I can’t tell you how many times I gave up on a distant gold deposit early on in my No Man’s Sky runs because I didn’t have a way to get there before my hazard protection ran out. Trudging across miles of radioactive, storm-blasted terrain on foot is not just slow—it’s a huge waste of resources that you could be spending on base upgrades or new ships. That’s exactly why figuring out how to get vehicles in No Man's Sky is one of the first quality-of-life upgrades you should prioritize when starting a new save. Exocraft, as they’re called in-game, let you ignore most planetary hazards, haul far more loot, and cross even the most rugged terrain in a fraction of the time it takes on foot, no endgame gear required.
How to Get Vehicles in No Man’s Sky: Unlock Your First Exocraft
Your first exocraft, the Roamer rover, is surprisingly easy to unlock, even if you’re only a few hours into a new save. You don’t need to beat any tough story missions or farm rare resources to get it, either. First, progress the main “Awakening” quest until you unlock the ability to build a permanent base on a planet of your choice. This takes most new players 1 to 2 hours, so don’t rush through the early tutorial steps just to get to this part.
Once you have a basic base down and have visited the Space Anomaly for the first time, head to the Construction Research Unit inside the Anomaly to spend Construction Research Modules on the Exocraft Terminal blueprint. You can earn these modules by completing base building milestones, or by scanning broken technology on planetary surfaces. Build the Exocraft Terminal at your base, then visit any space station to hire a Vy’keen Technician to staff it. The technician will give you a short chain of simple quests that end with the Roamer blueprint and all the instructions you need to build your first vehicle.
Unlock Advanced Exocraft for Specialized Exploration
The Roamer is a great all-purpose starter vehicle, but you’ll quickly want to unlock more specialized exocraft as you expand your exploration. Each exocraft is built for a specific use case, so you don’t need to unlock all of them right away—pick the ones that fit your playstyle first. For example, if you spend most of your time hunting for rare resources in extreme biomes, you’ll want to prioritize the Minotaur over the speed-focused Pilgrim.
The Minotaur Exomech is one of the most popular advanced exocrafts for a good reason: it’s the only ground vehicle that has built-in immunity to all planetary hazards, including extreme storms, toxic atmospheres, and radioactive surfaces. You don’t even need to equip extra upgrades to explore the harshest planets in the galaxy in one. For players who love underwater exploration, the Nautilon submersible lets you dive to the deepest ocean floors without worrying about oxygen or pressure damage, and you can find hidden underwater ruins and resource deposits you’d never spot from the surface.
If you’re not sure which advanced exocraft to unlock first, here’s a quick ranking by how much effort they take to get early on:
- Pilgrim: Fast, lightweight bike ideal for long-distance cross-country travel, unlocked after completing 3 side quests for your Vy’keen Technician
- Nautilon: Submersible for deep ocean exploration, unlocked by scanning the terminal inside any random underwater base ruin
- Minotaur Exomech: Combat-capable mech with full hazard immunity, unlocked via the Construction Research Unit for 10 Construction Research Modules
- Colossus: Heavy hauling truck with 6 extra inventory slots, perfect for long resource farming runs, unlocked after upgrading your Exocraft Terminal twice
Summon Your Vehicles Anywhere Without a Base
A lot of new players make the mistake of thinking they can only use their exocraft if they’re close to the base where they built the Exocraft Terminal. That’s not true at all, and you’re wasting a ton of time if you’re flying back to your main base every time you want to use a vehicle on a new planet. Once you unlock the Exocraft Summoning Station blueprint from the Construction Research Unit, you can build a temporary station anywhere on a planet’s surface to summon any exocraft you’ve already unlocked, no permanent base required.
Even better, you can later unlock the Personal Exocraft Summoner upgrade for your exosuit, which lets you summon any exocraft directly to your location without building a station or spending any resources. I used to carry around an extra stack of Ferrite Dust just to build summoning stations every time I landed on a new planet, but once I unlocked the personal summoner, that freed up a whole inventory slot for extra resources. Just note that you can’t summon exocraft on space stations or inside the Space Anomaly, but you can summon them right next to your ship as soon as you land on any planetary surface.
Must-Have Upgrades to Make Your Vehicles Even More Useful
Even the basic Roamer becomes way more useful with a few cheap upgrades, and you don’t need to spend hundreds of Nanites to get the most out of your exocraft. The first upgrade you should buy for any vehicle is Hazard Protection Upgrades that match the biomes you explore most often. Even vehicles like the Roamer that have basic hazard resistance will take damage during extreme superstorms, and these upgrades will stop that damage completely so you don’t have to stop mid-trip to repair your vehicle.
Next, grab the Exocraft Scanner Upgrade, which lets you spot nearby resources, ruins, and points of interest from much further away than your default exosuit scanner. It’s perfect for planning resource farming runs, because you can spot a distant deposit of Activated Indium from miles away and drive straight to it without wandering aimlessly. Inventory expansion upgrades are also worth picking up, especially for the Colossus hauler—each expansion adds an extra slot for resources, so you can carry twice as much loot per farming run. Don’t waste your Nanites on speed upgrades for the Roamer if you plan to unlock the Pilgrim later, though. The Pilgrim is already twice as fast as a fully upgraded Roamer, so save your Nanites for utility upgrades instead.
At the end of the day, learning how to get vehicles in No Man's Sky is less about following a strict quest line and more about figuring out what kind of exploration you enjoy most. If you love digging for rare resources to build huge bases, the Colossus hauler should be your first advanced unlock. If you prefer to zip across planets to find new ruins and alien settlements, the Pilgrim bike is perfect for you. Take it one step at a time, and you’ll never have to drag yourself across a toxic desert low on life support ever again.
