No Man's Sky is an open-world space adventure where players can fly spaceships, travel through galaxies, fight pirates, and more. While they do this, they have many opportunities to earn money to upgrade their tools and weapons or buy resources. There are two currencies in the game: Units and Nanites.
Nanites are the rarer of the two and can be used to purchase special items like blueprints and upgrade modules for the Exosuit, Exocraft, and Multi-Tool. Collecting Nanites takes some time since players can't get them from anywhere, but enjoying the best equipment is well worth it. Here are five ways players can earn Nanites in No Man's Sky.
Updated on January 18, 2024, by Taylor Pittman: No Man's Sky constantly expands and updates. Players can experience the awesomeness of space travel as they make discoveries with their Multi-tool, soup up their Starships and Exocrafts, and set up their own home bases and territories on planets. They will need the best technology to access the most valuable resources and locations and complete some of the main questlines, so saving Nanites is necessary. This list has been updated to include even more ways to earn Nanites in No Man's Sky.
The Unwritten Rules of No Man's Sky Explained
No Man's Sky is a sprawling space sim with some unwritten rules that players new and old can benefit from implementing as they explore.
8 Refine Larval Cores
Larval Cores Refine to 50 Nanites Each
Players will find unique plants, animals, and more as they explore planets. Sometimes, they encounter rare phenomena and can collect special resources such as Larval Cores. Larval Cores are a Monstrous curiosity that drops when players destroy a Whispering Egg. Whispering Eggs are a rare spawn that appears near abandoned buildings or on invested planets. The Analysis Visor can be used to track them down.
Once players destroy a Whispering Egg, they can pick up its Larval Core. Destroying the Egg also triggers a swarm of Biological Horrors that will attack on sight. Players can fight them or run from them until the swarm subsides. Larval Cores can be transformed into Nanites using a Refiner. Collecting them is quite a lot of work, but it is a good way to get some Nanites if all else fails.
7 Salvage Starships
Starship Parts are Worth 30 to 1,300 Nanites
Starships are flying space vehicles and a crucial part of No Man's Sky. Players start the game with a standard Starship, but they can also collect crashed Starships to repair and replace theirs with or scrap them and trade their parts for Nanites. Crashed Starships spawn randomly on planets and can be found in a few ways. Players can search the surface of a planet using an Exocraft or locate a crashed Starship more directly with a Transmission Tower or Planetary Charts.
Before players can turn a crashed Starship in for scrap, they must repair the damaged parts. Specifically, the Launch Thruster and the Pulse Engine are required for them to get into the air. Players can then fly the repaired Starship to a Space Station and salvage it at a Starship Outfitting Terminal in exchange for Nanites. Higher-tiered Starships are worth more Nanites, so players can earn them in bulk.
6 Upload All Discoveries
Every Discovery is Worth Different Amounts of Nanite Clusters
The quickest way to get Nanites is to upload all discoveries found on planets. Players can scan plants, minerals, and animals when they contact a new planet. Scanning only takes a few moments, but be wary of any hostile animals. The scanner is one of the visor settings, and players can access it easily. Once the subject is scanned, it will be saved as a discovery, and players will get some units depending on how common or rare it is.
If they want Nanites, players can upload them by following the below steps:
- Open the Options menu
- Go to the Discoveries tab
- Find where the visited star systems are listed
- Select the white arrow at the top of the list and "Upload All"
This will deposit Nanites; the more discoveries there are to upload, the more Nanites players earn.
5 Explore Buildings
Search Technology Inside Buildings for Nanite Clusters
Nanite Clusters can also be found in buildings such as Resource Depots, bunk buildings, and abandoned facilities. These are found on most planets, but looking at hospitable ones yields better results.
Players can scan for points of interest from the ground or sky once they enter a planet's atmosphere. Abandoned facilities are the safest to search since Sentinels are less likely to appear. However, there are more likely to be Nanites inside Resource Depots and Outposts. Players can pick them up by downloading them from electronic systems inside the buildings.
4 Destroy Sentinels
Sentinels Drop Nanites and Materials for Nanites
Sentinels are drone beings that police many planets in the game. Planets that have them can be hostile or neutral depending on the galaxy but will attack players if they are perceived as a threat regardless. Whenever a Sentinel is taken down, there's a chance it will drop Nanites. They may also drop items like a Hyaline Brain, which can be refined into 260 Nanites.
Players can attack Sentinels by shooting at them using their Exocraft or a ranged weapon. They are relatively easy to take out, but attacking one always calls in reinforcements. If players hide inside buildings until the Sentinels no longer sense them, they can take them out one by one and pick up their drops.
3 Completing Missions
Nanite Rewards Vary from Mission to Mission
Some missions will have Nanites as a reward upon completion. Missions can be picked up at any Space Station from the mission attendant. Space Stations aren't typically that big, so finding the correct booth should be easy. The mission details, including the completion requirements and rewards, are listed.
No Man's Sky: Best Exocrafts, Ranked
Picking the best Exocrafts in No Man's Sky is tricky, but they can indeed be slotted into a hierarchy since all six have unique selling points.
Players can pick up as many missions at one time as they want. Missions fall into a few categories: Courier, Battle, Wildlife, and Photography. The higher level they are with the alien lifeforms who suggested, the more missions will be available. Players can keep track of their missions and turn them at a Space Station when they're done, and they will get their Nanites.
2 Visit the Anomaly
NPCs Give Players Nanites for Information
Players can also visit the Space Anomaly for Nanites. The Space Anomaly is an online space station that can be summoned from any galaxy while in space. To summon the Anomaly, players must access the ship menu. This is also where the Autophage Questline leads.
There is a helpdesk on the lower level with an alien lifeform called Iteration: Helios. Players can talk to him whenever they visit and trade data information for Nanites. The Data will consist of new discoveries such as minerals, plants, animals, planets, and other resources.
The Space Anomaly is also home to another NPC named Iteration: Cronus. If players offer him a taste of their discoveries, he will give them his opinion on them. These things include Impule Beams and Iced Screams. It's more often that he is left disappointed, but when he is fed something he likes, he will reward players with Nanites.
Players should also stop by the Iteration: Ares help desk on the same floor. Iteration: Ares is a traveler and collector NPC. Players can purchase upgrades from him or share their Milestone data and discoveries for Nanites. While at the Anomaly, players can purchase upgrade blueprints and other special items.
1 Refine Runaway Mould
5x Runaway Mould Refines to 1 Nanite
Players can refine Runaway Mould into Nanites using a Refiner. There are four types of refiners in No Man's Sky, including portable, small, medium, and larger models. Players can insert fuel and materials into them to group and process them into more valuable materials. Runaway Mould is found in Curious Deposits found on planets.
Players can scan for Curious Deposits using their Analysis Visor. When they find it, they will see it on the planet's surface and can harvest it using their Mining Laser. When they have an abundance of Runaway Mould, they can put it in a Refiner to turn it into Nanites.
No Man's Sky
- Platform(s)
- Switch , PC , Xbox One , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X , PS4 , PS5
- Released
- August 9, 2016
- Developer(s)
- Hello Games
