Been playing a while now and discovered some stuff that wasn't in the "Beginner's Guides" that I read, so thought since we've got a ton of people joining for Companions and Expeditions that I'd write them down.

Mining and Overheating: Your mining laser gets hot as you mine and will overheat… but a hot laser also mines more quickly! So if you're trying to grab that cobalt in the early game, keep it as close to overheating as you can without going over it.

Practicing Language Skills: Vy'keens generally like Vy'keen words and very occasionally prefer aggressive language. Gek like trading. Korvax like tech. If you get it right, Vy'keen will give you fuel and survival stuff, Gek will give you units and valuable gifts, and Korvax will give you nanites and tech modules. Talking to Korvax is a really great way to pick up tech early-game!

Buy S-Class Hazard Modules. You'll need one of each. Once you get Warp capability, prioritize finding these on Space Stations. Don't forget to pick up Exosuit Storage on each station and from the Anomaly once you find it, after which the Mission Board will also be available too. I grab all "kill creature" and "kill sentinel" quests since you can carry them around as long as you like.

What tech to buy on the Anomaly:

– Ship: Economy Scanner so you can find the good T3 systems. Efficient launch thrusters and recharging (or buy a ship which has these already) because it's just a pain otherwise. I usually skip straight to Indium Drives too (see below).

– Mining tool: Survey tool, so you can find good places to put your bases. Boltcaster is a perfectly good weapon; Scatter Blaster if you want something more punchy. CAREFUL with Geological Cannons and Plasma Launchers! Those things can kill you in one hit if you hit a wall. Trust someone who has lost Permadeath saves to a newly bought tool.

– Construction: Pilgrim or Nomad. Get something small, fast and light to travel with really early on. I like the Pilgrim because you don't get it in normal play (Expeditions will grant it to you though, so get the Nomad if playing that). It's worth the extra data since it makes it much easier to get the data!

Industrial mining is also really great, and you'll be able to take advantage of it because you got the survey tool.

I also like to grab the Standing Planter from farming. You can construct it, grab the carbon, and deconstruct it for easy free carbon.

A medium refiner is really nice too; don't wait for the base station quests for that. Just grab it. You can chuck Emeril or Indium in there with Chromatic Metal to take advantage of the Emeril / Indium loops (just try it); also you can expand Dihydrogen Jelly spheres to make more Dihydrogen when you need to (craft the result back into spheres in your inventory).

I also buy the Galactic Terminal really early on, just so I can easily grab metal plates and the like.

Exosuit: Personal Refiner.

Base-building: Mine with your ship! The tops of hills are often covered in Ferrite Dust stones and carbon, so you can use your personal refiner.

I like to build my first base next to a Minor Settlement that sells Salvaged Data, just because it makes it easier (you won't be short on money for long). You can also pick up components for things like the Survey Tool there. To find it, switch your ship to 3rd person and look below you as you fly. Press "c" to scan for buildings, but look out too as it doesn't find them all. Very tall beacons will also show you the location of settlements. Pick up any nanites from Abandoned Buildings you pass, visit Manufacturing Facilities too (see below) and Transmission Towers (also see below).

Putting solar panels and batteries on top of fixed structures connects them; you don't need to wire them up. Ratio 1 battery to 2 solar panels.

I build a LOT in wood; you can connect a corridor to a wooden wall if you want to expand into fixed structures. If you're on PC, Exosolar's base building mod is GREAT and not game-breaking.

Get an Indium Drive and a Hot Thermal hazard shield as soon as you can then find an A or S-class Active Indium node with your survey tool, preferably on a T3 planet so you can buy tons of metal plates with your Galactic Terminal, and start making money. You can also pick up valuable Storm Crystals on those planets, made easier by buzzing around to them in your Nomad / Pilgrim.

Fight pirates! They're not that hard. Flying into the ship debris will recharge your shields and give you free Magnetised Ferrite, Chromatic Metal and other things that are good to sell. If you're being attacked by a lot of them, back your ship off and shoot them as they appear. The quickest way to stop a pirate shooting at you is to shoot back. Grab a couple of Photon Cannon modules and a Shield module if you need to.

I scrap my Rocket Launcher early-game for the copper and space. Never needed it.

Carry Microprocessors. They are needed for lots of puzzles and NPC conversations, 3 of them are needed to build a Galactic Terminal in your base (where you can replenish your supplies) and you can use them to help astronauts in distress.

Free Warps to Emeril / Indium: The Nexus at the Anomaly often gives quests to destroy Hazardous Flora. These will often take you to an Emeril or Indium system.

Getting Emeril: You can sometimes get Emeril in Buried Caches too. Use the Emeril / Chromatic Metal combo in a medium or large refiner to expand it. Emeril can be used to make Indium Drives (which give you access to ALL systems; you don't need the other two drives) and Atlas Pass 3 (which also gives access to 1 and 2, you don't need the other passes).

Buying ships: Ship cost is based on storage. Don't buy extra storage! It's cheaper to buy another ship and scrap it for Storage Augmentation modules than it is to buy the storage. T3 systems will generally have better ships available than others. Look out for Exotics as they're nice S-class ships which are pretty cheap for their abilities.

Manufacturing Facilities: Visit these as often as you see them. You can blast the doors open with your ship early-game if you learn how to turn it properly. Answering the puzzles inside gives you access to recipes you'll need.

Transmission Towers: These give you distress beacons, either to Crashed Freighters which you can run around picking up useful stuff from the buried Cargo Pods (careful to back out fast from the radiation) or better, to other ships you can fix up and fly to the Space Station to scrap them for Storage Augmentation, LOTS of units and nanite-valuable modules.

Derelict Freighters are not as hard as I thought they would be, and very well worth it. Go slow, make sure you have Ion Batteries and Life Support Gel. I used a Scatter Blaster with a couple of modules, some Life Support modules and one Shield module; I was absolutely fine. NOTE: the Derelict Freighters you find while randomly warping are NOT the same as the Derelict Freighters you find from the Scrap Merchant. Those random warp ones often have cargo pods you can shoot (which will summon pirates sometimes) but you can't land on them.

Atlas Language: The glowing white hemispheres on the floor of Atlas stations each have a chance of teaching you its language. Not that anything it says makes any more sense…

Starting Survival / Permadeath: Look out for nearby caves or Sodium plants. You will not survive long enough to fix your scanner and use it. Mine carbon and oxygen to start with. You can turn Marrow Bulbs into sodium in a refiner. Mine cobalt to build Ion Batteries (this is how you survive the trip to find the Hermetic Seal); pick up Dihydrogen for Starship Launch Fuel and Life Support Gel.

And that's it! Any more?