NMS Desolation - How to explore and salvage dead freighters

A semi-detailed guide on how to explore and salvage the new abandoned freighters.

Chapter 1: The Beginning!

Hello! today I will explain how to get the most out of your new abandoned ships. Because I made a video demonstrating the actual exploration, looting and salvage (in the form of a guide/tutorial) I'll link it here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avL6kT2xegU

Lets start with the guide. The main thing you will need is at least 15 million credits. This money will go to the actual location of the freighters. From what I see, every time you buy a new decoder, the price doubles. The price starts from 5 million, to 10 million, 20 million etc.

Now, lets go over the basic ideas. Once you buy the decoder from the scrap dealer, activate it and pulse around.

Also, a word of note. Prices reset daily, and Helios (the guy in the space anomaly) will give you a free decoder every week.

(Thank you, Staris for telling me)

Chapter 2: Starting to Explore!

Before we start, make sure you stock up on Sodium. You will need this to charge your cold protection device. You can find lots of Sodium at the freighter, however, so it is not mandatory to grind them on planets.

Now, hop into your ship and exit pulse mode when it tells you to. In front of you there should be an ugly freighter, that is what you are looking for. Head to the landing pad and touch down. Abandoned freighters look like THIS:

Colours can vary, but they will generally look derelict. Besides, it even gives you a marker telling you to land on the freighter.

On your first trip there aren't many monsters or stupid turrets to kill you, so first-person is not a requirement. However, I do recommend you switch simply because it is much easier to see when you have the torch on in FPV.

Now, head to the "airlock". Along the way, you should see these little blue capsules. You can extract sodium and oxygen from these, so be sure to pick them up.

Once you arrive to the big door, head over to this computer. Once you turn it on, it should tell you to boot the gravity systems, anti alien systems etc. At the end of it, make sure you click "open airlock". An alarm will sound and the airlock will gradually open. Once you enter, immediately scan for hostile aliens/technology. If the coast is clear, walk through.

Now, turn on the heaters and read through any logs you find. You should also open the boxes that are scattered around (find them with the visor/scanner!) and collect any loot you find. Keep exploring the place. If you see any green space jellyfish, blast them with yer boltcaster.
The above is what you will see when opening the airlock.

Chapter 3: Dangers!

On your first run, there will be no enemies. On the second run, however, there will be a massive infestation of disgusting "nests" and some weird turrets.

If you encounter a nest (they hang from the ceiling and emit a heartbeat noise), walk past it if its not making any noises or moving. If it is moving, STAND STILL. If you do not, it will spawn these creatures that resemble biological horrors and they will try to kill you by shooting poison. Sometimes, the game will tell you to not move on a more alarming red title in the bottom-right of the screen. It will also tell you if the nest is asleep (safe), stirring (danger), or spawned (get ready to blast some monsters). They are actually pretty easy to hit with the Boltcaster if you have the scope, so use that if you can.

To deal with turrets, simply creep past them without touching the orange light they emit. If you do, they will shoot you. If you want to remove them quickly, use the plasma launcher.
This is an example of a turret.

Chapter 4: Getting really good loot!

Once you get to the bottom of the freighter, you will see a computer panel. Access it, and it will ask you what you want. By all means, get the storage bulkhead first. This will let you create as many storage spaces as you want in your freighter. (But, it will eventually stop you from expanding)

Now, use the teleporter next to it and respawn back at the airlock. By now, your pockets should be full of alien items that you can sell for a big amount of money. Once you get into your ship, you go to the space station and give your crew logs to the Guild or the Scrappers. This will reward you with Standing and nanites.

If you want to go after another one, simply talk to the scrapper and ask for new co ordinates.

Chapter 5: final words!

Thank you for reading my guide :)

If this helped you, let other people know about this so it can help them too.

I made some other guides! They are here:

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2112289404

https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2138249796

Also, let me remind you. Once you enter the freighter area DO NOT LEAVE. Logic makes it so you won't be able to find it again without some trickery.

Cya!

[Blade]

OK so who ever is tuning this pleas do updates.

[Dekkhan]

Finally, someone who actually writes a guide in steam guides instead of trying to push people to their youtube :) thanks boss

[pkrw07]

Well, you can get free signals from the space anomaly guy (mentioned in the guide) and that can help you out if stuff like that happens.. (also, that has happened to me multiple times before )

[michaeljeancn]

Do not leave? OMG, I just simply went out of it and cannot go back... What a idiot!
Seems I have to replay the whole bloody process one more time, right?

Anyway, thanks a lot for the solid guide, really helpful!

[pkrw07]

If you mean by "its not working" as in you do not get the end product (bulkhead, upgrade etc) then just restart the game. The update is new (not any patches yet ). I also recommend reporting the bug, because that will probably be addressed in the next patch.

[Makasinui]

I search freighter about ~30 minutes, and it's not working, so what I should do?

[pkrw07]

Yes, you can get a multitude of things if you choose the upgrade module path.

These can range from upgrades that improve fuel usage for your frigates, to upgrades for certain frigate missions (mining, exploration etc) that can have a multitude of effects.

And yes, if you extract any more bulkheads, they basically become useless. Also, quick question:
Does freighter class matter anymore (excluding Hyperdrive)

[Maximum Balling]

Solid guide, but I did encounter turrets and infestation sacks on my first freighter.

A little more detail such as images of the heaters, sodium capsules, and how to handle the pulsing infestation sacks would be nice addition. On the one freighter I have explored, I had to acquire some credentials to access some of the logs. I'm guessing that's standard for all of them. Don't forget to turn on the teleportation network as you explore!. Guessing you could portal out if things get nasty, but it wasn't necessary for me.

Does anyone know the different awards available from the terminal at the end? I chose the storage bulkhead.

[pkrw07]

The video is now published !

[pkrw07]

Ouch