It’s been a long time coming, but No Man’s Sky is finally here. The exploration game about getting to the center of the universe if currently the center of attention on social media. For those of you just getting started in the game, or for the curious who want to know about the first few hours, we’ve got you covered. In our No Man’s Sky Starter Guide you’ll find tips to get you pointed in the right direction as you fire up your ship for the first time and set out to explore the galaxy.
Explore the Crash Site
No Man’s Sky begins with you on a randomly-generated planet with your crashed ship. You’re tasked with gathering supplies to repair your ship so you can get off the planet and begin exploring in earnest.
The crash site will be your first introduction to the myriad of elements and resources found in the No Man’s Sky Universe and will have an abundance of these to discover in close proximity to the ship. In addition to the basic elements, you might even find some other rare wares to sell during your future travels.
While you’re putzing around the site, you should familiarize yourself with the game’s UI. It isn’t very intuitive at first. You have three menus: Exosuit, Multi-Tool, and Ship Inventory. Slots are limited and learning how to swap items here early will pay dividends later on.
Make That Cash Money
There are four key pillars to No Man’s Sky — Explore, Survive, Fight, and Trade.
Trading is a very important aspect in the early game as you won’t have a cent to your name. Accumulating a sizable amount of money will be crucial if you want to upgrade ships or buy from traders who may have items that are critical to your objective. While elements serve practical purposes such as repairing your life systems, ship, and crafting blueprints, rare green items are solely for trading and go for a pretty penny at outposts.
Space stations, in particular, are a hotbed for financial opportunities. They often contain a station master and multiple docking ships to trade with.
If you’re having trouble finding a component to a crafting recipe, it’s a good idea to head back to space to see if any alien beings have it and want to trade.
Bypass Chips Are Your Friend
After you get off the ground and leave your first planet, you’ll soon discover that certain terminals at outposts ask you to supply Bypass Chips in order to access features.
These features include the ability for a terminal to retrieve your ship and transport it to your current location, scanning the current planet for points of interest, and accessing certain loot containers. The best part about Bypass Chips? They cost almost nothing. Bypass Chips cost 10 plutonium and 10 iron. These are some of the most common resources found on all planets.
Perhaps the best feature about this item is how much they’re worth. Depending on the vendor, you can probably sell each chip for 3-3.5k units which can make you rich very quickly. It might not be the most exciting way to make your space fortune, but it’s the most efficient.
Take Risks
Your interactions with alien beings can be a mixed experience. Depending on your grasp on their language, their personality, and your actions it can affect your dialogue options.
Sometimes there will be obvious choices that will be in your favor, while others can be open to interpretation or blatantly dubious options that can reap the biggest rewards. While I haven’t experienced any fatal repercussions for choosing the risky option yet, it is plausible that a planet with a large sentinel force can make your life miserable if things don’t work out.
Sometimes you’ll encounter unmanned outposts that are locked from the inside. Usually, there will be an option to use your weapon to blast through its doors. Careful though, as sentinels will take notice and start attacking you. More often than not, it’s worth it.
Besides interactions with NPCs, exploring hostile planets, caves, seas, and feeding scary creatures can have benefits and it’s what exploring is all about — so take risks!
Upgrade, Upgrade, and Upgrade
No Man’s Sky is a grind. While that might come off as negative, it doesn’t mean that the grind can’t be fun. Grinding out particular games can be rewarding if the mechanics are enjoyable and the aesthetics refreshing, which No Man’s Sky has in spades.
That being said, grinding resources to upgrade equipment is pretty much your main purpose during the early game — if not the entire game.
One of the first things you’ll want to do is expand your precious Exosuit inventory. This prevents you from having to micromanage your supplies and allows you explore for longer periods of time. It’ll really remove the leash that you’ll be wearing for the first few hours and keep you from constantly crafting and transferring items.
Your ship can also become an excellent storage unit once upgraded. This can make your travels to the center of the universe quicker by limiting the amount of time visiting trading posts and sustaining your ship’s propulsion.
Last but not least, your multi-tool and gun can become ultra souped up if coupled with the correct blueprints. This can make mining a breeze and combat less stressful.
If you have more tips you feel belong in this No Man’s Sky Starter Guide, let us know @getfandom.