No Man’s Sky has no single best vehicle. If you want one Exocraft that handles most jobs, the Roamer is the most defensible choice. For specific tasks, the best vehicle depends on terrain, water, cargo, speed or hazards, and the six Exocraft each have a clear niche.
The six Exocraft compared
Each Exocraft is built around a different job. The table below summarises the strongest use case for each, with the main trade-off the sources identify.
| Vehicle | Strongest use | Main trade-off |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad | Surface travel over water and rough ground. Its hovercraft design lets it glide over water, according to Hello Games’ Pathfinder update. | Less cargo capacity than the larger vehicles. |
| Roamer | General-purpose driving across varied terrain. Hello Games’ Pathfinder update calls it a great all-rounder. | No single specialty that beats a dedicated vehicle at its own job. |
| Colossus | Hauling and resource harvesting. The Pathfinder update highlights its large cargo hold, and the current guides recommend it for cargo and mining. | Large and lumbering rather than speed-first. |
| Minotaur | Hazardous worlds, combat and specialist resource collection, with its own hazard-protection upgrade and cabin-based Storm Crystal collection. | It runs on its own technology system, so its protection should not be assumed for other Exocraft. |
| Pilgrim | Fast travel over open or flat ground, and racing. One guide describes it as the fastest on flat ground. | Small inventory and less utility than a general-purpose vehicle, according to that guide. |
| Nautilon | Underwater exploration. The current guides identify it as the submarine built for diving and deep-water activity. | A water specialist rather than a land vehicle. |
The current comparison guides treat the six roles as distinct, and players can build more than one. Choosing one vehicle does not rule out the others, so the practical question is which job you are doing most often.
Choosing by task
- You want one vehicle for most surface travel. Start with the Roamer. Hello Games’ Pathfinder update describes it as “The mid-range Exocraft is the Roamer, a great all-rounder capable of quickly crossing rugged terrain and adapting to most situations.” A recent guide also recommends it as the general-purpose choice.
- You expect water crossings or broken ground. Choose the Nomad. Its surface hover lets it glide over water. It crosses water on the surface and does not dive, so use the Nautilon for anything underwater.
- You want speed on flat land, or a race vehicle. Consider the Pilgrim. The comparison guide calls it the fastest on flat ground, but also notes that the Nomad’s hover can be the better option over broken terrain.
- You need to haul mined resources. The Colossus is the cargo specialist. Both the Pathfinder update and the current guides point to its large hold.
- You are heading into extreme planetary hazards, or want a combat-oriented mech. The Minotaur is the specialist. Its hazard-protection upgrade and specialist technologies are covered in the section below.
- You are going underwater. Use the Nautilon. It is the dedicated underwater vehicle, and the Nomad is not a substitute for it.
Speed: what the figures show and what they do not
Speed is the most-asked comparison, but there is no controlled, official speed ranking across all six vehicles. The only published figures come from one independent guide, No Man’s Sky Roamer, Nomad and Pilgrim: Which Ground Exocraft to Build (updated August 1, 2026). It gives approximate in-game values, not measured tests across the full fleet.
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| Vehicle and condition | Approximate speed (u/s) | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Nomad, stock | 17.7 | Independent guide, updated August 1, 2026 |
| Pilgrim, stock | 18.8 | Independent guide, updated August 1, 2026 |
| Nomad, fully upgraded | 33.7 | Independent guide, updated August 1, 2026 |
| Pilgrim, fully upgraded | 34.5 | Independent guide, updated August 1, 2026 |
| Pilgrim, boosted | about 41.0 | Independent guide, updated August 1, 2026 |
| Roamer | Not published in the guide’s checked sources | Independent guide, updated August 1, 2026 |
| Colossus, Minotaur, Nautilon | Not stated in the sources used for this article | Not applicable |
Treat these numbers as a rough guide to the Nomad and Pilgrim only. They are not a population statistic, and they do not allow you to rank the Roamer against the Pilgrim. Speed also depends on the upgrades you have installed, so compare like with like.
Hazards and the Minotaur’s protection
The Minotaur’s main advantage is not speed or cargo, but protection on dangerous worlds. Hello Games’ Exo-Mech update says that hazard immunity was removed from Exocraft by default. The Minotaur has its own hazard-protection upgrade and specialist technology, which is why it is the recommended vehicle for extreme planetary conditions. Do not assume that a Roamer, Nomad, Pilgrim or Colossus will protect you in the same way.
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Unlocking and version changes
Keep the unlock route in mind when you decide which vehicles to build, but check it against the current game version, because routes and costs can change with updates.
- Pathfinder update: Exocraft can be summoned from anywhere on the planet where they were constructed. The update describes a Vy’keen Technician mission route and lists mining lasers, long-range scanners, weapons and acceleration modules among the upgrades.
- Exo-Mech update: The Minotaur geobay plan is acquired at the Construction Research Station aboard the Space Anomaly. The update also adds dedicated Minotaur upgrades.
The Exo-Mech update also changed the older comparison data. It increased base speed for the Roamer, Nomad and Pilgrim, and raised the Nautilon’s speed and acceleration. Comparisons written before that update may therefore be out of date, and the speed figures above reflect the guide’s update of August 1, 2026.
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- Embark on an epic voyage, find your own destiny in this epic space adventure
- Includes 6 years of updates*
- An entire universe to explore on the go in the palm of your hands
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- Please note that although this game is Region Free or Region Unlocked and will work on all systems, this is the international version and may differ from the local version in age rating, labeling or instructions.
Sources and how far to trust them
- Hello Games’ official update pages (Pathfinder update and Exo-Mech update) are the most reliable source for what the developer has stated, such as vehicle descriptions, hazard-protection rules and unlock routes. Their claims are limited to the changes and descriptions they record.
- Independent guides provide the current comparative advice. These include No Man’s Sky Exocraft Guide: All Vehicles, Summoning (published July 25, 2026, last updated July 30, 2026) and the Roamer, Nomad and Pilgrim comparison (updated August 1, 2026). Their “best” calls are editorial judgments, not official rankings.
In short, the recommendations above are a decision framework based on job and terrain. Use the developer’s descriptions for what each vehicle is designed to do, and the guides for how they compare in practice.
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