No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius is the first Expedition in the game’s history based around fishing. Players have wanted this mechanic in the game for a long time, so it made sense for the Expedition to kick off as soon as the update with the activity was added.
The Aquarius update for No Man’s Sky was released on September 4, 2024, and the Expedition hit the game on the same day. While there’s no need to speedrun it, Expeditions are only ever live for a limited amount of time, so it’s worth completing every Milestone and Phase while you have the chance and without rushing. After all, fishing is meant to be relaxing, but quests can make anything stressful if you don’t know how to complete them.
How to start No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius
To start No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius, you must launch the game and select the option to start a new save file. In the many, you’ll see the option for the Community Expedition, which should be Aquarius. The Expedition is live until October 16, 2024, so make sure you complete it in time. Expeditions generally don’t take too long to work through, but it’s worth hitting it early so you don’t have to rush the most relaxing activity in the game.
Every Milestone and Phase in No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius and how to complete them
Below, I’ve outlined every Milestone and Phase for No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius and how to complete them. You get rewards from each Milestone, and some are designed to help you complete others. Every Phase must be completed if you want to unlock the best rewards, so don’t skip a single quest.
All Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius Phase 1 and how to complete them
In the table below, I’ve outlined how you complete every Milestone in the first Phase of No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius alongside some useful tips.
| Milestone name | How to complete | Rewards | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Casting Off | Locate your starship. | Pre-Packaged Personal Refiner Unit and 3 Starship Launch Fuel. | Follow the icon on your compass for your starship and get inside once you’ve located it. |
| Blue Yonder | Launch into space for the first time. | Base Computer Plans and a Pre-Packaged Hyperdrive Unit. | Repair every broken system in your starship and launch it. Then, fly up and out of the atmosphere into space. |
| Gone Fishing: 1 | Reach the first rendezvous point. | Fishing Rig Plans, 46 Rusted Metal, and 73 Salt. | Open the Galaxy Map and select the Expedition Route. This will give you an indicator for which system to fly to. Once you arrive, scan each world to find the rendezvous point, then land and use your scanner to locate the exact location you must head to. |
| Toe in the Water | Acquire a Fishing Rig. | Powerful Underwater Oxygen Upgrade and Underwater Survival Blueprints. | Craft a Fishing Rig from your Exosuit using the resources required. You may need to gather said resources from the planet. |
| Wading In | Catch 5 Fish | A Pre-Packaged Aqua-Jets Unit and Nutrient Processor Plans. | Use your Fishing Rig in water to catch a few fish until this Milestone is completed. |
| The One That… | Catch something that is not a fish. | 6 NipNip Buds, a Supreme Movement System Upgrade, and 5 Inventory Slots. | Fish until you catch something that isn’t a fish at all. |
| Catch of the Day | Cook a fish. | A Supreme Life Support Upgrade and a Banned Hazard Protection Upgrade. | Use the Nutrient Processor to turn your fish into a meal. |
All Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius Phase 2 and how to complete them
Below, I’ve listed out every Milestone in the second Phase of No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius, so you know how to complete them if you get stuck.
| Milestone name | How to complete | Rewards | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gone Fishing: 2 | Reach the second rendezvous point. | 5 Inventory Slots and 900 Nanites. | Follow the Expedition Route in the Galaxy Map to the correct system and planet, then use your scanner to identify the rendezvous on that planet to complete the Milestone. |
| Message in a Bottle | Dredge up a message from the Angler. | Fishing Bait Recipies. | Use your Fishing Rig to pick up a message in a bottle and open it to see what’s inside. |
| Taking the Bait | Use bait while out fishing. | A Pre-Packaged Launch Auto-Charger Unit and a Supreme Launch Thrusters Upgrade. | Craft some Fishing Bait and use it with your Fishing Rig. |
| Hook, Line & Sinker | Catch an uncommon fish. | A Pre-Packaged Advanced Mining Laser Unit and 5 Dangling Orbs. | Use your Fishing Rig to hook an fish with uncommon rarity. |
| Freedom of the Sea | Release a fish back into the water. | Exo-Skiff Plans and Crystal Sulphide. | Once you’ve caught a fish, chuck it back into the water from your inventory. |
| Sun on the Water | Catch a diurnal fish. | Craftable Components Plans and a Supreme Radiation Protection Upgrade. | To do this, you need to catch 3 fish that are only active during the day. |
| Pondskipper | Deploy an Exo-Skiff. | 5 Mealworms, 5 Sppicy Chum, and 5 Boinic Lures. | Craft and deploy an Exo-Skiff from the build menu. |
| Feed Water | Catch 4 uncommon irradiated fish. | A Banned Hazard Protection Upgrade and 3 Hypnotic Eyes. | Visit a planet with the radiation descriptor and fish in its waters for the best chance at catching irradiated fish. |
All Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius Phase 3 and how to complete them
See every Milestone in Phase 3 of No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius and how to complete it below.
| Milestone name | How to complete | Rewards | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gone Fishing: 3 | Reach the third rendezvous point. | 5 Inventory Slots and 900 Nanites. | Follow the same process you have for the two rendezvous points above. This one is exactly the same. |
| Tales of the Waves | Dredge up a message from the Angler. | Automated Trap Plans and 750 Oxygen. | Fish until you pick up another message from the Angler as you did before. |
| Freediving | Reach 50u below sea level. | 10 Crystal Sulphide, 15 Glass, 1,000 Pure Ferrite, and Underwater Construction Plans. | Swim in any body of water and dive until you hit 50u. You can do this extremely early on if you swim in every body of water you encounter until you complete this. |
| Child of the Sea | Build a base underwater. | A Supreme Defensive Systems Upgrade and 2 Powerful Underwater Oxygen Upgrades. | Complete the above Milestone to get the plans you need for this one. All you need to do is build a room you can enter and then place a Base Computer and register it. No need to build anything fancy unless you desperately want to. |
| The Lazy Fisherman | Catch 13 fish with an Automated Trap. | A Pre-Packaged Rocket Boots Unit and 2 Supreme Movement Systems Upgrades. | Use the plans you earned from the earlier Milestone in this Phase and place them in water. Then, wait for those traps to catch fish for you before collecting them. |
| The Inky Depths | Cast your line in deep water. | A Supreme Frost Protection Upgrade and a Banned Hazard Protection Upgrade. | Find some extremely deep water on a planet and fish in it. |
| Ice Cold | Catch 5 uncommon fish from ice worlds. | A Supreme Thermal Protection Upgrade. | Find planets with the Frozen descriptor and fish in the waters on them until you complete this Milestone. You might need to dig to get to the water. |
All Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius Phase 4 and how to complete them
Check the table below for all the Milestones in the fourth Phase of No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius and how to complete each one.
| Milestone name | How to complete | Rewards | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gone Fishing: 4 | Reach the fourth rendezvous point. | 900 Nanites and 7 Inventory Slots. | As you did with every Phase before, use the Galaxy Map to reach the rendezvous point and then follow that up with your scanner. |
| Call of the Water | Dredge up a message from the Angler. | Aquatic Treasure and 5 Shadow Lures. | Keep on fishing until you get yet another message from the Angler. |
| In Hot Water | Land 7 uncommon high-temperature fish. | 400 Quicksilver and a Fish Pie. | Fish on planets with the Scorched and Volcanic descriptors to complete this one. |
| Night Fishing | Catch 3 nocturnal fish. | Barnacle Plans and 20 Kelp Sacs. | Fish at night on any world to complete this Milestone. |
| Pearls of Wisdom | Harvest 15 Living Pearls | A Terrifying Sample and 5 Mollusc Flesh. | Look for the giant clam shells in deep water, wait for them to open, and grab their Living Pearls. Note that they’ll attack you while you do this so let your shield recharge. |
| The Lunker | Lane 3 enormous fish. | Small Aquarium Plans and a Biological Sample. | Keep fishing and experimenting with bait until you’ve landed 3 enormous fish. |
| Wading in Again | Land 100 fish. | 30 Salvaged Data and a Trident Key. | You should do this over the course of the Expedition. Just keep fishing and you’ll eventually collect this many fish. I suggest doing it when you’re also using your Traps. |
All Milestones in No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius Phase 5 and how to complete them
See below for a table with every Milestone in the final Pahse of No Man’s Sky Expedition 15: Aquarius and a few tips on how to complete them.
| Milestone name | How to complete | Rewards | Tips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gone Fishing: 5 | Reach the final rendezvous point. | 1,500 Salt and 7 Inventory Slots. | As you have done before, use the Galaxy Map and scanner to locate the last rendezvous point. |
| The Angler Rests | Land one last message from the Angler. | 400 Gold and 200 Chromatic Metal. | Keep fishing, and eventually you’ll get this final message. |
| TBA | TBA | TBA | This Milestone is coded until you’ve completed enough to decode it. |
| Fins of Thunder | Catch 3 fish that are only active in a storm. | 400 Quicksilver and 3 Storm Crystals. | Look for planets that have storms. This is most planets in the game. Wait for a storm to blow by while you’re close to water and then go fishing to catch these fish. |
| Abyssal Wonder | Record an underwater creature over 100kg. | 5 Hadal Cores and Deadly-Cold Ice Cream. | Swim to the deepest parts of every body of water you find and scan the monstrous fish there. You need a big one for this. Exotic planets work well. |
| Myths of the Deep | Land a legendary fish. | Terrifying Sample and 2 Old Boots. | Keep fishing and trying out all the different baits you can until you land a prized legendary fish. Again, Exotic planets work well for this. |
| Fresh Sell Fish | Sell 500,000 Units worth of fish. | 20 Crystal Sulphide, 20 Hadal Cores, and a Shell Puree. | Either stock up on all the fish you catch or sell them every time you have a bunch to eventually earn a total of 500,000 units from those sales. |
Published: Sep 4, 2024 12:44 pm