No Man's Sky: Send Frigates on Expeditions

AntMag.NET

Alright, so you've got your freighter and maybe even a couple of frigates tagging along. Awesome! Now, let's talk about how to actually put them to work and get some sweet rewards. It all starts with a special room on your freighter.

First things first: Build a Fleet Command Room. This is super important because it's the only way you can send your frigates out on expeditions. You'll find the blueprint for it in your freighter's construction menu. To build one, you'll need 120 Silver, 40 Gold, and 10 Tritium. Honestly, you usually start with enough of these materials when you get your first freighter, so don't stress too much about gathering them. If you're short, you can always deconstruct some other stuff you've built on your freighter to get them back.

Here's the catch: you need one Fleet Command Room for each expedition you want to run at the same time. So, if you want to send out five expeditions, you'll need five command rooms. You can't start any expeditions without these rooms, as they're basically the control centers that monitor your frigates while they're out exploring.

Once you've got your command room(s) set up, you'll talk to the navigator on your freighter's bridge. They're usually the same species as the system you got your freighter in. Near them, you'll find a 'Manage Fleet' terminal. This is where you can check out your frigates, and yeah, even dismiss them if you need to. Most freighters come with just one frigate, so you'll definitely want to recruit more if you're aiming for a strong fleet that can handle different types of expeditions.

Recruiting More Frigates

So, how do you get more ships for your fleet? The easiest way is to hop into your starship and fly out into space, looking for other freighters. You'll see them surrounded by their own frigates. Some of these frigates will be up for grabs! Keep an eye out for a green icon that says "Recruitable Frigate" when you hover over them. As you get close, you'll get a message from them. Accept it using your Starship Communicator (it's in the quick access menu), and you'll be able to see their stats and how much they cost.

Finding the Best Frigates

Just like with freighters, the best frigates tend to hang out in wealthier systems. When you warp into a new system, you'll often see and hear freighters and their fleets warping in around you. Approach them to check for those green "Recruitable Frigate" icons. When you inspect a frigate, you'll see its class (C, B, A, or S) and its specialism. The main types are:

Combat
Exploration
Industrial
Trade
Support

You can have up to 30 frigates in total, so try to get a good mix of these specialisms. Support frigates can be a bit underwhelming, even at S-class, so you might not need too many of those. Focus on getting a good balance of the other specialists, as they'll have much better stats. These stats are important because they affect your fleet's overall rating and the quality of rewards you get back.

Besides the class and specialism, you'll also see how many expeditions they've completed successfully, how many times they've been damaged, their captain's name, their crew's mood, and some quirky notes. The most crucial thing, though, is their base stats. Don't worry too much if you find a C-class frigate instead of an S-class; all frigates can improve their class by going on expeditions. The higher the base stat for a frigate's specialism, the faster it will improve and the higher its potential stats can become. For example, a C-class Combat frigate with a Combat stat of 20 will improve faster than one with a stat of 9. While a C-class frigate with high base stats might take longer to reach S-class, it'll be way cheaper than an S-class you might find, and it'll likely end up outperforming it anyway!

Pro Tip: Focus on C-class frigates with high base stats in their specialism. They're cheaper and can eventually become stronger than S-class frigates you might buy outright.

Sending Frigates on Expeditions

Got your Fleet Command Room and some frigates? Great! Now you can send them out. Head back to the navigator on your freighter's bridge. You'll see a list of up to five expeditions that refresh daily. Each expedition will show you its type (Combat, Exploration, Industrial, Trade, or Balanced), how long it'll take (usually 1-6 hours), the distance it covers in light-years, and its Difficulty Rating. When you pick an expedition, you'll get another screen where you can assign your frigates. As you assign them, you'll see your Fleet Rating update. Try to match your frigates' specialisms to the expedition type for the best results!