scanner, use it as your navigation anchor. All three fragments are within a short swim of that marker.

Fragment 1: Alien Ruins research tables at 160m depth

Head 1,300 meters directly east of your life pod and drop to around 160 meters depth. At the Alien Ruins point, look for a cable hanging off the side of the structure over a cliff edge. Follow it down and you'll reach a set of research tables below. The first Improved Fins fragment is sitting right there by those tables.

Do not go onto the main structure itself. The fragment is in the abandoned section below the surface level of the ruins, not on the tower.

Alien Ruins research site

Fragment 2: Cave floor next to Blackbox Ruby 2 at 295m depth

This one requires going deeper. The second fragment is located 1,416 meters east-southeast (104 degrees) of the life pod at 295 meters depth. From the Alien Ruins marker, look south-southeast (160 degrees) for a rock structure with needle-like protrusions sticking out of it.

Below that rock formation is an open cave. Inside, you'll find the Improved Fins fragment on the cave floor right next to a rebreather and Blackbox Ruby 2. The story progression naturally guides you toward that Blackbox, so this fragment is hard to miss if you're following the main narrative.

warning

Needlers patrol this area. They're not something you want to deal with at 295 meters without a solid escape route. Grab the scan and move.

Fragment 3: Research table on top of the Needler nest at 207m depth

The third fragment is almost directly above the second one. At 1,360 meters east-southeast (100 degrees) from the life pod and 207 meters depth, you'll find a research table sitting on top of the same Needler nest rock structure. The Improved Fins fragment is leaning against a storage container on that table.

This scan is positioned directly above the cave from Fragment 2, so once you've cleared that area you can surface slightly and grab this one without much extra travel.

warning

Needlers are still present up here. Same advice applies.

How do you craft Improved Fins?

Once you have all three scans, head to a Fabricator to craft them. You'll also need a Processor to produce some of the required materials beforehand.

The full recipe is:

1x Basic Fins (your starting fins, already in your inventory)
1x Fiber Mesh (crafted from Fiber and Strong Acid at the Processor)
2x Conduit Crystal (harvested at the Power Plant in the Alien Ruins area, the large dome structure beyond the Observatory Tower)

Fiber can be found in multiple locations across the ocean floor. For a breakdown of where to source every material you need, the Subnautica 2 all resources list covers every resource by category with farming tips.

Conduit Crystal is the most location-specific ingredient. You'll need to visit the Power Plant dome in the Alien Ruins zone specifically to harvest it. If you haven't explored that structure yet, it sits beyond the Observatory Tower.

info

As of Early Access, Improved Fins are the final tier of fin upgrades. This may change in future updates as Unknown Worlds Entertainment continues development.

Improved Fins crafting recipe

Why should you prioritize Improved Fins early?

The speed difference between Basic Fins and Improved Fins is noticeable from the first swim. Faster movement means you cover more ground per oxygen tank, reach your Tadpole vehicle faster when things go wrong, and escape creature encounters that would otherwise end a run badly.

The upgrade becomes especially valuable once you start pushing into deeper biomes where oxygen management and creature pressure both increase. Getting Improved Fins before you start regular dives past 200 meters is the right call.

The fragments also happen to sit in the same zone as several story objectives, so picking them up during your natural progression costs almost no extra time.

For more on what else is waiting in those deeper zones, check out the Subnautica 2 confirmed Leviathans guide before you head down there. Knowing what you're swimming toward changes how you plan your dives.

For everything else the game has to offer during Early Access, the full Subnautica 2 guides collection has you covered on blueprints, biomods, bunker locations, and more.