If you’ve spent hours wandering No Man’s Sky’s endless procedurally generated planets wondering how to get the staff in No Man's Sky, you’re not alone. This multi-functional tool is one of the most underrated mid-game unlocks, offering perks that cut down on grind time, boost your building capabilities, and even let you fend off Sentinels without wasting your multi-tool ammo. I first stumbled on the staff quest line by accident while hunting for ancient artifact sites to trade for nanites, and it changed my entire playthrough for the better. This guide breaks down every step you need to follow, no cheats or mods required, to get your hands on this game-changing item.
How to Get the Staff in No Man’s Sky: Pre-Requisite Steps First
You don’t need to beat the main story or sink 100 hours into the game to unlock the staff, but you do need to check a few small boxes first. The only non-negotiable requirement is having a basic base built with a construction terminal and access to the Anomaly space station. If you skipped the early base building tutorial to explore first, take 20 minutes to complete that first; it’s the only way to unlock the quest trigger for the staff.
You should also stock up on at least 100 chromatic metal and 50 condensed carbon before you start searching for the quest. You’ll need these materials for small repairs and purchases along the way, and having them on hand will save you from making unplanned trips back to space stations mid-quest. I also recommend adding a scanning upgrade to your multi-tool first, since you’ll be hunting for specific points of interest on planets later. This is the exact chain you need to follow when learning how to get the staff in No Man's Sky, so don't ignore the prompt when it pops up.
Triggering the Staff Quest Line Through Ancient Ruins
Once you have the pre-requisites sorted, you’ll need to head to a planet with ancient ruin sites to trigger the quest. You can find these planets by checking the system description when you warp into a new system; look for notes about "ancient civilization remains" in the planet details. If you don’t want to hunt for them randomly, you can buy exact coordinates for ancient ruins from cartographers at any space station for 5 nanites each.
When you arrive at the ruin, you’ll find a large stone altar in the center of the structure. Interact with it, and you’ll get a prompt to offer a relic of the local civilization. You can get these relics from digging up burial sites marked on your scanner, or buying them from traders at trading posts on the same planet. Once you offer the relic, the altar will give you a new quest called "The Staff of the Traveler". Don’t leave the planet before accepting the quest, because the altar will reset if you warp to another system, and you’ll have to start over.
Completing the Quest Objectives to Craft Your Staff
Once you accept the quest, it will walk you through collecting three rare materials to assemble your staff. You can collect these in any order, but make sure you don’t farm them before triggering the quest, because they won’t count towards the objectives otherwise. I made that mistake on my first playthrough, and it wasted two hours of farming time I’ll never get back. The required materials are:
- 200 activated indium: You can find this on radioactive planets, usually in large deposits near storm centers. You don’t need to worry about storms if you have a level 2 radiation hazard protection upgrade.
- 150 living glass: You can craft this at your base using glass and frost crystals, or buy it from rare traders at the Anomaly if you don’t want to farm the materials yourself.
- 1 sentient core: You get these from defeating sentinel walkers, the big four-legged sentinels that spawn when you have a 5-star wanted level. Just make sure you have a strong plasma cannon upgrade for your multi-tool before you take one on.
Once you have all three materials, head back to the ancient altar where you started the quest. Interact with it again, and it will let you assemble the staff right there. You’ll get to choose the element type of your staff when you assemble it, so pick one that matches the most common hazards in the systems you usually explore. That will give you an extra 20% buff to your hazard protection when you hold the staff, which comes in handy during long exploration runs.
Best Perks and Uses for Your New Staff
Once you know how to get the staff in No Man's Sky, you'll wonder how you ever played without it. The biggest perk by far is that it lets you place build items anywhere on a planet without needing to claim a base first. That’s perfect for players who like to set up temporary outposts near rare resource deposits, or build small shelters during storms without going through the whole base claim process. I use mine all the time to set up small storage containers near activated indium farms, so I don’t have to fly back to my ship every time my inventory fills up.
Another great perk is that it acts as a portable teleporter. You can warp back to your primary base from anywhere on a planet, no need to build a teleporter or fly back to your ship. That saves so much time when you’re farming resources far from your landing spot, especially on large planets with rough terrain. The staff also works as a weapon: it fires slow, high-damage projectiles that take down sentinel walkers in one or two hits. The only downside is that it has a very slow reload time, so it’s not ideal for fighting lots of small enemies like pirate raiders at once.
Figuring out how to get the staff in No Man's Sky isn't nearly as complicated as many players make it out to be, and the perks you get from it are more than worth the few hours of questing required to unlock it. You don’t need to be a late-game player with maxed out gear to get it, either – even new players who have just finished the tutorial can unlock it if they follow the steps above. If you’ve been looking for a way to cut down on your grind time and make exploring more fun, this is one unlock you don’t want to skip.
