No Man’s Sky – How to Upgrade Hyperdrive (FTL Warp Drive)

In No Man’s Sky the Hyperdrive lets you jump from one solar sytem to the next. Here’s how you can upgrade it:

1. While exploring planets you will notice smoking drop pods (the correct in-game name is “Damaged Machinery”). They usually contain upgrades for your ship. If you get lucky you can get an upgrade for the hyperdrive. Fly close to the surface and watch out for black smoke and blue blinking machinery on the ground.
2. Talk to the Alien at every space station you visit. The weirder the conversation and the higher your standing with a faction, the better the possible reward.

Here’s an example: On the right wing of a space station I met an Alien from the Korvax Race. In the multiple-choice dialogue I could select whether to let him extract some of my brain cells or not (for his research). I agreed, which temporarily depleted my shield, but he rewarded me with the “Warp Reactor V1” upgrade.

When you have dialogues with really weird (or life threatening) options you should always agree to the most risky of things. These options give the best rewards. So remember… if someone asks to extract your brain, always agree :p

Unfortunately, there is no 100% sureshot method to get the upgrade right away. It will take some time and comes down to luck (after all, it’s in the nature of the game to give you random rewards). The strategies from above have the highest chance of giving you hyperdrive upgrades. Try to give the correct answer in all Alien dialogues. This will increase your standing with them and lead to better rewards.

This Warp Reactor V1 lets you jump 300 lightyears per fuel cell (instead of 100).