Part of the Exocraft Series:
- No Man's Sky Exocraft Guide: All six vehicles, summoning and shared upgrades (Start Here).
- Underwater Exploration Guide: What is down there and how to survive it.
- Minotaur Guide: The mech, for hostile surface conditions.
Quick Answer
- The Nautilon is the submarine, and the only Exocraft designed for underwater use.
- Its blueprint is the odd one out: you get it from Manufacturing Facilities and Operations Centres, not the Space Anomaly.
- It runs on a Humboldt Drive fuelled by Hydrothermal Fuel Cells, not the standard Exocraft fuel — plan for that before your first dive.
- It removes the underwater oxygen problem entirely. No Aeration Membrane management while you are inside it.
- Its real purpose is reaching Abyssal Horrors, sunken ruins and deep-sea resources that are impractical to swim to.
- The Nautilon Cannon handles hostile sea life; the High-Power Sonar is what actually finds things.
- Underwater is where Living Water and rare deep resources live, so the Nautilon pays for itself on ocean worlds.
Overview
Underwater in No Man's Sky is a genuinely separate biome with its own structures, resources and hazards, and swimming through it is miserable. Oxygen drains, movement is slow, and the interesting things are deep.
The Nautilon fixes all three at once, which is why it is the one Exocraft that is not optional if you intend to engage with ocean planets at all. It is also the one people fail to unlock, because it does not come from the same place as the others.
How to Unlock the Nautilon
The Nautilon blueprint comes from Manufacturing Facilities and Operations Centres, not the Construction Research Station where you buy every other Exocraft.
The process:
- Find a Manufacturing Facility or Operations Centre. The manufacturing facilities guide covers locating them and solving the door puzzles.
- Complete the facility and take the blueprint reward. Rewards are drawn from a pool, so this may take several facilities.
- Build the Nautilon Chamber — the Nautilon's equivalent of a Geobay — at a base.
Because the reward is pooled rather than guaranteed, expect to clear a handful of facilities. Farming facilities is worthwhile anyway: they are also where a great deal of useful crafting blueprints come from.
As with every Exocraft, unlocking the Exocraft Summoning Station lets you call it anywhere rather than returning to the chamber.
Fuel: The Part That Catches People Out
The Nautilon does not use standard Exocraft fuel. It uses a Humboldt Drive, powered by Hydrothermal Fuel Cells.
This matters practically:
- Craft Hydrothermal Fuel Cells before your first dive. Arriving at an ocean planet with a Nautilon and no fuel is a wasted trip.
- Keep a stock in the Nautilon's own inventory rather than your Exosuit, so refuelling does not require surfacing.
- The crafting and refining guide covers the production chain.
Budget for this the same way you budget launch fuel — it is a consumable that gates the activity.
What the Nautilon Is Actually For
Three things, in order of value:
1. Oxygen is no longer a timer. Inside the Nautilon you are not swimming, so the underwater life-support drain does not apply. Deep exploration stops being a series of panicked surface runs.
2. Reaching the deep structures. Sunken ruins, crashed freighters on the seabed and the deepest resource deposits sit below comfortable swimming depth. The Nautilon gets you there and back.
3. Surviving the wildlife. Abyssal Horrors and hostile sea predators are a real threat to a swimmer and a manageable one to a submarine with a cannon.
Underwater is also where several resources concentrate that are awkward to source elsewhere, which the underwater exploration guide covers in detail. If you have an ocean-world base, the Nautilon is infrastructure rather than a toy.
Upgrades Worth Installing
| Upgrade | Why |
|---|---|
| High-Power Sonar | The most useful upgrade on the vehicle. Finds structures and points of interest you would otherwise swim past. |
| Nautilon Cannon | Deals with Abyssal Horrors and hostile fauna. Not optional on deep dives. |
| Humboldt Drive upgrades | Speed and handling. Underwater traversal is slow by default. |
| Osmotic Generator | Passive resource generation while submerged. |
Inventory: like every Exocraft, the Nautilon's inventory is fixed and cannot be expanded. Plan hauls around what it holds rather than expecting to add slots.
Nautilon and Fishing
The fishing system is surface-based — you fish from a boat position or shoreline, not from inside the Nautilon. The two systems do not directly interact.
Where they do overlap is logistics: the Nautilon makes ocean planets somewhere you can comfortably base yourself, and a base on an ocean world makes sustained fishing practical. Treat them as complementary rather than connected.
FAQ
Where do I get the Nautilon blueprint?
From Manufacturing Facilities and Operations Centres, not the Space Anomaly. Rewards are drawn from a pool, so expect to clear several before it appears.
What fuel does the Nautilon use?
Hydrothermal Fuel Cells, powering its Humboldt Drive. It does not use standard Exocraft fuel — craft cells before you dive.
Do I still need an Aeration Membrane?
Not while you are inside the Nautilon. You will want oxygen support for any time spent outside it, so keep the Exosuit underwater technology installed regardless.
Can the Nautilon go on land?
It is built for water and handles poorly out of it. Use a different Exocraft for surface travel.
Is the Nautilon worth it?
On ocean planets, yes. It is the difference between underwater being a chore and being a place you can work. If you never visit water worlds, it is the most skippable Exocraft.
Can I expand the Nautilon's inventory?
No. Exocraft inventory sizes are fixed across the board.
What is an Abyssal Horror?
A hostile deep-sea creature. Dangerous to a swimmer, manageable from inside a Nautilon with the cannon installed.
Key Takeaways
- The Nautilon is the only underwater Exocraft, and its blueprint comes from Manufacturing Facilities, not the Anomaly.
- It runs on Hydrothermal Fuel Cells via the Humboldt Drive, craft them in advance.
- Inside it, the underwater oxygen timer stops applying, which is what makes deep exploration practical.
- High-Power Sonar is the upgrade that finds things; the Cannon is the one that keeps you alive.
- Its inventory, like every Exocraft, is fixed and non-expandable.
- Skippable if you avoid ocean worlds; essential the moment you do not.