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Home»Game Guides»How To Complete Prayers of the Machine in No Man’s Sky (They Who Returned)

How To Complete Prayers of the Machine in No Man’s Sky (They Who Returned)

The most recent update to No Man’s Sky includes a slew of new quests, like Prayers of the Machine, which is proving rather tricky for…

Brandon MorganBy Brandon MorganAugust 30, 20233 Mins Read
No Man's Sky Exploration
Image Source: Hello Games via The Nerd Stash
This article is over 2 years old and may contain outdated information.

The most recent update to No Man’s Sky includes a slew of new quests, like Prayers of the Machine, which is proving rather tricky for folks to complete. Instead of bumbling about the galaxy hoping to complete the quest by accident, come along with us on a journey to complete Prayers of the Machine – They Who Returned – in No Man’s Sky.

How to Complete Prayers of the Machine

Prayers of the Machine in No Man's Sky (They Who Returned)
Image Source: Hello Games via The Nerd Stash

The first step in completing Prayers of the Machine is to unlock the quest in the first place. It’s not handed to you on a silver platter. To open the quest, you’ll need to complete/unlock the following missions first:

  • Awakenings
  • The Settlers
  • A Trace of Metal

You do not need to complete The Settlers or A Trace of Metal; simply unlocking them is enough. From there, find a Sentinel’s Camp and complete the glyph puzzle, which unlocks the Harmonic Seal. After that, fly into space and jump to a brand-new system. However, the quest will not come up for you if there is a space battle in the system. You have to enter a clean, quiet system.

Prayers of the Machine, or They Who Returned, tasks the player with researching properties of Atlantideum. It’s an essential resource for robotic lifeforms, and the Construct claims “electronic hearts” react to the material. You aim to use Atlantideum, find computing units, and observe how they react.

Like most missions in No Man’s Sky, you’ll want to fly into space and call down the Anomaly. Here, you’ll scan to find the next quest step near the back of the space station. To push on, interact with the terminal. Then, leave the Anomaly.

As soon as you leave the space station and are in free space, perform a scan to find the next objective on a nearby planet. For this step, you’ll require a weapon of some kind, so prepare accordingly.

The location on the planet is a small research station with blockaded doors. You’ll have to blast these open, then speak with the computer terminal to activate another scan. It once again asks you to leave the planet and visit a nearby space station. You’ll speak with the Station Core at the back and then return to your ship to talk with your onboard computer.

No Man's Sky is a space lover's dream come true.
Image Source: Hello Games

Once you’re done speaking to your ship’s computer, leave the station altogether and begin scanning. Alternatively, you can pulse to a new location to ensure the next quest step pops, which involves speaking with the Distant Echo.

The next major step is to use the Voltaic Staff to open a portal, which you can uncover using—you guessed it—your scanner. It’s not far off usually a quick pulse jump to a planet a short distance away. Here, you’ll find the portal in question, and, like any good explorer, you’ll jump straight through with zero regard for your health and safety. And, of course, you wind up floating alone in space before teleporting to Atlas. Speak with him, then return to the Anomaly to speak with Nada once last time.

That should conclude They Who Returned, though there’s always more to complete within the Prayers of the Machine quest line.

Related:

How to Find Harmonic Camps in No Man’s Sky

No Man’s Sky is available now on PC, PlayStation, Nintendo Switch and Xbox.

Related Topics
Guide No Mans Sky
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Brandon Morgan
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Brandon is an experienced freelance writer and game journalist, having begun his career in 2012. He has since worked for The Nerd Stash, Prima Games, DualShockers, MP1st, OnlySP, Goblins & Ghouls, and numerous other publications writing video game guides for the masses.

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