3 – Set Short Term Goals
With the overwhelming freedom this game offers, many people feel lost and unsure of the next step to take. Look over your inventory: your exosuit, starship, and multi-tool, and set short term goals for what you would like to improve. No Mans Sky does not offer you a lot of storage space for materials so it’s best to focus on what is most important one step at a time. Do you want your ship to a better fighter? Does your multi-tool need to deal more damage? Do you want more storage space in your exosuit? Setting a short-term objective will encourage exploration for necessary materials, as well as give you a sense of working for what you want.
2 – Set Long Term Goals
That being said, there clearly has to be an answer to the question many people ask: “So what do you DO in this game?” When you first enter hyper drive and finally get to explore the awe of just how minuscule and insignificant you are, there are five options to cycle through. Personally I only have three unlocked: Free Exploration (hop to any system within reach), Travel to the center (a path to the center of the Universe), and path of the Atlas (a path following the knowledge of the Atlas). These are overarching missions which you can switch between any time you enter hyper drive. Personally, I chose to follow the Atlas and learn more about it, but I am sure as the other options unlock there will be even more to do. Figure out which path you would like to take so you have an overall idea of what you are playing for.
1 – Resource Management
The hardest part of No Mans Sky is trying to quell that RPG player urge to collect anything and everything you can possibly find. Part of the survival aspect of this game is the aforementioned limited storage space. You will eventually learn which materials are paramount to keep stocked up in the case of emergency and see just what space you have left to play with. My advice is to keep at least two slots for Plutonium, one for Carbon, one for Iron and at least one for Thamium9. Thamium9 fuels your propulsion in space and can be prominently found in asteroids, so if you are losing juice midflight, try blowing up a few space rocks to get that extra boost.
One final tip on resources: Gold, Emeril, and Magmox are worth serious units. Any time you find a deposit of them, mine every last scrap to sell at your nearest space station. Also, hold onto those Atlas Stones you stumble across from your path to the Atlas.
Did we miss anything? Do you have any questions? What are your No Man’s Sky beginner tips? Let us know in the comments section below, on Facebook or Twitter, or feel free to fire me a question on Twitter directly at @XanderJThomas.