No Man's Sky Frigates: How to Get, Fuel, Level Up, and Repair Frigates

Frigates are a new type of ship in No Man’s Sky that adds a whole new system to the game. Starting with the NEXT update, you can command a fleet of small capital ships called frigates. These ships can be sent on missions to get resources and Units for the player, but they take damage and can be destroyed. They also use Frigate Fuel, a resource you’ll need to craft or purchase. Below we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to get frigates in No Man’s Sky and how to use, level up, and repair them.

How to Get Frigates in No Man’s Sky

Before you can start commanding a fleet of frigates, you need to get your first freighter. To get a freighter, you need to repair your first ship and be capable of warping. It’s not known what the exact trigger is, but when you warp into the third or so system, you’ll find a freighter under attack. Destroy the pirates harassing it, and the captain will give you the freighter.

When you get your initial freighter, it will come with a small fleet of one or more frigates. Like freighters and personal starships, frigates come in several different grades, C being the lowest, and S being the highest. Your first frigate will almost assuredly be a C class, but you can scope out better ones right off the bat.

How to Buy Frigates in No Man’s Sky

Once you unlock your first frigate, you’ll start noticing a green ship icon as you get close to convoys of ships flying through a star system. If you close in on the vessel marked with this icon you can activate your communication system and offer to purchase them. This is how you get new frigates, and it works similarly to how you buy freighters or personal ships.

How to get Frigate Fuel in No Man’s Sky

Frigate Fuel is expended to send your frigates on missions in No Man’s Sky. When you acquire your first freighter, you’ll be given a secondary mission titled “Freighter Command.” This quest tasks you to build the Fleet Command Room and walks you through the process of dispatching frigates. When you use the Fleet Command Terminal for the first time, you’ll get the blueprints for three varieties of Frigate Fuel.

The three types of Frigate Fuel you can craft are:

Frigate Fuel (50 Tonnes)
- Di-hydrogen x50
- Tritium x50
Frigate Fuel (100 Tonnes)
- Di-hydrogen x100
- Tritium x100
Frigate Fuel (200 Tonnes)
- Di-hydrogen x200
- Tritium x200

The only difference between the three recipes is the amount crafted at one time. When sending frigates on expeditions, you’ll have to make sure you have enough fuel first. Fortunately, Di-hydrogen and Tritium are relatively common elements, so you shouldn’t have much trouble keeping a steady supply of Frigate Fuel.

How to Use Frigates in No Man’s Sky and What They Do

Before you can start putting your frigates to work you need to build a Fleet Command Room. The materials required to craft it can be found by blowing up asteroids. Once it’s made, you can start sending your frigates on missions by talking to your freighter navigator. Each expedition has a star rating that indicates difficulty, and you’ll want to make sure the fleet you send has a star rating equal to or higher to that of the mission.

Once you send your frigates out, you can check on their progress using the Fleet Command Room. It takes a certain amount of real time for frigates to complete a mission so you’ll have to wait to get the full results. Once they return, you can debrief the captain, and they’ll let you know how the mission went. If they were successful in your endeavors, then you’ll get resources and units. If they weren’t, you’ll likely need to repair them.

How to Repair Frigates in No Man’s Sky

If a frigate runs into trouble, its captain will hail you, and you’ll need to go back to the Fleet Command Room and recall it. Once it returns to your fleet, you’ll need to repair it so that it can take on new missions.

To repair a frigate in No Man’s Sky you need to hop in your personal spaceship and fly over to it. When you get close, you’ll see an indicator where the ship’s landing pads are. When you land the captain of the frigate will contact you and let you know which components need to be repaired. You’ll need to head over to the components and see which materials you need to make repairs.

Once you repair the frigate, it’ll be ready to go once more, and you can send it out on another expedition.

How to Level up Frigates in No Man’s Sky

Frigates are the only type of ship that can be leveled up. Unlike freighters or personal ships, you can raise a C class frigate all the way up to S class by sending it on expeditions.

To level your frigate up in No Man’s Sky just keep sending it on expeditions, and it’ll eventually hit the next tier. The harder the mission, the higher the frigate will level up.

More No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is an epic science fiction adventure set across an infinite universe, in which every star is the light of a distant sun, orbited by planets filled with life – each yours to visit. Explore never before seen worlds and trade, fight and survive on a galactic scale.

EXPLORE THE UNKNOWN

Explore uncharted solar systems and catalogue unique new forms of life. Every planet’s landscape is different from the next and populated by species never before encountered.

SURVIVE ON A DANGEROUS FRONTIER

Every solar system, planet, ocean and cave is filled with danger, and you are vulnerable. Battle attack ships, fend off dangerous predators, and survive in hazardous environments. Every encounter will test your skills to the limit.

PREPARE FOR AN EPIC JOURNEY

How you play No Man’s Sky is up to you, but you shouldn’t take your voyage lightly. Collect precious resources on the surfaces of planets, trade them with alien races and build the equipment that will take you to your destiny in the stars.