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The subject of this article is from the The Cursed update.
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 06 November, 2024. |
The information from this article is up-to-date as of 06 November, 2024.
Expedition Reward Patch/Decal
Expedition 16: The Cursed is the sixteenth expedition of No Man's Sky. It began on 23 October 2024, two days after the end of the fifteenth expedition and ran for approximately 2 weeks, until 6 November 2024. A repeat redux version of the expedition took place between 22 January 2025 and 12 February 2025.
Summary[]
A Halloween-themed expedition, the Cursed leans more into the cosmic horror and spooky aspects of No Man's Sky. In this expedition, the player will have to navigate a universe where the "boundaries between realities" are breaking down, leading to a variety of bizarre phenomena occurring.
The player must survive and navigate their way through the expedition to eventually seal the reality breach and repair the boundary collapse, all the while being plagued by eldritch beings from beyond this reality, haunted by visions, hearing strange voices and trying to maintain their sanity by replenishing their Anomaly Suppression.
Gameplay[]
This expedition takes place in a parallel dimension, in which all planets will operate differently from how they would normally. Instead of climate hazards such as hot, cold, toxic, or radiation, the player will instead face a single, but much more insidious threat: "the weakening of the boundaries of reality".
These worlds contain anomalous voices, which periodically appear on-screen, in the chat, and even aboard ships and stations in space.
Your Exosuit will be equipped with an Anomaly Suppressor which replaces the Hazard Protection. The suppressor's energy is indicated at the left corner of the screen as a purple gauge, which will slowly decrease. The severity of the boundary failure (and the strength of the associated distortions) is calculated in a measurement unit called "exB" and it replaces the temperature (°C/°F/°K), toxicity (Tox) and radiation (Rad) units and the higher it is, the faster your Anomaly Suppressor's energy reserve will be drained. Extreme climates and Storms still occur, which will increase the exB distortion value much higher and deplete the suppression much faster.
The anomaly suppression effectively operates as a "sanity meter"; the more it depletes, the more extreme and dizzying time dilation you experience: the day-night cycle appears to speed up ever faster. When the suppression fully depletes, the Exosuit's Shield will no longer recharge on its own and the day-night cycle will be accelerated to a rate of around one full day passing every five seconds.
Boundary Horrors will spawn if the suppression is below 80% and are initially passive. However, if the suppression is below 50%, these horrors become hostile, grow more numerous and start attacking the player using ink-splattering. If the suppression is below 20%, the horrors will start swarming in large numbers and launch ramming attacks which explode near the player, in addition to the ink-splattering. Both attacks decrease the suppression energy further.
To replenish the Anomaly Suppressor's energy, one must craft and drink Elixirs of Glass, while working towards crafting Elixirs of Blood to progress. The Anomaly Suppressor is also fully replenished when visiting a Space Station or the Space Anomaly. Building an Anomaly Seal and then activating and standing near it will also regenerate Anomaly Suppression.
Tip: Certain Elixirs that you craft are meant for drinking (Glass, Quicksilver, and Water) while others (Blood) only need to be present in your inventory, don't mix them up. Note that several different elixirs are named "Elixir of Blood ...", pay attention to the glyph afterwards to distinguish them, so you prepare the correct one.
The expedition does not provide you with a hyperdrive and expects you to only travel by way of portals (which are activated by using the correct Elixir of Blood). Without Hyperdrive, you are limited to the star systems that the portals take you to. You can capture a Sentinel Interceptor and use it, but you don't need to, as the reachable star systems have everything you need. You can return to previous systems using the Teleporter in the Space Station or Space Anomaly, although the star system of Phase 3 has no space station, so build a base there if you want to be able to return to it quickly.
Milestones & Rewards[]
Achieving each milestone results in substantial rewards in the form of Expedition Patches, Items, Blueprints, Exosuit, Starship Upgrades, Units, and Nanites.
Phase 1[]
Note: This section is under development.
| No | Badge | Milestone | Requirement | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
|
Out of Time | Seek shelter (Reach the Abandoned Building near your starship on planet [PLANET] in the [SYSTEM] system, then communicate with the console) |
|
| 2 | 
|
Elixir of Glass | Create the Elixir Craft and consume the Elixir of Glass from Di-hydrogen and Shattered Qualia |
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| 3 | 
|
Nowhere to Run | Leave the planet Repair your spaceship and leave the planet |
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| 4 | 
|
Ink-stained skies | Exorcise 16 Boundary Horrors |
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| 5 | 
|
Written in blood | Prepare the Elixir of Blood Craft the Elixir of Blood AA |
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| 6 | 
|
Dislocation | Reveal a Portal Craft and consume the Elixir of Quicksilver |
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| 7 | 
|
Beyond the Boundary | Breach the Portal Network Apply the Elixir of Blood AA at the portal, then travel through it |
|
| 8 | 
|
Phase 1 | Complete all milestones in Phase 1 |
|
Phase 2[]
Note: This section is under development.
| No | Badge | Milestone | Requirement | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 |
|
The Edge of Glass | Approach the boundary's limit Survive 180s while the Anomaly Suppressor is below 20% |
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| 10 |
|
Beyond Death | Collect 10 Fossils Find a planet with Natural Burial Site, then unearth 10 fossils |
|
| 11 |
|
Hewn From Light | Collected 5 Storm Crystals |
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| 12 |
|
Fear the Sun | Tunnelled 1,600 u3 |
|
| 13 |
|
Breach Two 44 | Entered the second portal Apply the Elixir of Blood 44 at a portal, then travel through it |
|
| 14 | 
|
Phase 2 | Complete all milestones in Phase 2 |
|
Phase 3[]
Note: This section is under development.
| No | Badge | Milestone | Requirement | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 15 |
|
Well Grounded | Explore 8,000u on foot |
|
| 16 |
|
Endless Hunger | Purge 8 Hungering Tendrils Find an infested planet, and destroy 8 Titan Worm Burrows |
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| 17 |
|
In Wine Dark Seas | Catch 4 anomalous fish Find an anomalous water planet (e.g. Tarum 17/E9) and catch a few fish |
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| 18 |
|
Serenity, reclaimed | Be calm Stare at the night sky for 60s |
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| 19 |
|
Breach Three 99 | Entered the third portal Apply the Elixir of Blood 99 at a portal, then travel through it Portal Address: 514BFC7844C |
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| 20 | 
|
Phase 3 | Complete all milestones in Phase 3 |
|
Phase 4[]
Note: This section is under development.
Small versus large corrupted sentinel quadruped (you need eight large ones)
| No | Badge | Milestone | Requirement | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 21 |
|
Discordant | Amass 256 Atlantideum Go to a dissonant planet (e.g. Tarum 17/E9) and destroy the purple crystals |
|
| 22 |
|
Metal Bones | Gather 600 Tainted Metal Buy a Emergency Broadcast Receiver from a Scrap Dealer at the Space Station, use it to find and loot a Derelict Freighter, then sell the crew logs for Tainted Metal from the Scrap Dealer |
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| 23 |
|
Genetic Glitch | Discover 2 exotic creatures Find an Biome - Exotic world, then land on it and scan 2 fauna using the Analysis Visor. |
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| 24 |
|
In Deep Water | Float 60s over the deep ocean Go to a water planet and swim on the surface in deep (>50u) water |
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| 25 |
|
Glassy Stare | Gather 4 Hypnotic Eyes Pluck 4 Hypnotic Eyes from underwater Abyssal Horrors raft the Elixir of Blood AA |
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| 26 |
|
Arachnophobia | Eliminate 8 Corrupt Quadrupeds Fight corrupted sentinels (found near Inverted Mirrors) on dissonant planets (e.g. Tarum 17/E9). The large quadrupeds will arrive from the third wave onwards. May create a nearby base with Anomaly Suppressor or use nearby shelters to help with the fight. |
|
| 27 | 
|
Breach Four BB | Breach the Portal Network Apply the Elixir of Blood BB at a portal, then travel through it |
|
| 28 | 
|
Phase 4 | Complete all milestones in Phase 4 |
|
Phase 5[]
Note: This section is under development.
| No | Badge | Milestone | Requirement | Rewards |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 |
|
Stone Ghosts | Discover 2 Ancient Ruins Buy Planetary Chart (ancient artifact site) and visit Ancient Plaques; digging chests at Ancient Ruins does not count |
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| 30 |
|
Ink-drenched Skies | Exorcise 64 Boundary Horrors (The 16 kill count from Ink-stained Skies is counted together.) |
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| 31 |
|
Reality Foam | Earn 4,200 Nanites Repair your spaceship and leave the planet |
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| 32 | 
|
Breach Five 00 | Enter the final Portal Apply the Elixir of Blood 00 at the portal, then travel through it |
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| 33 |
|
The Face of Glass | Probe the walls of reality Follow the squid marker to given coordinates, find the grave marker and interact with it |
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| 34 |
|
To Drink the Water | Brew the Elixir of Water Craft and consume the Elixir of Water (which spawns the Boundary Guardian |
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| 35 |
|
Boundary Guardian | Seal the reality breach Defeat the Boundary Guardian |
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| 36 | 
|
Phase 5 | Complete all milestones in Phase 5 |
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Completion[]
- Finishing the expedition results in the player being rewarded with the Boundary Herald Starship.
Gallery[]
Note: This section is under development.
Initial Set Up Sample[]
Phase 1[]
Phase 2[]
Phase 3[]
Phase 4[]
Phase 5[]
[]
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