No Man’s Sky – How the Wanted Level Works, Avoid the Sentinels

This article covers how to avoid Sentinels and how the wanted level works in No Man’s Sky. It’s important to understand how the wanted level system works in No Man’s Sky because if you ignore it, you could end up dying. Death comes at a price in this game, as you will lose items you’ve haven’t stowed and discoveries you haven’t uploaded if you die on a planet. If you die in space, you lose your ship as well as those discoveries.

Sentinels

The Sentinels are a robotic race that essentially represent the space police of No Man’s Sky. There are a number of different actions that can cause the Sentinels to attack you. While it’s possible to fend off the Sentinels, that won’t help much as it will just escalate matters and instead of the police, you’ll have the military after you. Not every planet is governed by the Sentinels. If you find a planet that the Sentinels aren’t watching, you can do whatever you like and it won’t increase your wanted level. It’s important to keep an eye on your wanted level so you don’t aggravate the wrong people.

Choose Your Play Style

You can play No Man’s a number of different ways. You can explore the galaxy as a peaceful trader, avoiding conflict of all kinds and not interfering with life on each planet you explore. If you see traders being attacked by pirates, you can save them to earn rewards and build allegiances. Playing the game in this manner will avoid the Sentinels, as well as the rival factions you encounter. However, even if you play as peacefully as possible, you can still be attacked by pirates, so watch your back at all times.

Alternatively, you can play the game by destroying plants and animals on planets, attacking peaceful traders and taking sides in faction wars. Some of these actions will actually help you out in the long run. For example, if you come across two factions at war you can pick a side and help that faction. In the future, that faction may come to your assistance if you’re being attacked by a rival faction or space pirates. However, the faction you attacked will remember your transgression and may attack you at a later time.

Wanted Level

Certain actions will increase your wanted level, which draws the attention of the Sentinels. The higher your wanted level, the more likely it is the Sentinels will attack. Lay low for a bit, running from the Sentinels and avoiding anything that would raise your wanted level, and it will gradually decline to the point where the Sentinels stop chasing you. For example, instead of attacking wildlife on planets, run from any animals that may attack, or try to scare them so they flee the area.

You can find more helpful information in our No Man’s Sky walkthrough and guide. For now, here are the main actions that can increase your wanted level. Avoid these and you won’t have to worry about the Sentinels.

• Mine a planet heavily to the point of draining the resources almost completely.
• Kill a lot of wildlife on a planet.
• Attack the Sentinels, even in self-defense.
• Attack peaceful traders and stealing their cargo.

As always, stay tuned to Prima Games for more No Man’s Sky content over the coming weeks!