Abandoned systems are an ominous type of system in No Man’s Sky that you’ll stumble across at some point in every playthrough. While you can find them organically, you’re also sometimes required to find one for a quest or as part of an Expedition. In this guide, we’ll offer some tips about finding these elusive systems to help you identify them quickly and efficiently.
What are abandoned systems?
An abandoned system is a system full of planets like any other in No Man’s Sky. However, some catastrophic event has caused all sentient life to flee the system or die. The only signs of life are empty buildings with no NPCs on any of the planets or moons. Most of the planets will be infested with Whispering Eggs and other Biological Horrors. These are hazardous planets to land on.
You’ll still be able to find Buried Technology Modules on planets in abandoned systems, and they’re not completely devoid of life. If you stick around long enough, pirates will warp in to attack you, and you might even witness a space battle between fleets if you’re there at the right time. The last thing you need to know about abandoned systems is that they contain a damaged Space Station. It will be visually wrecked and have no markets, though you’ll still be able to trade and teleport from there.
Abandoned systems don’t show up as such until you’ve visited them, so there are some things you need to look out for in the galactic map before you visit a potentially abandoned one.
Look for low economy
Since everyone has left the system, an abandoned system is going to have a low economy rating. If you see this rating paired with the one below, then there’s a good chance that this system will be abandoned.
Little to no conflict
Again, because there’s no sentient life living in an abandoned system, there won’t be much conflict, if any. These systems will either have a low conflict rating, or the rating will be unavailable. Systems with this rating are always worth visiting because you don’t need to worry about allegiances. However, the combination of this rating with the economy one above indicates a high probability of the system being abandoned.
Avoid green systems
Systems with a green star have the lowest chance of being abandoned. If you’re looking to find one of these types of systems, don’t bother wasting your time on any green stars. You’ve got a much higher chance of finding one elsewhere with red and yellow stars.
Abandoned not undiscovered
It’s important to remember that an undiscovered system, or at least a system that you haven’t visited yet, isn’t the same as an abandoned one. Before you visit a system, you don’t have any data on whether it’s abandoned or not and quite a few other details. As a result, you’ve got to travel to each system you suspect of being abandoned to identify whether it is or not. Just because a system is registered to a player, or marked as undiscovered, in the Discoveries menu has no bearing on whether it’s abandoned.
