Carl's No Man's Sky Guide

Walkthroughs, Gameplay Tips and Strategy

Update 8/25/2016: Added pages on Finding Trade Posts, Sentinels and Wanted Level, in addition to Shielding, Power, and Unstable Plasma Items. Also see my guide to Making Money in No Man's Sky for some tips on the best methods for earning cash, what crafting items are most profitable, and a list of all resources in the game.

No Man's Sky: Sentinels

Types of Sentinel, Loot, and Wanted Level 5

A Sentinel Drone in No Man's Sky - they initiate Wanted Levels 1-5 A Sentinel Drone in No Man's Sky

Sentinels are a somewhat mysterious force in the universe of No Man's Sky. Present on every planet in the galaxy, they appear as police and serve to balance and tend to the multitude of worlds in the game. This guide to sentinels and the three types of sentinel will teach you why you shouldn't fear them, their rules, and maybe why you should just blast every one you see.

Sentinel Basics: Drones

Another picture of a sentinel in No Man's Sky

Drones are the most basic Sentinel and the only type you'll see under normal conditions. They're out scanning and doing their thing, watching for the greedy or whatever it is they do. They spawn nearby, more frequently on planets with a high sentinel presence. They're equipped with a three-shot laser and aren't very threatening. Shoot one, and you'll be 'wanted' with a one-star response.

Sentinels call for reinforcements. You can see their alarm meter. If you want a higher wanted level, wait out the alarm meter and keep a simple drone alive each time. It's harder if you choose to keep a quadruped alive, as wanted levels 3-5 take longer to escalate.

Sentinels have a horizontal health bar and a circle above them. All forms of Sentinel will begin to issue a distress signal shortly after combat begins. If the circle completes, you're just a few seconds away from going up in wanted level. The response varies based on the level. You only move up one at a time except under a few specific circumstances. Essentially, if they can't kill you (there is no arrest!) they will continue to escalate.

Wanted Levels 3 and 5: Quadrupeds (Laser Hounds)

A Quadruped Sentinel

I hate using such a term as quadrupeds, but that's what these are and we have no better name. These robots look like animals but have a head-mounted laser they fire periodically, using a sweeping motion. It's possible you can take a partial blow if you move at the right time, and they are also not great at aiming. You can literally bait them and jetpack over it. But when they do hit, it hurts. Overall you should just get them down as soon as possible if you want wanted level 5, leave a simple drone to call for reinforcements. While I rarely get Dimensional Matrix from a drone, I do get them more often from these, along with Neutrino Modules.

Wanted Levels 4 and 5: Walkers

Bipedal walkers are quite dangerous Sentinels. Their laser is much, much more powerful than any other weapon on the ground. Their behavior is a bit like the laser hounds, they are simply much taller so it's harder to duck behind something. They seem to fire at a similar rate, so you can certainly strafe them and open fire in between their shots. They have maybe 5-10x as much health as a regular Sentinel Drone. A Walker produced my first death for me, I had no combat upgrades on my mining laser and the base boltcaster sucks. Be prepared for a tough fight if you haven't any shield/health module upgrades (with the former being higher priority). They seem to drop Dimensional Matrix more often than the others, and it's possible the blueprints you get are higher tier.

Sentinel Loot

Killing Sentinels early on is actually a decent money-making tactic, and you will get blueprints to improve grenades and the boltcaster (more those two than anything). Every Sentinel killed will yield over 30 Titanium, making each kill worth nearly 2,000 credits when the materials are sold. There's always a barrel drop that can be looted, sometimes a blueprint or chip. The electronic loot you get, such as the Neutrino Module and Dimensional Matrix, are 'rare' items and worth over 10,000 credits each. They are also used to upgrade the Pulse Jet, Laser and Phase Cannon on your ship - but only four total upgrades use it. They're mostly for sale on the Galactic Market.

Killing a walker sentinel in No Man's Sky A dead walker sentinel. They provide more titanium and sometimes better loot than their lesser counterparts.

Sentinel farming can certainly work out in your favor and is a good way to fuel your ship's shields if you also like to join in fights in space (Titanium does well recharging shields). You can make yourself a bunker using pulse grenades where the Sentinels (even big ones) have a hard time getting to you. One Sentinel farming tactic is to shoot an ops center door once, get their attention, get up to the second wave and do it again. Repeat as needed and kill many Sentinels for the loot. You're able to stop at any time by blasting the door or retreating to your ship should it get too hard.

The Laws of the Universe

Stealing items for wanted level in No Man's Sky Taking certain items, like Gravitino Balls, may lead to an instant wanted rating and the spawning of multiple sentinels.

Wanted level functions similarly to GTA, there's a 5-star ranking that determines the force of sentinels that will attack you. This is visible in the top-right portion of the screen. Nothing will take you straight to wanted level 5, but you can work your way up there by continuing the fight once you've got the space police after you. There are a few things you can do to influence your wanted level:

Wanted Level 1-5: On Land

Wanted Levels 1-5 in Space

Should you attack a starbase, freighter, or friendly vessel, a drone will come at you and you'll hit one star. Defeating it does not end the wanted level, crimes in space are more serious. Each additional star will add one more sentinel fighter to the fight (spawning up to four at four stars). At 5 stars, a carrier will attack and may launch 5 fighters. Fly close to the carrier and attack its cannons one by one. When it's neutralized, it should reset your wanted level to one.

Canceling Wanted Level

Sometimes, all you need to do is enter a building or your ship to end the wanted level. They can't find you, so it's over. Taking off from the ground can do it, even with a space wanted level, as you can fly a bit and land somewhere else to evade detection. If you leave with a max wanted level from the round, you should have a lone Sentinel waiting for you in space... though it can escalate from there. Distances tend to be too great for you to manage to escape to a starbase.

Other No Man's Sky Guides







No Man's Sky Guides


Ships New
Finding Trade Posts New
Consumable Crafting New
Mining New
Sentinels & Wanted Level New
Making Money and Crafting New
Skip AtlasPass V2 & V3
Getting Warp Reactors
Atlas Interfaces & Anomalies
Multi-tool
Antimatter & Warp Cells
Atlaspass V1, Anomaly Choices
Get a Better Ship
Carry More Items: Add Slots
Signal Scanners
Survival: Elements to Recharge
No Man's Sky Controls for PC/PS4
Beginners Guide to the HUD & Scan Symbols New

I'm presently working on No Man's Sky, Stardew Valley, Fallout 4 and improvement of my Sims 4 Guide. This year, I hope to continue with these projects simultaneously and update them as they receive DLC.

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