How to get the Sentinel Drone companion in No Man’s Sky

As part of the new Sentinel update for No Man’s Sky, you’ll find a new mission with a couple of great rewards on offer, starting with equipping your very own Sentinel Drone as an AI companion. If you’ve ever been annoyed by those bug-like droids interrupting your exploration, you’ll appreciate just how handy having one of your own will be.

In order to unlock the required mission, A Trace of Metal, you’ll need to have taken over a settlement. If you haven’t already, you can find coordinates to one nearby by picking up a relevant Planetary Chart from a Space Station cartographer. Once you’ve assumed Overseer status, put a few new buildings in place, and begin to edge toward making a profit (which can take a while), you’ll soon be alerted to a Sentinel attack at the settlement. Gear up, or better still bring some back-up, such as your new Minotaur AI Pilot, and get ready for a fight.

Unlocking the Sentinel Drone in No Man’s Sky

You’ll have to take out eight Sentinels, including one of the tougher Hardframe mechs, so take your time and perhaps make use of the new Cloaking Device to duck out and recharge your shields if you need to. Once they’re all dead, pick up all of the glowing loot drops and you should find an Undamaged Drone Shell hidden away. You might also find a Hardframe Engine courtesy of the mech that you won’t need for this particular part of the mission, but you will later on.

Head to the Overseer’s office to be introduced to Tethys, who’ll invite you to join him on the Space Anomaly. You’ll find him there on the upper floor to the left of the Teleporter Terminus and he can help you put the Drone together ― but with a few extra parts required. The first (Phylactery) you can get from Mercury, who mans the teleporter; the second (Nanite Filament) from Gemini back down on the ground floor. Speak to Hesperus next to him who’ll point you upstairs to Polo for the third and final component (Beads of Glass). Return to Tethys and he’ll transform the parts into the Sentinel Flare and your new BFF is almost done.

How to equip the Sentinel Drone in No Man’s Sky

Before the Drone — known initially as ‘The Sentry’ and then adopting the name Laylaps — is ready to join the fun, you’ll need to head back to the settlement. There you’ll be able to access the Sentinel Flare in your inventory and activate it to spring your AI sidekick into life. Interact with the Drone to run one last diagnostic check (if it’s hard to target, stand still for a few seconds and it will come to you) and it’s ready to go…but that’s not the end of the mission.

The Sentinel Drone is now available to remain as your faithful friend wherever you may choose to head next, but that first interaction will trigger a set of coordinates that will point you in the direction of one of the new Sentinel Pillars, a ‘nest’ for local Sentinels. Jump in your ship and head to the site for the chance to loot some incredibly useful upgrades that will transform your Minotaur Exocraft into an almost self-sufficient Sentinel Hardframe. It’s like the AI Pilot on steroids.