To survive the cosmic horrors of The Cursed Expedition in No Man's Sky, players need to act fast and move a lot. But, surviving in a universe in constant change is not for everyone, as space explorers need to be well-informed of all the resources available to them before they jump from star to star.
This guide details some useful advice to help players survive and improve their chances of completing the limited-time Cursed Expedition — from the basics of the new Boundary Integrity mechanic to the most complex parts of the Main Quest and how to clear their objectives.
Check Your Boundary Integrity Levels
The main mechanic of No Man's Sky's Expedition The Cursed will be the Boundary Integrity level, a purple bar located at the bottom left, above the player's Life Support System charge. This bar drops constantly, but it will deplete faster if the player is surrounded by Horrors from Beyond.
These new enemies pop up out of the ground and start lurking around the players, whispering nonsense at first, but becoming increasingly annoying and assertive about guiding the players towards "the Beyond," and forcing them to fight if necessary. It's more or less a "sanity level" kind of mechanic, where the player will experience these enemy attacks in the form of "hallucinations."
The more they lurk around, the more of them will start popping out once Boundary Integrity drops enough. Players should avoid this at any cost. To prevent the Boundary Integrity levels from dropping, players should drink Elixir of Glass, a new consumable unlocked once they complete the first Milestone of Phase 1 in The Cursed. While there are other methods to restore Boundary Integrity to the max level, players can't always access them, so better stock up on this precious consumable.
Pay Attention To The Planet You Visit
Scanning a planet before landing is a must in No Man's Sky, and with The Cursed Expedition, this becomes a high priority, since players will be in constant danger once they land, no matter where they land. The Horrors from Beyond are relentless, and solving the mystery of their existence can be quite challenging when players are also under attack by the wildlife, the climate, and the Sentinels.
So, checking before dropping onto a planet is a key to survival. Remember to charge every Shield, Life Support, and Resistance Mod in the Exosuits. Players never know when a Radiation Storm is going to blow them up or isolate them underground for a long period of time. If there's a special resource players need, they should always carry enough ammo to fend off aggressive wildlife and even Sentinels — if there's no other choice but to fight them.
Remember that Sentinels can become hostile when players start to Farm Resources/Kill Wildlife near them. Scan the surrounding area before starting to excavate for resources or to mine with the Multitool, as this might draw unwanted attention. Players don't want to have Sentinels attacking at the same time that Horrors are swarming. That's a recipe for disaster.
Don't forget to carry Life Support Gel, Di-Hydrogen Jelly, Anti Mater, Tritium, and Elixir of Glass all the time. These resources will come in handy while exploring the horror-ridden planets of the Sixteenth Expedition of No Man's Sky.
Don't Ignore The Game's Other Mechanics
The game has an overwhelming number of mechanics, and players can play however they want. But in The Cursed, base building can become a problem when being harassed by cosmic Horrors. Still, it becomes a necessity when players finish the first Phase of the expedition, since they'll be jumping to another system through the portals using Elixir of Blood as an offering.
When that happens, they can always look for a safe planet to build a small base of operations and try to unlock as many technologies as possible with the surrounding resources. Don't ignore farming for Tech, Multitools, and other commodities while solving the puzzle of the Expedition; even learning words from Ruins, collecting bones, selling items at Space Stations, and accumulating Credits and Nanites is a necessity.
Rely On Other Players When Needed
The game has a multiplayer for a reason: try to party up if the constant harassment of Horrors becomes a problem. Going solo might look cool, but relying on others and playing in teams is also fun, and will allow players to progress down the Expedition faster than most lone wolves.
On that note, other players have bases they can use — and even resources to gather from them. But be warned: depleting the resources from the base without de-activating multiplayer first can be rude in the No Man's Sky community, so do that first. Open the menu when landing in an allied base, de-activate Multiplayer, take the resources, and reload from a save point before activating a multiplayer again. That way, the base will always have resources available in their extractors for other players to take.
Check Planets For Communication Stations
When orbiting a new planet, players can turn on their Ship scanners, and various Message Icons will pop up around the world. These are messages left by other players through the Communication Stations, which more often than not point to the location of precious resources, Abandoned Ships, Points of Interest, and more.
Even portals are easily located that way, since players will often leave lots of messages around them. It's part of the No Man's Sky community charm: being collaborative and jolly while killing space monsters. Still, watch out for troll messages; they can be around on some planets and can be a waste of time, but those are quite rare (thankfully).
In The Cursed, Portals work a little bit differently, and players will need to offer Elixir of Blood to the Altars to activate them. So, keep that in mind before adventuring inside one of these: players never know where they will land, since they're totally randomized.
Look For Better Ships And Multitools As Soon As Possible
Part of the No Man's Sky experience is to always upgrade gear, and finding an abandoned ship up for grabs is also a potential way to progress further down the adventure. If players manage to find an Emergency Call from any of the abandoned buildings on the planet, this might lead to an abandoned ship. Messages left by the community, as indicated previously, will often mark the spot.
Exploring alien buildings and stations is also a good way to find a better Multitool to replace the basic one provided at the beginning of the expedition. But, players should watch their manners, as many Aliens get offended if they do not choose the correct answer when interacting with them. On that note: it is always good to invest some time learning the local language from Ruins, Monoliths, or requesting Language Aid from the NPCs inside off-world Stations.
The No Man's Sky Community forums are always a good place to look for information such as: Special Grade Spaceship locations, Frigate Locations, Resource Bases, and cool and unusual planets and their respective coordinates.
Remember: Multitools and Ships can be sold or exchanged with NPCs. Players can exchange their old Multitool (and some Credits) for a better one, and the ship works in a similar way. Speak to every NPC around to get the best possible results. Sometimes, being nice to the Aliens will result in a powerful new Multitool — or the opportunity to claim a new ship for a reduced price. That's why unlocking new words will open many doors to players.
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Don't Forget To Claim Milestone Rewards
Some of the Milestone Rewards from The Cursed expedition, like the Elixirs — they will be automatically claimed since they are keys to progress further down the Phases. But, others will linger in the Milestone Expedition menu unless the player enters and claims them. Make sure to check every Phase of the Expedition, and all Milestones, to browse their objectives and respective rewards for completion.
Open up the Expedition Menu and scroll around for completed Milestones, then select them to claim the rewards. Milestone rewards might include Mods for the Exosuit, Multitools, or Ships. Some Milestones grant Inventory Slot Mods, which are critical to carrying more stuff around — especially when the need arises to fix a ship, for example, as it is something that will force players to get many different resources and take them to the broken ship.
Players can get some early Later Stage rewards by killing dozens of Horrors. Some of these rewards include S Grade Modules and even x5 Exosuit Inventory Slots, so banishing every Horror they see might pay off in the long run. Plus, they will be able to farm lots of Shattered Qualia, which will come in handy for crafting Elixirs.
Don't Save Up Nanites — Use Them For Mods
While farming around Damaged Technology and by interacting with Collectibles in buildings, or with the locals, players will start to receive Nanites. This special currency can be exchanged with the Technology Vendors for cool Mods for their Gear. Saving up too many Nanites will lead to players being under-geared further down the adventure, so don't hoard them; use them!
Remember that visiting many Space Stations and Planet Vendors might renew the inventory of Merchants, and that every Technology Merchant sells a certain type of Mods. There's one for Ships, one for Multitools, and one for Exosuits. Upgrading the Multitool first might be the wisest choice, but don't neglect to improve the suit, as it provides the necessary protection and mobility that is useful to avoid those pesky Horrors popping up constantly from the ground.
It is also important to mention that Nanites can be farmed from other sources, especially from Residual Goop, Viscous Fluids, Living Slime, and Runaway Mould. Those Organic Materials can be transformed in the Refinery into Nanites, so save lots of them and put them through a refining cycle to get even more Nanites.
Some players also like to create Nanite Farms for other players to harvest. Remember: always save and then turn off multiplayer before farming the resources from those bases. That way, others can also enjoy them without them being depleted by a single person.
No Man's Sky
- Released
- August 9, 2016
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Fantasy Violence, Animated Blood
- Developer(s)
- Hello Games
- Publisher(s)
- Hello Games
- Engine
- Proprietary
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Cross-Platform Play
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PC
- Steam Deck Compatibility
- Verified
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC, Nintendo Switch 2
- How Long To Beat
- 30.5 Hours
- How Long To Beat (Completionist Runs)
- 150 hours
- X|S Optimized
- Yes
- PS Plus Availability
- N/A
- Supported VR Headsets
- Sony PlayStation VR, Sony PlayStation VR2, Valve Index, HP Reverb G2, HTC Vive Pro 2, HTC VIVE Cosmos, Meta Quest 3, Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest Pro
- File Size Xbox Series
- 20.36 GB (September 2024)
- OpenCritic Rating
- Fair
