Part of the Exocraft Series:
- No Man's Sky Exocraft Guide: All six vehicles, summoning and shared upgrades (Start Here).
- Colossus Guide: The hauler, when capacity is the problem.
- Exocraft Racing & Race Tracks: Where the Pilgrim earns its keep.
Quick Answer
- These are the three light ground Exocraft. None of them haul, none of them fight well, and all of them exist to move you across a planet faster than a jetpack.
- Nomad — hovers, so it crosses water and rough ground the wheeled vehicles cannot. The best first Exocraft.
- Roamer — the balanced default. More inventory than the Nomad, decent handling, no standout weakness.
- Pilgrim — a motorbike. Fastest on flat ground, tiny inventory, and the vehicle for racing.
- All three come from the Construction Research Station on the Space Anomaly for Salvaged Data.
- Build one, not three. They overlap heavily and each needs its own Geobay taking up base space.
- If you only ever build one Exocraft from this group, make it the Nomad early or the Roamer if you have the Salvaged Data to spare.
Overview
The three light Exocraft are where new players waste base space, because the game presents six vehicles as if you need all six. You do not. The Minotaur, Colossus and Nautilon each do something nothing else does. These three do the same job, surface travel, with different trade-offs.
The useful question is not "which is best" but "which one do I build first, and do I ever need a second." This guide answers that.
The Three Compared
| Nomad | Roamer | Pilgrim | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Form | Hovercraft | Four-wheel buggy | Motorbike |
| Terrain | Best — hovers over water and rough ground | Good on moderate terrain | Needs flat ground |
| Stock speed | approx. 17.7u/s | Not published in sources checked | approx. 18.8u/s |
| Fully upgraded | approx. 33.7u/s | Slower than both | approx. 34.5u/s, approx. 41.0u/s boosting |
| Inventory | Smallest | Largest of the three | Very small |
| Water | Crosses it | No | No |
| Best for | Early exploration, wet or broken terrain | General-purpose planetside travel | Racing, flat-planet speed runs |
The Nomad's hover is the genuinely distinct feature here. Crossing water without a Nautilon and gliding over terrain that bogs down wheels makes it far more useful early than its small inventory suggests. It is also cheap.
The Roamer is the sensible default if you are only building one and you want it to also carry something. It is what most players settle on.
The Pilgrim is a specialist. It is the fastest thing on the ground and it is what you want on a race track. Outside of that, its inventory is too small to be a working vehicle.
The speed gap is narrower than it looks. Stock, the Pilgrim leads the Nomad by roughly 1.1u/s (18.8 against 17.7); fully upgraded the gap is about 0.8u/s (34.5 against 33.7). Only the Pilgrim's boost, at around 41.0u/s, opens a real lead. On broken terrain the Nomad's hover routinely wins back more time than 0.8u/s is worth. Roamer figures are not published in the sources we checked, and we would rather leave that cell empty than invent one.
How to Unlock Them
All three follow the standard route:
- Buy the Geobay blueprint at the Construction Research Station on the Space Anomaly using Salvaged Data.
- Build the corresponding Geobay at a base.
- Unlock the Exocraft Summoning Station to call them anywhere.
Blueprints may also come from an Exocraft Technician once you have an Exocraft Terminal built, and some arrive as mission rewards.
Salvaged Data is the real cost. Each Geobay blueprint competes with everything else at the Construction Research Station, and early on that includes things you will use far more. If your Salvaged Data is limited, buy one light Exocraft and spend the rest on base and technology blueprints. The Salvaged Data guide covers accelerating supply.
Shared Upgrades
All Exocraft share an upgrade ecosystem, so most of what you install carries across if you later build a second vehicle:
| Upgrade | Why |
|---|---|
| Exocraft Signal Booster | Scan for deposits and points of interest from the driver's seat. The most useful shared upgrade. |
| Exocraft Mining Laser | Extract without dismounting. |
| Icarus Fuel System | Fuel efficiency — these vehicles are for long drives. |
| Drive and boost upgrades | Speed and handling, per vehicle. |
Inventory cannot be expanded on any Exocraft. The slot counts above are permanent, which is the strongest argument for picking the Roamer over the Pilgrim if you want a general-purpose vehicle.
Do You Need Any of Them?
Honest answer: less than you did before summoning existed.
The case for building one:
- Fuel-free surface travel. The jetpack costs launch fuel and stamina; an Exocraft does not.
- Scanning while moving with the Signal Booster covers ground far faster than on foot.
- Milestone and discovery grinding across a planet surface.
The case against:
- Your ship is faster for point-to-point travel, and you always have it.
- Geobays cost base space and each vehicle needs its own.
- If you mainly warp between systems and land near objectives, you will barely use a ground vehicle at all.
A reasonable plan: build the Nomad early because it is cheap and its hover is genuinely useful, skip the Roamer and Pilgrim unless you race, and put your Salvaged Data into the Minotaur instead, which is the light-Exocraft answer most experienced players arrive at.
FAQ
Which ground Exocraft is best?
Roamer for general use, Nomad if you want hover and cheapness, Pilgrim only for racing. They overlap enough that one is usually sufficient.
Can the Nomad cross water?
Yes. It hovers, so it crosses water surfaces the wheeled Exocraft cannot. It does not go underwater; that is the Nautilon's job.
Is the Pilgrim worth building?
Only if you race. It is the fastest ground vehicle and has too little inventory to be a working one.
Can I expand Exocraft inventory?
No. Every Exocraft has a fixed inventory. This is a permanent difference from ships and the Exosuit.
Do I need all six Exocraft?
No. The Minotaur, Colossus and Nautilon each do something unique; these three overlap. Build one light vehicle and the specialists you actually need.
Do upgrades transfer between Exocraft?
Upgrades are installed per vehicle, but the shared Exocraft technologies (Signal Booster, Mining Laser, fuel systems) are available across the range, so the knowledge and blueprints carry over.
What is the fastest Exocraft?
The Pilgrim on flat ground. On broken terrain the Nomad's hover often beats it in practice.
Key Takeaways
- These three are surface travel vehicles with heavy overlap. Build one, not all three.
- Nomad hovers and crosses water; Roamer is the balanced default; Pilgrim is a racer with almost no inventory.
- All come from the Construction Research Station for Salvaged Data, and each needs its own Geobay.
- The Exocraft Signal Booster is the upgrade that justifies driving at all.
- No Exocraft inventory can be expanded, so pick for the capacity you want permanently.
- Most players are better served putting Salvaged Data toward the Minotaur than a second light vehicle.