No Man’s Sky – How to Earn Money

How to Earn Money

Gathered resources can be used for building and powering equipment, but money needs to be earnt to buy better tech and to upgrade things you already own. Once you get off planet, you can use money earnt to buy items from traders on the local space stations.

There are various ways to earn money, some are easier than others but you can start earning almost straight away.

Use your visor to scan your surroundings

One of the first things you’ll do as part of the storyline is to equip a visor which allows you to scan your environment. Use this visor allows you to scan flora, fauna and minerals in your surroundings. Each of these scans counts as a “discovery” as you’re finding new life in the universe. Scanning earns you units – the universal currency of No Man’s Sky.

Scanning an entire planet can earn you quite a bundle. Scanning also allows you to assess the resources an item has to offer. Sometimes you’ll find once an object is scanned it actually has more to offer than at first glance and you can gather two different resources from a single object.

You can find scanner upgrade modules for your multitool at space stations which increase the amount of money you earn with each scan completed.

Find exotic items to sell

All items you gather in your travels can be sold and traded at the local space stations. Some things are worth more than others though.

While scanning with your visor you’ll often see yellow diamonds with white stripes on the display. These are exotic items worth investigating. Often they’re hidden underground. Once you see them on your visor press the highlighted button to mark them and make them easier to find. Then set about gathering.

Exotic items like Albumen Pearls can be found on toxic planets, underground inside humming eggs. Opening the eggs gives you access to the pearls. Gather as many of these pearls as you can carry as these can be sold for hefty amounts of units at space stations.

Subterranean Relics like Vortex Cubes can be found on other planets and are similarly well priced.

Abandoned buildings

Crafting a signal booster is a good way to find items worth exploring. As well as drop pods and alien structures, signal boosters sometimes unveil abandoned buildings on the planet’s surface.

Similarly, you can use your spacecraft to cruise around the planet just above the surface. If you scan as you go you’ll find different locations revealed worth looking into.

Abandoned buildings are incredibly profitable. Outside these buildings, you’ll find whispering eggs. These can be shot with your mining beam. Doing so produces luminous cores. These glowing balls are worth around 100,000 units each, so they’re well worth gathering.

Shooting the whispering eggs, unfortunately, causes “biological horrors” to spawn in the local area. These are angry alien creatures who aren’t too happy about you shooting their eggs. They’re a force to be reckoned with and will be your end if you’re not careful.

They can, however, be outwitted by simply using your jetpack to fly on top of the nearest building. You’re safe up there as they can’t get you and eventually they’ll give up and burrow back underground.

The best way to get the luminous cores is, therefore, to shoot, grab the core, then fly out of danger until the creatures disappear. Then rinse and repeat until you’ve reaped a beautiful bounty.

Completing missions

It might seem obvious, but completing missions is a good way to earn units, nanite clusters and other rewards. You can acquire missions from space stations, as long as you have a good reputation with the local populace.

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