Autophage

The subject of this article is from the Worlds Part I update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 3 September, 2024.

Autophage (head only)

Autophage are a secondary species in the No Man's Sky universe.

Summary

Autophage are a faction of sentient alien species. These beings, long forgotten, were Korvax entities disconnected from the Convergence. Atlantideum, a strange substance that emanates from the depths of dissonant worlds, allowed the disconnected Korvax Echoes (in other words their minds) to escape from nothingness and undertake a long process of rebuilding an envelope.

These beings have established camps across the universe. The quest They Who Returned allows you to establish contact with this species and obtain the Polyphonic Core for the Multi-Tool, which will reveal the locations of their camps.

For the quest They Who Returned to be able to be started, it is necessary to have completed the whole Storyline (The Purge) and to have broken the seal of a Harmonic Camp at least once. Before fulfilling these prerequisites, the only contact with the Autophage is at Harmonic Scrap sites which are found next to crashed Interceptors, Harmonic Camps, and randomly on Dissonant Planets.

Appearance

Although no longer considering themselves Korvax, the Autophage are robotic beings, adopting quite varied forms. Their shell is more artisanal, often made up of rusty components, and sometimes covered with fabric clothing.

The Autophage seem to use any materials at their disposal to make their shell; it is unknown how precisely they pass from the stage of a spirit without a body to a physical entity capable of making a shell, and thus how they move and interact with their environment. Some Autophage use Sentinel debris to build their shells.

Origin

The Autophage were once Korvax entities, which have since become disconnected from the collective consciousness that is the Korvax Convergence. Their disconnection is usually a deliberate act by the Korvax to purge divergent entities, although the destruction of the Korvax shell (body) in some cataclysmic event could also be a potential cause of disconnection.

Disconnection constitutes a state in which the Korvax Echoes is no longer connected to an envelope, and therefore no longer has a physical body. The Korvax then find themselves in a place designated as "void", potentially for eternity.

Fragment of a New Atlantid, a known origin, probably

Atlantideum is a resource of unknown origin, probably linked to Atlantid (also known as Void Mother or The Abyss), and plays a key role. This substance, for unknown reasons, began to emanate from the heart of planets, carrying with it disconnected echoes which then managed, in one way or another, to rebuild a shell.

These entities are now called Autophage, they often refer to organic life forms as "prebuilt entities" or "self-constructed entities" (in the sense that the growth of an organic entity occurs passively). The Autophage appear to continue to reject the Convergence, and decide to remain unseen through cloaking abilities, potentially to avoid being disconnected by the Korvax again.

Society

A player holding a Voltatic Staff

The society of the Autophage appears less evolved than that of the dominant species; they group together in small camps scattered throughout the inhabited star systems, whether they are inhabited by the Korvax, the Gek or the Vy'keen. They use cloaking technology that makes them invisible, requiring installation of the Scan Harmoniser or Polyphonic Core technologies on Multi-tools to detect their encampments and make the Autophage inhabiting them visible.

In their society, the construction of the Voltaic Staff is an important rite, symbolizing the completion of reconstruction and acceptance among the Autophage. The staff is an atypical form of Multi-Tool that more closely resembles a scepter. Autophage seem quite friendly yet discreet. Despite preferring to remain hidden, they seem to accept contact with Travellers as well.

The Autophage seem to hate the Korvax, whom they consider arrogant. Probably the Autophage have a strong resentment towards those who once disconnected them from the Convergence and condemned them to subsist in the void for a period approaching eternity. They have a strong but unclear connection to the Void Mother, whose nature remains an enigma so far.

Interaction

Having begun the They Who Returned questline is necessary to make contact with the Autophage; this in turn requires having completed the Artemis Path Storyline and having broken the seal of a Harmonic Camp.

Autophage Camps

Autophage Camps are built around some "abandoned" points of interest common on the surface of planets, such as Drop Pods, Beacons, Ancient Ruins containing plaques and Crashed Freighters. The Polyphonic Core allows for a long-range scan to pinpoint the location of a camp (this requires recharging the technology with Atlantideum and then clicking on the technology to initiate the scan). Once there, the camp is invisible and a local scan of the area is necessary to reveal the camp. If you do not have the Polyphonic Core or Scan Harmoniser, you will not be able to reveal the camp.

Each camp is inhabited by a small group of Autophage (generally between 3 and 6), with Crashed Freighters having up to 8 inhabitants. Each of them offers missions allowing you to obtain Void Motes, a substance used as currency with the Autophage, which allows the purchase of different products from Autophage Synthesis Terminals and Harmonic Interfaces. Camps found on Dead or Exotic biomes will have a terminal and infrastructure, but will be abandoned. Conversely, camps located on Ancient Ruins will be populated but won't have any infrastructure or terminal.

Language and reputation

The Autophage species constitutes a faction, and as such the player can gain (or lose) reputation with them. To gain reputation, it is possible to complete the missions they offer, or offer them gifts by interacting with them in the camps.

The Autophage have their own language, some of the words of which are learned during the They Who Returned questline. The rest can be learned either at Korvax monoliths hijacked via Atlantideum, as rewards from Autophage missions, or by practising the language with them. The Autophage language has the particularity that when it is not understood, it is written entirely in Greek letters, and not in Latin letters like other languages.

Release History

• Echoes - Introduced as an alien species.