Subnautica 2 Biomods - How to Unlock the Full Roster

Biomods are character upgrades you slot at the Biolab inside the Welcome Center, split into Active and Passive types. You begin with Dash and Pathfinder on the active side, Sea Skimmer and Oxygen Control on the passive side. Everything beyond those four requires a single upgraded tool: the Bioscanner.

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Quick answer: Recover the degraded Bioscanner from the wreckage at the Blackbox Iso Signal, craft the upgraded Bioscanner at a Modification Station using 1 Scanner, 2 Enamelled Glass, and 3 Conduit Crystal, then scan the fauna and flora listed under each locked Biomod in the Biolab.

Image credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment (via YouTube/@Lucky Ghost)

What the Bioscanner does

The Bioscanner is an attachment for the standard Scanner. Once equipped, scanning fauna and flora registers as a Bio Scan, which is the only input the Biolab accepts to unlock new Biomods. Scans performed with the plain Scanner do not count, so any creatures you cataloged earlier in the playthrough need to be scanned again after the upgrade.

The same tool also lets you scan alien technology, which gates a chunk of mid- and late-game progression in the second major region.

The Bioscanner is an attachment for the standard Scanner | Image credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment (via YouTube/@ZaFrostPet)

Where to find the degraded Bioscanner

There is only one degraded Bioscanner in the world, and it sits inside a wreck tied to the Blackbox Iso Signal. The game eventually surfaces that signal as you progress, but you can reach the spot earlier if you know where to look.

The wreck is in the second large biome, where the water turns darker and greener, and alien structures appear. From the Lifepod, head roughly 1,800 meters east. From the Alien Ruins Signal, it's about 600 meters southeast.

Step 1: Bring the Repair Tool. The entrance and several internal passages require repairs to open the route deeper into the wreck.

Step 2: Swim through the broken vents and wall gaps inside the wreck, descending through a collapsed chamber. The degraded Bioscanner sits at the bottom of that chamber.

Step 3: Scan the degraded Bioscanner with your standard Scanner to register the blueprint, then return to base.

Scan the degraded Bioscanner with your standard Scanner to register the blueprint | Image credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment (via YouTube/@WoW Quest)

Crafting the Bioscanner

The Bioscanner is built at a Modification Station, not the standard Fabricator. You'll need to have located and constructed a Modification Station first, which is itself a mid-game unlock tied to the second biome.

The recipe consumes your existing Scanner, so the Bioscanner replaces it rather than sitting alongside it in your inventory.

How unlocking works at the Biolab

With the Bioscanner equipped, every locked Biomod in the Biolab shows its scan requirements upfront. Some need a single species; a few require two different creatures before they become available. Once you complete the listed Bio Scans, the Biomod becomes installable in its slot.

You'll know an unlock has registered when the Biomod entry switches from showing requirements to showing the install option in either the Active Biomods or Passive Biomods tab.

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Scans completed with the plain Scanner before you crafted the Bioscanner do not retroactively count. Re-scan those creatures with the upgraded tool.

Image credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment (via YouTube/@Lucky Ghost)

All Active Biomods and their scan requirements

Sonic Echo is the hardest of the active set. The Collector Leviathan lives in the trench between the early and late-game zones, and scanning it from above tends to be safer than approaching at depth.

Sonic Echo is the hardest of the active set | Image credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment (via YouTube/@Lucky Ghost)

All Passive Biomods and their scan requirements

Priority scans for early payoff

If you want fast returns, target the Water Slug first. It's a low-risk scan, and Water Secretion removes one of the most repetitive resource loops in the game. Oxygen Control is already free, so pairing it with Water Secretion gives you a strong baseline passive setup without much fieldwork.

On the active side, Electric Discharge is the highest-impact unlock you can realistically chase in the mid-game. The Electric Geordie spawns near the Alien Ruins in deeper parts of the second biome, and the 800-volt shock handles most aggressive medium and large fauna without needing a weapon swap.

Camouflage is the standout late-pick passive for cautious players. Staying still already reduces predator aggression, and turning that into outright invisibility makes deep exploration considerably safer.

Camouflage is the standout late-pick passive for cautious players | Image credit: Unknown Worlds Entertainment (via YouTube/@Lucky Ghost)

Common reasons a Biomod won't unlock

• The scan was performed with the standard Scanner before the Bioscanner was crafted.
• Only one of two required species was scanned for Biomods that list two targets (Chum Cloud, Bioluminescence, Homing Sense).
• The Bioscanner attachment isn't equipped on the Scanner at the moment of scanning.

Re-scanning with the Bioscanner active resolves the first and third cases. For dual-requirement Biomods, check the Biolab entry to confirm which species is still missing.