Whether you’re new to Barotrauma or a veteran spelunking through Europa’s depths, there’s always something new to learn about this wildly unpredictable, deep-sea survival simulator. This guide compiles 30 of the most effective and lesser-known tips to enhance your gameplay, improve your survivability, and boost your efficiency, whether you’re diving solo or coordinating a full 16-player crew. Let’s dive right in.

1. Upgrade Your Diving Suit

Always swap out your basic diving suit for a combat diving suit. These are not only faster and more protective but are rated for depths of up to 6,000 meters, making them vital for deeper missions.

2. Use Combat Stimulants

When venturing outside the sub during high-risk missions, apply tonic liquid or Hyperzine. These give you health and speed boosts, giving you the edge in tight situations.

3. Expand Storage with Containers

By placing resource containers inside lockers, you can drastically increase your sub’s item storage capacity. It also helps with organizing valuable supplies more effectively.

4. Deconstruct for Free Steel

When you buy supplies from outposts, they’re delivered in storage crates. Instead of letting these clutter your sub, throw them into the deconstructor for a free steel bar per crate.

5. Automate Material Sorting

Place full crates directly into deconstructors. This drops items into the device, making it easier to sort or transfer materials into fabricators or for station sales.

6. Use Waterproof Crates

Explosive, medical, and chemical crates should be waterproof to prevent critical accidents. Water-reactive substances like potassium or sodium can explode when wet, so don’t store them near airlocks.

7. Sleep Off Minor Injuries

For small mishaps like fall damage, use bunks to rest and recover instead of burning through valuable medical supplies. This is especially useful between missions.

8. Plasma Cutter Technique

The end tip of the plasma cutter is the hottest part. Maintain some distance and let just the tip do the work for faster cutting through doors and mineral veins.

9. Boost Depth Charges and Railguns

Load explosives into railguns or depth charges to dramatically increase damage output, especially helpful when confronting large sea monsters.

10. Deconstruct to Salvage Rare Resources

Short on advanced metals? Deconstruct items like explosive ammo or Fulgarium batteries. They’re more available than raw rare resources at stations.

11. Sell Plants for Profit

Cultivate and harvest plants to earn an easy 800–1,200 credits per trip. Stations buy them readily, and they’re a passive way to pad your wallet.

12. Leverage the Medic Uniform

Medic uniforms include extra medicine storage. Slot one into your inventory for three bonus slots, perfect for medical emergencies or extended trips.

13. Radiation-Proof Suits

Regular and abyss diving suits offer 100% radiation resistance. They’re essential in Jovian radiation zones or when using nuclear ammo.

14. Manual Suit Management

In single-player, crew members won’t auto-equip suits in hazardous conditions. You’ll need to manually assign or equip them before exposure.

15. Boost Stats with Equipment

Gear bonuses can boost resistances or stats. The best items currently come from pirate submarines, so consider boarding them for high-tier loot.

16. Pirate Sub Looting Trick

When engaging pirate subs, lure them to areas with seabeds. If they sink too deep, you’ll lose your chance to loot them due to crushing depth.

17. Richer Resources in the Abyss

Islands in the Abyss hold dense and valuable minerals. Just be prepared—Abyssal monsters roam these areas and will test your team’s coordination.

18. Use Flares for Monster Baiting

When exploring caves, toss flares ahead of you. They draw out lurking creatures and give you a tactical edge, especially around thresher nests.

19. Efficient Mudraptor Elimination

Load raptor’s bane extract into your medic gun to one-shot mudraptors. This saves tons of ammo and lets you clear threats without heavy fire.

20. Detect Ballast Flora via Sonar

Ballast flora appears as small glowing particles on sonar, especially in the campaign’s second half. Spot it early to avoid infection.

21. Clear Flora Fast with Grenades

Grenades are the fastest way to clear ballast flora. Always keep a few in your inventory, especially when expecting plant-infected areas.

22. Loot the Moloch

After downing a Moloch, don’t leave empty-handed. It drops unique resources and armor you won’t want to miss.

23. Tag-Team Artifact Retrieval

When recovering heavy artifacts, have one player go limp while another carries them with a scooter. This clever trick cuts travel time and effort.

24. Reactor Fuel Saving Tip

When docked at stations, shut off the reactor to preserve fuel rods. Even idle, the reactor consumes power unless manually turned off.

25. Use Station Fabricators

Rather than burn your own fuel, use station fabricators or deconstructors for crafting. It saves power and extends your sub’s endurance.

26. Turn Lockers into O2 Generators

Power your diving lockers and rewire them to become slow oxygen generators. Handy for prepping multiple suits at once without tank swapping.

27. Efficient Mining Skills

Before mining missions, ensure your crew member has 30+ mechanical engineering. Below that, oxygen usage triples, costing time and supplies.

28. Avoid Infected Submarines

Submarine wreck missions may harbor a Thalamus infection. These control onboard turrets and harpoon flesh guns—keep your distance.

29. Alien Gun as Plasma Cutter

If you find an alien gun, it doubles as the best plasma cutter in the game, slicing through alien ruins with incredible speed.

30. Oxygenite Tanks Are Superior

Always pack oxygenite tanks if available. They last 3x longer than normal tanks and boost movement speed by 30%, ideal for long expeditions.

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These 30 tips just scratch the surface of Barotrauma’s mechanical depth and unpredictable gameplay. Whether you’re a solo explorer or coordinating an elite crew, applying these tricks will make your experience smoother, smarter, and more profitable. Until next time, stay sharp and happy sailing!