Beginner Tips

Data accurate through version 1.0.3.

Sadly, No Man's Sky really doesn't have much in the way of a tutorial. Here are some of the most basic parts of the game you need to know so you don't waste time in unproductive ways.

Flashlights On

Press "up" on the D-pad to activate your flashlight.

Angry Lifeforms

Beware of hostile animals and plants (that's right, I said plants). Walking up to the creature you are scanning can be dangerous. Instead, scan from afar so you don't end up engaged in a fight.

Scanner Dots

When looking for animals (not plants), scan the horizon in a random direction. If you see little floating dots, that is the scanner telling you where the creatures are. The dots will be one of three different colors:

• white -- this is a creature that is too far away to scan.
• green -- this is a creature within scanner distance you have already scanned.
• red -- this is a creature within scanner distance you have yet to scan.

This system can aid you in the discovery of hidden caves by noting dots that are "below" the surface world.

Element Popularity

Inventory slots are precious. However, in their excitement beginners often mine tons of material and then play unnecessary inventory tetris trying to preserve their hard-gathered wares. Carbon, iron, and titanium are all readily available elements you don't need to stockpile ever unless you are specifically trying to build something and the recipe calls for one of these three elements.

Fast Money

No one likes to be broke. When you look at a stack of elements in your inventory, you'll notice that the dialog box tells you exactly you would get if you sold that element right now. Geknip sells for like 10,000u whereas a full stack of carbon would sell for about 800u. Don't waste time selling everyday elements like carbon. Focus instead on elements like gold.

Fuel

The three fuels in the game are carbon, plutonium, and thamium. Carbon is only necessary when crafting recipes and in a pinch of desperation; the rest of the time you should be focused on maintaining two inventory slots (one on the ship and one on you) for both plutonium and thamium.

Slot Differences

Each ship inventory slot holds twice as much of an element (200 units) as your spacesuit (100 units).

More Inventory Slots

A lot of people want to upgrade their suit and ship right away. These are expensive upgrades that will come with time. You have to save up cash in order to afford the nicer things in life. It's more economical to add slots to your suit before investing in a new ship.

Ship Loses

When you buy a ship, your old ship doesn't count toward the sale in anyway and simply disappears after the transaction. This means that when it comes time to upgrade you'll want to get the ship with the most inventory slots you can find.

For example, if you have a starter ship (which has about 14 inventory slots), the best ship you can find to buy is a 24 slot ship. You're trying to get as close to 24 slots as you can. Of course this is very expensive, but it's worth waiting for so you don't waste time saving up for multiple ships.

Planet Specialties

Every planet has one thing it produces a ton of. You can make a lot of money on planets that provide lots of gold or other valuable materials.

Also, some planets generate tons of knowledge or crashed ships. This can also be advantageous.

Free Landings

Any time you land on a launch pad (either in a space station or down on a planet), the pad will boost you into the air when it's time to leave. Thus you don't have to spend any fuel to take off.

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