Update 8/25/2016: Added pages on Finding Trade Posts, Sentinels and Wanted Level, in addition to Shielding, Power, and Unstable Plasma Items. Also see my guide to Making Money in No Man's Sky for some tips on the best methods for earning cash, what crafting items are most profitable, and a list of all resources in the game.

No Man's Sky: Sentinels

Types of Sentinel, Loot, and Wanted Level 5

A Sentinel Drone in No Man's Sky

Sentinels are a somewhat mysterious force in the universe of No Man's Sky. Present on every planet in the galaxy, they appear as police and serve to balance and tend to the multitude of worlds in the game. This guide to sentinels and the three types of sentinel will teach you why you shouldn't fear them, their rules, and maybe why you should just blast every one you see.

Sentinel Basics: Drones

Another picture of a sentinel in No Man's Sky

Drones are the most basic Sentinel and the only type you'll see under normal conditions. They're out scanning and doing their thing, watching for the greedy or whatever it is they do. They spawn nearby, more frequently on planets with a high sentinel presence. They're equipped with a three-shot laser and aren't very threatening. Shoot one, and you'll be 'wanted' with a one-star response.

Sentinels call for reinforcements. You can see their alarm meter.

If you want a higher wanted level, wait out the alarm meter and keep a simple drone alive each time. It's harder if you choose to keep a quadruped alive, as wanted levels 3-5 take longer to escalate.

Sentinels have a horizontal health bar and a circle above them. All forms of Sentinel will begin to issue a distress signal shortly after combat begins. If the circle completes, you're just a few seconds away from going up in wanted level. The response varies based on the level. You only move up one at a time except under a few specific circumstances. Essentially, if they can't kill you (there is no arrest!) they will continue to escalate.

Wanted Levels 3 and 5: Quadrupeds (Laser Hounds)

A Quadruped Sentinel

I hate using such a term as quadrupeds, but that's what these are and we have no better name. These robots look like animals but have a head-mounted laser they fire periodically, using a sweeping motion. It's possible you can take a partial blow if you move at the right time, and they are also not great at aiming. You can literally bait them and jetpack over it. But when they do hit, it hurts. Overall you should just get them down as soon as possible if you want wanted level 5, leave a simple drone to call for reinforcements. While I rarely get Dimensional Matrix from a drone, I do get them more often from these, along with Neutrino Modules.

Wanted Levels 4 and 5: Walkers

Bipedal walkers are quite dangerous Sentinels. Their laser is much, much more powerful than any other weapon on the ground. Their behavior is a bit like the laser hounds, they are simply much taller so it's harder to duck behind something. They seem to fire at a similar rate, so you can certainly strafe them and open fire in between their shots. They have maybe 5-10x as much health as a regular Sentinel Drone. A Walker produced my first death for me, I had no combat upgrades on my mining laser and the base boltcaster sucks. Be prepared for a tough fight if you haven't any shield/health module upgrades (with the former being higher priority). They seem to drop Dimensional Matrix more often than the others, and it's possible the blueprints you get are higher tier.

Sentinel Loot

Killing Sentinels early on is actually a decent money-making tactic, and you will get blueprints to improve grenades and the boltcaster (more those two than anything). Every Sentinel killed will yield over 30 Titanium, making each kill worth nearly 2,000 credits when the materials are sold. There's always a barrel drop that can be looted, sometimes a blueprint or chip. The electronic loot you get, such as the Neutrino Module and Dimensional Matrix, are 'rare' items and worth over 10,000 credits each. They are also used to upgrade the Pulse Jet, Laser and Phase Cannon on your ship - but only four total upgrades use it. They're mostly for sale on the Galactic Market.

Killing a walker sentinel in No Man's Sky

A dead walker sentinel. They provide more titanium and sometimes better loot than their lesser counterparts.

Sentinel farming can certainly work out in your favor and is a good way to fuel your ship's shields if you also like to join in fights in space (Titanium does well recharging shields). You can make yourself a bunker using pulse grenades where the Sentinels (even big ones) have a hard time getting to you. One Sentinel farming tactic is to shoot an ops center door once, get their attention, get up to the second wave and do it again. Repeat as needed and kill many Sentinels for the loot. You're able to stop at any time by blasting the door or retreating to your ship should it get too hard.

The Laws of the Universe

Stealing items for wanted level in No Man's Sky

Taking certain items, like Gravitino Balls, may lead to an instant wanted rating and the spawning of multiple sentinels.

Wanted level functions similarly to GTA, there's a 5-star ranking that determines the force of sentinels that will attack you. This is visible in the top-right portion of the screen. Nothing will take you straight to wanted level 5, but you can work your way up there by continuing the fight once you've got the space police after you. There are a few things you can do to influence your wanted level:

Environment Destruction - Flora, fauna, rocks... This is only a problem when Sentinels are present and looking, and you can get by with a few infractions before they attack. You can tell you've got their interest when they start scanning what you destroyed, or scan you - do something else and they'll attack.
Attack Titanium Barrels (Resource Depot) - You'll sometimes come across four titanium barrels. These are guarded for some reason, perhaps they are for the sentinels themselves.
Break Down a Sealed Door - Operations Centers and Manufacturing Facilities, pretty much. Any door that requires a boltcaster, rail shot, or grenade launcher to break through will trigger a two-star sentinel alarm. Most of the time, you should just keep breaking the door and ignore them.
Take Rare Resources - Like gravitino balls, albumen pearl, sac venom, vortex cubes - basically anything that is rare and just lying there waiting to be picked up. For one or two of those it may have to be witnessed. Sometimes you will start at 3 stars for taking one. This repeats every time you pick one up, which may happen frequently on a planet rich in rare materials.
Attack Ships or Space Stations (in Space or in the Sky) - You can fight freighters and friendly trade vessels, the responding ships count as Sentinels. There's no ending this type of engagement, they'll keep coming until you escape or die. The best advice is to initiate fights close to starbases or near planetary atmospheres.
It's OK to Defend Yourself... Sometimes - Predators may attack you, you defend yourself of course and scan the corpse. The sentinel will probably just check you out, but it may get you noticed.

Wanted Level 1-5: On Land

Wanted Level 1: 2 Drones - You'll face one or two drones, easily killed, and the first you killed may be one of the two attacking you. This is why most engagements with sentinels do not escalate beyond this point: they take a while to issue the distress call and summon more sentinels.
Wanted Level 2: 3 Drones - This is not much harder, Sentinels take a little longer to issue the next distress call than at level 1.
Wanted Level 3: 2-3 Sentinel Drones and a Laser Hound - Now it's a little harder, the quadrupedal sentinel hits hard and has 2-3x the health of a normal sentinel, they take triple the normal time to issue the distress signal, so you've got time to fight.
Wanted Level 4: 2-3 Sentinel Drones and a Walker - Now it's quite hard if you don't have many upgrades. Sentinels take ages to call in a level 5, it's almost deliberate to get to 5 or you took way too long to kill them. You may be wanted in space, as well, so it may be safer to fly away and land rather than enter space.
Max - Wanted Level 5: 4 Drones, 2 Quadruped Laser Tigers, and 1-2 Walkers - You'll need skill and loads of weapon/shield upgrades to do this, but it should only happen if you desire it to. Give it a try sometime, the risk is low. The rail shot mod for the mining laser along with all other combat modules, taking advantage of linking bonuses, would definitely make this much easier.

Wanted Levels 1-5 in Space

Should you attack a starbase, freighter, or friendly vessel, a drone will come at you and you'll hit one star. Defeating it does not end the wanted level, crimes in space are more serious. Each additional star will add one more sentinel fighter to the fight (spawning up to four at four stars). At 5 stars, a carrier will attack and may launch 5 fighters. Fly close to the carrier and attack its cannons one by one. When it's neutralized, it should reset your wanted level to one.

Canceling Wanted Level

Sometimes, all you need to do is enter a building or your ship to end the wanted level. They can't find you, so it's over. Taking off from the ground can do it, even with a space wanted level, as you can fly a bit and land somewhere else to evade detection. If you leave with a max wanted level from the round, you should have a lone Sentinel waiting for you in space... though it can escalate from there. Distances tend to be too great for you to manage to escape to a starbase.

Other No Man's Sky Guides