The Ultimate Guide to Embarking on the Autophage Questline in No Man's Sky (Echoes Update)

No Man's Sky: A Game of Exploration and Quests

No Man's Sky is an immersive game that revolves around exploration and allows players to chart their own course across the vast universe. However, this open-ended gameplay can sometimes leave players feeling bewildered or uncertain about how to embark on specific quests. In response to this, the latest update for No Man's Sky introduced a captivating new race of Machine-like aliens, along with an entire quest line for players to embark upon. Instead of providing explicit instructions on the exact location, the game purposely challenges players to uncover the triggers for the initial quest known as "Those Who Returned."

How to Start No Man's Sky Autophage Questline

Complete the Main Campaign

To delve into the new content, players are required to complete "The Purge," which serves as the final quest in the Artemis main storyline. Engaging in this endeavor demands a significant time commitment, hence it is not advisable for players seeking immediate access to the fresh content to commence a new save file. The game will serve as a guide, directing players to the precise locations they must visit at each step of the quest, which is integral for obtaining upgrades essential for survival in the extensive star systems that await exploration.

Have a Settlement and Complete "A Trace of Metal"

The next step entails players establishing a planetary settlement and accomplishing the "A Trace of Metal" quest. This quest requires No Man's Sky players to forge their very own sentinel companion. There are a few prerequisites that need to be met in order to activate this quest. Firstly, players must ensure that they have no pending tasks remaining for their settlement. In the mission log for "The Settlers," it should indicate that they are free to explore.

After fulfilling the two prerequisites, players can easily depart from the star system where their settlement is presently located. The quest ought to activate following one or two warps using the hyperdrive. If the quest does not activate following the first jump, it should initiate after subsequent warps. The player's settlements should send distress signals, indicating that they are currently under attack and require immediate assistance.

For Switch players, though, the triggering of this quest should occur once they have completed 25 warps. When this milestone is reached, Switch players will receive a message from Iteration Tethys summoning them to the Space Anomaly. Subsequently, the quest remains identical for all users.

Warp to a Dissonant Star System

Players must first locate and warp to a Dissonant Star System, distinguished by its corrupted worlds. Finding such systems can be challenging as they are randomly generated, but on the Galaxy Map, any dissonant star system should be clearly indicated in its description.

Once players have arrived in the Dissonant Star System, they will receive a distress signal from a wounded Autophage. Assisting the Autophage will initiate the first quest of the Autophage storyline titled "They Who Returned."

Once the content fragment is introduced, the entire quest line in No Man's Sky is set in motion, guiding players towards the main objectives while simultaneously urging them to embark on exploratory journeys. While the echoes update introduces captivating trench runs and other delightful additions, this particular quest serves as a comprehensive introduction to all the exciting features that the update brings.

No Man's Sky is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.