No Man’s Sky: How to Get the Race Initiator

How to Get the Race Initiator in No Man’s Sky

In Hello Games’ No Man’s Sky, you’re free to do virtually whatever the game allows you to do in its expansive, limitless universe. You can fly from galaxy to galaxy. You can build a home base. You can grow and harvest crops. Fight off space pirates. Trade goods. Build space freighters, and so much more. You can even race.

Not only can you race in No Man’s Sky, but you can also create your own races for other players to compete in as well. To do so, though, you’re going to have to get your hands on a Race Initiator.

In fact, it’s less about getting your hands on a Race Initiator and more about building one yourself.

First and foremost, what is a Race Initiator? Simply put, it’s an item you can build that allows you to create a race for you and others to compete in. Once you have one, you must place the Race Initiator at the starting point of what will soon become your race. From there, you’re going to have to actually chart your race. Once that’s complete, you’ve got yourself a race.

Sounds pretty cool, right? To build a Race Initiator, you’re first going to have to gather 200 units of Heridium, which can be easily found in most cave systems on planets throughout the universe. Next, you’re going to need a Voltaic Cell. There’s a few steps involved in obtaining one of these, though.

If you haven’t built a Science Terminal, you’re going to want to do that first. Upon doing so, you’ll find that the Scientist quest line is available. Complete this quest line and you’ll be rewarded with the Voltaic Cell blueprint. Once you have that, you’ll see that all you need to build a Voltaic Cell is 50 Marrow Bulbs. This material can be found in a glowing plant found in deep cave systems. Once you have 50 of these bulbs, build a Voltaic Cell and you’ll be one step closer to having everything you need to build a Race Initiator. The final material needed is a Non-Ferrous Plate. Sadly, Non-Ferrous Plates can’t be found naturally — they must be built. To build one of these plates, you’ll need 20 Marrow Bulbs and 50 Gamma Roots. Gamma Roots can be found in the roots of trees found on radioactive planets. After gathering these materials, build yourself a Non-Ferrous Plate.

With the final material needed built, you should have everything you need to build a Race Initiator. To open the Build Menu, press Z on your keyboard or up on the d-pad if you’re using a controller. With this menu open, find the Race Initiator, select it and find a good spot to build it — ideally, the spot you choose to build it is a space that would serve as the ideal starting point of a race. With this done, you’re now free to chart a race and challenge your friends to a race built completely by you.

For more on No Man’s Sky and its NEXT update, be sure to check out our wiki.