No Man’s Sky is not an easy game. If you have the right experience with it, though, it can be a really fun playthrough. Most of the time, however, the game is a challenging experience. No Man’s Sky mixes ideas from the Animal Crossing genre with science fiction – Disney Dreamlight Valley meets Cyberpunk 2077, if you will.
You travel around the galaxy in the game visiting randomly generated planets while hunting for loot and funds to upgrade your ship and other items. If you really want to challenge yourself while playing No Man’s Sky, the following achievements are some of the toughest you can unlock in the game.
7/7 The star animal
-
Now “Archived” status in Planet Zoology Scanned
You must scan all the fauna on seven different planets to unlock this achievement. Players should be on the lookout for abnormal planets, which only have one animal on them and can be used to unlock this achievement more easily.
Some useful strategies make unlocking this challenge much easier. One is to be on the lookout for red dots appearing on the scanner screen that indicate you haven’t logged that fauna yet. Another is prepared to wait for planets for a while because species sometimes require time to spawn.
6/7 Stranger In A Strange Land
-
Reach “Robust” status in Extreme Survival
Unless you want to make this challenge as hard as possible, the best way to unlock it is to land on an extreme planet and create a safe place to wait until this achievement is completed. Robust status is awarded after spending 20 days on an extreme planet.
Time does not pass if you are looking at the menu or have the game running in the background, with the exception that this does not apply to your inventory. Because this achievement takes a lot of time to unlock, shortcuts are welcome. One such hack is to sit inside a ground-based Exocraft, and charge up shields as needed. However, this does not work for the Minotaur.
5/7 Galapagos
-
Find and scan all the fauna on ten planets.
The fastest (and most painless) way to unlock this achievement is to find a planet with only one species, which is the case with exotic planets. To determine if a planet is exotic, look for an ENVIRONMENTAL WARNING displayed on the ship’s monitor. If a planet is described as damaged, this is a good indicator that it is exotic. These planets most often exist in large or unknown star systems, as well as those with black holes.
Remember to check caves if you can’t locate all the animals, as well as in the air. This achievement often takes several hours and will require the players to search extensively for each of the necessary animals. Remember that some fauna spawn at certain times of the day
4/7 The Sentinel
-
Reach “Eternal” status in Extreme Survival mode.
You must complete 32 days on an extreme planet to receive this achievement. Before you start, make sure the planet has extreme weather. The best strategy is then to start at a trading post or claim a base. Build a structure and wait in it for 32 planetary cycles. You can also follow the Exocraft hack from Stranger in a Strange Land.
Given that daily cycles can last from 15 to 30 minutes, players can expect to wait from eight to 16 hours in real time. As a result, while the achievement isn’t particularly difficult skill-wise to unlock, this is a challenge because it’s so time-consuming. Fortunately, you can leave the planet and the counter will not reset. However, dying will reset the counter.
3/7 To live forever
-
Reach the Galaxy’s Center while in Permadeath mode.
No matter how good you are at the game, To Live Forever is one of the hardest achievements to unlock in the game. Permadeath mode is a challenging game setting that combines survival mode with the knowledge that all progress will be erased if you die.
If you can find someone else who is a jump away from the center and also on Permadeath mode, it can make this achievement much easier. You can also use Interstellar Terminus to find a player if you can’t find a friend to do this with. You can easily expect to spend 30 hours or more on this task. If you go this route, remember some important tips, like getting a Minotaur and saving as often as possible.
2/7 Space Odyssey
-
Reach the “Discoverer” status in Space Exploration
You must warp 75 times in No Man’s Sky to unlock this achievement. Warping in this context means having a ship equipped with a Warp Drive and enough Warp Cells to charge it up. This is before you can even warp to another star system.
While you might consider using Portal Gates to get closer, this will not count towards the achievement. You can often unlock this achievement just by playing through the game’s missions, but be prepared for some time.
1/7 Breathe in deeply
-
Reach Galaxy’s Center in survival mode
Doing this achievement also unlocks the quest, To Live Forever, if you haven’t yet received it. The most challenging part of this task is that you need a ton of Warp Cells. Fortunately, Hyperdrive modules can help you extend your jumps and the time you need to charge your drive. If you complete the Atlas or Artemis questline first, you’ll be able to quickly find black holes on the map, which can help with this achievement.
While some players have reported that Take a Deep Breath can be unlocked in 15 hours, depending on how much you need to gather resources for Warp Cells, you may need much more than that. One of the fastest ways to achieve this achievement is to use the Nexus Portal to find a base closer to the center of the galaxy, then jump from there.
