Shut Down Sentinels

[Badger]

Hi all
Playing on the PS4 I came accross a Sentinel Pillar. I didn’t know what it was, but investigating I realised I could shut down the Sentinels in the area.
It’s left me with two questions though, which I hoped you night be able to shed light on.
1/ A message told me I had killed 5 Sentinels. But try as I might I could only find two pods. I tried this twice with the sane result.
2/ I’m not great at the combat and I hoped this discovery might be a way to get the Pugmion (sp?) I need, without a gunfight. But on each occasion I tried, the pods didn’t contain any. (Though there were other things inside.) Do you not get that drop from disabled drones?

Thanks Travellers
Badger

[wkitty42]

this wiki page may be helpful... https://nomanssky.fandom.com/wiki/Pugneum
especially the part about how you can refine something to get Pugneum...

[Calico-Jack]

You get Pugneum much in the way you get meat from living creatures, on death it gets sucked towards you. The canisters are combat supplies - ammo and shield boosts along with certain crafting components -
check the loot table here
https://nomanssky.fandom.com/wiki/Sentinel

[deetos]

If I remember correctly you will not get Pungeum for shutting down the sentinels and they only drop the containers

[smurfy]

At each Pillar there are 3 smaller towers that will yield Pugneum when you destroy them. This can be done after you use the terminal to disable the Hardframe and 1 or 2 normal flyers and the couple of mini-healers.
The mini-healers count as kills but don't drop Combat Supplies barrels.

After disabling sentinels, whenever you get within ping distance (400U) of another Sentinel , it will be insta-killed and they'll drop their combat supplies to collect. So flying over Supply Depots, Manufacturing Facilities/Ops Centers or other Pillars (and Resonators on Dissonant planets) will increase your Sentinel kill count very quickly.

The amnesty will last on that planet until you quit and reload the save, or leave the solar system (via warp, portal or teleport).

[taniwhat]

Once you've shut down the pillar you'll auto-kill any sentinels on that world when you cross paths with them. The exocraft have scanners that will locate sentinel depots and secure buildings, both of which have sentinel guardians.

Hop around all the space stations collecting kill xxx sentinels and picking up the drops can be quite a good get rich scheme early game.

Note though, on worlds with more aggressive sentinels those pillars will not be shut down without a fight.

[dreamrider]

@Smurfy:
* "... or leave the planet, for more than a sub-orbital jaunt."

Also,
I believe that the reason that is says 5 kills when you scavenge Pillar after disabling the Sentinels on a planet is that the kill tracker counts the 3 smaller towers around the Pillar when you blow them up. I'm not entirely sure on that, but you certainly DO receive dropped materials and tech awards similar to picking up a green funereal capsule when you destroy each of them.

My preferred method to shut down Sentinels is to win a 5-wave battle. That way I will get Walker kill credit with the Mercenaries Guild, and I can collect Walker brains, Hardframe bodies, and most especially Quad Servos for their several later game uses. AFAIK, other than the occasional unpredictable gift/reward, it is the ONLY source of Quad Servos, which are the most useful on a continuing basis.

However, my 2nd, and easier, preferred method to tackle planetary Sentinels ...
... is to actually LAND my ship ON or JUST TO THE LEFT OF the Pillar Interface Platform. Hop out and immediately activate the Interface and shut down all Sentinels. Ignore any guardians or incoming fire; you're going to defeat them enmass at the computer station. 2 or 3 clicks.
(Actually, it is a quite perfect in-story action to manage them; it is subtly within the bounds of the backstory and brilliant.)

[smurfy]

Originally posted by dreamrider:

@Smurfy:
* "... or leave the planet, for more than a sub-orbital jaunt."

Also,
I believe that the reason that is says 5 kills when you scavenge Pillar after disabling the Sentinels on a planet is that the kill tracker counts the 3 smaller towers around the Pillar when you blow them up. I'm not entirely sure on that, but you certainly DO receive dropped materials and tech awards similar to picking up a green funereal capsule when you destroy each of them.

Wrong on both counts.
You can freely leave the planet, even teleport to other bases, station or freighter as long as they are within that system and the amnesty remains in force when you return.

You can use the terminal before touching the Pillar Control Nodes (unless you are doing the Sentinel Pillar Nexus mission). Having an active Mission Agent or Autphage "Kill x number of Sentinels" mission will show the count immediately with the Pillar Control Nodes still standing. You can then freely take out the nodes which can give up Nanites, Pugneum and Salvaged Glass.

[dreamrider]

OK. Thanks.

[smurfy]

I tend to fluctuate between using a Pillar map and taking out the 5 waves, depending on whether I'm in the mood for some combat.

Originally posted by dreamrider:

... AFAIK, other than the occasional unpredictable gift/reward, it is the ONLY source of Quad Servos, which are the most useful on a continuing basis....

I have a Pacifist save that's a couple of hundred hours old. Has never fired a shot except to break doors to Ops Centers/Manufacturing Facilities. Has no starship kills. Pillar maps can be found in Buried Caches right from the start of a game.

The Pacifist has a huge stack of Walker Brains, Hardframes and Quad Servos (and the Dissonant equivalents) mainly from using a Pillar then finding their Combat Supplies barrels at Ops Centers and Supply Depots. Servos can definitely be found in their blue barrels at Ops Centers after you have used a pillar.

Of course, I also check every Autophage Dissonant Scrap pile too, because they can give up 10 brains or 10 servos at a time.

[dreamrider]

There is a non-combat barrel / other container that yields a Walker Brain?? Or is that ONLY from the Autophage sites?

(I also accept all wave-battles I can currently because I am trying to max the Mercenary medals, and one of them is Walkers Killed. I'm at 9 so far this PT - around 100 hours.)

[smurfy]

Originally posted by dreamrider:

There is a non-combat barrel / other container that yields a Walker Brain?? Or is that ONLY from the Autophage sites?

(I also accept all wave-battles I can currently because I am trying to max the Mercenary medals, and one of them is Walkers Killed. I'm at 9 so far this PT - around 100 hours.)

Sorry, that post was disjointed as it took a few edit attempts.
No, IME, walker brains don't drop from any containers other than Walker corpses and Autophage Scrap. Sleeping Walkers can still be encountered at POIs at 0 wanted status, but they are extremely rare outside of scripted missions (can't be 100% sure but I think the "Raid a Depot" Nexus mission is one than can have a walker stationed at the clue site).
Of course, the brains can still be obtained by other means (i.e. mission rewards) but they are normally combat-focused missions.

[Zoran]

Originally posted by smurfy:

Of course, I also check every Autophage Dissonant Scrap pile too, because they can give up 10 brains or 10 servos at a time.

Good to know.

Suspicious Packet (Goods) can also have brains.

[Shadow Strider]

Originally posted by dreamrider:

There is a non-combat barrel / other container that yields a Walker Brain?? Or is that ONLY from the Autophage sites?

(I also accept all wave-battles I can currently because I am trying to max the Mercenary medals, and one of them is Walkers Killed. I'm at 9 so far this PT - around 100 hours.)

If you want to pass this milestone quickly, or just want the loot (savlaged glass drops a range of stuff that earns good units and tech that earns good nanites), then:
After you clear wave 5 and disable the sentinels, save and reload and they will no longer be disabled, so you can start the fight again straight away ;)

[dreamrider]

Originally posted by Shadow Strider:

Originally posted by dreamrider:

There is a non-combat barrel / other container that yields a Walker Brain?? Or is that ONLY from the Autophage sites?

(I also accept all wave-battles I can currently because I am trying to max the Mercenary medals, and one of them is Walkers Killed. I'm at 9 so far this PT - around 100 hours.)

If you want to pass this milestone quickly, or just want the loot (savlaged glass drops a range of stuff that earns good units and tech that earns good nanites), then:
After you clear wave 5 and disable the sentinels, save and reload and they will no longer be disabled, so you can start the fight again straight away ;)

But then I would be cheating on my play experience. Not something I do.
It's about the journey, not the parking lot at the far end.

Besides, I virtually never use Pillar maps. I've got a stack of them. Also, I landmark all of the Mfg Ctrs I find, because in a long game they reset. Lots more MT expanders and, if you still need them, BP's. But it also means that I can start a wave battle, with excellent cover, any time I want. Without save scumming.

[Shadow Strider]

Originally posted by dreamrider:

Originally posted by Shadow Strider:

If you want to pass this milestone quickly, or just want the loot (savlaged glass drops a range of stuff that earns good units and tech that earns good nanites), then:
After you clear wave 5 and disable the sentinels, save and reload and they will no longer be disabled, so you can start the fight again straight away ;)

But then I would be cheating on my play experience. Not something I do.
It's about the journey, not the parking lot at the far end.

Besides, I virtually never use Pillar maps. I've got a stack of them. Also, I landmark all of the Mfg Ctrs I find, because in a long game they reset. Lots more MT expanders and, if you still need them, BP's. But it also means that I can start a wave battle, with excellent cover, any time I want. Without save scumming.

Fair enough, if you feel like you are cheating then don't do it ;)
It's a solo game in practice though and there is no competitive aspect, so you are only "cheating" yourself.
It's not something I do either... I almost never run away from fights in NMS, so I get enough battles that I feel no need for reloading to make progress. Just thought it was worth letting you know it was possible ;)