How to start an Expedition from a previously existing No Man’s Sky save file

You can share the discoveries between save files.

A No Man's Sky character next to a broken starship.
Screenshot by Dot Esports.

Expeditions are fresh adventures where players can get rare rewards. You can create a new save file when starting an Expedition to start fresh with a new, random character. But there’s a way for you to use an existing save file to start an Expedition in No Man’s Sky.

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How to start an Expedition from an existing save file in NMS

A No Man's Sky character in front of the Expedition Terminus.
You won’t get a head start, however. Screenshot by Dot Esports.

You can’t use an existing save file to start an Expedition from the No Man’s Sky menu, but you can from the Expedition Terminus in the Anomaly. Load the save file you want to use for the Expedition and head to the Anomaly. After you exit your ship and go to the entrance, you’ll see a terminal full of location icons to the right of the entrance ramp near the Nexus.

You can maintain your appearance with the starting gear from a previously existing save file and even bring technology and cargo items to the Expedition. Creating an Expedition save file won’t affect your main one, so don’t worry about overwriting your main save file.

You can select up to eight Technology packages and 24 stacks of elements or junk that might be useful during your journey and avoid wasting time on collecting those elements. You won’t be carrying these items you selected right from the start, however. You need to reach the Anomaly while on the Expedition to be able to get them.

As you follow the Expedition achievements, you’ll eventually get access to the Anomaly. There, you just need to access the Expedition Terminus again and collect your items. You also have the option to make a copy of your starship and Multi-Tool from the main save to the expedition, but it will cost you some Nanites.

All the Bases and discoveries you make while on the Expedition will be shared with your main save once the Expedition is over. If you return to the main save file without finishing the Expedition, your progress will be paused and you can return at any time while the event is still live.

When in the main save, you can get the items you stored for the Expedition back at the same Expedition Terminus. If you liked the starship from the Expedition, you can bring it to your main save by making a copy of the starship from the expedition for some Nanites. The same goes for the Multi-Tool.


Now is the perfect time to test out starting an Expedition from a previous save file. Expedition 14, Liquidators, is now live in NMS as of July 24. Players will have six weeks to take down nasty bug enemies and earn the Insect armor suit to add to their collection.

Author
Image of Nádia Linhares
Nádia Linhares
Nádia is a Brazilian freelance writer who works for Dot since 2020. She has covered everything from Pokémon to FIFA. Video games are an essential part of her life, especially indie games and RPGs. You can catch her playing Overwatch in her spare time, but she writes better than she aims.