Subnautica 2 All Leviathans Guide: Locations, Behavior & How to Survive

Every Leviathan in Subnautica 2

Leviathans are the apex predators of planet Zezura, and they cannot be killed. Unknown Worlds has been explicit about this: every Leviathan-class organism is invulnerable by design. You don’t fight them. You survive them, avoid them, or outsmart them.

Early Access currently features five confirmed Leviathans, each with wildly different behavior patterns. Some hunt you across biomes. One sits perfectly still and waits for you to walk into its mouth. Here’s everything you need to know about each one.

Collector Leviathan

The Collector is probably the first Leviathan you’ll encounter, and it’s terrifying. This enormous cephalopod patrols the open water east of the Lifepod, sitting directly between you and the Alien Ruins. If you follow the game’s natural progression, you’ll swim right into its territory.

Location: Sparse Plains and Outer Bounds biomes, east of the Lifepod

Behavior: The Collector is a solitary active hunter. When it spots you, it lets out a stunning pulse, then lunges with four massive tentacles. Each tentacle has a distinct function during the grab sequence. Once it has you, the crushing begins.

The worst part? The Collector never gives up. Unlike most predators that lose interest after some distance, this thing will chase you across biome boundaries. It reacts to both light and sound, so swimming toward it with your flashlight blazing is basically ringing a dinner bell.

How to Survive the Collector

Turn off your lights. The Collector responds to light sources. Swimming dark makes you harder to detect.
Stop moving if it hasn’t spotted you yet. Motion attracts its attention.
Upgrade your Tadpole. An upgraded Tadpole submersible can outrun the Collector, but the base model cannot.
Distraction Flares work. Throw one away from your path and move while it investigates.
Mark it with a Beacon. Drop a beacon near its patrol route so you know where to avoid on future trips.

Biomod Reward

Scanning the Collector Leviathan with a Bioscanner unlocks the Sonic Echo active biomod, which gives you a sonar-like pulse ability.

Shiver Leviathan (Void Leviathan)

The Shiver lives in the Void — the pitch-black abyss beyond the map’s edge at around 5,000 meters depth. If you’re swimming out there, you’ve already made a mistake.

Location: The Void (outer boundary of the explorable map)

Behavior: Shivers hunt in packs, and the species has pronounced sexual dimorphism. Females are larger and serve as the primary threat, drawing your attention forward. Males are smaller, faster, and built to flank. While you’re watching the big one ahead of you, two smaller ones are closing in from the sides.

This coordinated pack hunting makes the Shiver uniquely dangerous. You’re not dealing with one predator — you’re dealing with a coordinated squad.

How to Survive the Shiver

Don’t go into the Void. Seriously. There’s nothing out there except the World Tree, and reaching it means crossing Shiver territory.
Distraction Flares are unreliable against Shivers. Multiple sources confirm they don’t respond to flares the way other predators do.
Speed is your only real option. If you must cross the Void, do it in the fastest vehicle you have and don’t stop.
Silent Running mode on your submersible reduces the chance of detection.

Great Jaw

The Great Jaw — internally nicknamed “Clamthulu” by Unknown Worlds — is the most mechanically interesting Leviathan. It doesn’t chase you. It doesn’t even move. It sits on the ocean floor like a massive clam and waits for you to trigger its trap.

Location: Open ocean near the Cicada Wreck area, roughly 300 meters south-southwest of the Lifepod

How the Trap Works: Inside the Great Jaw’s open shell are thin trap tendons — biological tripwires. Touch one, and the creature’s eyes open. That alone doesn’t kill you. But if you touch a second tendon while the Great Jaw can see you, the shell snaps shut. Inside, it secretes domoic acid neurotoxin. Projected symptoms include nerve damage, short-term memory loss, and death.

How to Survive the Great Jaw

Touch only ONE tendon at a time. Breaking a single tendon opens its eyes but doesn’t trigger the snap.
Stay above it, not in front of it. The Great Jaw’s field of vision is forward-facing. If you’re directly above, it can’t see you even with eyes open.
Break tendons from outside its vision and you can actually retrieve loot from inside the shell without getting eaten.
Never rush. Patience is the entire strategy here. Touch a wire, reposition above, wait, then carefully proceed.

There are resources worth grabbing inside the Great Jaw, including Lithium deposits on its inner walls. But one wrong move and you’re dissolved in stomach acid.

Deepwing Brooder

The Deepwing Brooder is the friendliest Leviathan, which isn’t saying much. It’s a massive filter feeder that hovers above you in open water, completely docile unless provoked. Think of it as the whale of Zezura’s oceans.

Location: Open water, typically hovering at medium depths

Behavior: The Deepwing is heavily armored and mostly passive. It drops eggs mixed with decoy blobs — only some of the dropped items are actually consumable. The rest are biological fakes designed to confuse smaller predators.

You don’t need to avoid the Deepwing Brooder, but you should still approach with respect. It’s classified as an opportunistic hunter despite its docile default behavior, which suggests it can attack under certain conditions.

Scanning Note

The Deepwing Brooder can be scanned with the standard Scanner. It’s rare to encounter, so scan it immediately when you spot one.

World Tree

The World Tree is classified as a Titan-class Leviathan — a category above regular Leviathans. You can see it from the surface: it’s the enormous tree-like organism at the edge of the map.

Location: Far edge of the map, beyond the Void

Current Status: Dormant. The World Tree cannot currently be scanned and doesn’t pose an active threat in Early Access. It’s likely tied to story content coming in future updates.

The Titan Rock Bores scattered across the map floor are believed to be its root system, which gives you some idea of how large this organism actually is.

Getting there requires crossing the Void, which means dealing with Shiver Leviathans. Unless you have a very specific reason to visit, stay away for now.

Alpha Variants

Two Alpha-class creatures exist in the current build. They aren’t technically Leviathans, but they’re large enough and aggressive enough to deserve mention here.

Alpha Marrowbreach: 50% larger than the standard Marrowbreach. Possesses digestive enzymes capable of processing human tissue. Occupies the best territory in its biome.
Alpha Needler Mango: Significantly larger than normal Needler Mangos. Territorial and aggressive.

Alpha variants occupy prime locations and are harder to avoid than their regular counterparts. You can kill them with sustained knife attacks, but the damage trade is brutal.

General Leviathan Survival Tactics

These strategies work against most Leviathan encounters:

Distraction Flares — Throw them away from your intended path. Most Leviathans (except Shivers) will investigate.
Kill your lights — Flashlights and vehicle headlights attract attention. Toggle them off in dangerous waters.
Stop moving — Movement generates sound. If a Leviathan is scanning the area but hasn’t locked onto you, freeze.
Silent Running — Reduces your vehicle’s acoustic signature. Essential for deep-water travel.
Sonic Resonator — Can stun or deter some creatures. Less effective on Leviathans but can buy you a second.
Beacon marking — Drop beacons near Leviathan patrol routes so you know where not to go.
Upgraded vehicles — An upgraded Tadpole can outrun most threats. The base model cannot.

Leviathans exist to make exploration terrifying. They’re not obstacles to overcome — they’re forces of nature to respect. Plan your routes, keep your lights off, and always have an exit strategy.