No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia is live now! The newest time-limited mission comes alongside the recent “Fractal” update with enhanced VR support. Players have six real-world weeks to complete the unique set of missions and reap the rewards. Many of which — like the Utopia Speeder Starship — are “exclusive” to this event and probably won’t be available again for quite some time. However, NMS Expeditions tend to be some of the more challenging (or at least confusing) content in the game. That’s why we’ve created this new guide to each set of steps players must complete to get everything they need!
Note: Like our previous Expedition guides, we’ll be playing through the event at the same time as other players. That means we’ll be updating this guide in real time — starting with Phase 1, moving on to Phase 2, etc. You might jump ahead of us and need to wait if you get stuck on a particular milestone or other objective! If so, make sure to check back later for further updates to our Expedition 9: Utopia guide.
Getting Started
As per usual, this Expedition is split into several phase. Each phase is then broken down according to Milestones: special objectives that can sometimes be completed in any order, but often require you to complete a previous Milestone to unlock the appropriate blueprints and/or resources for the next stage of the mission. Thus, it’s generally advisable to start with the first Milestone of the first phase. At least until you start to puzzle together which objective needs what.
Our guide will follow these Milestones and phases in “chronological” order, detailing the objectives and rewards as we go. Milestone rewards are usually as simple as an Analysis Visor blueprint (which you need in order to scan objects). Whereas phase rewards — which you receive for completing every Milestone within a phase — are permanent unlocks that you can collect on any NMS save file you create (or already have). These are typically cosmetic. Though they can be very useful, like the Utopia Speeder available at the very end of this Expedition.
On that note, make sure to always collect your rewards by clicking on any completed Milestone in your Expedition menu! These will provide often vital resources and blueprints to continue the event mission.
With all that in mind, let’s get started!
Phase 1 – No Man’s Sky: Utopia Expedition
The first Milestone in this phase is “Foundation.” Appropriately enough, that includes building a quite literal foundation. You need to construct a Base Computer and build floors, a wall, and some parts of a roof. This is because, during Expedition 9: Utopia, you will not be able to craft outside of your base. That makes this the bare minimum requirement for this entire series of missions.
You don’t need much to start, however. Players will begin the Expedition with a Base Computer in their inventory. That means you only need to pull up the base-building menu (Z on your keyboard) and place the computer anywhere you like that isn’t already claimed by another player. Then you can start building flooring, walls, and a ceiling with the same menu.
The latter structures will require Carbon: one of the most basic resources of NMS. You can grab these from the nearby mushrooms and other flora on the starting planet. While the Analysis Visor is needed to harvest more advanced resources, things like Carbon and Ferrite Dust should show up any time you point your aiming reticle at the appropriate type of matter. Then just fire away with your Mining Laser to grab some. Speaking of Ferrite Dust, by the way, you’ll need some of that for the roof sections.
It’s worth noting that the roof, walls, and flooring aren’t technically mentioned in your objective log. However, each of these will be highlighted by blinking, yellow boxes in your base-building menu when the game wants you to construct them. You should only need to make a very basic “house” consisting of four or five floor tiles, two or three roof tiles, and the walls needed to support them, though.
The next, “Provisions,” asks you to craft some new materials. You’ll need these to survive the Utopia Expedition as there are other special rules in addition to only being able to craft inside of bases. Notably, Hazard Protection can only be recharged using Ion Batteries and Life Support can only be recharged using Life Support Gel. You cannot use raw Sodium and raw Oxygen, respectively, as is usually the case in NMS.
Once again, the specific steps of this Milestone are not included in the Expedition menu, nor the Log menu (which normally shows your ongoing objectives). However, there’s a useful trick to get around this.
First, go to the Expedition tab. Then click on the Milestone you want to track. In this case, that means “Provisions.” Next, move to the Log menu. You should now see whichever Milestone you have selected under the “Secondary Missions” section of the quest log. This still doesn’t show the specific resources and steps you need to proceed. However, if you click on the desired quest icon under Secondary Missions, and then exit the menu back into the world, you will always receive an onscreen prompt telling you exactly what to do next.
In this example, clicking on “Provisions” and exiting the Log menu will say that you need to install a Personal Refiner in the Technology section of your Exosuit. The refiner should be in your inventory if you finished “Foundation” as it was one of the rewards for that Milestone. With that installed, you need to craft 100 Chromatic Metal by refining the 200 Copper (also received from “Foundation”).
Each of these steps, and all subsequent steps throughout Expedition 9: Utopia, can be accessed in the same way. To reiterate: go to the Expedition menu, click on a Milestone, move to the Log menu, and click on the same Milestone you selected in the previous window. Then exit the menu and look to the bottom-right corner of your screen for your instructions.
For posterity, though, you’ll need to craft four Carbon Nanotubes (one for your Analysis Visor and three for your Boltcaster, which can be installed into your Multi-Tool). You’ll also need more Ferrite Dust to craft one set of Projectile Ammunition: essentially “bullets” for the Boltcaster and a future weapon.
While you harvest that, you might receive some Di-hydrogen, which is found in several of the rocks on the starting planet for Expedition 9. Assuming you scan them with your visor first. This is needed to craft one unit of Life Support Gel — which, as previously mentioned, will be important during this mission. Note that Di-hydrogen is much easier to find inside of blue crystals scattered across the planet. You can find them by activating your Scanner (C on the keyboard). Di-hydrogen crystal fields are always marked with a blue diamond icon in the world with an “H” inside it.
Once the gel is crafted, you should be finished with “Provisions”! That brings us to the next Milestone: “Ground Control.” There’s… really not much to say about this step. Just interact with your Base Computer and select the option “Upload Base.” This will add its name and structure to the No Man’s Sky online database. That’s all there is to it, too!
The next step isn’t much more difficult; you just need to construct a Geobay. These are the launching platforms for terrestrial NMS vehicles, otherwise known as Exocraft. You can build them from your base-building menu just like the during the “Foundation” Milestone. I personally recommend the Nomad Geobay since it’s quick and you should already have most of the materials you need.
Doing so requires Ion Batteries, Paraffinium, and Metal Plating. You should have most of these already if you’ve been collecting your Expedition rewards from the Expedition menu. The only thing you need to craft yourself are the five unites of Metal Plating: which only require Ferrite Dust. Just remember that several of the rocks on this starting planet produce Pure Ferrite, not Ferrite Dust, which cannot be used to craft Metal Plating by default.
In “System Link,” the next step of our journey, we get to see exactly why the Exocraft is so valuable. It’s time to find your ship!
Just look to the horizon and find the little diamond-shaped symbol with a starship icon in it (it will say “Your Starship” if you look directly at the icon). That’s where we need to go. The rub is that it’s very far away. As such, we need to hop into our Exocraft of choice and drive there. Don’t worry: the Exocraft is automatically constructed when you build its corresponding Geobay.
You should automatically complete the Milestone “Scenic Route” on your way to the ship. That one just requires you to drive 2,000 units of distance in any Exocraft.
When you reach the ship, you can repair it using a Hermetic Seal, Di-hydrogen Jelly, one Metal Plating, and some Pure Ferrite.
You should already have the Condensed Carbon necessary to craft a Hermetic Seal from your “Planet Link” rewards. Though you can also craft it by placing regular Carbon in the Personal Refiner. The same goes for Pure Ferrite: you can refine that from Ferrite Dust if you didn’t find any of the large rocks with the stuff already in it.
Once the repairs are complete, you can take off and direct yourself to the yellow, diamond-shaped objective marker that will lead you to Outpost Alpha for the final Milestone of Phase 1… “Outpost Alpha.” If you’re not familiar with the more intermediate aspects of flight in No Man’s Sky, by the way, know that flying higher into a planet’s atmosphere will allow you to fly faster and engage the Pulse Engine (basically a form of super-boost). You can also climb all the way to the outer edge of a planet’s atmosphere (or just directly into space), point yourself at any quest marker, and activate the Pulse Engine to engage a light sort of “autopilot” that will take you right next to the marked location.
That being said, the yellow marker in this case is only an “approximate location.” Once you get close, you need to look around a bit for a large, metal structure with starship landing pads and several NPCs. Don’t worry, though. It’s enormous and hard to miss.
Once you land at the outpost, the yellow objective marker will move to the location’s central computer. Interact with the terminal at the marker to complete this Milestone and all of Phase 1.
Congratulations! Now it’s time for Phase 2. Just don’t forget to collect your rewards, as always.
Rewards: Factions Poster plans; Night Squad Poster plans; Planetary Base Poster plans
Phase 2 – No Man’s Sky: Utopia Expedition
Phase 2 begins the way that Phase 1 ended: by flying to an outpost. The only difference is that this one is on another planet!
Fly your starship back into the outer atmosphere and point its nose at the next yellow objective marker. Once you’re high enough, you can engage the Pulse Engine and autopilot your way to Outpost Beta. Once again, it’s only an approximate location, but also once again, it’s very nearby and hard to miss. Land and interact with the archive terminal (again) to finish the first Milestone of this phase: “Outpost Beta.”
You should receive an item in your inventory called the “Utopia Supply Drop Beta.” Open this from your inventory to receive another item. This one is a settlement chart. Using it will open up another new objective marker for you to follow. So, let’s follow it to your “Personalised Restoration Zone”!
This is where we need to pull out the “Target Sweep Mode” of your Analysis Visor. Once you reach the latest objective marker, you should automatically activate the mode when pulling up your Analysis Visor (as if you were scanning rocks, trees, or animals). This is basically an “objective scanner” that allows NMS players to find quest markers by following the yellow lines that appear at the edges of the visor screen.
In other words: if the lines of your visor point to the left, turn left. If they point to the right, turn right. Eventually you’ll face the correct direction and see four yellow triangles at the edge of the screen — along with a message that reads “Target Aligned.” This means you can start walking in that direction to get where you need to be. You can think of it like a game of hot and cold.
Once you reach the location that the Target Sweep Mode wants you to hit, just hold the visor open for a minute. A progress bar labeled “Finalising Signal” will automatically fill and lock in the objective. At which point you’ll also complete the “Assignment Beta” Milestone! Now it’s time to build another base for “Settlement Beta.”
This is where good, old random chance begins to play a role. That’s because we need to build a Base Computer, which requires Chromatic Metal, which at this stage of the Expedition means mining for Copper. This can be either very easy or very time-consuming. It all comes down to the luck of the draw.
You can find Copper in large mineral deposits all over the planet. These locations area always marked when you bring up the default mode of the Analysis Visor and look for blue, diamond-shaped icons with a cross in the center. These can include anything from Magnetised Ferrite, to Salt, to Indium on different worlds. Though we’re only interested in Copper for now. So, look around with the Analysis Visor open and find one with the right label!
If you can’t find one, you might just need to pick and direction to run in for a hundred meters or so and look again. Copper isn’t the most common resource on world beta, but it’s pretty plentiful. The bigger issue is finding enough of the stuff. You need 200 Chromatic Metal. That means we need 400 units of Copper (which can be refined into Chromatic Metal via your Personal Refiner from earlier in the mission). You might find a Copper deposit and still need to look for a second one to get the rest that you need.
That means a lot of running around and, remember, you cannot refill your Life Support or Hazard Protection with Oxygen or Sodium. You need Life Support Gel and Ion Batteries. As such, you should stock up on Di-hydrogen crystals when you run past some (for the gel) and Cobalt to craft Ion Batteries. Cobalt is nearly always found in caves and underground — specifically by mining stalagmites and stalactites.
While you’re hunting, by the way, you can also look for “Humming Sacs” via the Analysis Visor in the same way you find Copper. You’ll need to find five of these for a later Milestone, so make sure to stop by and start collecting them whenever possible to save yourself some trouble.
Speaking of Ion Batteries, you should still have enough just Paraffinium to construct a second Nomad Geobay (if you chose to build one earlier and didn’t discard the minerals) and just zoom around in a vehicle. This also requires Ion Batteries or Metal Plating. Alternatively, you can build a Pilgrim Geobay using Silver and Di-hydrogen Jelly. Silver can be found in asteroids around the planet and in some of the cave stalactites. Though it might just be more trouble than it’s worth.
When you do find a Copper deposit, you can soak it up using the Terrain Manipulator on your Multi-Tool. You should have one installed by default in this Expedition. The “G” key on a keyboard will cycle the tool between modes: which currently include Mining Laser, Boltcaster, and Terrain Manipulator. Fire the manipulator at the yellow-y metal and you should eat it right up!
Then just refine the Chromatic Metal (and possibly the 500 Pure Ferrite if you don’t already have that from mining) and finally construct your second Base Computer. Interact with the computer and select “Claim Base,” as before, to make it official.
From this point on, you just need to “expand and beautify your base.” This seems to mean just building new things willy-nilly. I personally used the Cylindrical Room and other elements from the “Large Structures” tab of the base-building menu because these use Pure Ferrite, as opposed to the Carbon requirements from the “Timber Structures” panel. Ferrite is much more plentiful on the superheated planet where this Milestone takes place, so the metal stuff is easier to craft.
It doesn’t actually need to be beautiful, for the record. But you do need to upload it from the Base Computer as you did before. That will complete the Milestone and let us move on to the next step!
This next step, “Ironclad,” is absurdly easy. It just needs you to build the “Utopia Exosuit Station” base part (which you just unlocked the blueprints for during the last Milestone. It requires a bit more Chromatic Metal and some Magnetised Ferrite (which can be refined from Pure Ferrite). Build the terminal, interact with it, and select any of the available blueprint options. Just don’t pick the Haz-Mat Gauntlet since that unlocks from the next Milestone anyway. Though you should have enough Nanite Clusters — which is typically used as the upgrade currency in No Man’s Sky — to purchase several different items.
Now before we start the next Milestone, “Albumen Spawn,” I highly recommend crafting some Creature Pellets in your inventory. This is pet food used to befriend animals — which is how we’re going to “adopt companions” for the Milestone after this one: “Companionship.” However, during Expedition 9: Utopia, you cannot craft anything outside of bases. That includes pellets. Having these on hand now will let you interact with an animal, feed it, and adopt it while you hunt for Humming Sacs.
That’s right. We’re looking for those sacs I mentioned earlier. If you already found them while hunting for Copper, congratulations! If not, you can find them the same way we found that particular mineral. The only difference is the icon.
The Humming Sac marker is a sort of… egg-y… brain-y thing that looks like the facehugger pods from Alien. That’s more or less what the sacs themselves look like, too, but they’re not dangerous. In fact, you need to interact with them to open them and collect the Albumen Pearl which is found inside. You can see them for yourself in the screenshot immediately above.
Five might seem like a lot to collect. However, No Man’s Sky Humming Sacs are often found in clusters of three or more. So, make sure to look around carefully to see if there are several in one spot. You should also look down when scanning for them with the Analysis Visor, as they tend to be found inside of cave systems. Finally, make sure you grab those pearls! That’s what actually triggers the completion this Milestone; not just opening the sacs.
While you’re out and about, make sure to take those Creature Pellets from earlier to the first animal you find. Fauna is always marked by red dots (if you haven’t scanned them yet) or green pawprints (if you have scanned them) icon in your Analysis Visor, for the record. Then interact with them once to “Offer Food” and interact a second time to choose the option “Adopt as Companion.” That will complete the second-to-last Milestone of this phase!
Now, to complete the phase, we just need to climb a volcano! Easy, right?
Actually, it kind of is. There are volcanos all over the planet at this stage of the Expedition. You just need to walk and jetpack your way up the side. The tricky bit is surviving the process of landing inside the volcano caldera itself. You’re going to take massive heat damage very quickly, so you need to be ready to jetpack your way back out as quickly as possible. Luckily, it only takes a split-second to unlock the Milestone “Caldera.”
Note: if you do die, you can still retrieve your resources off your corpse. Though some of your technology will be damaged and need repairs. Not to mention you’ll have to fly back into the volcano crater and interact with your corpse to get your stuff. It’s not easy, so just be very gentle and boost out of the crater as quickly as possible the first time. Though I probably don’t need to warn you to not die inside a volcano…
And that will do it for Phase 2! The game should immediately put you into the first Milestone of Phase 3: “Outpost Gamma.”
Reward: Holographic Friend plans
Phase 3 – No Man’s Sky: Utopia Expedition
This Milestone should be familiar to you by now. Just hop in your starship and fly to the next objective marker. If you run out of Pulse Engine fuel, you can fill it back up with Tritium, which is the most common resource harvested from asteroids. Outpost Gamma will be another huge tower with a computer terminal at the center for you to log in to.
That’s it for that Milestone! You’ll get another Utopia Supply Drop to open in your Exosuit inventory. This will generate the “Settlement Coordinates Gamma” item which you can use to create another new quest marker. This, too, is just like what you did in Phase 2. Land at the mission icon and pull out your Analysis Visor to scan for the objective location. Then get close enough and “lock it in” by holding the visor open in the location to which it directs you.
The downside this time is that this is a planet with high Sentinel activity. Meaning you’ll need to build your base while fighting and getting shot by deadly robot drones. For now, you can hide from them whenever you need to by digging a hole in the ground with the Terrain Manipulator and resting there. The Sentinels will eventually call off their search and you can get back to work!
You can also use the Cloaking Device you receive from finding your next base spot and completing the Milestone “Assignment Gamma” to hide in plain sight.
Speaking of which, the step after that is “Settlement Gamma.” Maybe you’re noticing the pattern by now… It’s time to build another Base Computer and construct another little home sweet home. That might also mean finding more Copper, just as you did before, if you don’t have the necessary Chromatic Metal.
Another thing that can help keep the Sentinels off your back is building a simple base. Coincidentally, that’s what you need to do next anyway, so slap one up quickly using timber walls and roof panels. Then you can just hide inside any time the heat of weapons fire becomes too much too handle. Just, y’know, be sure to build a door. Maybe some lights, too.
Once you’ve built enough base parts and uploaded the location via the Base Computer, you’re done with this Milestone! Time for “Advanced Mechanics.”
Yet again, this is a repeat from the last phase. You just need to plop down a Portable Exocraft Research Station. That’s it! That’s the whole objective. Congratulations on getting it done, I suppose.
As you might be able to guess from the rewards and the next Milestones, we’re headed underwater next. This process can be made easier by building a Nautilon Chamber (basically a Geobay for your submarine) once we get there. However, that requires both Salt and Crystal Sulphide. Salt can be found in several ways, including underwater, but Crystal Sulphide is an underwater-only crafting material, so we’re going to need to do some swimming either way. Building a Nautilon is entirely optional.
You’re probably better off just hopping into your starship and flying to a beach. Then just start paddling until you run into some fish. Their locations are random (they like to swim around) but it shouldn’t be too terribly difficult to find three different aquatic creatures to scan and complete “Fauna Marine.” The same goes for “Flora Magenta,” which just requires you to scan eight underwater plants.
The only mildly tricky Milestone here is to harvest three “Living Pearls.” This is nearly identical to when we harvested Albumen Pearls in Phase 2, however. The only difference is that we’re hunting for Armoured Clams (which are marked by diamond-shaped icons with clams in the middle). Approach the clams, shoot them once with your mining laser to open them, and grab the pearls inside. Easy!
On the bright side, Sentinels don’t truck with water. They’ll leave you alone as long as you’re submerged and/or far enough out from the shore. You can also use your jetpack underwater to boost around. Though it will drain your Life Support more quickly than usual.
Now we just need two more materials that can only be found on land this time: Star Bulbs and Impulse Beans. Thankfully, neither is hard to find. You can locate them with the Analysis Visor just like Armoured Clams, Humming Sacs, and Copper deposits. There is, once again, a decent deal of luck involved. But you should just be able to pick a direction and walk or drive while searching around.
I say “walk” and not “fly” for two reasons. One is that Sentinel starships are relentless and there’s no great way to shake them off at this stage of your Expedition. Terrestrial ones can still be dodged by hiding underground, in your base, or while running away with the Cloaking Device.
The second reason is that pesky crafting restriction. You can easily strand yourself in the middle of nowhere if you forget to bring Starship Launch Fuel! If you decide to fly your ship somewhere to hunt for the vegetables, and it runs out of launch fuel, you won’t be able to craft more without constructing an entirely new base. At best that means 200 Chromatic Metal down the drain; at worst it means you’ll need to go hunting for Copper while under attack by Sentinels. It’s easier to use an Exocraft or just walk close to your base.
You’ll need to be near a base to build a Nutrient Processor anyway. This is where you can dump those Star Bulbs and Impulse Beans to make Bitterwseet Coacoa and Pilgrim’s Tonic. Though you’ll first need to convert your Star Bulb supply into a Pilgrimberry supply. Then you can put the berries back into the processor to make the Tonic — similar to how Ferrite Dust becomes Pure Ferrite which becomes Magnetised Ferrite.
That’s it for the “Local Delicacies” Milestone and all of Phase 3! On to the next one (and a very familiar set of opening objectives).
Reward: Fearsome Visor customisation
Phase 4 – No Man’s Sky: Utopia Expedition
The “Outpost Delta” Milestone works just like Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Fly to the next planet’s outpost and collect your goodies from the friendly computer. It might look a little different for you this time (it was a talking Galactic Trade Terminal for me) but the basics are identical. You’ll collect another set of planetary coordinates from another supply drop.
Similarly, “Assignment Delta” and “Settlement Delta” are exactly the same as their previous three counterparts. Fly to where the objective marker tells you to go, follow the Analysis Visor’s instructions, and build a Base Computer (with a little house to flesh it out your new home). Don’t forget to upload it, either.
Surprise, surprise. It’s now time to build another Utopia station! This time it’s the Utopia Multi-Tool Station — which requires 40 Chromatic Metal and 25 Silicate Powder. Gathering these resources, building this base part, and interacting with the terminal will instantly finish the Milestone called “Omni-Tool.” You don’t actually even need to buy any of the upgrades the station offers.
Generously, Chromatic Metal can be found inside many of the local rocks. No Copper collecting or refining required! Silicate Powder is even easier to get. In fact, unless you deleted it, you should already have more than enough. This is the resource you receive any time you use the Terrain Manipulator on basic soil; such as the excess dirt you harvest when collecting Copper. If you somehow don’t have enough, just turn on the manipulator and point… basically anywhere. Well, maybe not directly into the sky.
The next Milestone, “An Acquired Taste,” is a three-parter. You need Cactus Flesh, Larval Cores, and Flesh Ropes. The first two can be found the same way you locate most unique resources in the game, like the Armoured Clams. Just turn on your Analysis Visor and look for the right icon.
Cactus Flesh can be harvested from any Echinocactus, which has a wheat-like icon just like the previous vegetables. Despite what the objectives says in your log, however, you have to walk up and interact with the cacti directly. You cannot mine them. Whispering Eggs, on the other hand, do need to be mined. This will release a Larval Core to fall and roll out for you to pick up. However, it will also summon a swarm of deadly alien scorpions that you should probably either kill or run away from quickly.
For both these steps and the Hungering Tendrils, I highly recommend constructing another Geobay. A Pilgrim or Nomad Exocraft will make scaling the many mountains of this barren planet so much more tolerable.
Speaking of which, you can kill two birds with one stone by looking to the next two Milestones: “The Cleanse” and “Parasites.” Selecting the former objective will cause you to receive a new message the next time you enter your starship — directing you to a destroyed base site full of Whispering Eggs to harvest for their Larval Cores. The latter objective will, instead, activate the Target Sweep Mode of your visor — directing you to Hungering Tendrils at giant worm burrows. Destroying these will extract the Flesh Ropes while also completing what is technically the last Milestone of Phase 4.
However, this is my suggested order of operations here:
- Collect “The Cleanse” coordinates from your starship by selecting the Milestone
- Fully fuel your ship’s launch thrusters and/or craft some Starship Launch Fuel
- Go to the coordinates
- Destroy three Whispering Eggs and harvest the Larval Cores that fall out
- Fend off the monsters that appear
- Enter the rundown building and interact with the terminal to gain a future objective
- Check the area for Echinoacactus to harvest if there’s one nearby
- Return to base
- Use Target Sweep Mode (and an Exocraft if you so choose) to find Hungering Tendrils
- Watch for more cacti (if you didn’t already find one)
- Destroy the worm burrows and the enemies that appear to harvest Flesh Ropes
- Return to base once you have all three materials
I highly recommend you use the Pulse Spitter weapon you received from “Outpost Gamma” rewards in Phase 3 when fighting the monstrosities and giant worms. It’s one of the most effective weapons in No Man’s Sky and will make quick work of the bugs.
Meanwhile, if you’re still having trouble finding cacti, driving around in a Nomad will help you find hard-to-reach places without expending Starship Launch fuel. I personally found them growing out of a cliff almost entirely horizontally. I was only able to reach them because the Exocraft carried me up and “stuck” to the wall enough to let me land there.
Next, build another Nutrient Processor to finish “An Acquired Taste.” You need to refine the Cactus Flesh you gather into Cactus Nectar and then refine the nectar into Processed Sugar. In the same way, you need to turn Flesh Ropes into Gelatinous Membrane by placing them in the processor by themselves. Then combine the Gelatinous Membrane with Larval Cores to create Nightmare Sausages.
With all that done, place the Processed Sugar and Nightmare Sausages into the processor at the same time to finally craft Syrupy Viscera. This will complete the Milestone “An Acquired Taste.”
On a side note: this is all going to start taking up a lot of inventory space very quickly. You can click the “Access Ingredient Storage” button at the bottom of the Nutrient Processor menu to pull up a special inventory window that holds all of your food ingredients for you. I recommend doing exactly that and cleaning up your Exosuit once you have the Syrupy Viscera you need. That said, you should still hold on to things like Chromatic Metal and Carbon, which can go into the ingredient storage, but you’ll probably need for something more important later.
If you previously accessed the logs at the infested outpost, you’re now ready to leave this barren and worm-riddled world once and for all. Let’s jump in a starship and head to the local space station to complete “The Cleanse.” Not to mention the rest of Phase 4!
If you have the objective selected, the usual Space Station icon will be replaced with an “egg” marker labeled “Secondary Signal Echo.” But the usual rules apply. Just fly up to the mouth of the station entrance and you’ll land inside automatically. Just like in the screenshot above.
Once you’re in, interact with the specially marked terminal; it’s basically the only thing in the place. Then purchase the records that pop up in the “Buy” window to unveil a bit more of the story of Expedition 9: Utopia. This also completes Phase 4. Time for the last steps!
Reward: Robo-Warden Companion Egg
Phase 5 – No Man’s Sky: Utopia Expedition
One more planet means one more outpost, one more set of coordinates, and one more quick base to build. Let’s do the same thing we did in Phases 1-4 to complete “Outpost Epsilon,” “Assignment Epsilon” and “Settlement Epsilon.” We’re so close to the end now…
The last new terminal you need to construct — the Utopia Ship Station — is a little bit odd in that it requires Tritium. That’s a resource mostly acquired from asteroids in space (as mentioned earlier in this guide). Thus, there’s a pretty good chance you already harvested some a while back when refueling your Pulse Engine. If you’re out, though, just jump out of the atmosphere real quick to go get some. Twenty-five units of Tritium shouldn’t take more than a few seconds to farm.
Just like before, you don’t actually need to buy an upgrade, too. You just need to activate the station and look at its wares. However, you’re going to need to purchase the Hyperdrive blueprints for a later Milestone, so you might as well do that now. It only costs one Nanite Cluster during this Expedition anyway.
The next Milestone, “Eyes in the Mist,” isn’t that much more difficult. You just need to scan some animals on this particular planet: six in total. Remember that unscanned fauna show up as red dots when your Analysis Visor is up. There should be plenty of specimens on this particular world, too, between birds and beasts. So, check the sky for some airborne creatures as well. You do not need to check caves or bodies of water this time. Everything should be out in the open.
The “Seismology” Milestone that comes next might confuse some newer players. However, veterans will likely already know exactly what to do. We just need to install a Survey Device upgrade on the Multi-Tool. This requires two Wiring Looms, three Magnetic Resonators, and a Quantum Computer.
The latter two items can already be crafted in your inventory at this point. Though they will require some intermediate materials: Antimatter, Magnetised Ferrite, Ionised Cobalt, a Microprocessor, and Chromatic Metal. We’ve already seen several of these during our run through Expedition 9: Utopia so far. To reiterate, though, Magnetised Ferrite is refined from Pure Ferrite, which is refined from Ferrite Dust. Chromatic Metal is then refined from Copper.
Antimatter, on the other hand, is made from Chromatic Metal and Condensed Carbon (which is the refined form of, well, Carbon). And the Microprocessor needs a Carbon Nanotube: which can also be crafted from just plain, old Carbon. Lastly, Ionised Cobalt is the refined form of Cobalt, which as previously stated can be found in stalactites and stalagmites inside of caves.
It’s also possible you found some of these items just through normal play. I, personally, had already found most of the crafted items I needed by looting Sentinels. Make sure to check before you go wasting time and resources on crafting!
Speaking of things you should already have: let’s talk Wiring Looms. These cannot be crafted in No Man’s Sky. However, you should have already received a whole bunch of them back in Phase 4. If you used, sold, or otherwise discarded all of these, though, you can get another by flying back up to the Space Station. Then just interact with the same terminal that gave you the Utopia records during “The Cleanse.” It should work as a normal Galactic Trade Terminal now — one that sells Wiring Looms.
Anyway, with all of that crafted, you should finally be able to install your Survey Device upgrade to the Multi-Tool. Note that you can delete any of the upgrades already taking up slots on the tool by hovering over them and using the “Dismantle” command, too. Just in case all your upgrade slots are full!
This will finally reveal a set of new modes for your Analysis Visor (similar to the Target Sweep Mode). Just pull up the visor and swap all the way to the right-most option on your list of available modes. That’s “Gas Survey Mode.” Which you can tell because that’s what it says on the screen. It works pretty much exactly the same as Target Sweep Mode, too. The lines and distance numbers on the screen will guide you to the gas hotspot you need for “Seismology.”
You don’t even need to do anything with the hotspot, either. Just stand close enough, pull up the visor in Gas Survey mode, and hold it open until it finishes analyzing. That will trigger the completion of the Milestone! That also means we just have one more step to go. It’s time to leave this solar system.
The time has also come to build that Hyperdrive we bought the blueprints for earlier. Just click on any free Technology slot on your starship and select “Hyperdrive. This will let us craft it like we just made the Survey Device on the Multi-Tool.
We need 125 Chromatic Metal and five Microprocessors (which also require Chromatic Metal). So, there’s a good chance you’ll need to find another Copper deposit and soak it up with your Terrain Manipulator. In fact, you’ll need even more Chromatic Metal to make the Antimatter necessary to fuel the drive. Make sure to grab a bunch now if you don’t already have a stockpile!
With the Hyperdrive in place, you can craft a Warp Cell in your inventory. This will require Antimatter Housing, first, which is also a crafted item made from simple Oxygen and Ferrite Dust. Slap it together with some Antimatter to make the cell, pop the new fuel into the Hyperdrive, and head for the stars.
Once you’re there, you can pull up the Galaxy Map tab from the Quick Menu (“X” on the keyboard) or directly jump there via the map shortcut (“M” on the keyboard). Then just select any star within range and choose “Warp.” The specific destination doesn’t matter.
That’s all there is to it! You’re now finished with No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia. Make sure to collect your rewards accordingly (on both this save file and whatever your main one is).
Rewards: Title: ‘Utopia Dignitary’; Utopia Expedition Decal plans; Utopia Expedition Banner customisation
Final Phase – No Man’s Sky: Utopia Expedition
The “final phase” of this NMS Expedition isn’t really a phase at all. It’s just a place on the Expedition menu for you to track all of your big rewards. Each of the six badges represents the final, account-wide goodies you now have unlocked for this save file — as well as all past and future files. You can always re-collect them on the Space Anomaly by speaking to the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion.
The sixth and largest badge on this screen, simply labeled “Utopia,” is the most important. It’s what gives you access to the Utopia Speeder starship reward. This is a special sort of ship that’s new to No Man’s Sky — allowing players to skim along planetary atmospheres at greater speeds than normal.
If you read the badge, it will warn you that you cannot access this reward by default on your Expedition 9: Utopia save file because you have insufficient inventory space. Don’t fret, though. All you need to do is land at the nearest Space Station first. Then go to the Expedition window and try to claim the speeder. It should work perfectly this time — allowing you to first “Compare” and then either “Claim Ship (Free)” or “Exchange” it to start using the ship immediately.
The Utopia Speeder is a tremendously well-fitted S-Class starship, so it’s well worth using in place of what you had for the rest of the Expedition. It’ll also go great in any player’s fleet on their main save!
Thanks for taking the time to read our guide to No Man’s Sky Expedition 9: Utopia. We hope it helped you make the whole process a lot easier! Be sure to check back again in the future for another Expedition guide and all the goodies you can get going forward.
