The Tethys Beam can, under the right conditions, be used to mine Resource Deposits that are above water (they do not currently appear to spawn underwater). For this to work, the Nautilon must still be submerged or else the laser's reticle cannot be aimed higher than sea level.

The Tethys Beam seems to behave similarly to the Exocraft Mining Laser without the Advanced Mining Laser upgrade, dealing 98 damage per apparent tick to minerals and flora.

The Tethys Beam is not compatible with the upgrades available to standard Exocraft Mining Lasers.

It is currently unconfirmed if the Tethys Beam can ever gain an equivalent upgrade to the Advanced Mining Laser, in spite of some aquatic minerals requiring it.

The Tethys Beam is very effective against fauna, especially against the anglerfish type Abyssal Horror, dealing 484 damage per apparent tick to these targets (though some creatures are not resilient enough to withstand a full apparent tick before dying). Damage dealt to weak spots on these targets is multiplied by a factor of 4.