Expedition 22, The Swarm, launched with update 6.4 on May 27, 2026. You have roughly eight weeks. It’s shorter than most expeditions and much heavier on space combat. The whole community works toward one goal, and it ends with a boss fight against a ship that Hello Games says can destroy a space station.
What is the Swarm expedition?
The Swarm is a time-limited community expedition where every active player fights back against the Hive of Glass, a massive alien warship hovering at the edge of planetary atmospheres. The goal is to build a Prismatic Core inside the Space Anomaly by running missions across three categories, then use it to take the Hive down for good.
Progress is public. The Galactic Atlas Countermeasures page shows live contribution totals for all three factions, and the Anomaly has a physical construction tracker above the Core site. The faction that contributes the most gets permanently commemorated inside the Anomaly when the expedition closes.
The three factions
A short personality quiz assigns your faction when you first load into the expedition. There are no wrong answers, so don’t overthink it.
| Faction | Color | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Royals | Red | Authority and command |
| Sages | Green | Knowledge and insight |
| Weavers | Blue | Connection and creation |
Each faction gets its own ship, uniform, flags, and posters. The core rewards are the same for everyone. Only the faction that contributes the most gets the monument.
Mission types: Purge, Restoration, Sabotage
Phase 3 opens up the three mission categories at the Prismatic Core.
| Mission type | What you do | Effect on Core |
|---|---|---|
| Purge | Dogfight swarmer ships, clear infested systems | Direct combat progress |
| Restoration | Deploy sweepers to cleanse contaminated planets | Stabilizes build balance |
| Sabotage | Deploy from the Anomaly to intercept swarm activity | Disrupts swarm network |
If you just want to shoot things, run Purge. Restoration and Sabotage have more steps and feed the construction rate in different ways. The community needs all three, so run whichever one you enjoy.
Phase-by-phase walkthrough
Phase 1
You wake up near a crashed ship. The opening sets up the Traveller’s fragmented soul and introduces the swarm. Every task has an on-screen quest marker.
| Milestone | How to complete |
|---|---|
| Fragmented | Follow the marker to the crashed ship wreck |
| To Live | Craft and install the three Soul Fragment blueprints from the crash site |
| To Be Haunted | Return to your ship, offer the fragments to the pilot echo |
| Forged Signature | Craft the Pilot Signature from the recipe in the previous step |
| Contact | Repair two damaged ship components, then accept the signal |
| A Shadow Above | Fly toward the Hive of Glass, then destroy the ambushing swarmers |
| Stratagem | Summon the Anomaly, hand Polo your Corrupted Ichor, ask about fragmentation |
Phase 1 ends when you finish the conversation with Polo. The A Shadow Above task is the first real combat encounter. Swarmers are fast and travel in packs. Keep moving and pick them off individually rather than trying to fight the whole group at once.
Phase 2
Phase 2 pushes you into deeper space. Install a Cadmium Drive before you start since the galaxy map route involves red-star jumps.
| Milestone | How to complete |
|---|---|
| Crash Site | Open the galaxy map and follow the guided route to the crashed swarmer wreck |
| Disassembly | Use the Gravitino Coil to dismantle the wreck parts |
| Divine Intelligence | Help a freighter captain by destroying two cargo loads, then present Corrupted Ichor to the Atlas at Popoli Read |
| Emperor of Glass | Engage the Hive of Glass core (you will be pulled into the World of Glass) |
| Devoured | Escape the World of Glass (this resolves automatically) |
| Headquarters | Return to Polo and use the Prismatic Core to start tracking swarm activity |
The Emperor of Glass fight is supposed to end with the Hive pulling you in. You didn’t fail. The Devoured milestone clears on its own.
Phase 3 and beyond
Later phases gate on community Prismatic Core progress rather than just personal milestones. Some steps unlock on a schedule tied to collective completion. Check the Mission Log and the Galactic Atlas tracker to see what’s currently open. The final battle against the Hive requires the community to finish enough Core construction first.
The Hive of Glass: boss tips
The Hive of Glass is an alien warship roughly the size of the Death Star. Its iris opens to fire a weapon that can wipe out freighter fleets. The fight sends you through a rotating ring of lasers to reach a central core.
One 6.4 combat change matters a lot here: hitting a weak point now guarantees a critical hit, and hitting anywhere else never crits. Go for the core every shot.
A few tips:
- Clear escort swarmers first with burst weapons or missiles before committing to the core
- Auto-follow can now boost during pursuit, which helps when chasing the core as the Hive moves
- Keep moving through the laser wheel instead of stopping to aim. Sustained fire beats careful stationary shots
New raw material: Corrupted Ichor
Corrupted Ichor is the main new material in update 6.4. You get it by using the Gravitino Coil to dismantle fallen swarmer ships on dissonant planets. Crash sites spawn regularly on dissonant worlds and are defended by small planetary swarmers.
Polo asks for it in Phase 1, and you’ll need it again in the research chain. Grab it whenever you clear swarmers. It piles up quickly.
Swarmer crash sites exist in the base game too, not just the expedition. If you’re farming Corrupted Ichor outside the expedition, head to any dissonant planet and look for the debris.
All Swarm expedition rewards
Everything transfers to your main save when the expedition ends.
| Reward | Type |
|---|---|
| Direwasp Helm | Armor |
| Direwasp Chestpiece | Armor |
| Direwasp Plating | Armor |
| Direwasp Gloves | Armor |
| Direwasp Cuisses | Armor |
| Direwasp Boots | Armor |
| Direwasp Disintegrator | Rifle multi-tool |
| Direwasp Flightpack | Jetpack |
| Team flags (3 styles per faction) | Base decoration |
| Soul fragment poster set | Base decoration |
| Swarm Decal | Ship decal |
| Title: ‘the Fragmented’ | Character title |
Hello Games describes the Flightpack as humming and oscillating “as though buzzing with the rage of a thousand metal insects.” Honestly, that’s accurate.
See the full list of new items in 6.4 if you want every addition from this update.
Before you start
Install a Cadmium Drive. Phase 2 needs red-star warps, and without one you’ll get stuck before the Emperor of Glass fight.
Start collecting Corrupted Ichor early. Dismantle every swarmer crash site you find, since you need it in Phase 1 and again in the research chain.
Keep an eye on the Countermeasures page on the Galactic Atlas for live faction standings. If your faction is behind, run more missions.
And pace yourself. The expedition runs until around late July 2026. Eight weeks is plenty of time to clear everything without burning out in week one.
Sources
- No Man’s Sky 6.4 Swarm patch notes (Hello Games)
- Sean Murray’s update letter (Hello Games)
- Galactic Atlas Countermeasures (Hello Games)
Related
Frequently Asked Questions
Complete the tutorial, then fly to the Space Anomaly. Find the Terminal Nexus near the entrance and select The Swarm expedition. After loading in, a short quiz assigns you to Royals, Sages, or Weavers. You also get a faction ship and uniform in your team colors.
Royals (red, authority and command), Sages (green, knowledge and insight), and Weavers (blue, connection and creation). Your faction is assigned by a personality quiz when you start. All factions share the same core rewards, but only one gets memorialized in the Space Anomaly.
The three mission types that drive Prismatic Core construction in Phase 3. Purge has you dogfighting swarmers. Restoration sends sweeper teams to cleanse contaminated planets. Sabotage deploys you from the Anomaly to intercept the swarm network. Each type contributes differently to the build rate.
Fly through the rotating laser wheel and target the central core. Hits on the core are guaranteed critical hits in update 6.4. Clear escort drone swarmers first with burst or missile weapons, then focus sustained damage on the core.
Corrupted Ichor is a new raw material introduced in update 6.4. Get it by using the Gravitino Coil to dismantle fallen swarmer ships. It's required early in Phase 1 when you bring it to Specialist Polo, and it shows up again in the research chain.
The full Direwasp cosmetic set (Helm, Chestpiece, Plating, Gloves, Cuisses, Boots), the Direwasp Disintegrator rifle multi-tool, the Direwasp Flightpack jetpack, team-specific flags, all three faction posters, a Swarm Decal, and the title 'the Fragmented'. All rewards transfer to your main save after the expedition.