No Man's Sky: What to do first?
If you are looking for information on how to start playing No Man's Sky, you can find it on this page of the guide. We've covered mission objectives, gathering resources, crafting items, repairing technologies, and tips for beginners.
Last update: 24 July 2024
No Man's Sky may not be very beginner-friendly. On this page of the guide, we explain how to start the game and what elements to pay attention to first. We explain how to follow the mission objective, how to collect the first resources with the mining beam and how to charge the exosuit's life support with fuel. Lastly, you will find information on how to create your first items and repair broken technology.
- Starting the game
- Charging life support systems with fuel
- Surviving the first storm
- Follow mission objective
- Crafting and repair
- Analysis Visor
- Portable Refiner
Starting the game
After starting the game and selecting the difficulty level (for beginners we recommend Normal mode), the gameplay will begin. Once you have gone through all the loading screens and the first cut-scene, information about the status of your exosuit and information about the planet will appear in the lower left corner of the screen. In the lower right corner of the screen you will receive notifications about the current task - this is information will always appear in this place.
The first objective will be to rebuild the scanner. You will need to collect several dozen pieces of appropriate material using the mining beam. When you aim at an object, its name and the raw material you can extract from it will appear below the cursor.
Charging life support systems with fuel
After the scanner is repaired, the tutorial will guide you through the process of scanning and finding basic resources that serve as fuel for charging the most frequently used items in the game. Check what else you can charge these things with and try to get or produce them to always have supplies of the most necessary fuels.
Your suit has 2 basic functions: a weather shield and a life support system. Both bars deplete over time or while running and using a jetpack. You must always pay attention to these indicators and recharge when the bar is about to get empty.
Surviving the first storm
Once you rebuild the scanner and recharge the suit's defense systems, you'll be able to search for the ship. During the next quests, the first storm will appear on the planet - you can continue following the marker or wait it out safely in the cockpit of your ship. The caves are also a good place to hide from unfavorable weather conditions.
Follow mission objective
Hovering over the icons of resources found by the scanner or the main mission markers will show you the exact distance. While following the quest objective, try to collect the basic resources necessary for surviving on the planet.
Crafting and repair
If you want to craft an item or install a new technology, you have to open the equipment and choose the right slot, suit, ship or multi-tool. After selecting a free slot, choose one of the two options and hover over a specific item or technology to see what materials you will need to craft it.
When repairing the technology, you will have to deliver the crafted components or the acquired raw materials to the designated places. Mark the broken ship or exosuit mechanism and see what items you will need to repair it.
Remember that you have to be near the ship or in its cockpit to make repairs. The ship's fuel is always refilled when you are in the cockpit.
Analysis Visor
Once you build an analysis visor, use it to scan all nearby objects. You will see the names of all the rocks, materials and animals, adding more entries to your catalog and discoveries. By using the analysis visor, you will also know the location of interesting objects in the vicinity, such as monoliths, relics or wreckage of machines or unknown buildings and deposits of elements.
Portable Refiner
When using a portable refiner, remember that it needs to be fueled first. Then select the raw material you want to process and press the appropriate button or click on start. Finally, pick up the crafted item and transfer it to the suit or to the ship if it is nearby.
For more basic information check out our tips and tricks page.