So to preface, I’m very early game on my first run and still learning everything (In my 4th system after my 3rd was following up the Rebel Star quest). I’ve got stacks of navigation data taking up too much inventory space so I decide to to spend some at the cartographer and buy a settlement location map, thinking it would reveal one of those trade post minor settlements. Instead I am delightedly surprised to find myself the new overseer and be introduced to the settlement management mechanic. Cool. Unfortunately, I’m also constantly fighting off sentinels, which is odd because the settlement stats only list 22% next to what I assume is supposed to be sentinel aggro, but they seem pretty dang mad. Also why is the ground just lousy with gravitino balls? Eventually I figured out what that “Aggressive Sentinels” tag on the planet meant.

So yeah, it turn out these settlers thought it would be a great idea to set up shop on an irradiated hellscape of a planet that spends 98% of its time under a radiation storm AND also has aggressive attack on sight sentinels. Probably just so they can “In my day…” their future kids. Cut to me dodging fire in the blinding radiation storm just trying to drop off the materials to get the overseer office built. At least I can teleport in now for any decisions, but a single step out the door and it’s a warzone.

This can’t be the intended means of introducing the settlement mechanic, right? There was probably a much gentler tutorial quest line somewhere down the line that I have vaulted right past because I just wanted to spend the nav data taking up space.