No Man's Sky: Full Trophy Guide & Status Rank Requirements List

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There are no hidden trophies in No Man’s Sky, but the game doesn’t exactly explain how to earn all of its gameplay milestones. Here you’ll find a complete list showing how to earn all eight gold trophies, and why those challenges are the only ones you’ll need to finish for a Platinum reward. Get all the details with the full trophy guide below.

While there are more trophies to earn, there are only eight gameplay ranks you’ll need to earn to complete your 100% journey through the galaxy. Of course, there are no trophies for cool activities like exploring the center of the galaxy. The trophies of No Man’s Sky are, mostly, things you’ll be doing naturally while playing through the procedurally-generated universe. Still, if you’re eager to find out exactly what needs to be done, and get some tips, scroll down to start learning.

Check out even more No Man’s Sky content:

Trophy Guide & Status Requirements List

[UPDATE 8/15: Added new tips for “The Forever War”, “Galapagos”, “The Diamond Age” and “The Sentinel” trophies.]

In No Man’s Sky, trophies are connected to different status ranks. There are a total of 8 different types of status. When ranked up, you’ll gain bronze, silver, and gold trophies related to each status.

For this guide, we’re sticking to the 1.03 patch version of all trophies, and explaining the requirements for each particular gold trophy and it’s accompanying status. If you’re working toward the gold trophies, you’ll earn all the bronze and silver trophies — it’s all the same path.

Note: Remember that No Man’s Sky is completely procedurally-generated. Some trophies might be harder to attain for certain players depending on how the universe expands and what you find as you explore. Keep that in mind!

Galapagos (Gold):

“Attain ‘Encyclopedia’ status in Planet Zoology Scanned”

Unlock Requirement: Upload 60 Planet Zoology discoveries.
To upload a ‘Planet Zoology’ discovery, you must scan all alien lifeforms on a planet and upload the discovery to an Atlas beacon.
These discoveries do not need to be new or unnamed species. Any planet species will count, even if they’ve already been found.
To unlock this trophy, you’ll need to upload 60 planet’s worth of lifeform discoveries to Atlas beacons. There are 8~ (more or less, about) species on each planet. That means you might have to find a total of 480~ species in your search.
HOW TO EASILY EARN THIS TROPHY:
- Go to planets or moons with NO lifeforms or fauna.
- Go to your Discoveries Tab and upload.
- You won’t earn any units, but this will count toward a complete Planet Zoology scan.

A Space Odyssey (Gold):

“Attain ‘Discoverer’ status in Space Exploration”

Unlock Requirement: Use the Hyperdrive 60 times.
The Hyperdrive allows you to jump to a star instantly. You’ll attain the Hyperdrive blueprint after escaping your first planet and following the signal to another planet with intelligent life.
The alien lifeform will provide you with the Hyperdrive blueprint for free. Accept it, then craft it — you’ll need parts too.
The Dynamic Resonator component can be purchased from the Space Station above the planet where you collected the Hyperdrive blueprint.
The last mission waypoint leads you to a free Antimatter source. Use Antimatter and Thamium9 to create a Warp Cell. You’ll need Warp Cells to fuel the Hyperdrive — Thamium9 is often found in small asteroids out in space. Target tiny asteroids with your blasters to mine the resources for a near limitless supply of Thamium9.

The Diamond Age (Gold):

“Attain ‘Magnate’ status in Most Units Accrued”

Unlock Requirement: Collect two million units. That’s 2,000,000 units — this is not cumulative, you’ll need 2,000,000 in your inventory all at the same time.
Use your Analysis Visor to scan every lifeform — that includes every lifeform and plantlife you see. Upload your finds whenever you can for a big unit reward.
Sell purple [rare] trade items to NPC vendors for big unit pay-outs. Grab everything you see while exploring, even if the items are green [common] rated.
- Construct Bypass Chips and sell to traders for big profits. If you can find a small trading post with Iron nearby, Bypass Chips are an easy item to craft / sell.
Search caves or lush jungle areas for Vortex Cubes. These valuable trade items sell for 25k-30k per cube. Look for biomes that are procedurally-generated with “Vortex” in the title — these locations will always feature dozens of Vortex Cubes, and can help you earn over one million units.
When visiting Space Stations, check the galaxy trade terminal and see if any items are marked with a gold star commodities icon. This indicates that the commodity will sell for twice it’s usually price.
- Buying / selling Dynamic Resonators is a good way to get plenty of easy profit — if you can find a Space Station with Dynamic Resonators marked with a gold star. Simply wait for traders to arrive in the hangar, buy low and sell high at the trade terminal.

Citizen of the Galaxy (Gold):

“Attain ‘Babelfish’ status in Words Collected”

Unlock Requirement: Learn 150 alien words.
Alien words can be learned at Monolith locations, scanning Knowledge Stones, or by using terminals found in Manufacturing Facilities or Colony Bases. Search for wall-mounted terminals to collect a word.
You can also learn words from alien NPCs. Talk to traders and, if you’re lucky, you can find NPCs that are willing to teach you words all day long. Simply request to learn a new word, then request free stuff — carbon or anything else will do.
If there are enough options, the dialogue tree will reset and give you the option to learn another word. This costs a small amount of carbon, so keep plenty on hand.
Using NPCs can be a long, laborious process, but you can get 150 if you’re willing to sit around and grind new words all day.

What Mad Universe (Gold):

“Attain ‘Ambassador’ status in Alien Colonist Encounters”

Unlock Requirement: Encounter 40 advanced alien species.
This one is fairly basic. Advanced alien species are located in Space Stations, Colony Bases, or Manufacturing Facilities — basically, they’re intelligent life. They will trade with you, talk to you, and fly ships all over the galaxy.
You’ll encounte alien colonists as you explore the galaxy. There’s no trick to this one — the only tricky part is keeping a steady supply of Warp Cells. Continue to travel to new star systems and search for intelligent life in technology-based locations to encounter the full 40.

The Forever War (Gold)

“Attain ‘Legend’ status in Ships Destroyed”

Unlock Requirement: Destroy 80 starships.
This is where things get tricky. Don’t attempt to earn this trophy until after you’ve picked up “The Sentinel’ — dying will lose all your progress in that challenge.
Ships are typically found near Space Stations, but you can also draw out starships by attacking cargo ships out in space. This raises your wanted level, and the alien faction will send four (4) fighters to engage you.
Four fighters shouldn’t be a problem to deal with. If you want to take a more dangerous route, attack Space Stations or Atlas Stations — a horde of fighters will engage. You’re very likely to die, but any destroyed fighters you earn before getting blasted will count toward the full amount.
- Get Phase Beam and Coolant Upgrades to make destroying ships easier.
- Upgrade the Deflector Shields to stay in a fight longer.
Want to earn this trophy quickly? Go to a Storage Container and attack the Defense Turrets. Enemy ships will warp in — destroy them, and damage the container so more ships arrive. Keep following this pattern to take on an endless number of ships, and build plenty of shields for your starship before attempting a long combat sequence.

The Sentinel (Gold)

Attain ‘Everlasting’ status in Extreme Survival

Unlock Requirement: Stay alive through 32 sols in Extreme conditions.
This might just be the toughest trophy in No Man’s Sky.
A ‘sol’ is equivalent to a single day / night cycle in-game. A single cycle takes about 24-minutes of real-time, so earning this status should take about 12-13 hours total.
To earn ranks in Extreme Survival, you’ll need to stay alive on an “Extreme” planet — these planets feature extreme conditions that sap your Exosuit systems incredibly quickly. You’ll need an upgraded suit and plenty of recharge resources to last long on an Extreme planet…

The easiest way to earn this trophy?: Sit in a bunker. All you have to do is find a planet with a protected bunker with extreme conditions on the surface. You can sit in the bunker all day and wait until you earn the trophy. Don’t forget, even if you go AFK, you’ll need to keep your Life Support systems charged — but the bunker conditions won’t sap your systems nearly as quickly as the dangerous weather outside.

You’ll know a planet is extreme because a warning will appear on your HUD while exploring.
If you die, the sol counter will reset. You must stay alive for 32 sols, while on a planet surface with extreme conditions. You do not have to stay on the same planet — you can travel to multiple extreme planets to earn this status rank-up, but you cannot die.

NOTE: This trophy is MUCH easier to earn in Version 1.00 of the game. Delete your installation if you have a physical copy to revert back to Version 1.00.

Why is it easier in 1.00? You only need to survive 32 sols on ANY planet. The trophy will pop if you survive 32 sols on any planet’s surface, and does not limit you to extreme planets.

Have Spacesuit – Will Travel (Gold):

“Attain ‘Adventurer’ status in On-foot Exploration”

Unlock Requirement: Travel 100,000 steps total.
This is a natural benchmark you’ll earn through gameplay. It will take a long time, and does not require that you stay on the same planet. This is an cumulative counter and adds up all your steps across the many worlds of No Man’s Sky.
If you’re going for ‘The Sentinel’ then you’ll most likely earn this one as you go. We suggest just playing the game naturally, and eventually you’ll earn this trophy.
If you’ve earned every trophy and -still- don’t have this one, just find a peaceful planet and circle in a couple of times. This trophy is all about exploring on-foot, taking a scenic stroll, and not much else.

If you’ve earned these eight gold trophies, you’ll pick up all the bronze and silvers as you go. Earn all eight golds, and the coveted Platinum trophy will be your’s. No Man’s Sky isn’t too tough to Platinum, it just requires a lot of time, a lot of scanning, and a lot of walking.

Got some secret tips we missed? Let us know in the comments!