Shelldiver Biome and Resource Progression Checklist

You know the stall: a late skill turns red because it wants a material Grandpa Turtle left three biomes behind. Do not keep forcing deeper dives. Hover over the blocked skill to reveal its collectible requirement, then return to the matching depth range. One short supply run can restart the power curve faster than another heroic swim into the abyss.

Shelldiver has four biomes with three selectable depths each. Buying skills raises Prestige, a progression rank that does not reset your run. Prestige Level 1 opens 100m, Level 2 opens 200m, and the pattern continues through Prestige Level 12 and 1200m. Each selected depth reuses its terrain layout, so learn a short loop from the submarine. Resource and jellyfish yield can still change as you buy appearance and drop-rate upgrades.

Biome and Depth Unlock Order

Biome	Unlock requirement	Jellyfish and hazards	Salvage and useful landmarks
Ocean Shallows	100m: Prestige 1 200m: Prestige 2 300m: Prestige 3	The early catch pool starts with basic jellyfish and adds tougher variants as you descend. Low oxygen, limited Bubble Gun ammo, and slow tools are the main threats here.	Human trash and scrap piles provide Scrap. Blue-rock rooms, layered shelves, and large trash piles make simple return-route markers.
Glacial Depths	400m: Prestige 4 500m: Prestige 5 600m: Prestige 6	Cold-water variants include electric jellyfish. Keep moving when an electric pulse begins and leave extra oxygen for the trip through the tighter passages.	Ice-lined caverns and large crystal clusters mark the region. Crystal rocks provide Crystals. Mushrooms also appear at 600m.
Swamp Waters	700m: Prestige 7 800m: Prestige 8 900m: Prestige 9	Mutant amalgamations and other attacking jellyfish make long stops riskier. Deal with nearby threats before holding the Plasma Gun on a resource block.	Green ruins, broad stone arches, and mushroom beds are the clearest anchors. Swamp Waters is the main Mushroom region.
Magma Abyss	1000m: Prestige 10 1100m: Prestige 11 1200m: Prestige 12	Hellish jellyfish include variants that explode when they get close. Avoid gathering several beside the turtle at once; that is too much spicy jelly for one bubble bath.	Orange-lit caverns, dark jagged rock, and obsidian blocks define the final region. Break those blocks for Obsidian.

Material Source Checklist

Shells: Sell captured jellyfish at the island shop. Shells are money, not mined salvage.
Scrap: Break human trash and scrap piles in Ocean Shallows at 100–300m.
Crystals: Break crystal rocks in Glacial Depths at 400–600m.
Mushrooms: Gather them at Glacial Depths 600m or in Swamp Waters at 700–900m. The 600m stage is your bridge source before Prestige 7 opens the swamp.
Obsidian: Break obsidian blocks in Magma Abyss at 1000–1200m.
Life Vials: Create these at the island's Alchemy Station by spending shells. They are not ocean salvage.

Farming Loops by Tool State

Freshly unlocked Plasma Gun and low oxygen: Use 100m for Scrap. Pick one side of the submarine, break the nearest piles, and retrace the same route near half oxygen. Ignore off-route jellyfish unless your Bubble Gun has room.
Early Plasma damage, tank capacity, and oxygen upgrades: Use 400m for Crystals. Use 600m for Mushrooms before the swamp opens, then switch to 700m when you want a mushroom-only objective. Sweep one nearby section and return along the same terrain path.
Prestige 10 and stronger Plasma upgrades: Start Obsidian runs at 1000m. Stay close to the submarine until the blocks break quickly enough that harvesting no longer consumes most of the oxygen gauge.
Helpers, resource upgrades, and Plasma Overflow: Expand to a full familiar loop. Let shooting helpers cover nearby jellyfish while you break blocks, and use the improved appearance and drop rates to clear the material you actually need. Plasma Overflow is the chance-based resource effect; the skill is not called Plasma Overdrive.

Late in the tree, unfinished upgrades can demand Scrap, Crystals, Mushrooms, and Obsidian from earlier maps. Hover over each red skill before launching. Return to 100m for Scrap, 400m for Crystals, 600m or 700m for Mushrooms, and 1000m for Obsidian. These are clean entry points, not a claim that one route is fastest for every build.

Keep the loop small while oxygen, ammo, or Plasma damage is still the bottleneck. Widen it only after those upgrades let you break blocks and return without a last-second scramble. Shelldiver's best turnaround is wonderfully turtle-like: revisit old water, collect an absurd pile in seconds, and come back richer than the entire village budget.

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