Use your favourite features in-game with our Desktop AppIsles of Abyss changes Once Human’s progression and survival systems with max-level starts, Tech upgrades, customisable ships, and an ocean map filled with environmental hazards and naval battles.
In this guide, we will cover how progression, shipbuilding, diving, and endgame challenges work in the PvE scenario, alongside the separate RaidZone version and limited-time launch rewards.
A huge thank you to EUTOPIA for the gameplay insights and explanations used to put this guide together.
Characters enter Isles of Abyss at max level. Your progression comes from developing your Tech, gathering resources, and completing the scenario’s story challenges.
Tech affects several parts of the experience, including equipment crafting, active Mod attributes, production facilities, ship components, and survival equipment. As you advance, your options expand both on land and at sea.
Weapon crafting also has story requirements. Completing the relevant missions and challenges opens access to higher equipment tiers, giving the main story a direct role in strengthening your character.
Your existing Blueprints and Mods carry into the scenario, but their full benefits depend on your progression. Crafting options and active Mod attributes become available as the relevant requirements are met.
Returning players can continue using their collections, although reaching their full potential still involves progressing through the scenario.
The Cradle system is unavailable in Isles of Abyss. Builds that rely on Cradle bonuses may therefore function differently here.
This restriction applies specifically to the scenario. When choosing a build, check which parts depend on Cradle effects and which benefits your current equipment and Tech can provide.
Ships are central to travelling through the archipelago. They also support production, combat, and recovery facilities, allowing a basic vessel to develop into a mobile base.
You can construct and expand your ship through Build Mode. The available categories include hull sections, decks, infrastructure, power, production, combat facilities, and furniture.
Structural options include wood, iron, steel, and alloy components, with further choices becoming available as you develop your Tech. Shipbuilding gives you control over both the vessel’s appearance and the facilities carried aboard.
Ships can be relocated or summoned onto the water, and saved designs can be reused or shared.
Propulsion options include oars, sails, fuel-powered systems, and electric systems. Boosters provide additional movement upgrades as your ship develops.
Travel features include Auto Cruise, underwater teleportation, cross-world return to ship, and onboard respawning. These systems help connect ocean travel with exploration and returning to your vessel for supplies.
As your ship expands, its movement systems become another part of your progression alongside weapons, equipment, and production facilities.
Your ship’s combat options expand alongside your Tech. Early weapons include harpoon and long cannons, while further unlocks introduce shotgun turrets, rapid-fire cannons, javelin cannons, and specialist artillery.
Rams and naval mines provide additional attack options. Later weapons include rocket launchers, oil drum launchers, and freezing cannons, while frost and corrosion weapons add further variety to naval loadouts.
Oil drum launchers can ignite an area, giving ships another way to pressure targets during combat.
Ships can carry facilities that support both the vessel and its crew:
These facilities become particularly useful during longer naval encounters, where damage to your ship and downed teammates can make it harder to keep fighting.
Production systems include drilling wells and automated resource gathering. Developing these facilities allows your ship to contribute to your supply needs as well as exploration and combat.
Your Tech choices therefore influence several connected systems: the equipment your character can use, the capabilities of your ship, and the resources supporting both.
The map is made up of islands and surrounding waters, with environments ranging from tropical coastlines to colder regions and volcanic areas.
Haywire phenomena change the survival conditions within affected areas. Each creates different pressures involving visibility, temperature, Sanity, supplies, or equipment durability.
Mist of Deceit lowers the temperature and heavily reduces visibility. Travelling through these areas makes it harder to spot threats and navigate the surrounding waters.
Cold protection and equipment that helps you deal with the mist become important parts of preparing for these regions.
Black Tide brings heavy Stardust contamination and puts pressure on your Sanity.
The Black Tide Protective Mask is one of the specialised tools available for dealing with affected areas. Your ability to handle the contamination develops alongside the protective equipment you unlock.
Time Rain accelerates Energy and Hydration consumption while causing items and equipment in your backpack to lose durability.
It also speeds up crop growth, giving the phenomenon an effect on production as well as survival. The Time-Reverse Raincoat provides protection against the rain’s effects.
Skyfire brings meteor impacts and high temperatures, threatening both players and structures. These areas also offer valuable mining resources.
Cooling equipment becomes relevant when exploring the heat, while the danger to buildings adds another consideration for your ship and facilities.
Protective equipment is part of Tech progression, so check the available tools before heading into an unfamiliar environment.
Exploration continues beneath the surface through shipwrecks, sunken buildings, coral deposits, underwater laboratories, and treasure locations.
Diving has its own equipment progression within the Tech tree. Available tools include:
Bubble Fish can also help replenish oxygen underwater.
These tools support longer and more demanding exploration as you develop your Tech. Treasure maps and underwater locations provide further reasons to explore beyond the islands themselves.
Keep track of your oxygen and return route while searching underwater, particularly when entering locations that take you further from the surface.
Calamity Towers are major naval encounters built around ship handling, cannon accuracy, and responding to enemy mechanics.
Their progression begins with main-story and solo challenges before expanding into team encounters. Completing the story-related challenges also contributes to equipment crafting unlocks.
Combat involves exposed weak spots and supporting mechanics such as healing and damage sharing. Dealing with these mechanics helps create opportunities to damage the main target.
Later challenges add pressure through heavy fog, waves, icebergs, water tornadoes, and Voyager reinforcements. Ship positioning becomes increasingly important as the battlefield introduces more threats.
Phase 2 expands the Tower progression further through harder encounters and the deeper Calamity Tower: Abyss challenges.
Phase 2 expands the scenario with Sea Calamity Zones, larger Voyager fleets, Drifting Greenhouses, and tougher land encounters, alongside the harder Calamity Tower challenges.
These activities extend progression across both character combat and naval battles, with further opportunities to earn rewards and develop your equipment.
The Sunken Lord becomes available when the server reaches 100% purification during the later progression of the scenario.
The encounter takes players toward the Lord’s core while dealing with tentacle attacks, projectile barrages, hull attacks, slime, and illusions. The available safe space becomes increasingly restricted, adding further pressure to movement and positioning.
The scenario introduces new Mods and Deviations to collect.
Heart of the Ocean is an advanced resource used to open challenge rewards, connecting exploration and combat with further collection opportunities.
Character equipment and ship development both remain relevant as you work toward these later challenges.
Isles of Abyss: RaidZone is a separate PvP version of the ocean map, with its own rules and higher stakes for naval combat.
Ships can sink, and supplies stored aboard a sunken ship are not refunded. What you carry into a fight therefore affects how much you risk losing.
These ship-loss rules belong to the RaidZone version and should be considered when choosing between the standard PvE scenario and the PvP experience.
Before heading into a fight, consider how much of your stored resources you are willing to risk aboard your vessel.
The launch celebration includes 10,000 Starchrom, the Legendary SOCR – Cosmic Visitor weapon Blueprint, and the Legendary Snowline Elite Vest Blueprint.
The celebration supplies can be claimed through the in-game mailbox before November 8, 2026, at 2 PM Pacific Time. Standard maintenance compensation is separate from this package.
Halloween Wonder Night runs from October 22 to November 11, 2026, using server time.
Its activities and rewards include blind boxes, Halloween Pumpkin Seeds, Stardust Secret Crates, random Shiny Mods, and opportunities to obtain themed cosmetics and Deviations.
Check the event tasks as you play, claim your available rewards, and use any accumulated blind-box opening attempts before the event ends.
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