How to get Cyto-phosphate in No Man’s Sky

Cyto-phosphate is a base material in No Man’s Sky that has several uses, including crafting essential items for Expeditions. It’s also one of the hardest minerals to find in the entire game. This guide will outline how to get Cyto-phosphate so you can start building and crafting with it as you see fit.

Beneath the sea

Cyto-phosphate is a mineral that you’ll only find in deep oceans in No Man’s Sky. To find it, you first need to locate a planet with a sea deep enough for it to grow. Oceans don’t need to be so deep that you can’t navigate them without a Nautilus, but they should be deep enough that the Nautilus is required to traverse for long periods through them.

You won’t see Cyto-phosphate growing by itself. Instead, it will be a resource you collect by mining deep-sea plants. You’ll need to scan the plants around the bottom of the ocean to discover which ones are made up of Cyto-phosphate, then you can harvest them to claim the mineral for yourself.

You’ll need to be careful as you mine Cyto-phosphate. When you’ve completely mined a plant, Abyssal Horrors will appear and swim towards you, dealing damage and killing you if they can. These Abyssal Horrors look like glowing jellyfish. To avoid taking too much damage, use your jetpack to swim away from the Abyssal Horrors as they spawn. You could also mine Cyto-phosphate from a distance to avoid being too close when the enemies spawn.