Part of the handbook:

No Man's Sky Beginner's Guide (2026): Start here if you're new to the game.

Exploration & Endgame Guide: Discover planets, flora, and the wider galaxy.

Quick Answer

Almost every creature in No Man's Sky can be tamed by feeding it the right item: Creature Pellets for normal fauna, Ion Batteries for mechanical creatures.
Once tamed, a creature can be registered as a companion, ridden, milked, or bred to lay eggs.
Companions can scan resources, attack predators, find structures, and produce Faecium over time.
Eggs can be genetically edited at the Egg Sequencer aboard the Space Anomaly to change size, color, and temperament.
Fishing was added in the Aquarius update and provides ingredients for cooking and items for the Catalogue.
Scanning and uploading discoveries earns Units and Nanites, making creature hunting a profitable side activity.

Overview

No Man's Sky is home to billions of procedurally generated creatures, from tiny hopping blobs to towering dinosaur-like Diplos. The Companions update turned fauna from scenic background into a system you can actually play with: you can befriend creatures, ride them across alien landscapes, breed them for unusual traits, and even compete with them in the Xeno Arena.

This hub covers every creature-related system in the current version. Whether you want a loyal pet, a fast mount, a source of milk and Faecium, or simply the satisfaction of completing a planetary fauna catalogue, the guides below will get you there.

Find the Right Guide

What you want	Guide
Adopt a creature as a pet	How to Get a Companion Pet
Ride a creature across a planet	How to Ride & Tame Creatures
Harvest milk, Faecium, or meat	How to Feed & Milk Creatures
Hatch a custom pet from an egg	Companion Breeding & Eggs
Catch fish and fill the Catalogue	Fishing Guide
Complete a planet's fauna list	Rare Creatures & Discovery Tips
Turn creature products into money	Cooking & Nutrient Processor
Battle your companions against other players	Xeno Arena Creature Battles

Taming and Companions

Taming is the foundation of every creature activity. After completing the Awakenings mission, you automatically learn the recipe for Creature Pellets. Approach a non-hostile creature, feed it a pellet, and it becomes tame. Mechanical creatures require an Ion Battery instead.

A tamed creature can be:

Ridden if its body type supports mounting.
Adopted as a companion if you have a free companion slot.
Milked or harvested for resources depending on the species.
Bred once it is a companion and ready to lay an egg.

The how to get a companion pet guide walks through the adoption process, while the how to ride and tame creatures guide covers mounts.

Companion Slots and Management

You begin with two free companion slots. Additional slots can be purchased with Nanites at the Companion Registry, and the cap has risen over successive updates to 30 adopted creatures since Xeno Arena. A higher slot count lets you keep specialized companions: one for riding, one for scanning, one for combat, and a bench of arena fighters covering different affinities.

Companions persist across saves and can be summoned almost anywhere, including space stations and the Space Anomaly. They cannot be summoned inside player base buildings, so create an outdoor area if you want them at home.

A companion is not purely decorative. Each one develops traits that decide what it is actually good for, which is why keeping several specialists beats keeping one favourite:

Companion role	What it does for you
Scanning	Sniffs out nearby resource deposits and marks them
Combat	Attacks predators and hostile fauna that approach you
Locating	Points you toward nearby structures and points of interest
Production	Yields Faecium and other harvestable products over time
Riding	Serves as a mount if its body type supports being ridden

Traits develop through care and interaction rather than being fixed at adoption, so a companion you feed and play with regularly becomes more useful than one you summon and ignore.

Creature Battles

The Xeno Arena update turned companions into something you can compete with. Holo-Arenas on space stations and in the Nexus host turn-based battles against NPC opponents or other players, creatures carry elemental affinities drawn from their species and home world, and the companion cap rose to 30 so you can keep a varied roster. See the Xeno Arena guide.

What You Can Harvest

Tamed creatures are a renewable supply line, not just company. Feeding a creature the right item makes it produce, and those products feed straight into the kitchen. Milk, meat, and Faecium all have uses: milk and meat cook into high-value dishes at the Nutrient Processor, and Faecium refines into fuel and fertiliser.

If you are keeping creatures for income rather than company, pair this hub with the cooking and Nutrient Processor guide, since cooked dishes are worth far more than the raw products that go into them.

Breeding and Eggs

Companion eggs are laid by registered companions and can be hatched into new tamed creatures. The Egg Sequencer on the Space Anomaly lets you edit the genes of an egg before it hatches, adjusting:

Weight and height
Color
Temperament
Gene splicing for unexpected mutations

Breeding is the path to unique pets that stand out from wild fauna. The companion breeding and eggs guide explains the full process.

Riding Creatures

Riding turns tamed creatures into organic vehicles. You can use the Analysis Visor and Survey Device while mounted, and Sentinels will not attack you during a ride. Most ground creatures can be ridden, as can low-flying creatures since the Prisms update. Rolling creatures and certain mutants cannot be mounted.

Mechanical creatures tend to be the fastest mounts, while giant crabs and mantises offer a balance of speed and visual presence. The riding guide includes controls and genus recommendations.

Fishing

Fishing, added in the Aquarius update, uses a Fishing Rig installed on your Multi-Tool. Cast into water, watch for three translucent fish to appear, and reel in when the line goes taut. Bait increases the chance of larger or rarer catches, and water depth determines the possible size of fish.

Fish rarity ranges from common to legendary. Caught fish can be cooked in the Nutrient Processor or sold for Units. The fishing guide covers equipment, biomes, bait, and the Catalogue.

Discovery and Scanning

Every creature you scan with the Analysis Visor contributes to a planet's fauna catalogue. Fully documenting a planet's creatures and uploading the data earns a Nanite reward and progress toward milestones. Rare creatures are often tied to specific biomes or extreme planets.

For scanning income and discovery rewards, see the how to scan for Units guide and the fauna and flora discovery rewards guide.

Child Guides in This Series

How to Get a Companion Pet — adopt your first creature
Companion Breeding & Eggs Guide — genetically engineer unique pets
How to Ride & Tame Creatures — turn fauna into mounts
Fishing Guide — catch fish for cooking and profit
How to Feed & Milk Creatures — harvest resources from tamed fauna
Finding Rare Creatures & Discovery Tips — complete catalogues and earn rewards
Xeno Arena: Creature Battles — turn-based battles with your companions

FAQ

Can I tame any creature?

Most creatures can be tamed, but there are exceptions. Biological Horrors cannot be tamed, and high-flying birds, underwater fish, and worms are generally not tameable through normal feeding. Some special creatures become available through Expeditions.

Do companions follow me into space?

Companions can be summoned on space stations and the Space Anomaly, but they cannot enter base buildings or freighter interiors in a way that lets you interact with them freely.

How do I get more companion slots?

Open the Companion Registry from the Quick Menu and purchase additional slots with Nanites. The cost increases with each slot.

What is the best creature to ride?

Mechanical creatures are typically the fastest ground mounts. For traversal across rough terrain, large multi-legged creatures are reliable. For novelty, try riding a low-flying creature and gliding from high places.

Is fishing profitable?

Yes, especially once you use bait and target rare or legendary fish in deep water. Cooked fish dishes also sell well and restore life support.

Key Takeaways

Feed creatures Creature Pellets (or Ion Batteries for mechanical ones) to tame them.
Register tamed creatures as companions to unlock riding, breeding, and resource harvesting.
Use the Egg Sequencer to customize eggs before hatching.
Fishing provides food, profit, and Catalogue progress.
Scan every creature you find. Discovery uploads reward Nanites and progress.
Use the child guides for deep dives into each creature system.

No Man's Sky Creatures & Companions Guide (2026): Pets, Breeding & Fauna