The new Leviathan Expedition could well mark a new challenge for many No Man’s Sky players, as the game’s difficulty is upped to the permadeath Survival Mode. However, it’s a key element of the Expedition’s new time-loop gameplay, where dying can help you unlock new secrets, but it does also make things a lot more treacherous when you’re first starting out ― so here’s how to get through Leviathan’s opening moments without too much trouble. For those new to Expeditions, to access this new content, which runs for six weeks, you’ll need to start a new Community Expedition game.
How to find your Starship in No Man’s Sky Leviathan Expedition
You’ll spawn on a hot and hostile planet and, with only a few items in your inventory, you’ll want to find the safety of your ship as quickly as possible, which also happens to be your first quest. As with the standard No Man’s Sky gameplay, you’ll find the black and white Starship icon on your compass and HUD, so just make a beeline for it as soon as you can.
You can mine some supplies on the way, such as Ferrite, Carbon, and Di-Hydrogen Crystals that will come in handy a bit later but don’t waste too much time as you’re ill-equipped to survive for long. When you get close you’ll probably find a few other ships in much the same location, as this is a community-based adventure with everyone else playing within the same parameters, so just make sure you follow your own marker all the way to the right cockpit.
How to absorb Memory Fragments in No Man’s Sky Leviathan Expedition
Your next objective, ‘Retrieve a Past Life’, ask you to absorb a Memory Fragment, one of Leviathan’s new and most important elements. These unlock technologies to upgrade your gear with, and will likely improve with each repeated (and hopefully advanced) playthrough, so they’re a crucial part of the Expedition. Thankfully, there’s one already in your Exosuit inventory so simply open it up, click on the Memory Fragment to absorb the memory and unlock the tech, and then go right ahead and install your new upgrade into an empty slot.
The item itself may change from one outing to the next, so a basic Coolant Network for your suit won’t be as good as it gets. With each step (and repeated playthrough), don’t forget to head into the Expedition menu to collect your rewards, as they may well contain additional Memory Fragments to further bolster your loadout. With these basics in place, your next task will be to repair your Starship, with the required Hermetic Seal demanding a rather drastic approach to unlock its blueprint and the Iterate/Repeat quest asking that you die. Doing so will take you right back to the beginning to repeat these same steps over (and over) again, albeit with a few improvements each and every time.
