All of the medals in No Man’s Sky and how to earn them

Waypoint 4.0 has revised a lot of the basics of No Man’s Sky. Now you might notice your goals of doing various activities have shiny new medals to earn, but they may not be immediately obvious as to what they are. Instead of generic milestones and statistics, your “Journey” throughout the universe of No Man’s Sky now has medals that represent ways that you have navigated the game. Want to flaunt that you’re a big-time bounty hunter or slayer of horrific monsters? Pin the medals to your profile. Here’s how all of the categories of medals work and what you can do to show them off.

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How to earn Exploration Medals in No Man’s Sky

Exploration is mainly you getting around the universe at large. Where you go, how far you travel, and who you meet along the way. Milestone medals in Exploration include doing any of the following:

• Encountering named aliens in the universe or as part of the main story. These can be Korvax, Vy’keen, Gek, or other NPCs that have unique names. Players do not count toward this milestone.
• Collecting alien language words from conversations with NPCs, Knowledge Stones, or other sources.
• Discovering planetary systems via simply warping in or finding them via your ship’s navigation systems and visiting them for the first time.
• Mapping the entire ecosystem of a planet. Within certain biomes of a whole planet there will be a given amount of flora and fauna you will have to tag and identify with your Discovery Scanner and Analysis Visor. These can be tracked via the Discoveries tab and by selecting the current planet you are on.

How to earn Survival Medals in No Man’s Sky

Survival medals are mainly dealing with things on a planet’s surface or ships you have encountered in space and lived to tell the tale. Whether it be on a hostile planet, fighting off alien threats, or doing battle with the mysterious forces of the Sentinels, there are many Survival medals to earn. You can earn Survival medals by doing any of the following tasks:

• Traveling long distances on foot on a planet’s surface or on a space station. As you walk around and explore outside of a vehicle, you will accrue a distance traveled. This distance is also tracked laterally using your jetpack as well.
• Surviving for so many minutes, hours, or days on a planet with a hostile environment. Hostile environments in No Man’s Sky can be planets with toxic atmospheres that require Oxygen to survive in, extremely high or low surface temperatures, and planets with extreme weather conditions such as toxic or acidic rain, super high winds, or volcanic surfaces.
• Destroying Sentinel units. Sentinels are the mysterious robots you encounter throughout your journey and can behave in a multitude of ways towards you. If a planet is designated as “Low Sentinel Activity” via your ship’s Discovery Scanner, Sentinels will be seen guarding secretive locations like buildings that hold unique rewards. They will not attack you on sight, but if you disturb the structure they are guarding they will immediately turn hostile. Planets with “High Sentinel Activity” will have Sentinel units scattered around everywhere monitoring flora and fauna, but will only attack you on sight if you disturb the local plant or wildlife. Planets with “Aggressive Sentinels” are typically exotic locations and have Sentinels that will kill you on sight, so proceed with extreme caution. As you engage in combat with Sentinels, they will send more squadrons of units and larger foes until your reach a certain threshold or you have broken direct line of sight for a set period of time from them.
• Accrue Units. Units are the standard currency in No Man’s Sky and are found almost anywhere in crates or earned through completing a huge variety of tasks. Scanning undiscovered flora and fauna with your Analysis Visor is one simple way. Another way is to buy, sell, and trade resources on the Galactic Market.
• Destroy Pirate starships. Pirates are encountered at random throughout the galaxy, but primarily in more hostile systems. Pirates will can and will randomly engage in combat with you if they scan your ship’s hull and see precious cargo, or they can be hunted down at will at the Mercenaries Guild.

How to earn Medals with the Gek, Vy’keen, and Korvax in No Man’s Sky

There is a wide variety of alien races in No Man’s Sky, but the dominant ones are the Gek, Vy’keen, and Korvax. Each of these races has a variety of medals to earn as you gain rapport with them. You can earn medals with them by doing any of these tasks:

• Ranking up your reputation with the alien race. Performing missions for the Gek, Vy’keen, or Korvax earns you reputation with the respective alien race. You can also earn reputation by giving named alien NPCs gifts such as GekNip for the Gek, or upgraded Multitool weapons for the Vy’keen, or alien relics for the Korvax. You can also increase your reputation by assisting certain characters in distress found on planetary installations, space stations, or starship fleets.
• Learning that race’s language. You can learn words for each of the dominant alien races by either engaging in conversation with them and attempting to understand what they are saying, though installing a Universal Translator in your Exosuit helps with this, or by activating Knowledge Stones found in the wilds of planets with the respective race as the dominant one.
• Visit a system populated with that race. When inspecting star systems inside your ship, you can see via the Advanced Discovery Scanner that specific races are the dominant species of the area you are in. Simply warping to these systems and visiting a space station or planetary outpost will net you credit towards this objective.
• Smuggle goods for the Gek. The Gek are the traders and entrepreneurs of No Man’s Sky, so every once in a while, you need to smuggle some illicit goods across galactic routes. In certain systems there are resources and items deemed illegal by local authorities, so your mileage may vary as to what these may be depending on the system you are in. Outlaw stations will have contraband for sale and able to be transported out of them, but beware that local system authorities can and will search your ship if you are carrying these.
• Destroy Walkers for the Vy’keen. Walkers are a type of Sentinel unit that resemble a large, two-legged robot. These can be seen on planets with Sentinel activity or if you are engaging in combat with Sentinels, Walkers will start to spawn after a wanted level of two on the ground. Destroy these mechs and the Vy’keen will be pleased by your bravery in combat.
• Collect Nanites for the Korvax. Nanites are the other rare currency in No Man’s Sky. These can be earned by opening containers and refining specific elements using constructed machines at your base or Freighter ship. Just earn Nanites, and at certain thresholds you will receive medals.

How to earn Merchants Guild Medals in No Man’s Sky

The Merchants Guild is the collective organization across the galaxy at large that helps commission work for traders and freight pilots. Naturally, this organization is dominated by the Gek, but it’s not solely run by them. You can earn medals with this guild by doing any of the following:

• Complete missions to earn standing. Both completing missions and earning reputation are two separate medals you can earn. Missions for the Merchants Guild can be found at a system’s space station and by speaking with the guild representative.
• Earning Units. If you’re getting rich quick, you’re going to earn medals easily in this category. Any source of income that nets Units counts towards this medal for the Merchants Guild.
• Farm plants. Plants that you personally harvest at a constructed base count towards plants farmed. There are tons of different base-building guides out there for maximizing profit and how to plant valuable flora that can net you lots of Units and other valuable resources.
• Find a rare treasure. Anything classified as a “rare treasure” is usually an Artifact found in ancient ruins on a planet’s surface or in other rare instances. There are tons of sources for these, but typically they can be found in ruins or very very rarely found as cargo from pirates.

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How to earn Explorers Guild Medals in No Man’s Sky

The Explorers Guild is the organization centered around the research of newly discovered star systems, flora, and fauna. Anything you discover or collect as data throughout your adventures, if it is something new, is invaluable to the Explorers Guild. You can earn medals for the Explorers Guild by doing any of the following:

• Complete missions to earn standing. Both completing missions and earning reputation are two separate medals you can earn. Missions for the Explorers Guild can be found at a system’s space station and speaking with the guild representative. Standing can also be increased by submitting data on discovered flora and fauna from your Analysis Visor.
• Scanning rare fauna. Certain species of creatures on a planet are potentially very rare and these usually stand out from the typical wildlife you see on a planet that supports organic life. If you see a unique fauna, tag it with your Analysis Visor for credit towards this medal.
• Map star systems. You can map a star system that is newly discovered by warping in and then using your ship’s scanner to tag each individual planet and moon that is able to be visited.
• Scan and analyze flora. Plant life, much like fauna, can be scanned via your Analysis Visor and cataloged for later. Scanning plants can also yield more resources when farming them with your Multi-Tool.

How to earn Mercenaries Guild Medals in No Man’s Sky

Do you like going after bad guys or doing dirty work? The Mercenaries Guild is probably right up your alley. This collective handles jobs like hunting wanted individuals and pirates across the galaxy for profit and keeping order. You can earn medals with the Mercenaries Guild by doing any of the following tasks:

• Complete missions to earn standing. Both completing missions and earning reputation are two separate medals you can earn. Missions for the Mercenaries Guild can be found at a system’s space station and by speaking with the guild representative.
• Destroying Sentinel units. Sentinels you destroy in general or from missions are counted towards this goal. Just keep in mind the more you engage with Sentinels, the more often they will actively hunt you.
• Hunt or destroy pirate vessels. Pirates in both Outlaw systems and across the galaxy in general count towards this medal. While pirates have no allegiance, you can escalate the chance to encounter more skilled pirates in certain systems by actively hunting them.
• Kill alien aberrations and horrors. Strange alien horrors can be found on a planet’s surface where you see grotesque flesh-like growths and egg pods. Beware when interacting with egg pods, as this will summon a large swarm of horrors you must fight off. Other alien horrors can be fought in abandoned Freighters you can board in space. Bring a personal shield and plenty of ammo if you plan to actively hunt these creatures.