How to refine Radiant Shards in No Man's Sky

In the recently released Interceptor update for No Man's Sky, we're introduced to a raft of new resources. One of these new resources is Radiant Shards, which has quickly become a highly-sought after material, as it is a precursor to Nanite Clusters - a valuable resource that can be used to purchase blueprints, upgrade starships and multi-tools, and used as payment to travellers when locating Traveller Graves.

One Radiant Shard can be refined into 50 Nanite Clusters, a return that is only beat by Inverted Mirrors and Hyaline Brains. As such, it is an incredibly valuable resource that many players will want to get their hands on in No Man's Sky.

In this guide, we will show you where to find and how to refine Radiant Shards in No Man's Sky.

If you were curious about where to find Harmonic Brains, another new item added in the Interceptor update, you can read our previous guide to get even more Nanite Clusters.

How to refine Radiant Shards in No Man's Sky

Credit: Hello Games

Before getting into the explanation, you should know how refining works. Refining is a process of combining various resources from the game to create materials that are more condensed and powerful than their raw forms. For Radiant Shards, these can produce 50 Nanite Clusters by refining one Nanite Cluster and one Radiant Shard together.

To refine a Radiant Shard, you need to put them in a refiner and then an option should appear that you could refine them into the Nanite Clusters. Upon refining your shards, you could get Pugneum, which in turn can be refined into Nanites using an Exosuit refiner. Remember that if you're playing with mods, disable your mods first because these may cause problems in refining.

The produced Nanite Clusters can be used to purchase blueprints, upgrade starships and multi-tools, and pay travelers for information, including the location of Traveller Graves.

Where to find Radiant Shards

Before you start refining Radiant Shards, you may be having trouble finding them in the first place.

Radiant Shards are usually found on a Corrupted Planet, so make sure you have your game updated and you check every corner of the planet to find some of the new item. On a Corrupted Planet, you will find Radiant Shards as a mineable mineral that takes the shape of a large, purple crystal. Once you manage to add some Radiant Shards to your inventory, they will definitely help you in repairing your Sentinel multi-tool and constructing a pilot interface for a Sentinel Interceptor.

While you're still here, feel free to check out our other guides on the game such as how to increase starship storage in No Man's Sky and how to find portals and unlock glyphs in the game. We also have a piece on how to get Tritium in No Man's Sky if you're interested in that.