How to tame and ride animals in No Man’s Sky Beyond

One of the best features of No Man’s Sky’s Beyond update is the ability to tame and ride animals. It might not be the most useful, but it’s still just the best.

Turning a space crab into a tame and rideable mount takes a bit of work, though. Each animal requires a specific advanced bait that can only be made in a Nutrient Processor. This guide will walk you through all of the steps to get you mounted up.

Table of contents

1. Find 10 Salvaged Data
2. Nutrient Processor blueprint
3. Construct a Nutrient Processor
4. Figure out which Advanced Bait you need
5. Make Advanced Bait
6. Ride ‘em, Space Cowboy

Find 10 Salvaged Data

Before you can make your Nutrient Processor, you’ll need to buy the blueprints. And to buy the blueprint, you’ll need 10 Salvaged Data.

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The easiest and fastest way to collect Salvaged Data is in Buried Technology Modules. You’ll find these on just about every planet (they’ve been on every planet we've visited, but it’s a big universe). They’ll show up in your Scanner and in your Analysis Visor as a two-bar Wi-Fi signal-like icon.

Make your way to them, and dig them up with your Terrain Manipulator. You’ll collect at least one Salvaged Data (usually more) for each.

Nutrient Processor blueprint

Once you have 10 Salvaged Data, you can go buy the blueprint for the Nutrient Processor. You cannot get the blueprint from your base’s Construction Research Unit, though. This blueprint is only found on the Anomaly. Head into space and call in the new social hub from your menu.

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When you land, head to the left side. All the way in the back, past the Teleporter room, you’ll find a room with several vendors. On the left side, between the Ship and Exosuit upgrades, you’ll find the Construction Research Station. Tab over to the Technology Modules tree. The Nutrient Processor is on the right side.

Construct a Nutrient Processor

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You’ll need two Metal Plating (50 Ferrite Dust each), one Hermetic Seal (30 Condensed Carbon), and 25 Sodium for your Nutrient Processor. Once you’ve collected everything, the Nutrient Processor is in your Construction menu under Tech > Portable > Nutrient Processor.

Figure out which Advanced Bait you need

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Each animal has a preferred bait that will tame it in No Man’s Sky. You can find this in your Analysis Visor, right at the top when you’re looking at a creature. You also have a list of all Creature Bait in your Utilities menu.

Make Advanced Bait

To make Advanced Bait, you’ll need some Mordite or some Faecium. You’ll get Mordite from certain plants or when you kill wildlife (you monster). Faecium is, well, poop. Find an animal and feed it Creature Pellets (10 Carbon) to make it drop Faecium.

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You’ll also need some local vegetables. Each planet will have planetary flora that shows up in your scanner with a wheat icon. They’ll have names like Sweet Root or Frozen Tubers. These are the things you’ll use on each planet to make Advanced Bait.

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Take your Mordite or Faecium and your local flora to your Nutrient Processor. It might take some experimentation to get the Advanced Bait you’re after.

Ride ‘em, Space Cowboy

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Now that you’ve got your new friend’s favorite food, head out and find them again. You’ll probably need some regular Creature Bait to get them to hang around, and then you can drop the right Advanced Bait. This will tame your animal friends. Once you have their attention, approach them. You’ll get the option to collect an animal byproduct like milk or to mount up.

Happy trails!