No Man’s Sky update 4.4 “Echoes” adds freighter-to-freighter combat, sentient robots, more

Hello Games has announced and released No Man’s Sky update 4.4 “Echoes”, bringing with it freighter to freighter combat, sentient robots, and more.

Here’s a rundown on the update, plus a new trailer:

ECHOES: INTRODUCING UPDATE 4.4

Meet a secret society of robotic aliens in update 4.4, ECHOES! Furthering the narrative introduced in INTERCEPTOR, explore the mysteries of the Autophage, perform their rituals, learn their language, and assemble your own ceremonial staff. In deep space, confront huge outlaw dreadnoughts, sweep through their trenches and destroy vulnerable components in new tactical space combat – and much more!

MECHANICAL LIFEFORMS

Uncover the Autophage, a long-hidden civilisation of robotic beings. With bodies cobbled together from scrap metal and salvaged technology, these wandering constructs appear in a huge variety of styles – from slender pipe-wrought robots to hefty cloth-draped machines.

OUTLAW CAPITAL SHIPS

In the darkness of deep space, fearsome Pirate Dreadnoughts cruise between the stars and terrorise merchant fleets. Confront them to rescue the civilians from certain death!

MULTI-TOOL SALVAGING

Become a Multi-Tool salvage hunter with the new Multi-Tool Decommissioning Terminal aboard the Space Anomaly. Refine your collection and earn valuable upgrades and salvage material by dismantling surplus weaponry.

THEY WHO RETURNED

Join minds with Priest Entity Nada to investigate, meet, and perhaps befriend the mysterious robotic Autophage. A guided mission chain brings many hours of narrative and adventure, exploring the origin of these secretive constructs and what it means for the universe as a whole.

FOVEATED RENDERING FOR PSVR2

Utilising eye-tracking technology, this advanced rendering technique boosts resolution and detail at the centre of your vision, sharpening and beautifying the things you focus on.

STARSHIP COMBAT DEPTH

Maximise your starship’s capabilities by diverting power to engines, shields, or weapons – depending on your current combat situation. Supercharge your engines to close in on your enemies at top speed, then obliterate them with max-powered weapons!

TRENCH RUN

Even the odds against outlaw Dreadnoughts by swooping directly into their superstructure! Utilise all the precision and agility of your starship to strike at the vulnerable core of these huge, hulking capital ships.

VOYAGERS EXPEDITION

Explore the universe and catalogue its marvels in the VOYAGERS expedition. Seek the deepest oceans, tallest mountains, most idyllic planets and strangest alien creatures, and record your findings for unique exotic rewards.

EXCLUSIVE EXPEDITION REWARDS

Participate in the Voyagers expedition to earn a generous assortment of exclusive rewards. Decorate your base with Autophage replica parts as well as a poster set befitting a seasoned explorer, adorn your companions with mechanical paws, electrify your jetpack trail, and travel the universe alongside the wilful HoverDroid companion.

ATLANTID MULTI-TOOL

Expand your arsenal with the new Atlantid class of Multi-Tool, available in hundreds of variations. Probe the secrets of ancient monoliths to find and claim this runic, nanite-infused technology.

HOLOGRAPHIC MUSEUM

Construct a Wonder Projector display in your base and showcase your favourite fauna, flora, and celestial body Discoveries. In addition, planetary Wonders now track and display the Portal Glyphs for their location, allowing quick return to your most remarkable discoveries.

DESTRUCTIBLE FREIGHTERS

Realise your raiding ambitions with explosive space combat. All capital ships – from outlaw dreadnoughts to merchant freighters – can now be reduced to stardust, allowing piratical pilots to earn additional scrap after looting each and every cargo pod. A brand-new combat HUD tracks the hull integrity of large vessels, allowing starship pilots to plan their attacks with precision.

ROBOTIC CUSTOMISATION

Engage in assignments and rituals for the Autophage to earn a huge array of mechanical customisation parts. Assemble the pieces to create your own robotic avatar. These new armour and cloth pieces can be mixed and matched with all existing armour sets, creating a vast array of potential new looks.

PRECISION FREIGHTER COMBAT

Tactical space combatants can target individual freighter modules to eliminate defences and sabotage weaponry. Destroy generators to disrupt shields, cripple engines to prevent warps to safety, and eradicate artillery turrets to protect merchant vessels.

AUTOPHAGE MEDALS

Establish and build a reputation with the robotic Autophage faction by completing their missions and learning their language. Create an impression to earn exclusive honorary titles.

VOLTAIC STAFF

A traditional ceremonial piece, the Voltaic Staff is a new class of two-handed Multi-Tool. Its construction is a rite of passage for many Autophage, symbolising a pilgrimage across realities.

OUTLAW REPUTATION

Smuggle, loot, and raid your way through the galaxies to impress the outlaws of the universe. Achieve milestones, earn medals and acquire exclusive titles for your nefarious activities.

CAPES ON SWITCH

Cape customisations have been enabled for players on Nintendo Switch, and all Travellers adopting a Vy’keen appearance may also now don capes.

PIRATE FRIGATES

Destroying the outlaw dreadnought will leave its support fleet desperate and vulnerable. Recruit these survivors to add pirate frigates to your fleet! These sleek and intimidating crafts are certain to strike fear into the hearts of enemies on combat-focused fleet expeditions.

AUTOPHAGE VISIONS

Infuse ancient Korvax monoliths with the mysterious Atlantideum to access an unseen story. Interface with these dissonant structures to experience the minds and history of the Autophage through a surreal series of visions.

NINTENDO SWITCH VISUAL IMPROVEMENTS

A highly customised version of AMD FidelityFX™ Super Resolution 2 (FSR 2), tailored specifically for No Man’s Sky on Switch, now provides higher image quality for Switch players. This temporal upscaling technology has been combined with dynamic resolution scaling to offer not only a boost to visual quality, but also improved and smoother framerates. Learn more about FSR 2 on the AMD site.

DAZZLING JETPACK TRAILS

The Quicksilver Synthesis Bot has been inspired to synthesise a collection of lavish new jetpack trails – ranging from dazzling clouds of ionised matter to a playful explosion of rainbow confetti. Coming soon to the Space Anomaly!

AUTOPHAGE ASSIGNMENTS

Travellers wishing to elevate their status among the Constructs – and earn unique rewards – can undertake procedurally-generated missions for the Autophage, tailored to the specific conditions of their home planet.

A UNIVERSAL SECRET

Cloaked Autophage encampments can be found across all inhabited planets, for Travellers who know where to look. Using Autophage scan technology to sweep near sites rich in salvageable material – such as freighter crashes or damaged machinery – can often reveal hidden Constructs.

REBUILT EXOSUIT MODULES

Constructed by the Autophage, these improvised upgrade packages are engineered from salvaged and repurposed technology. Autophage Synthesis Terminals will dispense these unpredictable but potent modules in exchange for precious Void Motes.

NO ESCAPE FOR THE WICKED

If critically-damaged, outlaw Dreadnoughts may attempt to flee the battlefield by warping to safety. Those who wish total destruction upon the pirates will have to target the vessel’s colossal warp engines and force the Dreadnought to meet its fate…

AUTOPHAGE LANGUAGE

The Autophage communicate in a unique, visually distinct language. Expand your alien vocabulary with hundreds of new words to learn.

COLOSSAL SPACE CANNONS

Pirate fleets bring a range of new and exotic weaponry to their raids. The massive heat cannons mounted to the Dreadnought tear through even the strongest freighter shielding, while the supporting pirate frigates release waves of deadly torpedoes upon merchant capital ships. Intercept and destroy these slow-moving missiles with your starship before they wreak terrible damage upon innocent freighters!

TWITCH DROPS

Enjoy streams of No Man’s Sky on Twitch to earn redeemable in-game rewards. Sign up and link your platform accounts on the Twitch Drops page, then tune in to Twitch to earn exotic base parts, high-tech starships, companion accessories, appearance modifications, and more!

Launch the Echoes update and visit the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion aboard the Space Anomaly to claim your earned Twitch rewards.

FREIGHTER SHIELDS

All capital ships now activate anti-spacecraft shielding, protecting themselves from projectile and laser fire. Would-be raiders will need to think tactically or fly low to disable or bypass the shields and damage the hull beneath.

PERSONAL REFINER UPGRADES

A compact extension to the Exosuit, the Personal Refiner Mk 2 provides Travellers with dual-input refining capability, accessible directly from the Exosuit interface. This advanced new technology is available to research aboard the Space Anomaly.

CREATE YOUR OWN STAFF

As part of ancient Autophage rituals, each Construct must hand-build their staff. Travellers can seek out and salvage a vast array of individual components, allowing them to assemble their own unique Multi-Tool.