How to get a freighter
The freighters in No Man’s Sky are wonderful acquisitions. These gigantic ships are like a home base, storage container, agricultural machine and greenhouse, all in one – and more! Freighters are primarily designed as a place to store extra items, but they have many other functions as well, and they should be high on a player’s priority list in No Man’s Sky.
Freighters aren’t cheap, however, costing millions of units at a minimum and more than nearly 200 million units at a maximum. However, there is a way to get a freighter for free. Whether you’re rich and looking for a top freighter, or just good enough for now, we’ve got you covered.
What are cargo ships used for?
Before sinking millions of units in a freighter, it is better to know what they are used for. Here is a brief overview of some of the uses of a freighter:
- Ship storage
- Item storage
- Build a base
- Agriculture
- Frigate Expeditions
- Summon Exocraft
Freighters are above all a place where store extra items. Each provides a large number of storage slots, up to nine additional storage pages on top of the initial free page. Freighters are equipped with the first page, and additional pages can be added by building storage rooms.
Speaking of chamber construction, it is important to note that bases can be built on freighters. Not all structures that can be used for a standard base can be used, but freighters have their own building elements. Hallways, large rooms, and ramps can all be used to create a massive multi-story floating base. Terminals, teleporters, farming equipment, decorative pieces and more can all be built in the freighter’s base.
Interestingly, there are two special freight rooms that players must build: the fleet command rooms and the orbital exocraft materializer.
- The Exocraft Materializer has a simple but very useful function: it allows the player to summon an exocraft on any planet as long as their freighter is in the same system.
- the Fleet Command Rooms are less simple but arguably the most useful part of a freighter. Building a fleet command room allows the player to send frigates on expedition of different natures. Frigates will return after certain periods with a ton of items, units, and more.
Another use for a freighter is spaceship storage. Each freighter comes equipped with a handful of “parking spots” for starships, allowing the player to collect more than one and have a place to keep them.
How to buy a freighter
Buying a freighter is very simple, but it can be very expensive. If a player is in the market to buy a freighter, it’s simple: simply fly to a floating in space and climb aboard, then talk to the captain. The captain will show the price and allow the player to compare with his current freighter if he has one. From there, it’s as easy as clicking buy and handing over the money. This freighter is now under player ownership and command.
Only one freighter can be owned by the player at a time. This means that an existing freighter will disappear when a new one is purchased. However, all built storages, frigates and bases will be transferred automatically. Sadly, upgrades or installed technologies will not be transferred.
Buying a freighter is easier than finding one, unfortunately. Finding them isn’t terribly difficult, but sometimes it may be necessary to go through several systems before one appears (or before a half-decent system does). Any freighter available for purchase will have the freighter icon on it, as shown in the image above. Those that cannot be purchased will not have the icon.
How to get free freighter
Too few units to buy a freighter? Never fear, there is a way to get one for free. Here’s how, at a glance:
1. Skip systems until a distress call comes in regarding an under attack freighter
As a rule, a cargo battle against pirates will be after five jumps (but not too quickly in a row). Jump systems as part of the Atlas Path questline can often trigger this as well.
2. Defeat the pirates attacking the freighter
This part is quite simple. Attack the pirates with any weapon until they are all defeated.
3. Board the freighter and talk to the captain
The captain will call the player’s intercom and ask them to come aboard so they can offer their thanks. Simply fly to the blue docking light and land, then head up the stairs and onto the deck where the captain is waiting.
4. Accept or refuse cargo
From there, the freighter can be accepted as a thank you. However, the player must consider refusing the first one they findand there is an important reason for this which the game does not mention.
The second free cargo given to the player will always be better than the first.
The first free freighter will have a maximum of 19 storage slots and will be a standard class freighter. By declining it and requesting payment instead (or simply leaving without payment), the player can repeat this process until they trigger a second battle and are offered a second freighter. This will then be a capital freighter with at least 24 storage slots.
That’s it! Whether purchased or earned to protect the cargo ship from pirates, the player will now have a huge ship that they can use for a wide variety of purposes.
No Man’s Sky is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X.
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