No Man’s Sky guide: How to improve your Standing with the Gek, Korvax and Vy'keen (and why you want to) (2024)

Venturing into the vast, unexplored universe of No Man’s Sky is a lonely life of hopping from undiscovered rock to uninhabited planet. Luckily, all of those planets have alien races already living there, Signore Columbus. Throughout the game, you’ll interact with them, learn their language and improve (or reduce) your standing with them.

There are three races you’ll interact with in your travels between the stars — four if you count the Sentinels (you shouldn’t) or five if you also count the Atlas Interfaces (we don’t). In this guide, we’ll teach you how to improve you relationship with the Gek, Korvax and Vy'keen.

Your standing with an alien race is basically a reflection of their opinion about you. While a low standing has no real impact — members of a race that doesn’t like you don’t attack on sight, for example — you’ll receive benefits from improving your standing. These benefits, though, are mostly minor things like learning new words and being able to ask for shield and health recharges. Having a high standing also lets you choose certain dialogue options when speaking to them.

Also, while achieving the highest standing with a race impacts the prices you see while trading or buying a ship from that race, the impact is generally so small as to be basically unnoticeable.

Like the levels of Milestones that chart your galactic journey’s progress, each race has levels of standing. The Vy’keen have five, the Gek six and the Korvax seven, and we’ll cover each below.

Your standing with an alien race really comes into play during your subsequent conversations with a being. After you grant the initial favor, spending the 20 Carbon to reopen the dialogue with a being allows you to ask for things in return.

You can talk to a being as many times as you have Carbon to pay for the privilege. These conversations allow you to ask for everything from healing to technology repairs (if you have the relics to offer in return).

The Gek are the small, reptilian (or possibly amphibious) businessbeings you’ll encounter that spice up their conversations with flatulence. Their lore implies that they (or their ancestors) might be the scariest warriors in the universe, but most of your encounters with them will be about them asking for money.

Gek standing levels

The names of Gek standing levels reflect their cultural business focus:

1. Client
2. Customer
3. Valued Customer
4. Friend
5. Best Friend
6. Partner

How to talk to a Gek

The Gek are unique among the races of No Man’s Sky in that your face-to-face interactions with them are very different from your interactions with their deeply serious Monoliths. The Gek you meet are goofy, farting space merchants. The Gek of the Monoliths are the greatest horror the universe has ever seen. In person, giving the Gek money is usually the right answer. At the Monoliths, you should probably act afraid.

Aside from their clear passion for the music of Daft Punk, the Korvax also love objectivity and learning. The Korvax are an artificial race that operate much like Battlestar Galactica’s Cylons and their Resurrection Ships. Korvax can upload and download their networked consciousnesses from body to body or store it in the Korvax Convergence. Korvax religion seems to be built on the equation of the Atlas Interfaces, and they respect the Sentinels. Mostly, though, the Korvax just don’t care about you.

Korvax standing levels

The names of Korvax standing reflect their conviction that squishy, biological lifeforms can span the continuum from annoyances to fellow travelers"

1. Annoyance
2. Irritation
3. Irrelevance
4. Test Subject
5. Point of Interest
6. Research Focus
7. Thesis
8. Traveler of the Atlas

How to talk to a Korvax

In your direct interactions with the Korvax, select the answer most devoid of compassion and emotion. Many of your interactions with Korvax beings and their Monoliths will be about letting them experiment on you. The best answer is usually going to involve poking, prodding or psychological torture.

The Vy’keen are a proud race of warriors. That’s … kind of all there is to them. Vy’keen are all about pride, duty and war. They also have a longstanding hatred of the Sentinels.

Vy'keen standing levels

Vy'keen standing levels reflect their no-nonsense attitude:

1. Neutral
2. Accomplice
3. Co-conspirator
4. Close Ally
5. Special Relationship

How to talk to a Vy'keen

Interactions with the Vy’keen and their artifacts are similarly no-nonsense. If you want to improve your standing, punch things, report cowardice and honor warriors.