u/tragiclyripped

Many sols ago, I read this post by u/BradicalSevenSeven (https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyQuest/s/wMMM1gJMdM ) and was fascinated to see up-close photos of titan worms. Until then, I had experienced these giants with mild terror and it didn’t occur to me to approach them.

So began my obsession with observing and photographing titan worms. I have since devoted most of my game time to this activity across two saves.

Ultimately, I built a set of viewing platforms to observe and photograph my favourite subspecies of titan worms. I posted each of them separately, but here are links to all seven bases, each to observe a different subspecies:

Bone worm, infested paradise planet, Euclid (1) galaxy: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/s/TQrFhKiJub

Arrakis type, terrosphere planet, Doctinawyra (20) galaxy: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/s/0b38TYwHC9

Round mouth, infested paradise planet, Doctinawyra (20) galaxy: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/s/6BOkZb8IKt

Glow worm, xeno colony planet, Ekwathore (23) galaxy: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/s/VMbRMDWYr5

Sarlacc type, xeno colony planet, Ekwathore (23) galaxy: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/s/Yr0JbRBrqb

Lips type, terrosphere planet, Venessika (132) galaxy: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/s/cEuU9IZ8GA

Dragon head, caustic nightmare planet, Venessika (132) galaxy: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMSCoordinateExchange/s/4vvH8QGYy6

I didn’t build any for the fish head subspecies of worm, as u/AKADIAN_22 already has a great viewing platform in Euclid galaxy with an active local fish head worm named Gary: https://www.reddit.com/r/NMS_Zoology/s/yphvXyaorA

Nor did I search for for the stubby or fang head subspecies, as I find these less visually interesting.

I built my seven bases on PS5 in normal difficulty. The bases are small, basic and vanilla, so should render easily.

For each base, I surveyed the worm’s usual flight path and chose a location that offers unobstructed views and the occasional close encounter.

So charge your hazard protection, land, save, reload, sit and enjoy the show!

For those who are interested to know a bit more about my titan worm obsession...

I first sought to understand on what planet types I could find titan worms – the infested biome. “Infested” is an obvious tag that can spawn for any planet biome. But there are other less obvious names for infested versions of each planet biome. Below is a link to the list of infested planet names compiled on the NMS wiki. My favourite is Terrosphere! Boiling Doom sounds pretty cool too.

https://nomanssky.fandom.com/wiki/Shaihuluda

Once landed on an infested planet, you typically don’t have to wait long to hear the local titan worm crash into view and try to scare you off. Early on, I learned to quickly engage photo mode when I heard the crash, or to jump back in my ship and fly alongside the jumping worm to shoot photos.

From here, I read about the subspecies of titan worms themselves. Visually, I find it easiest to distinguish each subspecies by its head type. The NMS wiki lists nine head types:

Arrakis head: a triple-jaw maw, resembling the immortal worms from the Dune films
Stubby head: like the Arrakis, but with three stubbier jaws
Sarlacc head: a menacing whirlpool of teeth, resembling the pit worm into which Jabba made prisoners walk the plank
Round mouth: no head or jaws, the cylindrical body of this worm ends in a circle of teeth
Fanged mouth: like the abrupt end of the round mouth subspecies, but with small tusk-like fangs on the sides of the mouth
Lips head: for me, the creepiest-looking subspecies, with its eyeless head and lip appendages that make its mouth look as if it’s sewn half-shut
Dragon head: unmistakable, this worm has antler-like horns, three little dots for eyes, an elaborate snout and often two big fins behind its head
Glow worm: also unmistakable, this worm has one giant glowing eye, like a gargantuan version of the abyssal horror’s hypnotic eye
Fish head: self-explanatory, this worm has a large fish head with dull, unmenacing eyes and fins just behind the head

The wiki doesn’t list the tenth type – the skeletal bone worm. I guess this is because these aren’t living worms? Anyway, the bone worm seems to have just one head type and resembles an aquatic skeleton with an elaborate snout, fins and a fish tail.

Altogether, photographing titan worms continues to be a rewarding end-game obsession for me in No Man’s Sky. Warping from system to system to find infested planets, landing to see what subspecies of worm lives there and then following its flight path to locate the best viewpoint for photographing the big beast – what fun!

A few small tips from my experience (and preference) for anyone trying to locate the best viewpoint to photograph titan worms:

Test possible locations by dropping a save beacon, saving and reloading. Titan worms are curious and they always jump nearby when you exit your ship or reload. By trial and error you’ll find a spot that is reliably near their flight path.
Avoid high points if you want close encounters and photos. Titan worms only fly so high, so from the top of a mountain you’ll definitely see them, but far below you.
Avoid flat areas too, as the plant and mineral formations on infested planets are large and often dense, which blocks the field of view in valleys or plains.
I like to build on mid-level hills or slopes, or on the coast, for unobstructed views, and for the possibility that the worm will leap overhead or crash nearby.

No Man’s Sky is such a great game, with many opportunities to explore your interests. In my case, photographing titan worms is such a rewarding activity! Enjoy, Traveller!

Bless the Maker and His water.
Bless the coming and going of Him.
May His passage cleanse the world.
May He keep the world for His people.

In my first save I enjoyed building extraction bases for the many minerals and gases. But I was disappointed to discover that a few of them are used for only one or two obscure upgrades and nothing else - meaning I never used those bases!

Resources like: basalt, crystallised helium, lithium (2 upgrades each) and activated quartzite (1 upgrade) are DUMB.

Three of them at least are for crafting one useful upgrade. But lithium is SUPER DUMB: dive to the floor of a deep ocean, collect lithium to craft the dredging laser for the nautilon - yay.

Imagine how much more SMART would be an underwater mine for crystal sulphide or cyto-phosphate. Not DUMB lithium.

What's your vote for the dumbest resource in NMS?

Blue-red dragonfly interceptor with narrow ring eye and tank feet, found in B class, upgrades to powerful 4Z SC layout, Odyalutai galaxy, coordinates +34.89, +86.51

Teal interceptor with beam eye, top-bottom sabres, vented skirts and flaps, found in A class with tight 2-1 SC layout, upgrade to S adds a more distant SC slot, Odyalutai galaxy, coordinates -1.40, -44.29

Orange tank Interceptor with wide tri eyes, stinger and short spine, vented skirt and flaps, found in A class, upgrades to almost 3-1 SC layout, Odyalutai galaxy, coordinates -34.48, 52.32

Blue dragonfly interceptor with beam eye, full midwings and turbines, stinger and spine, sabres out back, found in B class, upgrades to 3-1 SC layout, Odyalutai galaxy, coordinates +32.21, -119.89

Orange dragonfly interceptor with narrow ring eye, stinger and long white spine, half wings, turbines and rear sabres, found in A class, upgrades to powerful 4T SC layout, Odyalutai galaxy, coordinates +46.94, -54.18

Sentinel multi tool, found in B class, upgrades to tight 3L+1 SC layout, harmonic camp at +34.30, -175.79, Odyalutai galaxy,

Titan worms on my brain

S class red dragonfly tank interceptor with yellow accents, beam eye, stinger and matrix clusters, spread SC layout, Odyalutai galaxy, coordinates +1.25, +5.65

Classic orange-black S-class interceptor with top-bottom sabres, narrow delta eye, stinger, wing flaps and turbines, tight 3-1 SC layout, Odyalutai galaxy, coordinates +2.41, +73.75