Well, apparently it's a nanite icon but I have yet to find a system with that. I'll see if I can call up the Anomaly and get myself an economy scanner.
No Man's Sky, an endlessness of space thingy
- Thread starter Zaskar
- Start date
For anyone playing the Beachhead Expedition Redux, and despairing of finding 8 new systems the "legal" way for a particular step of Stage 4, the "illegal" way is to put Steam in Offline mode, jump to 8 systems, et voilà, c'est accompli.
If I'd known how to do it I might have used an Atlas Gate to jump to some never-before-seen cluster of the galaxy, or of a whole other galaxy, but I didn't know how to do that. Before the offline trick I was getting tired of wasting warp fuel only to see "Discovered a week ago by DeezNuts3456" and the like.
And boy is it a schlep to the 5th Rendezvous point. Something like 7-8 jumps. I've got to spend some quality time harvesting mats (or buying them off random traders) to make lots of warp fuel.
BTW, how on earth do I get new tech slots for my starship? The game keeps rewarding me with inventory slots and I really need the other kind. I got some supreme upgrade for my hyperdrive and I can't use it because I don't have enough tech slots.
If I'd known how to do it I might have used an Atlas Gate to jump to some never-before-seen cluster of the galaxy, or of a whole other galaxy, but I didn't know how to do that. Before the offline trick I was getting tired of wasting warp fuel only to see "Discovered a week ago by DeezNuts3456" and the like.
And boy is it a schlep to the 5th Rendezvous point. Something like 7-8 jumps. I've got to spend some quality time harvesting mats (or buying them off random traders) to make lots of warp fuel.
BTW, how on earth do I get new tech slots for my starship? The game keeps rewarding me with inventory slots and I really need the other kind. I got some supreme upgrade for my hyperdrive and I can't use it because I don't have enough tech slots.
IIRC it should be the same way you get any other inventory slot: click another empty space on the screen where the game initially shows you which inventory slot it's going to add. This is one of a bunch of awkward UI things in the game: there's no real indication that the highlighted new slot on the inventory upgrade screen is a suggestion that you can change and not the game dictating which slot it is going to upgrade (goes for suit and multitool inventory expansion, too).
There is a class-dependent hard cap on starship inventory slots, though. Once you reach that, you'll need to either upgrade your ship's class (from the Starship Outfitting Terminal in a space station) or get a new ship to continue expanding inventory slots.
I made a point to try to earn nanites by cataloguing all the animal species on a bunch of planets so I've upgraded both the starship and the multi-tool class from C to B.
As fast as picking particular slots when offered upgrades, the game in my experience doesn't seem to let me pick them, at least not during this expedition. The game does at least seem to fill in the weird gaps there by default. And they've never offer tech slot upgrades. I would think I could buy them somewhere with Nanites.
I did ditch an exhaust cosmetic upgrade and move a couple of other things around and managed to install that hyperdrive upgrade so it was adjacent. That shortened the schlep to the last Rendezvous point substantially.
Now I've got to do some mission for the Nada character that gives one very little guidance on how to do it so I'm going to have to look it up in that video linked upthread.
It's comforting to find out I'm not the only person who often has difficulty with some of the objectives. Some are infuriating having to look for special planets that are ill-defined or described.
Starship: Like your exotsuit, adding a slot defaults to inventory, but you can click up above to pick a tech slot instead. You might have to fill out all existing rows before it will let you scroll down add slots to a completely new row
Corvette: At S-class you can have 6 rows. I wasn't able to add tech slots in the Corvette expedition directly, I had to use the trick of: add core items that use a slot, save, remove those items, save. For example you add 3 photon cannons (up to 3 count for stats, 4-on do not), save, delete, save, you now have 3 empty slots. Add 3 torpedo launchers and you'll get 4 new slots because it adds the weapon itself. I'm fine with doing this because I shouldn't be losing slots to landing gear, habs, the cockpit, etc.
Corvette: At S-class you can have 6 rows. I wasn't able to add tech slots in the Corvette expedition directly, I had to use the trick of: add core items that use a slot, save, remove those items, save. For example you add 3 photon cannons (up to 3 count for stats, 4-on do not), save, delete, save, you now have 3 empty slots. Add 3 torpedo launchers and you'll get 4 new slots because it adds the weapon itself. I'm fine with doing this because I shouldn't be losing slots to landing gear, habs, the cockpit, etc.
I managed to finish the Beachhead Redux Expedition just under the wire last night. Luckily I was very near the end because the time limit had snuck up on me and was going to be before I got up this morning. When Hello Games gives a deadline, I presume it's going to be at a certain time of the morning, UTC/GMT, since they're Britons? What is that time of day, exactly? I live in the Pacific Time zone of the US, and we're on Standard Time ("Winter Time" in some countries, such as Germany-- Winterzeit) till the Spring, so I can adjust accordingly.
NMS just got an update today, looks like, and here are the notes:
https://www.nomanssky.com/2025/11/holiday-expeditions-2025-6-17/
And thanks, @DaveSimmons , now I know, and "knowing is half the battle."*
*that's something that came along long after I was a kid, but apparently it was a thing in the 80s. Cool trick with the Corvette, I'll be sure to use it.
NMS just got an update today, looks like, and here are the notes:
https://www.nomanssky.com/2025/11/holiday-expeditions-2025-6-17/
And thanks, @DaveSimmons , now I know, and "knowing is half the battle."*
*that's something that came along long after I was a kid, but apparently it was a thing in the 80s. Cool trick with the Corvette, I'll be sure to use it.
Titan Redux starts tomorrow (11/19 - 12/2). Some info for the original version, Redux might have changes so be warned.
NMS page with (original) rewards - https://www.nomanssky.com/2025/02/expedition-seventeen-titan/
3-hour guide from the x-hour guide person:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/1io4lkl/titan_expedition_17_in_3_hours_full_guide/
It's too bad Corvettes make other ships feel obsolete thanks to onboard storage, refiner, and the buffs from weapons, reactors, and to a lesser extent the shields, landing gear, thrusters.
NMS page with (original) rewards - https://www.nomanssky.com/2025/02/expedition-seventeen-titan/
3-hour guide from the x-hour guide person:
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/1io4lkl/titan_expedition_17_in_3_hours_full_guide/
It's too bad Corvettes make other ships feel obsolete thanks to onboard storage, refiner, and the buffs from weapons, reactors, and to a lesser extent the shields, landing gear, thrusters.
I appreciate the written version of that guy's instructions, but sometimes find that even there he doesn't explain things well enough (for instance the Stage Five task about using the Historiographic thingy to help Nada). He assumes too much previous experience with the game--he didn't specify the kind of chart one needed to buy from the cartographer. I prefer this guy's speed runs, they're not quite as
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp25VV74Z94
Here's his speed run of the original Titan Expedition, done live. He also has a three video playlist where he has less preliminary chatter:
View: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLM66-2ZCt8GvBM1rvXOgB0PeDgLI-NMNt
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After doing a number of expeditions, I'm starting to realize that before doing anything, I should be reading all of the tasks and trying to find some of those tasks in the later stages that depend on planets you are on during the early stages. Probably list all the tasks in one document and sort the tasks accordingly.
Yes, if you have a list of everything to do then you can do some of them in parallel or when you stumble onto the place, task, critter, whatever.
One thing about that is in the Corvette and Breach expeditions the rewards for some tasks X were what you needed to do task X + 1, so to jump ahead you'd have to buy and build some components that you'd get for free as rewards if you waited.
Random freighter fleet leveling tip: the one-time consumables
You can use up to 3 consumables per mission, and each one gives a +10 buff to one of the stats (combat, exploration, industrial, trade). For example Mind Control Device = +10 trade. You can craft them or get them from mission rewards from the mission guy on stations and from fleet missions.
If you don't want to deal with repairing ships, your fleet value for a mission needs to be 2 stars higher than the mission rating, so a 3 star fleet for a 1 star mission.
If you start with a bunch of C-class frigates you're going to struggle to get your fleet rank above 2-3 stars. That means only doing 1 star missions and possibly taking damage even then unless you have multiples of the matching ship types for the mission. Unless you add the consumables -- even one of them might be enough to push your fleet rating up a star.
Consumables can also let you swap in a weaker ship that you want to level up.
Once your ships rank up to B, A, ,S this becomes much less of a problem, and you can take 3 star missions without consumables or even using all your best ships.
You can use up to 3 consumables per mission, and each one gives a +10 buff to one of the stats (combat, exploration, industrial, trade). For example Mind Control Device = +10 trade. You can craft them or get them from mission rewards from the mission guy on stations and from fleet missions.
If you don't want to deal with repairing ships, your fleet value for a mission needs to be 2 stars higher than the mission rating, so a 3 star fleet for a 1 star mission.
If you start with a bunch of C-class frigates you're going to struggle to get your fleet rank above 2-3 stars. That means only doing 1 star missions and possibly taking damage even then unless you have multiples of the matching ship types for the mission. Unless you add the consumables -- even one of them might be enough to push your fleet rating up a star.
Consumables can also let you swap in a weaker ship that you want to level up.
Once your ships rank up to B, A, ,S this becomes much less of a problem, and you can take 3 star missions without consumables or even using all your best ships.
I noticed the x-hour guide person has a 2-hour guide for the Redux version of the mission which removed some of the tasks. It does a good job of pointing out tasks you can do early, like grabbing storm crystals and crystalized helium on the starting planet and riding a tornado there.
I don't try to actually do the expedition in x hours, but knowing what to do where is a big help for me.
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/1p1pejp/nms_titan_redux_expedition_17_in_2_hours_full/
I don't try to actually do the expedition in x hours, but knowing what to do where is a big help for me.
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/1p1pejp/nms_titan_redux_expedition_17_in_2_hours_full/
Yeah, that's useful. I got caught up in a tornado on the starting planet in any case but had to go back to it for the storm crystals because I'd forgotten. And now apparently have to go back again to get the crystalized helium stuff.
BTW quick tip for the "Legacy something" task where you have to rename and upload a discovery: those little waypoints with a flag maybe and some crates lying around count, and you'll never have a hard time finding one that no one else found already.
Oh, nice one. So far all the critters, plants and rocks couldn't be renamed.Yeah, that's useful. I got caught up in a tornado on the starting planet in any case but had to go back to it for the storm crystals because I'd forgotten. And now apparently have to go back again to get the crystalized helium stuff.
BTW quick tip for the "Legacy something" task where you have to rename and upload a discovery: those little waypoints with a flag maybe and some crates lying around count, and you'll never have a hard time finding one that no one else found already.
I shot myself in the foot by trading in the first supreme scanner module reward, since one of the later tasks is to earn 75,000 units from scanning a single creature. The second scanner module included fauna and I got a couple of fauna bonus C class modules from the gek station in the first system so hopefully that's good enough. Also there are supposedly a couple more scanner rewards later on.
Tip for anyone else who did this, or just has nanites to spend: every time you log out including back to the menu the station restocks its upgrades (but the types do not change). I got a second supreme hyperdrive upgrade that way, and did a log out / log in to keep buying the station's C-class scanner upgrades until I got 2 x fauna instead of flora, mineral, or range.
Edit: with the S-class in a supercharged slot flanked by the 2 C-class I earned 98K off some ordinary bird-things, woohoo!
Tip for anyone else who did this, or just has nanites to spend: every time you log out including back to the menu the station restocks its upgrades (but the types do not change). I got a second supreme hyperdrive upgrade that way, and did a log out / log in to keep buying the station's C-class scanner upgrades until I got 2 x fauna instead of flora, mineral, or range.
Edit: with the S-class in a supercharged slot flanked by the 2 C-class I earned 98K off some ordinary bird-things, woohoo!
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...and done. I had fun being forced to do different things outside of my usual play. The only annoyance was not being able to transfer back quartzite, lithium, etc. when ending the expedition, because they are "mission critical" to the expedition that I am ending forever. Derp!
I might take a break until the boneyards show up on December 3.
I might take a break until the boneyards show up on December 3.
Wow 2013.
I don’t quite see how a game like this is appealing. It’s basically a running/flying simulation with an AI prompt for environments which you will glance at while grinding for some random commodity.
Now, if this game also had AI companions who could do all the cool stuff as in old BioWare games including plotting to betray you, that would be cool.
I don’t quite see how a game like this is appealing. It’s basically a running/flying simulation with an AI prompt for environments which you will glance at while grinding for some random commodity.
Now, if this game also had AI companions who could do all the cool stuff as in old BioWare games including plotting to betray you, that would be cool.
True, but pretty much all games can be boiled down to basic concepts. I have a variety of games that I play off and on over the years to keep things fresh.
It took me a bit of time to get into it.
The starting gameplay is basically "find sodium and oxygen, use the mining laser on other stuff" but there is a lot of other content in the game if you follow the quest chains for bases and the story quests. The expeditions don't have much if any story but they also force you to visit new environments and try out gameplay mechanics you might be ignoring.
It's not an RPG like Mass Effect, it's an "endlessness of space thingy" sandbox. Less story than Starfield, more sandbox.
One can also reduce the grind considerably by reducing the "survival" requirements.
BTW, I was looking and looking for a planet to allow a deep dive but like a bozo I had built the Nautilon platform elsewhere and forgotten how to pick it up, so now that I'm on the second Rendevouz planet (actually a moon, Nape something) I have to build a new one, grrr. Hope the ingredients aren't too hard to come by or refine. I really do wish the game would be a little less sparse with the guidance on what particular type of planet to look for for these things. It can't just be a planet with water for the deep dive milestone (whatever the official name is). It has to be an Aquatic planet with almost no land at all, essentially.
I had to google how to pick it up, only to find out that you can't do it. There's no middle-mouse option like for portable xxx and save devices, you're supposed to go to the base build menu, select it, then delete it which refunds all the mats. Then it took me far too long on the water world to notice that the normal ship / craft scan command (C) is not the one to find a freighter, it's X instead. I then failed to notice the radar must be set to the correct target, so I flew to and then dived to a crashed ship not a crashed freighter. I was not feeling smart about that 
Sometimes the UI is not at all intuitive.
Sometimes the UI is not at all intuitive.
I had to google how to pick it up, only to find out that you can't do it. There's no middle-mouse option like for portable xxx and save devices, you're supposed to go to the base build menu, select it, then delete it which refunds all the mats. Then it took me far too long on the water world to notice that the normal ship / craft scan command (C) is not the one to find a freighter, it's X instead. I then failed to notice the radar must be set to the correct target, so I flew to and then dived to a crashed ship not a crashed freighter. I was not feeling smart about that
Sometimes the UI is not at all intuitive.
So you have to build a base first for some reason? Ugh. And about the interface, understatement of the year. Although it's not Battlecruiser 3000 at least, heh.
No, you just go to the base menu (Z on PC) when you want to "pick it up" by destroying / deleting it. You don't need to put down a base computer first. It's like the portable refiner and save things where you use Z to create or deploy them, but unlike them you use Z to delete it too instead of middle mouse.
So once you have the mats, Z to build the platfrom, then dive, then X for the radar to find the freighter (make sure scan is set to freighter don't be like me) then surface, then Z to delete the platform and refund the mats, then fly to the freighter, then Z to build the platform again.
Ah, okay, I'm guessing Z on the keyboard is equivalent to up on the D-pad. I wonder if I can find the Nautilon platform on the planet I left it on so I don't have to hunt down more materials. It was that weirdly named Jaiseus planet, IIRC, which had a bit of water but not nearly deep enough. I wonder if there's an aquatic planet less radioactive than the one where Rendezvous 2 is.
You could portal back to the inhabited Gek system to see if they have any radiation mods for the exosuit. Otherwise just farm some sodium and/or cobalt + ferrite for the recharge batteries.
Thanks--actually though I have the survival stuff turned way down, so it's not that bad. The most annoying thing about that planet is the computer voice's constant harping about the radiation near the surface of the water.
BTW I ended up building another Nautilon platform, there's no way to find one you happened to leave on a planet (unless you build a freighter and put in that special room yadda yadda yadda. I made sure to set the sonar search to freighter too. Once I got to the bottom and the game informed me that I'd found it I did a scan from the sub but only detected some submerged caches or whatever, which immediately would disappear after I exited the craft. so I had to get eyes on the thing's "black box" so to speak to find the final log entry before it would give me credit for the milestone.
I've gotten as far as piloting the Colossus Exocraft on a paradise planet I found on the Expedition path, but I made sure to do the Z (up on dpad) then Edit, then delete the station so I'd get the mats back if I have to deploy it later, since apparently I've gotta go to a gas giant and build a rump base there*. Hope I don't have to go back to the starting planet. There's some resource (crystalized helium) I still have to harvest on a gas giant I believe as an expedition step.
*which is crazy because if gas giant planets do have solid cores, (which I suppose they must at some depth) the forces and pressures at them would defeat any materials science know to humans in VERY short order.
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There's a gas giant in the rendezvous 3 system see the 2-hour guide above. It says the starter planet from phase 1 has helium so you might need to portal back there. It's a gas giant too so you could build the base there too. Note that with build-a-bear base as the active mission the help tips will tell you how many of each timber floor, wall, rounded ceiling, etc. you need. Note that it wants you to use specific types - the full width wall panels not the half-width, the full-width door panel, etc. - the types should have glowing highlights in the build menu parts list I think
Glad it's going to guide me on the building part. I've never been particularly good at (or interested) in that stuff. I'm more about seeing new things in games.
In general, in a lot of games it seems like crafting was sort of shoved into them "because reasons." In things like NMS or Valheim it's fine but in traditional CRPGs or action games like Far Cry it was something I didn't welcome.
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Okay, finally done with the abbreviated Titan expedition. Don't think I'll be using that weird-ass "organic starship" anytime soon though.
My "base on a gas giant" was the most shambolic thing imaginable. I placed floor panels that weren't even on the same level, walls that didn't meet at the corners, roof bits that provided no shelter etc. After I got credit for it I deleted all the parts to recoup the materials.
Guess there's another one I haven't played coming up, Relics, and one that I started way too late, the Corvette one which they've renamed from Voyagers if I'm not mistaken. Luckily I did Breach already so I can leave that one alone.
My "base on a gas giant" was the most shambolic thing imaginable. I placed floor panels that weren't even on the same level, walls that didn't meet at the corners, roof bits that provided no shelter etc. After I got credit for it I deleted all the parts to recoup the materials.
Guess there's another one I haven't played coming up, Relics, and one that I started way too late, the Corvette one which they've renamed from Voyagers if I'm not mistaken. Luckily I did Breach already so I can leave that one alone.
I got back into the game recently whilst waiting for another to install, and realized I hadn't played since 2019
Things are a bit different now! I also discovered that my Mac Studio plays it buttery smooth at 4k on High, whilst my gaming PC struggles at 2k on Standard. The only annoyance is the Windows machine with a PS5 controller gives rumbling and differing levels of resistance to the triggers, but the Mac does not. I can live with that for the pretties though.
Things are a bit different now! I also discovered that my Mac Studio plays it buttery smooth at 4k on High, whilst my gaming PC struggles at 2k on Standard. The only annoyance is the Windows machine with a PS5 controller gives rumbling and differing levels of resistance to the triggers, but the Mac does not. I can live with that for the pretties though.
Relics Redux starts today
NMS - https://www.nomanssky.com/relics-update/
2-hour guide (text and video versions) from the x-hour-guide person -
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/1pdifz7/nms_relics_redux_expedition_18_in_2_hours_full/
As a Keith Laumer fan I plan to eventually find a nice oceanside spot for a base to create my own Dinosaur Beach
NMS - https://www.nomanssky.com/relics-update/
2-hour guide (text and video versions) from the x-hour-guide person -
View: https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/1pdifz7/nms_relics_redux_expedition_18_in_2_hours_full/
As a Keith Laumer fan I plan to eventually find a nice oceanside spot for a base to create my own Dinosaur Beach
Insert ObiWanKenobi_NowThat'sAName.gif here. ;-)
Remember offhand what the big reward is for this one?
Nothing big this time I think. The first link has pics of the staff and relic-styled jetpack, and I think there are some unique "ruin" base parts that can't be unlocked from the knowledge stones on ruin planets.
And done in one weekend. Relics is a short and easy one since it's almost all gather bones - build a display. I think the previous staff fits better with living stone customization but I can see the goat head staff being perfect for the satanic traveler
Tip: in the system where you're supposed to go fish, the "tidal" world is mostly ocean. Land with the aqua jet mod you're given then fish from on top of your ship. Step back inside if a "wall of flame" is incoming and wait it out.
Tip: in the system where you're supposed to go fish, the "tidal" world is mostly ocean. Land with the aqua jet mod you're given then fish from on top of your ship. Step back inside if a "wall of flame" is incoming and wait it out.
Hmm, I really wish that Hello Games would let their players know precisely when the expeditions begin and end. Saying "December 30th" doesn't really mean that for someone in the US Pacific time zone, since it means (as I've discovered) December 30th at 7 AM (when a lot of people are just getting up).
One time I was playing and it told me I had till 10 AM the next day to finish but (assuming all expeditions end at 15:00 hours GMT) that would be 10 AM Eastern time, so the game was possibly giving me wrong info then.
I know it's probably too much to ask, but I wonder if it would be possible to stagger the end times of expeditions according to local time, so "starting and ending on X dates" actually meant that for everybody.
One time I was playing and it told me I had till 10 AM the next day to finish but (assuming all expeditions end at 15:00 hours GMT) that would be 10 AM Eastern time, so the game was possibly giving me wrong info then.
I know it's probably too much to ask, but I wonder if it would be possible to stagger the end times of expeditions according to local time, so "starting and ending on X dates" actually meant that for everybody.
None of the online games I've played do that, but some of them do make the effort to have their website convert from UTC to your local time zone so you can see an end time that matches your clock. The others at least listed the time zone for you to do your own conversion.
However, that was often not reliable in that it might say "10 AM" for an ending time but it was really "whenever server maintenance starts" and 10 AM for a starting time was "after maintenance is finished"
So finally went and bought the game during the Steam holiday sale, and...holy crap, there's so. much. to do!
Question for you veterans - are any of the exocraft vehicles upgradable to the point where they get you around faster than a highly upgraded jetpack?
Also, I am just over 100+ hours into the game and just this moment noticed that the inventory has a sort button 