Barotrauma Barotrauma - Guide to Repairing Your Crippled Vessel

All you need to know about general maintenance, battle repair procedures, complex operations, the horrible wiring apocalypse, and total ship resurrection.

Other Barotrauma Guides:

Reactor Guide.
Stealth Traitor Guide.
Submarine Editor Basics.
Character Builder's Guide.
Submarine Builder's Guide.
The Medical Doctor's Guide.

Brass Tacks (The Basics)

There is not a minimum skill level for repairs on any part of the submarine, this means regardless of class you can repair systems. The benefit of skill is the speed of repairing.

The wrench is the repair tool for all pumps, mechanical systems, and the generator. It is generally wise to carry one at all times if you are a maintenance personnel.

The screwdriver is the repair tool for all electrical systems, as well as the tool used to modify and repair wiring.

The welder is the tool for repairing hull damage it is fueled via specific can and is the single most important tool for staying alive on the sub, it also doubles as a bad yet effective weapon.

The crowbar is used for accessing and forcing open doors and more importantly to close and open vents usually located in the sub floor.

Unbelievably the cutter is a repair tool under specific circumstances described in the section Fundamental Cutting.

To repair all systems besides hull equip the tool in a hand then click 'e' then select repair.

General Repairs

In the ship you have multiple critical systems that will require general maintenance from time to time, these include the Junction Boxes, Pumps, Helm, Generator, and Fabricator. Repairing these systems is governed by two different tools, the wrench and screwdriver.

Pump Repairs

There are two types of pumps, Ballast Pumps (which control ship depth) and standard pumps (located on floors near you, hopefully).

Ballast Pumps are fairly indestructible and do not get damaged by water under any circumstances meaning you do not need to check on them routinely. They can get damaged by sea creatures, crashes, and explosions and will then require repairs.

Normal pumps get damaged slowly by processing water meaning that if a room is constantly filled with water the pumps on the vessel will take damage and eventually stop working. When the pump ceases to function the water no longer has anywhere to drain meaning even if the leak is repaired unless the water has somewhere to go it will require repairs.

Repairs on pumps are done via the wrench.

Basic Junction Repair

Junction boxes are damaged by three factors, overloading, water, and outside elements. Overloading is caused in two scenarios 1. The reactor power is fluctuating and being increased and decreased or there are too many rods in the reactor 2. Or the more likely culprit, another battery somewhere on the ship has been damaged causing an inordinate level of electricity to enter the junction box overwhelming its capability to manage.

Outside elements are damage from player based actions such as grenades, explosives, and intentional damaging.

Luckily for you these are easily identifiable problems. Monitoring junction boxes from time to time is the easiest way to prevent overloading and repairing with a screwdriver when problems arise. Communication is key with reactor personnel, if the junction boxes begin taking heavy damage it may be time to ask the reactor personnel to remove a rod. DO NOT SHUTDOWN THE REACTOR FOR JUNCTION REPAIRS. Unless the ship is submerged underwater (reference Ship Resurrection) do not shutdown the reactor as it powers everything and when it is off nothing runs including 02 generation.

Water is the natural enemy of your subs electrical systems, the longer powered systems are underwater the more they are going to take damage. This includes everything from the o2 system to the navigation terminal. To repair these systems effectively first fix the leaks then drain water before repairing. I HIGHLY recommend if your ship is near totally submerged to turn the reactor off to avoid massive ship wide electrical damage.

Basic Generator

When the generator overheats, caused by the sudden change in the number of fuelrods or by errors in manual balancing. Under all circumstances the reactor will require repairs if it begins to overheat and god forbid light on fire.

Overheating: If unresolved will start a fire, when one does happen shut off the reactor by flicking the switch inside its UI then grab the nearest fire extinguisher and go ham on that fire. Once the fire is out reconsider your fuel rod configuration. Overheating causes damage to the reactor no matter what meaning that it needs a slight tune up afterward, use a wrench to accomplish this task.

Hull Repair Basic / Advanced

The hull is a fickle creature and is prone to damage from just about everything in the game. It does not take damage overtime so if you see the hull getting damaged something or someone is attacking it. Or in the rare case a coil or grenade fired upward will obey gravity and fall back down damaging the hull.

Basic Hull Repair: Use your ears, eyes or a status terminal to locate the leaks then equip a welding tool hold right click to aim then left click to patch those holes. It is advised to stop the thing making the holes to prevent further breaches.

Advanced Hull Repair: If your like me there have been some times where there is so much damage or you cant find a damn leak. You will have to go along the side of the ship either will a scooter or your welding tool and repair the entire hull from the outside going along the hull. The best part of this repair technique is that you are assured there is no more outside leaks then can proceed to power and drain the vessel.

Ships Armour: Some vessels have deadzones on the outside to multi-layer armour almost all the time these areas cannot be repaired fully without going outside. As long as the inside is repaired it wont cause a leak but having the armour gives you a little more time before something breaks in the hull, plus its a layer of protection that cant cause a breach and flood.

Tricky Leak Locations: In the corners of rooms leaks can exist but not be seen. Why is the engine/thruster room flooded, its probably a hidden leak behind or around the ships thruster.

Fabricator Repair Basic / Advanced

The fabricator takes damage during general use, the more you fab the more it takes damage, meaning it should be repaired after use.

Advanced Fabricator Repair: So somehow the wires are gone, take a spare wire and equip it and a screwdriver at the same time, enter the wiring interface then drag the new wire into power, exit the interface then connect it to either 1. The main battery array or 2. If your in a quick fix connect it to the power slot in a nearby light (It Works!).

Battle Repairs

During battle your only concern is that the electrical system remains operational and that the hull is repaired from the inside to slow the damage. All attacks work in the same way, the more damage to the enemy hull the higher the chance that you begin to hit critical systems and drown your opponents. Even with beasts this works in the same manner.

The goal during battle repairs is to keep the electricity running so that the men operating the cannons and weapons can keep firing and the helm can move if necessary. No matter what you do or how you do it during sub v sub battles a large portion of the vessel will fill with water. Meaning that for you initial priorities will be to keep the guns firing and stay alive. After a time it will become clear if you begin to lose, ie there are no guns firing because people are dead. In this case luckily you have electricity and can proceed to the helm and escape for a while and repair.

The good ol dps trick, well if a gun is firing at a wall you can repair that wall while it fires faster than they can damage it with conventional weapons. This is a method of keeping breaches and interior damage and wasting enemy shots.

In battles it is very common to have an enemy attempt sub entry. You can use the welder on a door to wait until the bar is full to weld it shut, meaning a cutter will have to be used to gain entry.

Total Ship Resurrection (Total Damage)

So you've taken a beating, if your reading this guide either your very lucky or totally doomed. But either way here is the deal, all ships with power are repairable, as long as you have one rod no matter the damage everything is fixable. I will only comment on how to fix damage not fix the things causing the damage (monsters, players, crashes, etc)

You will have to do a complete hull repair sweep on the outside, if impossible do the inside. One the ship is water tight repair the pumps then the junction boxes, as they will take damage power up the ship as soon as possible and the water will begin to drain. Fully repair your vessel then go on your way, reference specialized guides for rewiring systems.

Total Ship Resurrection (Total Damage And No Fuel Rods)

The single only way to survive a total damage and no fuel rods scenario is to have battery with some charge, before beginning i would check this. First realize that without power the pumps don't work which means you have to return power to the vessel. Take the battery and wire it up to the fabricator, then bring a plasma cutter and patrol the ocean floor/wall to mine some uranium and other necessary materials to make a rod. Then craft the rod and hold it for now.

The Hull: You will want to go along the entire side of the hull and repair it so the ship is water tight. Next repair the pumps, junction boxes, and generator. You will then put your fuel rod into the generator and power the ship up causing the water to drain. Monitor the junction boxes and repair as the water drains. Once you are water free repair the rest of the vessel. Before you leave craft more fuel rods and put a spare on the vessel somewhere.

Helm Wiring & Advanced Helm Repair

So someone has unwired the helm, well this is possibly the hardest wiring job in the entire game, but is not impossible.

The helm works on the Cartesian coordinate system that uses an x and y axis. The x axis governs the vertical plane in the case of the sub, depth. The y axis governs the horizontal plane ie left and right movement. Therefore the wiring can be thought of in this same respect.

Fixing the x-axis wiring: You will have to run a wire from the ballast pumps set-(state) to the helm x-axis control.

Fixing the y-axis wiring: This is much easier just run a wire from set-(state) on the thruster to the helm y axis control.

This will give you the basic control over the ship, but you may be still missing some features that you may want to fix.

Source: https://gameplay.tips/guides/4527-barotrauma.html

Barotrauma - Guide to Repairing Your Crippled Vessel