Subnautica 2 Leviathans: All 3, Sizes, Biomes and Tips

01

All leviathans in Subnautica 2 at a glance

So, how many leviathans are in Subnautica 2? Three species: two Collectors (one per spawn zone), Deepwing Brooders that travel in groups of three, and a Shiver pack, one female with three males, that spawns when you enter the Void. The female's length is listed two ways on the wiki, so treat it as unsettled. For the surrounding regions, see the map and biomes guide.

02

Collector Leviathan: where it patrols and how to get past

The Collector is a squid-like hunter about 110 m long, tentacles included. Each one spawns at a random spot inside its zone shortly after a player enters, and a zone never holds more than one. The official wiki's map marks their patrol areas at -262752, 441886 (Intermediary Basin) and -133033, 397556 (above the Karakorum Metal Farms), with no depth listed.

You cannot avoid the basin itself: the wiki says crossing that trench is currently the only way to reach the Karakorum Ruins. A sonar pulse means it has spotted you. If it grabs you, a short cinematic plays and you die instantly; it can also grab and throw your Tadpole, swipe it for heavier damage, and reach under rocks with its tentacles. The infobox lists 5 damage for a Tadpole grab, 30 for grabbing you, 40 for a hit and 150 for the eating attack. Collectors cannot be killed, so plan to avoid them:

• Distraction Flares are unlocked by default (1 Titanium and 1 Quartz at a Fabricator), can be thrown about 15 m, and temporarily draw away light-attracted creatures such as the Collector.
• Camouflage, from bio-scanning a Bullethead (Graveyard, Overgrown Ruins caves, Root Canyon), hides you while you hold still and works on the Collector, but not inside the Tadpole. Since the Buddy System update it no longer frees you once the eating scene starts, so be still before it arrives.
• In the Intermediary Basin, hide under the table-like rock formations to block grabs, but not for too long, or its tentacles may pull you out.
• Above the Metal Farms, the wiki says it will not notice you while you stay deeper than 350 m.

In a Tadpole, the wiki says breaching the surface may make the Collector lose interest. The Cavitation Muffler (3 Titanium and 2 Strontium at the Modification Station) makes the sub quieter; its data card is listed on the official wiki at -145201, 402123 @ 375m, at a worksite near the Metal Farms. Strike Armor halves incoming damage, and crush depth is 250 m without a depth module or 450 m with the Mk. 1 (see the Tadpole guide). In co-op the Collector tends to target the lagging Tadpole, so stay together. Buddy System Hotfix 1 also improved its pathing in lower canyon areas.

On foot, depth costs air: deeper than 200 m you burn five oxygen units per second without a Rebreather, so check the oxygen guide before hiding for long. The default Oxygen Control biomod slows oxygen use while you are still, but pairing it with Camouflage needs a second passive slot, unlocked at 10 bio scans. The Metal Farm blueprint is scanned at the Metal Farms, so you will visit anyway. Build your base elsewhere: the databank warns that "any small submersible or habitat is likely to draw the collector's interest."

03

Deepwing Brooder: the passive giant worth chasing

The Deepwing Brooder is the friendly one: passive, often open-mouthed, and unable to harm you. Brooders migrate around the perimeter of the map in lines of three, a loop that the wiki's migration map puts at about an hour, and their very low rumbling cry carries up to 500 m.

They are fast, so bring Wakemakers (6 m/s) or a Tadpole (8 m/s) to catch up and scan one. They shed hundreds of decoy oil droplets and several real Deepwing Egg Clumps, which are larger with a distinct texture; decoys dissolve as you approach. A clump restores 40 food and 40 water with no cooking, or can be combined with Sugar of Saturn and Cherimoya Rotsac into Pavlova for 80 food, 70 water and 10 health.

04

Shiver Leviathan and the Void: the "void leviathan"

The official wiki lists no creature called a Void Leviathan in Subnautica 2. What you actually meet in the Void, the extremely deep ocean surrounding the whole map, is the Shiver pack. In the first Subnautica, Ghost Leviathans guarded the Void (officially the Crater Edge) and chased you until you returned to the playable area; here, the Shivers do that job.

Today's playable area ends at the Early Access Barrier, a shimmering wall of orange lines that only appears up close and does not block movement; most of the unfinished Tar Delta region sits beyond it. Cross it and a popup says some mechanics, including base building, are disabled, a red Early Access Preview Area warning appears on your HUD, and a Shiver Leviathan spawns nearby with three males.

The female herself does not attack; when the pack notices you, a male breaks off and pursues you at great speed, and a male that grabs you kills you instantly. Males can also grab and crush a Tadpole. In Survival mode they chase until you return, but males avoid crossing the barrier and give up once you leave the Void, so turn straight back. Chum Cloud does not distract the Shiver Leviathan. Since the Buddy System update, clinging to a vehicle no longer protects you, though a Tadpole destroyed outside the fence teleports back inside so you can recover it, and Buddy System Hotfix 2 stopped the Shiver from interacting with unpiloted vehicles.

The Void is the only place to scan a Shiver Leviathan or Shiver Male. Males can only be scanned after they detach from the female, so use terrain as cover or, in co-op, a friend as bait. The barrier is set to expand as new biomes arrive.

05

Collector vs Reaper: Subnautica 2 size comparison

On paper the Collector is roughly twice as long as the first game's Reaper, which the original game's wiki and databank list at 55 m. That figure includes tentacles longer than the Collector's body, though, so its main body is much shorter.

The official wiki lists the Reaper in Subnautica 2 only as a decorative base statue, built with the Habitat Builder for 1 Titanium, not as a creature. Unknown Worlds first planned it as a first-week bonus, then announced after 5 million wishlists that every player would get the blueprint from launch.

06

Scanning leviathans and the databank

Scan leviathans with the Bioscanner, an upgraded Scanner made at the Modification Station from a Scanner, 2 Enameled Glass and 3 Conduit Crystal. Its blueprint comes from scanning the Bioscanner at the EVA Prep wreck entrance, listed on the official wiki at -165682, 459403 @ 140m. All three leviathans count as bio scans, which unlock extra passive biomod slots at 10, 20, 40 and 80 scans.

Of the three, only the Collector grants a biomod: its four-second scan unlocks Sonic Echo, an active sonar pulse on a 10-second cooldown that highlights nearby ore deposits. Biomods are optional and swappable at a Biolab, unlike the adaptations that progression requires. The databank's Leviathans section has four entries, since Shiver Males get their own.

For safe sightseeing, Creative mode stops hostile creatures from attacking, though databank entries are not unlocked automatically. The mode is fixed per save, so start a separate one.

07

Elusive Leviathan, the "five leviathans" quote and what's next

The Elusive Leviathan is unimplemented: the wiki records only that it is massive and swims around, and it can be seen only through datamining or mods.

According to Discord messages quoted on the wiki, Unknown Worlds' Anthony Gallegos said in January 2026 that the Coral Crab counted as a leviathan, and in May 2026, shortly before launch, that the first Early Access had five leviathans. The wiki now lists three and does not say which five he meant. Two other giants are not on the list: the passive Coral Crab is about 10 m long and tall, and the aggressive Great Jaw, an anchored clam about 62 m tall in the Dolerite Spires (-345609, 465921 @ 100m on the official wiki), is classed as a mollusc.

Looking ahead, the wiki's planned features page, citing the October 15 dev vlog, lists a new Tar Delta region and an updated Collector for the next big update, and the wiki places a Collector nest in that region's future Collection Zone. The page names no new leviathan and no release date. For a behind-the-scenes look, Unknown Worlds' September 2025 dev vlog Creating the Collector Leviathan is on the official channel.