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Freighter
Freighter
Type Starship
Description A colossal interstellar starship.
Platform All
Updated Omega
Disambig This article is about the current version of Freighter. For the Outlaws version, see Freighter (Outlaws).

A Freighter is a massive starship.

Summary[ | ]

A Freighter is a colossal interstellar starship; much like a cross between a traditional ship and a space station. The player may purchase a freighter using units, or gain a free one through a mission, and customise it using the Base building system, implemented in the Foundation update. The freighter can warp to other star systems or be summoned to the orbit of the planet (or moon), where the player is currently located. It also allows the player to access any of their owned starships on board as well as storage containers if built within the freighter.

There are several regular freighters with up to 19 slots of inventory and two designs of small, medium, and large visual sizes for capital freighters with up to 34 slots. One of the capital freighters is reminiscent of the Venator Star Destroyer of the Star Wars universe, one of the regular ones looks like the USS-Enterprise from the Star Trek universe.

Varieties[ | ]

Cute Sentinel Warship Freighter

Freighters are divided into two types:

Size Cargo Tech Price Range
Normal 15-19 8-12 5M - 23M
Capital1 24-34 12-20 26M-178M

Notes:

1. Capital - It is somewhat confusing, as a freighter of any size is referred to as a "Capital Ship" in the game GUI, however this is an actual category of freighters according to game files (hence making it a "Capital Ship" of "Capital" type).

Each of the types has a different class rating, similar to starships: C, B, A, or S. Higher class freighters may have higher slot count and better hyperdrive and fleet coordination modifiers.

Obtaining[ | ]

Rescue from Pirates[ | ]

  • The first freighter the player rescues from pirates is offered for free.
  • If the player does not accept the first freighter they rescue, subsequent ones will still be free until the player claims one.
  • After boarding, the player is given several options. It is advised, for the first rescued freighter specifically, to select "Request payment instead", as future saved freighters will still be free. They will be free as long as the player doesn't own a freighter.
  • The first two saved freighters will always be regular freighters with at most 19 inventory slots. Starting with the third freighter, they will always be Capital Freighters.
  • There is a three-hour and 5 warps in-game cooldown before another normal space battle can occur. Pirate dreadnought battles may appear outside of that limit, depending on the system economy.

Alternatively, it is possible to find a roaming freighter that is not being attacked, and purchase it for Units Units, see below.

Space Battles[ | ]

Please note that if you have "None" selected for space combat in your difficulty settings, you won't get any freighter battles.

Freighter in Distress[ | ]

The first type is a common space battle, where you'll receive a distress signal icon on your screen, and then the player can fly to the battle should the player wish to participate. There can be up to eight pirates who will fly in pairs and shoot at the freighter's turrets and cargo pods. If you destroy all the pirates, the captain of the freighter will reward you.

These types of battle only happen in inhabited systems, not in uncharted or abandoned systems.

Post-Warp Freighter Battle[ | ]

The second type of freighter space-battle are much bigger, and may include a class of super-massive freighters with three versions of differing size. They are often collectively referred to by many as "Star Destroyers", even though only the flat Venator design seems to be inspired by the Star Wars universe.

These battles begin immediately after the player warped to a system, but have a cooldown of 3 hours and 5 warps. The battle will contain one freighter and either 5 or 8 pirates. If there are 5 pirates, they will all be on their own. If there are 8, then they will fly in pairs. The freighter will have a secondary fleet of normal-sized freighters behind it like other freighters normally do; however, they do not participate in the battle. The freighter can either be a system freighter or a capital freighter, depending on your game progress (see the Rescue from Pirates section above).

Post-warp battles will not trigger in uncharted systems or in systems containing a Black Hole or an Atlas Interface.

Pirate Dreadnought Battle[ | ]

The third and final type of freighter space battles are a subtype of the post-warp battle and only appear once you already own a freighter. They involve a pirate dreadnought and a fleet of pirate frigates which are trying to destroy the civilian freighter. The pirate dreadnought attacks the civilian freighter with its laser cannons (approx. 1% damage per shot on civilian freighter's shield or hull) which can be destroyed separately, and firing anti-freighter torpedoes (approx. 15% damage per shot on NPC freighter's shield or hull) which can be intercepted by players. If the player does nothing, the civilian freighter will be destroyed within 150-180s. The pirate dreadnought is protected by ten shield generators in two rows. Because each shield generator is equivalent to 10% of the total shield amount and the player will deal zero damage to its hull before breaking down the shield, the player will need to fly into dreadnought's shield and destroy all of the generators first, so they can further damage the dreadnought's hull by shooting exposed fuel rods which appear in the same position of the shield generators (approx. 7% damage each to dreadnought's hull), or shooting anywhere on the dreadnought's hull. After doing 70% hull damage to the pirate dreadnought, it will attempt to flee, taking 33s to charge its hyperdrive. The player can either destroy the hyperdrive engines (total of four) to cripple the dreadnought and preventing it from fleeing, or dealing massive damage to the dreadnought as quickly as possible. Once the pirate dreadnought been destroyed and the civilian freighter survives the fight, you and the civilian freighter claim victory.

If the player has a good relationship with the race that dominates the system, nearby civilian starships will assist you in the battle. Once you shoot at a pirate, that pirate and their wing-man will fly at you. Once they are both destroyed, another team of two will attack, then another, until the player manages to destroy all of the pirates. If you manage to defeat all the pirates, the captain will contact you on the communicator and invite you aboard and you may land inside. Proceed to the bridge and the captain will offer to sell you the freighter or give you the freighter if you don't have one. You cannot "Request Payment Instead" after a pirate dreadnought battle.

Pirate dreadnought battles are affected by the same 3h 5 warps cooldown as regular battles. However, some systems may always spawn a battle after each warp. This is decided by the system's conflict level:

Low Medium High Pirate
0% 0% 10% 20%

This means that 20% of pirate systems will always have a battle. It does not mean that you have a 20% chance after warping to a pirate system.

Each system has a fixed battle type. This means that the same system will always produce the same space battle type with the same freighter (but different class) after a warp if the cooldown is done. The decision which system has which battle type seems to be random and not based on any parameters.

Rewards of Freighter Space Battles[ | ]

Purchasing[ | ]

To purchase a freighter, use the following steps:

  • Search for a space fleet that possesses a freighter icon above one of the ships.
    • Alternatively, save a Freighter from pirates and it will become available to purchase.
  • Find the docking area (marked with a purple beacon) and dock your ship, then take a series of winding staircases (2 of them) until you reach the bridge.
  • Find the captain, who will be represented by an icon. You will then be able to review ship stats, including the amount of inventory slots available. You can also view the freighter's stats by using the analysis visor inside the hangar, which can save time when searching.
  • If the freighter is acceptable, it may be purchased. Note that the price increases as the number of inventory slots and/or the class of the freighter increases. Exchanging your current freighter for a new freighter will automatically transfer your current freighter base layout into the new freighter. [NOTE: Currently bugged - WORKAROUND: Leave a single item in your freighter cargo. You will then be prompted when you try to change freighters. This will allow you to move the base to your new freighter].
  • The chance to purchase the candidate freighter is lost when you warp out of the system.

Upgrades[ | ]

Freighters can be used for interstellar travel, and their effective jump range can be increased with Freighter Warp Reactor technologies. Freighters purchased before the Atlas Rises update did not contain a hyperdrive, and one cannot be installed later.

If your current ship has economy or conflict scanners, then the freighter's hyperdrive map will not make use of them.

Like a normal starship Hyperdrive, the Freighter Hyperdrive is refueled with Warp Cells (20%/unit) or Warp Hypercores (100%/unit). To warp your freighter, use the globe hologram in the main room with the captain and it will bring up a galaxy map.

A freighter's base hyperdrive range is equal to that of a starship, though their Hyperdrive class bonus will increase their range.

Normal starship Hyperdrive Upgrades cannot be installed in freighters.

Technology Blueprints[ | ]

20191214062247 1

Upgrade Control

Six levels of Freighter Hyperdrive upgrades are available for purchase at the Upgrade Control on the bridge. Matter Beam technology can also be researched at the terminal. This console option replaces the guild mission console and now incorporates the frigate consumables blueprints. All upgrades require Salvaged Frigate Modules, occasionally available from Crashed Freighters, Derelict Freighters (as well as the space encounter type), Nexus Missions and Frigate Expeditions. They can also appear frequently when the player attacks and destroys NPC freighters' cargo containers. This activity will draw sentinel attention, so the player is advised to take caution. Attacking unarmed cargo pods surrounding the freighter will also reduce the player's standing with the dominant race.

Class Technology / Upgrade Hyperdrive Range
Expansion
Other Effects Upgrade costs
RENDER.FREIGHTERHD Freighter Hyperdrive +100 ly Travel to Yellow Systems
C Class TECHNOLOGY.FREIGHTERSIGMA Warp Core Resonator +200 ly 4
B Class TECHNOLOGY.FREIGHTERTAU Plasmatic Warp Injector +300 ly 2
A Class TECHNOLOGY.FREIGHTERTHETA Reality De-threader +800 ly 3
C Class TECHNOLOGY.FREIGHTERSIGMA Amplified Warp Shielding +50 ly Travel to Yellow & Red Systems 4
B Class TECHNOLOGY.FREIGHTERTAU Chromatic Warp Shielding +50 ly Travel to Yellow, Red & Green Systems 8
A Class TECHNOLOGY.FREIGHTERTHETA Temporal Warp Computer +50 ly Travel to Yellow, Red, Green & Blue Systems 12
RENDER.SHIPTELEPORT Matter Beam Send & receive products & substances to exosuit over a long distance 5
RENDER.FREIGHTERSCANNER Interstellar Scanner Allows scanning of economic and conflict data for a system 4

Freighter Upgrade Modules[ | ]

Salvaged Fleet Units can be found on Derelict Freighters and installed in your freighter tech or general inventories to boost your hyperdrive range or your frigate fleet's stats during expeditions. At the Engineering Core Unit, should you choose to obtain a Freighter Upgrade Module, one of seven existing upgrade types of a fixed class will be dispensed. Unlike other upgrade modules, however, these are not bound by the seed generation model. Because of this, freighter upgrade modules from a specific derelict freighter, when installed, will provide the exact same stats. If the upgrades come from different freighters, the stats will be different, but they will always give the stats from their corresponding derelict freighters, regardless of the order of installation.

Module

Name

Stats

Drawn

Module

Improves

C Class B Class A Class S Class
Min Max Min Max Min Max Min Max
Freighter Hyperdrive Always Hyperdrive Range 50 100 100 150 150 200 200 250
PROPERTY.PRIMARY.FUELFuel Unit Always Fuel Efficiency 2 5 6 10 11 15 16 20
PROPERTY.PRIMARY.SPECIALBeacon Always Fleet Speed 2 2 6 6 11 11 15 15
PROPERTY.PRIMARY.COMBATCombat Unit Always Fleet Combat 2 2 6 6 11 11 15 15
PROPERTY.PRIMARY.EXPLOREExploration Unit Always Fleet Exploration 2 2 6 6 11 11 15 15
PROPERTY.PRIMARY.MININGMining Unit Always Fleet Mining 2 2 6 6 11 11 15 15
PROPERTY.PRIMARY.TRADINGTrade Unit Always Fleet Trade 2 2 6 6 11 11 15 15

Customisation[ | ]

Enterprise freighter

Enterprise freighter

Freighters can be coloured, using paint blueprints that cost 5,000 nanites each to permanently unlock for use.

Both the option to unlock & the option to apply colours can be accessed from the Upgrade Control.

The colour blueprints available to purchase are as follows: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Turquoise, Blue, Purple, Pink, White, and Black.

Inventory[ | ]

  • Max inventory slots are based on the ship class up to 120 cargo and 60 technology slots at S-Class.
    • To increase inventory slots, you will need Cargo Bulkheads which can be received or found from different sources such as selecting a reward from saving freighters from a pirate attack or as a reward from a Derelict Freighter. This will let you add more slots to the technology or cargo inventory.
    • Unlike Starships and Multitools, you currently cannot increase the class of an owned freighter other than by finding and buying the same freighter at a higher class.
  • When transferring items to a freighter, you choose a slot on the freighter's inventory screen and the items are teleported there.
  • Retrieving items from your freighter requires that you are docked inside your freighter unless a Matter Beam is installed.
  • Alternatively, you can press X on an empty inventory slot to transfer items without having to talk to the captain.

Building spaces[ | ]

You can customise the areas of the freighter located on the top floor behind the corridor heading to the bridge. Only a limited number of items is available, see Freighter Base Building for the full list.

Note that frequent saving (with the use of a Save Point) is advised, as being stuck in a just-deleted freighter room, or falling through the freighter into space while using the build camera is not uncommon.

Specialist rooms can be built inside the freighter base, in addition to those already constructed on players' planetary base(s). For example, if a weapon specialist exists in your planetary base, another one may be added to your freighter base. As of the Fractal update, the General Options menu now has a button you can click to reset your position in the freighter.

The NPC specialists, by default, will always remain posted at their last-accessed terminal, so they might not be seen standing at any duplicated terminals; However, interacting with an empty or newly-built terminal will cause the appropriate NPC specialist to re-spawn at that particular terminal location.

The available building space on a capital freighter is 21 by 21, with the ramp being centre, with two rows between ramp and build limit heading to bridge. The entire room can be cleared out except the one block where the ramp is. The height is 13 extra floors upwards, and no floors downwards, giving a total of 14 21x21 floors. The building space on a system freighter is similar but only 19 wide (narrower across the beam) and with an extra floor, giving a total of 15 19x21 floors.

Fleet Command Rooms can be built in a freighter to communicate with frigate captains. Build one Fleet Command Room per expedition that you want to send out at a time. (An expedition can include multiple frigates with multiple traits) You can build up to ten of these rooms, but should never need more than six of them, as five missions spawn every 24 hours and most take around a day to complete.

If you are planning to exchange your freighter for a new one - you can either delete all the rooms one by one or use the Reset Freighter Base option from the Upgrade Control. In the latter case, though, all materials used for the freighter base will be lost. However, player-built bases inside a freighter can also be carried over to a new freighter if desired.

Storage Rooms[ | ]

Additional Storage Rooms can be built in available building space, increasing the number of inventory slots the freighter holds. Each storage unit provides an additional twenty slots that will hold 9,999 resource units each in Normal mode, and 1000 in Survival and Permadeath. These slots hold twice the amount of items that your Exosuit cargo can (therefore four times that which your Exosuit general can). So if a given item is up to 5 in general inventory, it will be 10 in cargo inventory and 20 in storage containers/units.

These storage units share/link with Storage Containers at your base, so there are a limit of 10 storage units that can be placed on a freighter, just as there can be up to 10 storage containers at your base. Accessing storage container 3 at your base is the same as accessing storage unit 3 on your freighter. You do not have to interact with the storage unit to access the storage there, unlike the storage containers at a base. You can access storage rooms simply by opening the freighter inventory and selecting the appropriate tab for the storage unit. This makes it much more convenient for transferring items between the Exosuit, the ship, the freighter, and the storage units. In order to move items this way, you must be aboard your freighter, but you can be anywhere on the freighter (even the hangar bay). If the Matter Beam is equipped, you can access the storage units anywhere in the same system as the freighter. Unlike the base storage containers, you do not have to research the blueprints for storage rooms. You can simply build them, assuming you have the space on your freighter and the material components.

Bridge and Frigates[ | ]

On the Bridge, talk to the captain to access your inventory. A player can own up to 30 frigates once they command a freighter.

  • Build a Fleet Command Room and interact with its terminal to receive the blueprints for Frigate Fuel (50 Tonnes), Frigate Fuel (100 Tonnes) and Frigate Fuel (200 Tonnes). Talk to the Navigator while a Fleet Command Room is free to plan and dispatch frigate expeditions.
  • Command freighter warp jumps into other systems on the Freighter Warp Map, which you will find on the starboard side of the bridge console. You will also be able to check the expedition positions of your fleet by looking for blue ship icons while viewing the galaxy map.
  • Use the Manage Fleet terminal, which you will find on the forward side of the bridge console nearest to the captain, to inspect your frigates.
  • There are five different varieties of frigate: Combat, Expedition, Industrial, Trade, and Support. Each of the first four specialise in their named class, compared to the support class which is an all-round type of frigate. Frigates can be purchased from other freighters in the same system. Unlike other spacecraft, when successful missions are completed the frigate has a chance of increasing its class. A higher rating in all categories comes with an upgrade in class, but primarily in the category that the frigate specialises in. In addition, it also decreases the amount of fuel needed per 250ly.
  • You can find upgrades for your freighter on derelict freighters that boost your frigate expeditions. These can boost the trade, combat, expedition, or industrial potential of your fleet. Specific upgrades will also increase the speed that your fleet completes expeditions.

Squadron[ | ]

20220417133607 1

Squadron management terminal

20220417172430 1

Squadron in formation

Players can have up to four NPC Starships in their squadron. These starships will follow players into battles with pirates, or summoned to fly into formation. To manage your squadron, open the Manage Fleet terminal and select "Manage Squadron". Initially all squadron slots are disabled and can be unlocked for NANITES starting from 800 and up to 10,000. Once the NPC starship is recruited, they can also be upgraded at this terminal: C->B for 1,200 NANITES, B->A for 4,100 NANITES, A->S for 9,500 NANITES. Both stats and traits of this starship will improve.

Upgrading Freighters[ | ]

  • Freighter inventory can be increased using Cargo Bulkheads, which can be received or found from different sources such as selecting a reward from saving freighters from a pirate attack or as a reward from a Derelict Freighter. This will let you add more slots to the general, tech or cargo inventory.
  • Freighter class cannot be upgraded.
  • When trading in a freighter for a new one, any technology upgrades and upgrade modules will be lost. The interior base you created inside the ship and the content stored within will however be migrated to the new freighter, with the possibility to reset the layout available from the upgrade terminal if a player wants to start the new freighter with a clean slate.
  • You will be able to access your universally-shared storage slots once you have rebuilt a storage room for the slot with your desired inventory in it. Rebuild all 10 to access all of your storage slots.
  • You will have an opportunity while speaking to the captain on the new freighter to easily move cargo from the main inventory of your old freighter to the main inventory of the new one using a side-to-side transfer window.

Starship storage[ | ]

  • To purchase additional ships, you must speak with their owner.
  • If the players owns at least six starships, new NPC ships will not be able to land inside the freighter (despite there being nine landing positions). Ships can be melted down for scrap to free up a ship slot. This can be done at the Starship Outfitting Terminal at a Space station.
  • Prior to NEXT, Freighters were the only way a player could store starships, allowing the player to have up to six ships of different specialties. Since the update, a player can summon any of their owned ships using the Quick Menu, allowing the player to access all of their ships without the requirement of owning a freighter.

Additional Information[ | ]

No Mans Sky New Freighter Deck

A Freighter's Flight Hanger

  • If you wish to summon your freighter to your current location, use D-Pad Down (PS4/XB/Switch) or X (PC) to bring up the Quick Menu and then find the shortcut for Call Freighter. Choose the freighter's destination and call it.
  • NPC Freighters cannot defend themselves against pirates. They may be seen shooting at the attacking pirates, but it does no damage (though they can damage a player). The player must be the one to save the freighter, although they can choose to ignore it.
  • When a freighter battle is in progress when warping into a system, it is scripted. If you reload your save, your next jump will always have a freighter battle. This presents the player the opportunity to hunt for a particular freighter of their choice by reloading and warping to different systems until they find one they like.
  • You can also use the technique above to disassemble the interior of your current freighter before upgrading to a new freighter, once you find the one you like. Note: you will need to restore your save prior to purchasing the new freighter, as the game performs an auto save immediately afterward.
  • Falling into a planet is possible by jumping off your ship. However, this action carries a risk of death.
  • Super-massive freighters, each with three sizes (small, medium, and large), may spawn in a star system after a certain amount of times the player warps to a new system. This will instantly start a space battle. There can be up to 12 pirates, and other ships flying by will join the fight. These freighters will also warp into a system by obtaining a Tier 5 Sentinel Pursuit Level in space. (The "Star Destroyer" is one of these)
  • Each star system has a unique model of super-massive freighter in it, so if a player finds a particular model they like, but can't afford it yet, they can always try to get it to spawn in that system again later, and it will be the same. However, the class of the freighter will be different for every visit.
  • If you spawn your own freighter in a system where another player's freighter is present, that player's freighter will be inaccessible for you until you dismiss your own freighter.
  • Freighters contain multiple exterior cargo pods and are sometimes followed by NPC cargo ships. Both will release items in their inventory if a player destroys them.
  • When playing in multiplayer, if the freighter owner warps their freighter with other players inside to another system, all players are warped together, making it a reasonable method of transporting full parties.†
  • If a player is inside their starship while inside of another player's freighter and the owner summons their freighter elsewhere in the galaxy, the player in their starship is now suddenly flying in space and is not teleported with the freighter.
  • A common problem with super-massive Freighters are Pulse Jumps. If a player Pulse Jumps toward their capital from certain angles, the Pulse Engine will not shut down in time to prevent an impact, resulting in the player being trapped inside the model. This can be undone quickly by opening up the Galaxy Map, eliminating the need to reload the last checkpoint.

Video[ | ]

  • How to get a Free Capital Freighter
  • How to use Freighters
  • How to Find S Class Freighters
  • No Mans Sky Freighter and Frigate Guide 2020
  • What Do Freighters Do in No Man's Sky Freighter Tips Guide 2020 + How to Build a Freighter Base
  • How to Find S Class Capital Freighters
  • No Man's Sky 2022 How to Get an S Class Freighter
  • How to Get S Class Freighter No Man's Sky 2023

Notes[ | ]

† As of the addition of this point, the editor updating this page only tested this out once and under certain circumstances: There was only one other player in the group and they were a No Man's Sky friend. Additionally, I used the word "reasonable" instead of "reliable" because, while this did successfully warp both myself and the other player, I, the freighter owner, glitched outside of the freighter upon arrival to the new system and landed atop the freighter where I couldn't really go anywhere, suffered severe Cold damage, then died to gamma rays. After editing in this note, I will likely have gone to test out a few other scenarios to make this method of transporting full groups more reliable.

See also[ | ]

Release history[ | ]

  • Release - Introduced to the game. (Unobtainable until Foundation.)
  • Foundation - Added Freighter ownership which can be spawned and used for storage. Can be used like a base with the 110 available parts.
  • Pathfinder - Added starship storage.
  • Atlas Rises - Added class ratings to freighters; and interstellar travel while inside a freighter.
  • Endurance - Freighter rework with revamped visuals, layout and building options
  • Echoes - Added pirate dreadnoughts, NPC freighters can now be destroyed
  • Omega - Added ability to claim pirate dreadnoughts
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