Update 8/25/2016: Added pages on Finding Trade Posts, Sentinels and Wanted Level, in addition to Shielding, Power, and Unstable Plasma Items. Also see my guide to Making Money in No Man's Sky for some tips on the best methods for earning cash, what crafting items are most profitable, and a list of all resources in the game.
Anomalies, Atlas Interfaces, Stones, and Black Holes
Atlas Interfaces provide Atlas Stones and direct you toward Anomalies, where you can gain upgrades and learn the location of new interfaces.Players just starting a game of No Man's Sky will be offered to accept Atlas Guidance from the start of the game or later. This directs you to star systems and helps you to accumulate new alien words, greatly expanding your language, multi-tool and other upgrades, schematics, and Atlas Stones.
How it Works
After a few missions in No Man's Sky, when you've got warp drive and are capable of traveling the stars, you'll come across an Anomaly. Each Anomaly lets you resume the Path of the Atlas and points you toward an Atlas Interface, where you meet two helpful aliens. This process is repeated until you decide to stop, or reach 10 Atlas Stones, upon which time the next Atlas Interface will offer you an option I won't disclose so as to avoid spoilers.
Looking at stars manually may help you to find an Anomaly to get back on the path of the atlas if you've chosen to leave it.Leaving the Path
Leaving the Path of the Atlas to explore is certainly doable. In fact, you probably should once in a while. When you achieve better warp technology and can visit other star systems, you can get rarer materials by visiting them. They may not be on the Path of the Atlas. They're actually unlikely to, since the majority of stars are yellow.If you do leave, you will come across another Anomaly eventually. You can find the path of the Atlas again by using Observatories, which may find anomalies, as well as simply going to systems to see if one is detected. Look at a star on the map - the first 2 characters are star class and temperature, the third and fourth are special conditions in that star system. Look to stars that have an analysis that has the third or 4th character as p or f, they may be more likely to host anomalies.
Anomalies
Anomalies are randomly discovered, as stated above. You're set to run into one early in the game just by following the early early quests and getting your ship repaired to travel the stars. Inside every Anomaly is a multi-tool inside a cylindrical column that opens up to offer one near Polo. Check to see if it's better than your current model.
Priest Entity Nada will offer you a blueprint, black hole (shortcut), or send you to another Atlas InterfacePriest Entity Nada
At each Anomaly, you will come across a priest named Entity Nada that presents you with 3 options:
- Resources to Aid Exploration: You will gain a random blueprint, and it's possible you already have it. It's likely tied to your progress in the game. Personally I've received mainly exosuit upgrades.
- Find Shortcut to the Center: This will locate a black hole for you, which can be used to travel closer to the center. It's faster, kinda but many black hole jumps are needed. Later, you can upgrade your engines to jump much further, anyway, so it's not worth damaging your ship components (one is always damaged).
- Resume the Path of the Atlas (Best Choice for Most): Take this one to continue, and the priest will mark another place on your galactic map. As a rule, do not sell the Atlas stones that you acquire from these quests. You are likely to need them if you want to 'beat' No Man's Sky.
If you have data to give him, Polo will give you a blueprintPolo
Polo will always offer you a blueprint, Atlaspass V1 on the first encounter, which greatly helps you to upgrade your exosuit's capacity (every starbase has a door that is locked and features an upgrade). In order to get the blueprint from him, you must possess data. First it's learning a few alien words, next meeting aliens, then having earned so many credits, and number of pirates killed. Because of this you should not rush Anomalies if you want the things Polo offers. He may give you a blueprint you already know, however.
Black Holes
Should you wish to be closer to the center of the Universe, taking Priest Entity Nada's offer to locate one will let you utilize it to fly closer to the center (not in a straight line). Later in the game with all four engines equipped, you can go almost as far with a single warp jump, but they're quite powerful compared to early game warp.
Atlas Interface
Run across the little lights all over Atlas Interfaces' floors to learn all sorts of alien words. The race you get on each Interface seems to be random, but it's possible to learn over a dozen words in a single visit.After visiting with Polo and Nada, going outside and viewing the map you'll see the location of your first - or the next - Atlas Interface. Inside, you'll learn an alien word or two, receive some warp cells, and get an Atlas Stone from the shrine. Milestones are required for this, however.
Atlas Interfaces require you to have passed certain milestones in order to get an Atlas Stone and information on the location of another AnomalyEach subsequent Atlas Stone requires you to have done 5 more milestones and attained the next rank. To get all 10 Atlas Stones, you must complete 50 Milestones of any kind, such as killing sentinels, ships, money, scanning animals/plants, distance traveled, etc. See the Journey tab of your menu to see how many you've attained and detailed information for getting the next milestone in each category. The requirements I've seen are:
- First Atlas Stone: Journey Rank: Pathfinder (5 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #2: Journey Rank Juno (10 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #3: Journey Rank Rosetta (15 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #4: Journey Rank Cassini (20 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #5: Journey Rank Kepler (25 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #6: Journey Rank Dawn (30 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #7: Journey Rank Curiosity (35 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #8: Journey Rank Hubble (40 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #9: Journey Rank Viking (45 Milestones)
- Atlas Stone #10: Journey Rank Magellan (50 Milestones)
Atlas Stones
You'll want to save up 10 Atlas Stones and deliver them to an Atlas Interface to technically 'beat' No Man's Sky. Yep, this takes up quite a bit of inventory space. Don't rush toward this, it's not a huge deal, just an accomplishment. I won't elaborate on that so as to avoid spoiling just what happens, but it's nothing to chase obsessively. Most of the experience you'll get comes from visiting the Atlas Interfaces, learning about the alien races at monoliths, and gradually digesting the game's lore in that way.
- Walkthrough Part 1: Leaving First Planet
- Walkthrough Part 2: Getting First Warp Drive
- Discovering Plants an Animals (Scanning)
- Making Antimatter for Warp Fuel
- Finding AtlasPass V2 and V3
- Adding Inventory Slots
- How to Buy Better Ships
- Signal Scanners, Monoliths, Outposts, and Crashed Ships
- Best Elements to Recharge Gear
- Multi-tool and its Functions
- Mining in No Man's Sky
- Sentinels and Wanted Level
- Where to Find Better Warp Reactors
