No Man's Sky's Xeno Arena update (version 6.3) introduced turn-based Creature Battles, letting you adopt wild fauna, assemble them into teams, and fight at Holo-Arena tables scattered across the galaxy. The system works like a standalone game-within-a-game, complete with elemental affinities, genetic upgrades, ranked leagues, and daily challenges.
Quick answer: Adopt at least one creature companion, then interact with any Holo-Arena table — found at space stations, planetary outposts, planetary archive buildings, some settlements, and aboard the Space Anomaly — to start a Creature Battle.
Adopt a creature companion first
You cannot enter a Creature Battle without an adopted companion. Land on any planet, locate fauna, and feed them creature pellets to tame them. Once a creature is adopted, it appears in your Companion Register and becomes eligible for battle. You can carry multiple companions and organize them into a battle team at any time through the companion menu.
Find a Holo-Arena table
Holo-Arena tables are the physical interaction points where battles take place. They exist in several location types throughout the game world.
| Location | Opponent type | Difficulty |
|---|---|---|
| Planetary outposts | Gek, Vy'keen, or Korvax NPC | Standard |
| Planetary archive buildings | Gek, Vy'keen, or Korvax NPC | Standard |
| Some settlement buildings | Gek, Vy'keen, or Korvax NPC | Standard |
| Space stations | System champions (NPC) | Higher |
| Space Anomaly | Other players (multiplayer) | Varies |
Alien NPCs at planetary buildings draw their battle teams from locally sourced fauna, so discovering the creatures on that planet beforehand gives you a tactical edge. Space station opponents are seasoned system champions — tougher to beat, but they drop better rewards.
Meet Iteration: Oceanus for the tutorial
A new NPC named Iteration: Oceanus now resides aboard the Space Anomaly. Oceanus is a creature-collecting enthusiast who walks you through a lightweight tutorial covering the basics of Creature Battles and the Arena League. Speaking to Oceanus is the fastest way to understand the flow if you've never fought before, and they also host a fixed-seed daily challenge that is identical for every player worldwide.
How battles work
Creature Battles are turn-based. Each creature on your team has a unique set of battle moves shaped by its species and the climate of the planet where it originally evolved. Moves fall into several categories: direct attacks, heals, stuns, shields, status effects, and morphs that transform opponents into vulnerable forms. During any turn, a creature may dodge an incoming attack, land a critical hit, or perform a bonus move — all of which add a layer of unpredictability.
The match ends when one side's entire team is knocked out.
Eight elemental affinities and type matchups
Every creature carries an elemental affinity tied to the biome it evolved in. There are eight affinities in total. Fire-based companions, for example, deal extra damage to frozen creatures but are vulnerable to radioactive attacks. Before each fight, you can inspect the opposing team's strengths and weaknesses, then choose which of your creatures to deploy accordingly. Building a roster that covers multiple affinities is essential for handling varied opponents.
Leveling up with Morphogenetics
Companions earn experience from every battle they participate in, gradually improving their combat effectiveness. As experience accumulates, you unlock genetic mutations through the Morphogenetics system. These mutations let you boost a creature's chance of moving first, its dodge rate, its overall durability, and the power of its combat abilities.
You can also modify genetics directly through a dedicated interface, upgrading agility, health, and combat traits. Retroviral pellets — earned as battle rewards — speed up this process.
Breeding stronger creatures with the Egg Sequencer
The Egg Sequencer aboard the Space Anomaly lets you enhance and modify offspring. A creature's personality influences its behavior during fights, while physical characteristics like size affect both durability and how easy it is for opponents to target. The Egg Sequencer can now also access eggs stored in your Freighter inventory, as long as the Freighter is within range.
Arena League ranks and rewards
The Arena League is a new faction tracked in the Catalogue & Guide. It offers five varieties of ranked medals, each with accompanying guidance missions you can pin in the Mission Log for step-by-step progress tracking.
| Reward type | Details |
|---|---|
| Nanites | Currency earned from winning battles, useful for general progression |
| Retroviral pellets | Gene-altering items that upgrade creature battle traits more efficiently |
| NPC invitations | Victories unlock invitations to face tougher alien opponents |
| Titles | Exclusive display titles for exceptional Arena League accomplishments |
| Unique companions | Impress Oceanus to earn rare creatures: Corrupted Quadruped, Geno-Prawn, Wandering Shrimp Tank, Boundary Horror, and Aeron Crab |
Multiplayer battles at the Space Anomaly
The Holo-Arena tables aboard the Space Anomaly support full multiplayer. You can challenge any other Traveller present in the hub to a Creature Battle. Winning against real players follows the same rules — knock out their entire team to claim victory. Because every player's roster reflects different planets and biomes, multiplayer matches tend to surface unusual creature and ability combinations you won't see from NPCs.
Daily challenges from Oceanus
Every day, Oceanus presents a unique battle challenge with a fixed seed, meaning every player faces the same puzzle. These daily challenges are designed to be difficult, encouraging community discussion around optimal lineups and strategies. Completing them contributes to your Arena League standing.
Creature Battles represent one of the most self-contained progression paths Hello Games has added to No Man's Sky. Between scouting wild fauna with the Creature Survey visor, breeding optimized offspring, climbing the Arena League ranks, and tackling Oceanus's daily puzzles, the system offers a deep loop that can easily become a primary way to play.