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Exploring a game map like the one in No Man's Sky feels limitless. After all, this game has over 18 quintillion procedurally generated planets, each one with just enough differences to make them feel unique.
No Man’s Sky: How To Get A Wiring Loom And What It Does
Used in a huge range of different crafting recipes, the Wiring Loom is essential for many items in No Man's Sky. Here's how to get one.So in a game that wants you to participate in space battles, space and exoplanet explorations, and trading, one of your most essential tools to improve most will be your ships. It will take you to different galaxies and planets, transport loads, and get into (and out of) combat. You'll want the best ship you can find, so read on to discover your first S-class ship.
Updated October 8, 2023, by Sean Murray: It's been a while since we've updated this guide. There are new ships and better ways of finding them now, too. So we've refreshed this guide with those new ships and the best way to get your very first S-class ship in No Man's Sky.
Starship Types
The ships are classified into the following types:
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Fighters |
These ships are excellent if you want to engage in space combat since they have a faster weapon cooldown. Fighter ships are more commonly found in Vy'keen systems and usually come with weapon upgrades already installed. |
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Haulers |
These types of ships have two things going on for them. First, Hauler ships have a shield absorb class bonus and secondly, they have superb inventory space. That makes sense since Haulers are the largest out of all the other starships in the game. The only downside is that they have rather low maneuverability. |
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Explorers |
If you're all about exploration, the Explorers ships are the right fit for you. This type has high maneuverability and features a hyperdrive range class bonus. If you want an Explorer, head over to Korvax systems. |
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Shuttles |
These have the best of both worlds, meaning they perform well either in combat or while warping around in the galaxy. However, this also means Shuttles ships have no significant class bonus when compared with the other starships. |
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Freighters |
Huge and pricey ships that let you build a base within them. |
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Exotics |
These are the ones everybody wants. Exotics ships are special since they have top-tier bonus values in all the categories (damage, shield, and hyperdrive range). However, Exotic ships are lacking in the slot size department. |
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Living Ships |
These types of ships are very peculiar since they're organic, meaning that they're made of flesh instead of mechanical parts. These ships have unique upgrade modules that must be found and grown rather than tinkered with mechanically, and they require different resources to maintain. |
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Solar Ships |
These ships feature large solar sails that recharge their launch thrusters while in flight. They feature the best pulse drive performance of all ships and can only be found in Outlaw systems. |
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Sentinel Ships |
These are former Sentinel vessels that have crashed due to mysterious circumstances. It's possible for Travelers to repair these craft and claim them for themselves. These ships have a unique ability to hover and extremely high firepower. |
Exotic ships are always S-class in quality.
Each type can vary from an A, B, and C-class Ship to the highest class: the S-class. The ship is even more valuable if it's a combination like an Exotic S-class Ship. NMS S-class ships, upon first obtaining that kind, also provide new titles.
How To Find No Man's Sky S-Class Ships
Keep an eye out for ships scattered throughout the systems. Ships appear sporadically in the game. According to the species that dominate the system you're in, you are more likely to find a certain type of ship:
- Each Vy'keen System has 7 Shuttles, 7 Fighters, 3 Explorers, 3 Haulers, and 3 Regular Freighters
- Each Gek System has 7 Shuttles, 7 Haulers, 3 Explorers, 3 Fighters, and 3 Regular Freighters
- Each Korvax System has 7 Shuttles, 7 Explorers, 3 Fighters, 3 Haulers, and 3 Regular Freighters
Each of these ships has a chance to spawn as any class from C to S-class. However, systems with wealthy economies have a higher chance of spawning S-class ships. It is therefore recommended to find a system with a rich economy before trying to find an S-class ship.
Every inhabited system will also have one Exotic ship, an S-class. The shapes and designs of these will also vary greatly, but you can usually identify them by their unique designs and gold filigree details.
There are multiple methods of obtaining a new ship in No Man's Sky. Unfortunately, most of these methods provide an entirely random class of ship, with S-class ships being extremely rare. Thankfully, it is possible to upgrade your ship to S-class, and there's another surefire method of gaining an S-class ship we'll discuss later.
No Man's Sky: Everything You Need To Know About Freighters
Freighters are incredibly useful and you can even get your hands on a free one. Here's what you need to know about this ship class.Answer Distress Signals Until You Find One
It isn't always the case, but sometimes, the distress beacon locations found by trading planetary maps can lead to No Man's Sky S-class ships. Just trade in planetary charts at any space station for the chart with the red and white circle on it.
Activating that will give you coordinates for various distress beacons in the current star system. This may be a stranded pilot, a compromised station, or, if you're lucky, an S-class ship!
Use An Economy Scanner And Find A Trading Post
You'll have to use an Economic Scanner to locate a Trading post on a planet that belongs to a wealthy Star System, which means anyone labeled as Wealthy, Prosperous Opulent, High Supply, Flourishing, Booming, Affluent, or Advanced.
You will have to make a couple of higher-level changes to the Hyperdrive of your current ship if you want to reach Blue, Red, or Green Star Systems and acquire the Economy Scanner itself beforehand, of course.
After landing in the Trading post, you will have to wait for the game to start spawning different ships, eventually, you'll see No Man's Sky S-class ships. You can scan them in the air to find out. If none appear, just reload the game in that same spot!
Use An Economy Scanner And Find A Space Station
Instead of finding one in a Trading Post, you can try to find No Man's Sky S-class Ships at a Space Station. Here the method is basically the same; the only thing you'll have to do is wait for the ships to land because you can't scan them while they are still in the air.
In a Space Station, the order of the ships that appear is almost always the same, so this method is ideal for those who want a specific ship and have seen it spawn before on this particular spot. You just have to wait for that ship to spawn as an S-class ship.
No Man's Sky: How To Find And Build A Staff
No Man's Sky's staff multi-tools are some of the most desirable pieces of equipment in the game - here's how to get your hands on one.Buy An S-Class Starship
Once you've found a ship you'd like to buy, approach that ship's pilot to make an offer on their ship. To do that, you'll have to spend:
- 39M units for a Large S-Class Explorer
- 57,5M units for a Large S-Class Fighter
- 126M units for a Large S-Class Hauler.
These prices can vary considerably depending on the size, the number of slots the ship has, and the class and type of the ship. For example, a Regular Freighter S Class with 19 slots can cost 23M units, and a Capital Freighter Ship, either C, B, A, or S Class, can cost between 26M and 178M units.
How To Upgrade Your Ship To S-Class
You don't necessarily need to find an S-class ship. You can instead take a lower class of ship and upgrade it to S-class using Nanite Clusters. To do so, simply head to any inhabited space station and interact with the Starship Outfitting Terminal.
You'll need a lot of Nanite Clusters. To go from C to B-class requires 10,000 Nanites, from B to A-class requires 25,000 Nanites, and from A to S-class requires 50,000 Nanites.
Finding A Crashed S-Class Ship
Waiting for an S-class ship to spawn at a trading post or a space station can take forever. Thankfully, there's a much shorter and easier way of finding your first S-class ship, and that's by salvaging it from a known location.
Unlike ships at stations or trading posts, crashed ships always spawn with the same quality. They're also in a fixed location, so once a crashed S-class ship is discovered, it can be obtained by anyone who knows where to look.
There are two easy ways of getting the location of a crashed S-class ship. The first is to head to the No Man's Sky Glyph Exchange website. This site allows you to search for any ship, crashed or not, and also provides you with the portal address to that ship's location.
The second is to look for crashed ships on the No Man's Sky Coordinate Exchange subreddit. Crashed starships are frequently posted to this subreddit along with their glyph coordinates, allowing you to travel there and salvage the ship at your leisure.
Turn off multiplayer before heading to find these ships. If multiplayer is left on, it's possible that another player will have recently salvaged the crashed ship you're looking for, and you'll have to wait for it to respawn.