Subnautica 2 Tadpole Chassis Guide: Scout Ray vs Haul, Stats and Unlocks

The Tadpole is the first real vehicle you build in Subnautica 2, and the chassis system is the part that trips people up. You do not pick a permanent loadout at the build screen. The bare Tadpole is its own thing, and the two chassis you can attach to it, Scout Ray and Haul, change what the vehicle is good for. They also detach in seconds, so this is not a one-or-the-other choice the way new players assume.

Here is exactly what each chassis does, the stats that actually matter, and where to find the fragments.

The bare Tadpole first

Before the chassis talk, get the base vehicle clear in your head. The standard Tadpole is a single-pilot submersible with a 250m crush depth and unlimited oxygen while it has power. It runs at 8 m/s, has 100 health, and uses one Power Cell that you can pull out to recharge.

It also has handlebar grips on each side. Another player can grab a handle and ride along while you pilot, and each grip has its own oxygen port. That matters for co-op even before you touch a chassis. If you want the full unlock walkthrough, the Tadpole vehicle guide covers the fragment hunt and crafting recipe in detail.

Both chassis attach to this base vehicle and can be deconstructed with the Habitat Builder or dropped in the field. That is the key mechanic. You are never stuck.

Scout Ray Chassis: speed and reach

The Scout Ray is the explorer’s chassis. It bolts a pair of wings onto the Tadpole, and those wings carry extra engines. When you are not moving, the wings fold away. When you push the throttle, they extend and you hit 10 m/s, which is a noticeable step up from the base 8 m/s.

That extra speed costs you width. The wings make the vehicle wider, so threading tight cave mouths and wreck corridors gets clumsier. The fix is built in. You detach the Scout Ray, pilot the slim base Tadpole through the gap, and reattach on the other side.

A few things to know before you commit to it:

• Speed: 10 m/s. Best in the game for a personal vehicle right now.
• No extra cargo. The wiki is blunt about this: the Scout Ray adds no hardpoints or cargo space beyond the chassis itself, which has one hardpoint you can hang a Portable Locker on.
• Wider profile. Great in open water, awkward in tight terrain.

Crafting recipe (Vehicle Fabricator): 2x Plasteel Ingot, 1x Advanced Wiring Kit, 1x Dedicated Core, 1x Strong Acid.

Unlocking the Scout Ray

This is the easy one. There is a single scan involved. Head to the Tadpole Pens, find the docked Tadpole there, and scan the chassis attached to it. That one scan unlocks the blueprint. No scattered fragment hunt like the Haul.

Haul Chassis: people and cargo

The Haul Chassis is the co-op and logistics chassis. Instead of speed, it bolts on a transport frame: two seats on the sides and a handlebar on top. Combined with the pilot, that lets four players ride a single Tadpole, and every seating position has its own oxygen port.

It runs at 8 m/s, the same as the base vehicle, so you lose nothing in speed and gain a lot in carrying capacity. On top of the seats, it has two hardpoints. Each one takes a Portable Locker, so you get real storage for resource runs. There is also a camera mounted under the main body that makes navigating and spotting resources easier when you are hauling a crew.

What you actually get:

• Capacity: four players on one vehicle.
• Speed: 8 m/s. No penalty versus the base Tadpole.
• Two hardpoints for Portable Lockers, plus internal storage.
• Underside camera for navigation and resource spotting.

Crafting recipe (Vehicle Fabricator): 4x Titanium Ingot, 3x Strontium, 3x Enameled Glass, 1x Dedicated Core.

Unlocking the Haul Chassis

This one is a proper fragment hunt. Five fragments exist in the world, and you need to scan three of them to get the blueprint. The cleanest three to grab:

• Southwest side of the Karakorum Metal Farms, around 465m depth.
• South of Stairway to Heaven, around 205m depth.
• Inside the Needler Nest, around 290m depth.

The Metal Farms fragment is the deepest and sits in a region patrolled by a Collector Leviathan, so plan that swim carefully and have an escape route. The Needler Nest is exactly what it sounds like, so do not linger.

Scout Ray vs Haul: side by side

	Scout Ray	Haul
Role	Exploration	Transport and cargo
Speed	10 m/s	8 m/s
Passengers	Pilot only (base handles still work)	Four total
Cargo	None added	Two hardpoints plus storage
Unlock	1 scan at Tadpole Pens	3 of 5 fragments
Profile	Wider, awkward in tight spots	Bulkier transport frame

Which one to build first

If you are playing solo and still filling in the map, build the Scout Ray first. The jump from 8 to 10 m/s does not sound huge on paper, but over the long swims this map throws at you, it saves real time, and the folding wings keep your top speed without making the vehicle permanently unwieldy.

If you are in co-op, or you are deep into base building and moving bulk materials, build the Haul first. One Tadpole carrying your whole crew plus loot beats everyone swimming, and the underside camera is genuinely useful when you are scanning the seabed for resource nodes.

The good news, again, is that you do not have to choose for keeps. The chassis swap in the field. Most players who get past the early game end up keeping both built and switching based on the job. Scout Ray for a long scouting run, Haul when it is time to move the crew or restock the base.

For how the Tadpole fits into a wider group strategy, the co-op guide walks through shared worlds, who keeps progress, and how to keep playing when the host is offline.