No Man’s Sky: How to Get Resources Using the Multi-Tool

How to Get Resources – No Man’s Sky

Gathering resources is an integral part of No Man’s Sky’s gameplay. You’ll need different materials to upgrade your ship, suit, and Multi-Tool in order to traverse new areas and travel much further (as well as leave the very first planet you start on). Thankfully, getting resources is a simple task in the game, so you shouldn’t have any trouble.

Pressing R2 (or RT if you’re using an Xbox Controller to play No Man’s Sky on PC) will bring up your Multi-Tool. Holding it will fire a blast that will destroy whatever you’re looking at, providing you with its raw materials (which are collected automatically by moving close enough). If you want to know what resources you’ll get from any given item, simply look at it. A display will come up showing its durability (think life-bar), name, and what resource you’ll get.

Do keep in mind that your starting beam isn’t powerful enough to destroy everything in No Man’s Sky, and that it can overheat. There’s a bar on the upper right hand corner that fills up as you fire. Pause when it reaches full so it can cool down really quickly. Also, make sure to upgrade your Multi-Tool whenever you get the chance, that way you’ll be able to collect much more powerful materials later on.

You can also gain materials from certain sources, usually plants, by interacting with them. This is done with Square/”X”. And, if the item is weak enough, you can melee by using R1/RB to deal enough damage and break it.

Need more help with No Man’s Sky? Check out our robust wiki full of guides and tips!