No Man's Sky: Guide to Making Money

It’s important to earn units in No Man’s Sky, seeing as you'll need a fair amount of them to purchase better multi-tools, starships, and materials for your adventure. To help you in your efforts to get rich quick, we've compiled 10 useful tips.

Got any useful money making tips to offer that you don't see here? Let us know in the comments below!

Every star system has a different market rate for certain elements and items. Upon reaching a new star system, head to the Galactic Trade Terminal at the space station to get an understanding of what's in high demand. Anything marked with a gold star means that it's incredibly valuable, while anything slightly above the Galactic Average is also worth the return. Checking the market rates often should give you a better idea of what resources to mine when exploring planets in a star system.

While the Space Station vendor has set market prices for all the different resources you gather, these rates differ when you talk to space traders. You can find these space traders coming and going in front of a station or settlement; talk to them to find out their rates. They might be able to pay you a fortune for a trade commodity in your inventory with a low market rate.

It may seem counterintuitive first, but prioritize purchasing or finding upgrades to both your exosuit's and starship's carrying capacity. Exosuit upgrades can be found or purchased at shelters or colonial outposts, typically on a wall module or a drop pod. Starship capacity upgrades can be acquired by purchasing a new starship.

Despite these initial expenses, the larger carrying capacity you gain allows you more slots to store materials, which means you'll be able to sell more in the long run.

When you reach a new planet, be sure to analyze all of its animals and plant life with your Analysis Visor, and then report your discoveries for a steady stream of units. To upload your findings, go to the Discoveries tab in the pause menu and highlight the animal or plant your wish to upload. Each animal and plant you successfully upload gives you a unique amount of units, however, we recommend that you prioritize scanning animals rather than plants. Animals typically offer you 2,000 units each, while plants only offer about 500 units or so. If you find all of the animal species on a planet, you're rewarded a large amount of units.

Like analyzing animals and plants, reaching a new star system also grants you units. Uploading your discovery to the database grants you an easy 5,000 units.

As you fly your ship, you'll notice lines that subtly appear in space. These lines are trade routes, which are special routes taken by the galaxy's inhabitants that go from a space station to a specific spot on a planet. If you follow these trade routes, you'll discover an area of the planet containing an abundance of a specific element. These routes are difficult to follow, but if you're able to pinpoint the exact location they lead to on a plenty, you'll be generously rewarded.

Mining in space is a quick and easy way to turn a profit, especially when you do it near a space station. Simply clear up your starship inventory by transferring your excess resources to your exosuit, and start blasting away at asteroids. Aside from Plutonium, you'll typically gather Thamium9 from asteroids, which doesn't sell for a lot. But since you can gather about 100 Thamium9 for every couple seconds you spend shooting asteroids, the profit racks up. This profit gain can be even further increased if you're in a star system that has these elements on high demand.

Crafting items can quickly earn you units if you're willing to put in the time gathering the right materials. For a steady flow of units, we recommend crafting Bypass Chips, which each sell for 3,500 units and only require 10 Plutonium and 10 Iron to make. Both elements can easily be found on every planet you come across.

Once you've acquired several full sets of Plutonium and Iron, head to your nearest Galactic Trade Terminal and start crafting and selling your Bypass Chips. Be sure to sell them in a star system with a higher Galactic Average.

If you discover an Atlas Station, be sure to enter it to get an Atlas Stone. This incredibly rare and valuable item can be sold at a Galactic Trade Terminal for about 70,000 units.

As you explore a planet for resources, make sure to keep an eye out for valuable elements, such as radnox and gold. Selling these to a Galactic Trade Terminal or space trader will earn you a hefty amount of units.