The conversation around the best Exocrafts in No Man’s Sky has seen a lot of interest ever since the first three were added with the Pathfinder update in March 2017. Since Hello Games’ space exploration title houses what is essentially a procedurally generated universe, players have complete freedom in exploring the cosmos. They can even traverse entire lengths of planets to mine resources, explore settlements, build bases, and more, although it does become logistically cumbersome. Fortunately, it also has special vehicles called Exocrafts that aid travelers in their journey.
The title currently has only six Exocrafts. The Roamer is the first one that players unlock, after which they can go for the other models: Colossus, Minotaur, Nautilon, Nomad, and Pilgrim. While they can summon these vehicles by building a Geobay or using the Freighter route on whichever planet they are on, doing so consumes resources that are best saved for future use. Additionally, while all of them can be unlocked fairly evenly after the Roamer (excluding the Minotaur), newcomers should first go for those that offer the most bang for their buck. Although all six have their uses, a ranking of the best Exocrafts in No Man’s Sky is indeed possible.
6 Pilgrim
The Pilgrim is the fastest land-based Exocraft in No Man’s Sky, especially with all the movement upgrades applied. While it doesn’t have quite the same stability as the Nomad, the handling is not particularly clunky. Speed is a big part of its USP, and players can use it to leap off high grounds to good distances and land with virtually no harm. On the fun side, it looks uncannily like the Batman’s Batcycle.
The Pilgrim is not apt for marshy planets since it slows down considerably in water. Its agility and fun appearance make it better than the Nomad on land, but the difference in speed can be overlooked for easy movement over varied terrain. Also, its inventory space is almost negligible. The Pilgrim's construction cost is higher than the Nomad since it requires 4 Ion Batteries, 5 Metal Plating, and 100 Paraffinium to be built, and it is also less preferable than the latter when starting out. Since it comes with the Exocraft Acceleration Module pre-installed, players should focus on improving its recon and protection. Many players term it as the best Exocraft in No Man’s Sky, but that comes mostly from a fun perspective rather than functionality.
5 Nomad
The Nomad is one of the quickest Exocrafts in No Man’s Sky, and it requires 2 Ion Batteries, 5 Metal Plating, and 50 Paraffinium. It is great for traversal on land and on the surface of water as it skips along at a brisk pace. Although players cannot use it for underwater exploration, they don’t have to be concerned about taking the long route around water bodies. Another positive aspect is that it offers the cleanest view out of the cockpit as compared to other models. This can be a key factor for those who like to play with VR or first-person perspective.
The Nomad also comes with the Exocraft Acceleration Module by default, just like the Pilgrim, so players should work on improving its recon and survival abilities first. Similarly, the storage space available is much less, which makes it apt only for recon, not resource gathering. They will thus have to be careful about the upgrades they wish to add. It is no doubt a good Exocrafts, but players should preferably go for it after they have acquired those that are higher on this list.
4 Nautilon
The Nautilon is the only Exocraft in No Man’s Sky that is exclusively built for underwater exploration. While other models like the Minotaur and the Roamer can be used for broadly the same purpose, they are much slower. Further, the Nautilon is overall better as it can also go to great depths, which is something the others really struggle with. It also comes with front headlights that allow for better visibility in the murky depths. This becomes particularly important for deep exploration, and on plants where the environment has a dark color palette.
The Nautilon is not all positives, though. It cannot be used for traversing land and the camera becomes a bit finicky when bobbing at the surface. This makes it easily skippable on planets with shallow or no water bodies. It is recommended that players go for the two unique upgrades, the Humboldt Drive and the Osmotic Generator, as soon as possible. The former enables its propulsion system to aid deep-water travel, and the latter allows it to slowly generate fuel from salt water over time. These two elements make the Nautilon the best Exocraft in No Man's Sky for underwater exploration, at least until Hello Games comes up with another.
3 Colossus
The Colossus is the ideal Exocraft in No Man’s Sky for those who love gathering resources and like to engage in building bases and settlements. The best aspect it brings to the table is its massive storage capacity, which naturally suits this behemoth of a vehicle. It comes with 42 inventory slots that allow players to fill it to the brim with resources. Further, they can also fit in almost every component upgrade they wish, which becomes especially important where movement is concerned.
The Colossus is the slowest Exocraft in the game, but its speed can be increased by a good margin. Since the goal is to stuff it with cargo, speed is a secondary aspect. It can also traverse shallow water bodies, which makes it a decent pick for mining runs on marshy planets as well. This vehicle comes with the Exocraft Mining Laser pre-installed, which is quite a good thing. As such it becomes an easy second or third option to acquire after the Roamer. The Colossus can be a bit cumbersome to maneuver but is the clear winner when it comes to filling up on supplies.
2 Roamer
The Roamer is the first Exocraft that players unlock in No Man’s Sky, and it is a great all-rounder. It may not have the Colossus’ massive inventory, the Nautilon’s underwater prowess, the Minotaur’s strength in combat, or the Pilgrim’s pace, but it is a standard vehicle that is good on all types of terrain. It can move at a decent speed on land and has a slow but workable pace in water bodies too. The inventory size is decent at 28, and various upgrades can be added to it to make it better for recon and improve its survival ability.
As a result, it is easily one of the most useful Exocrafts in No Man's Sky, especially for beginners who are still scrounging up resources. It serves well in recon and filling up inventory, especially when the terrain is too tricky for the Colossus to maneuver or the item count is more than what the Nomad or the Pilgrim can handle in one go. This makes it useful in scenarios where players don’t have advance knowledge of what they’ll come across, and would rather have a little bit of everything than commit to one Exocraft and waste time and effort.
1 Minotaur
The Minotaur is the latest Exocraft to be added to No Man’s Sky, and is the only Sentinel/Mech suit present that players can use. It is perhaps the best in the game as not only does it have respectable inventory space with 28 slots, but it is also relatively quick with the jump and boost upgrades applied. Apart from this, the sheer novelty of exploring the planet in a big mech suit brings the evil humans from James Cameron’s Avatar to mind. It is also useful in underwater traversal, and can even be upgraded with a Minotaur Bore for terrain manipulation.
Like the other best Exocrafts in No Man’s Sky, the Minotaur has a couple of unique aspects that it brings to the table. First, it comes with the Environment Control Unit pre-installed, which provides complete immunity from any hazardous environments that players may come across. As such, they can spend their resources upgrading other important functions. The best of which, yet another thing that is unique, is that they can add the Minotaur AI Pilot. This component enables the Exocraft to follow them on its own to aid exploration and allows its formidable and upgradable weapons system to defend them from various threats.
No Man's Sky is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.