I don’t know what’s up with No Man’s Sky and its Leviathan — the first organic frigate added to the game as an Expedition reward several weeks ago. There was a pretty hefty gltich stopping players from claiming their prize back then. Now there’s another glitch. Though this time it’s not part of the Expedition itself, per se. This NMS Leviathan bug is instead stopping players from claiming their Expedition reward on other saves.
Put another way… If I had a nickel for every time I personally couldn’t claim my Leviathan frigate, I’d have two nickels, which isn’t a lot, but it’s weird that it happened twice!
UPDATE: The No Man’s Sky Experimental Branch patch notes now mention this issue is resolved in that early version of the game. It seems it should be fixed shortly. Original story follows.
The first bug was resolved in a patch addressed by NMS developer Hello Games — even before the update was released publicly. You just had to download the “Experimental Branch” on Steam. Before that, Expedition 7: Leviathan showed no reward at the end because it required unachievable community goals. Meaning you couldn’t claim the Leviathan at all.
With that issue resolved, I’ve been able to use my organic frigate (which is now an entire subcategory of fleet ship) on that original save. However, you should also be able to claim Expedition rewards on every other NMS file by speaking to the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion on the Space Anomaly. This keeps each Expedition reward from being locked into discrete little universes with no way to use them all.
The problem? Now that same Quicksilver NPC doesn’t want to give me my frigate.
I’m not alone, either. Several PC players have reported the same occurrence since the recent Endurance Update via the game’s Steam discussion forums. In all cases, the Expedition reward bug basically plays out like this:
- You speak to the Quicksilver Synthesis Companion
- You go to claim your Leviathan frigate from the Expedition Rewards
- The frigate flashes onscreen for a second
- The screen closes before you can choose “add to fleet”
- Nothing happens…
Thankfully, there’s a fix. Well, it’s more like a workaround, but I can confirm it worked for me!
See, I eventually noticed something strange about my existing fleet back on my freighter after trying to claim my Leviathan. Any time I went to the “Manage Fleet” menu on the command bridge, I saw “add to fleet” and “decline.” Just like when I tried to claim my Leviathan at the anomaly.
The first few times this happened, I just clicked “decline” without looking too hard at the screen. I thought the game was asking me to add some mediocre, C-Class frigate that I had somehow contacted without realizing.
It turns out that was a mistake. As you can see in the prior screenshot, my Leviathan frigate got moved to this screen — superimposed over the normal frigate I was trying to inspect (the Science Vessel called Hawk & Shock in this case). I simply didn’t notice the organic frigate at first because the stats, name, and background all matched the Science Vessel.
Basically? Trying to claim the Leviathan from the anomaly doesn’t work. However, the “add to fleet” option gets moved to the Fleet Management menu. You just need to board your freighter and inspect one of your existing frigates. After you try to claim the Leviathan, of course.
I can’t speak for everyone, obviously, but since collecting my frigate I’ve combed through the Steam forums again. I’ve seen at least one other user mention this exact same trick working for them. Your mileage may vary (as is so often the case with glitches) but I’m dropping this here to hopefully help players claim their Expedition reward!
It’s an awfully nice reward, too. The Leviathan is an S-Class frigate. It also has a random chance of bringing back upgrades for your Living Ship (if you got one through the Starbirth mission). Technically, all organic frigates include a chance to collect this random loot, but so far those are also random “drops.” You need to first acquire a Dream Aerial from other fleet expeditions in order to get a normal living frigate. If you already completed Expedition 7, on the other hand, you already have the Leviathan. Guaranteed.
Hope that helps! Best of luck claiming your reward and dodging this latest bug. At least until a more comprehensive fix gets patched into the game.
