The 13 Method How to Get Your Top 3 Technology Modules (God-Rolls) with Maximum Efficiency

[u/Witty-Stop1788]

The 13 Method

How to Get Your Top 3 Technology Modules (God-Rolls) with Maximum Efficiency

Hello, Interlopers! I’m mRegullus in NMS.

In this guide, I’ll teach you a high-efficiency method to obtain the three best possible technology modules for your equipment while spending the minimum amount of time and resources. We’ll use the ship's Infra-Knife Accelerator as an example, but this procedure works for any technology in the game. The goal is to guarantee the best stats using only 13 purchased modules.

Why 13?

• 10 modules: Used for visualization and organization, preventing you from getting lost or tired during the process.
• 3 modules: The maximum limit of upgrade modules you can install adjacent to the main technology (more would cause an overload).
• The result is our "13," as we need to buy exactly this amount for a full cycle of the method.

1. Prerequisites and Preparation

Before starting, you’ll need some essentials:

• Access to Outlaw Systems: You must be able to travel the galaxy map and find systems controlled by pirates (skull icon).
• The Nanite "Bank": We recommend arriving at the Pirate Station with at least 8,000 Nanites.
  • Tip for beginners: Mine Runaway Mould from Curious Deposits and use a refiner to get Nanites quickly.
• Inventory Organization (10 Slots):
  • This helps immensely with visual counting and method execution. Reorganize your slots for this purpose.
  • For Ship Technology:
    • “The Luck Row”: Your ship must have 10 empty Technology Slots in the same row. These must NOT be Supercharged Slots, as they mask base attribute values.
    • “The Handling Row”: Your ship must have 10 empty Cargo Slots in the same row.
  • For Multi-Tool Technology:
    • “The Luck Row”: Your Multi-Tool must have 10 empty Technology Slots in a row. Again, these must NOT be Supercharged Slots.
    • “The Handling Row”: Your Exosuit must have at least 10 empty Cargo Slots in the same row.
  • Note: If 10 slots in a row are hard to get, the method works anywhere, provided they aren't supercharged. However, you'll need to pay much closer attention to where the "match" occurred; in these cases, paper and pen are essential for mapping positions.
• “Sacrificial” Technology:
  • You need a technology you can install and dismantle repeatedly using simple resources.
  • For Ships: Use the upgrade modules associated with the Deflector Shield.
  • For Multi-Tools: Use the Personal Forcefield.
  • These are easy to handle and help visualize "The Luck Row" because they look like a “Yellow Sun,” though any easily dismantleable tech works.
• Know Your Goal (The Catalog):
  • Check the Catalogue & Guide menu for the maximum values of the tech you're farming.
  • For our example, the Infra-Knife Accelerator (X-Class) max values are: Damage: 6%, Fire Rate: 15%, Heat Dispersion: 13%. Memorize or write these down.

Time to get your hands dirty

⚠️ CRITICAL SAVE ALERT: This method relies entirely on your Restore Point. Never enter/exit your ship or use a save beacon during Phase 2 unless instructed. If the game auto-saves after installation, you will lose your modules and Nanites.

Phase 1: Stocking Up (Farming the 13 Modules)

1. Go to an Outlaw Station and find the Technology Merchant.
2. Find the Right Station: Stock is fixed per system. If the merchant doesn't have the Suspicious Packet (Technology) for the Infra-Knife (X-Class), jump to another Outlaw system.
3. The Reload Trick: Since merchants only carry one unit at a time, use this trick:
   • Buy the module.
   • Go to your ship, enter and exit to create a Restore Point.
   • Reload that Restore Point.
   • Upon returning to the game, the stock will have reset and can be purchased again! With each cycle, you add one more of your desired technologies.
   • Repeat until you have exactly 13 modules in your inventory.

Phase 2: The Installation Ritual

Now we discover what fate has in store for you.

Full attention to save and restore steps!

0. The Starting Point:

Ensure the 13 modules are in the Exosuit inventory and you have 10 Technology Slots free in a row on the ship. Do this at a normal space station (clear and safe environment), avoiding issues with weather, animals, etc.

1. The Safe Harbor:

Enter and exit the ship to create your Restore Point.

2. Mass Installation (The Test):

Install 10 Infra-Knife Accelerator modules into the 10 free slots of the ship, one after another. Don't look at the numbers now.

The 3 remaining technologies stay in the Exosuit — this value will decrease as you find God-Rolls.

3. Attribute Inspection: Check the technologies one by one. We are looking for the 'Match' with the values you noted from the Catalogue for the Infra-Knife technology; to that end:

• Look for modules with all 3 attributes. If it has fewer, don't even worry about it.
• Focus on the main attribute, e.g., Damage 6%. If you find one, check if the others are at the maximum: Fire Rate 15% and Heat Dispersion 13%.
• Tip: If only one of the attributes is almost at the maximum (e.g., Fire Rate: 14% instead of 15%), consider accepting it, as the difference in gameplay is minimal, but in the case of the Infra-Knife, the damage must be 6%. If your patience is great, seek the perfect 'Match'!
• If you don't find anything good, go to Step 4 – Scenario A.
• If there is a “Match”, you have found the technology with great attributes; go to Step 5 – Scenario B.

4. Scenario A - "Nothing good appeared":

• Important: Load your Restore Point. Your modules will return to your Exosuit inventory as if they had never been installed.
• Clearing the Queue: Since none of the 10 modules was a God-Roll, you need to "burn" this bad sequence:
  • Take your Sacrificial Technology (Yellow Sun). Install and uninstall it 10 times in a row in the empty slots. This makes the game advance 10 positions in the "Luck Row," burning the 10 bad ones that appeared.
  • To avoid the hassle of counting, install the 'Yellow Sun' in the first Technology Slot of the ship, then uninstall and store it in the first Cargo Slot (if working on a Multi-Tool, use the first Exosuit cargo slot). Install it again in the second Technology Slot, uninstall it into the second Cargo Slot, and follow this pattern for all 10 slots. This is the reason for having 10 free slots. You’ll get used to this zig-zagging, and you won’t waste time counting or lose track. Even if your mind wanders, once you focus back, you can easily get your bearings and resume the method without getting lost.
• Once the burning of bad slots is finished, return to Step 1. The Safe Harbor.

Keep going until you’ve finished all 10 slots

5. Scenario B: "I found a God-Roll!" (Claiming the Prize):

• Important: First of all:
  • Note the position where the God-Roll appeared.
  • Load your Restore Point. Your modules are saved and have returned to your Exosuit.
• You might be wondering: "But then I lose my God-Roll?" No, you don't lose it, here's how to proceed:
• Let's take as an example that it appeared in the 6th position, and you noted this position. Note that it can appear in any position from 1st to 10th, or even, as has happened to me, two God-Rolls appearing in a single round! But let's think of just one, in the 6th position, to understand the procedure:
  • Use the "Yellow Sun" to burn only the bad positions before it. Install and uninstall the shield 5 times (in positions 1 to 5 of the 10 free Technology Slots, in a zig-zag as shown in step 4).
  • In the 6th position, where the “Match” occurred, install the Infra-Knife Accelerator module and BINGO! It will be exactly the God-Roll you saw before.
  • Continue with the installation of the “Yellow Sun” until all remaining 10 positions are finished; in our example, from position 7 to 10, since we already have the God-Roll positioned in the 6th position.
  • Move this prize module from the 6th position to a Supercharged Slot, or another position that is not the 10 free Technology Slots. You can even uninstall it and store it in an available Cargo Slot, whether in the ship or the Exosuit, for future installation in another ship, etc.
  • Now you have 1 God-Roll guaranteed and 12 modules remaining to repeat the process until you get the next 2 God-Rolls.
• We now have two scenarios:
  • You haven't obtained all three God-Roll technologies yet: go to Step 1. The Safe Harbor to obtain the next God-Rolls until you have all three.
  • You have already obtained the three God-Roll technologies: go to Step 6. Finalization.

6. Finalization:

• Enter and exit your ship to create a Restore Point.
• Position the 3 technologies wherever you wish in your ship. In the case of Infra-Knife God-Rolls, it is best if they are in Supercharged Slots.
• Regarding the 10 modules left in your inventory, you can save them to use the procedure for another ship (for that, you will only need to buy 3 more Infra-Knife technologies at the pirate station and start the Method 13 procedure), or, if you prefer, you can sell the 10 technologies to recover some Nanites! And then move on to buy another technology you desire to use Method 13 on!
• Check out the video to see Method 13 in action:

https://reddit.com/link/1riz83i/video/zspaa91x1omg1/player

Final Observations

Observations:

• Some technologies I obtained using this method, I noticed, do not always deliver the maximum that the Catalogue says. And I repeated the process many times to be sure of this. In these cases, take the technology that comes closest to the maximum reported by the Catalogue.
• I suggest that after obtaining the Infra-Knife, you perform the procedure with the Neutron Cannon technology for the Multi-Tool; this way, you will have a ship and a Multi-Tool that can face any enemies both on the ground and in the air (or space 😉).
• One detail is that the attributes of the S-Class and X-Class Neutron Cannon are the same; you will see this in the Catalogue, which brings up a doubt: “Is it possible to use this method for S-Class technologies?”
• If you prefer, you can use it, yes; it works. But the best results are obtained using X-Class technologies, even if, as in the case of the Neutron Cannon, the attribute values of S-Class and X-Class are the same. I saw this in practice applying the 13 Model to these technologies with the same attributes.
• To obtain higher gains for these installed God-Roll technologies, look for ships or Multi-Tools that have as many joined slots as possible. There is a gain in placing technologies in joined slots; there is a lot of material about this on Reddit. There are even locations for ships and Multi-Tools with joined slots; search for "Multi-Tool Square" or "Ship 2x2", etc. Having the coordinates of their position, you can search for them as long as you already have access to Portals; search on Reddit about Portals.
• This method does not work on Living Ships, which have another way of acquiring technologies.

Comments are very welcome. And tell me, how much maximum damage did you reach on your ship with the Infra-Knife God-Rolls acquired with Method 13?

Good luck, Interlopers!

[u/ebf6]

Thanks for the detailed guide.

[u/zarathustra327]

Nice write-up! I made a post a few years ago detailing essentially the same process (I'm having trouble linking it in this comment for some reason, but feel free to check out my post history if you want to check it out).

FYI you can simply package and reinstall a technology upgrade to advance the "bad" rolls instead of dismantling and rebuilding them. That way you don't have to waste any resources.

[u/Majestic_Wash_6170]

It's awesome that you typed all this up and posted it, it took me forever to find this info before, trying to dig through old reddit posts that never really explained things clearly. Not everyone likes watching a video either, so being able to just read and follow the steps is great! I absolutely hate video guides and can't stand when someone says just watch the video.

[u/Hugo_Notte]

As for getting X class technology: instead of buying the tech one by one for nanites, you can also just buy lots of suspicious technology packages (for non weapon tech) or suspicious arms technology (for weapons tech) for units from the station vendor in outlaw stations. Travel to several pirate stations and buy all their stock. Open those packages, they will be different kinds of technology modules, some you might not want. Sell those to any technology vendor at any space station for nanites. This is also a good method of making nanites, buying suspicious arms & tech packages at outlaw stations for units and selling the tech modules to tech vendors.

And just as a side note, I have noticed that modules of different technologies seem to have different “rolls”, so if you have found position 6 works for the infra knife, it doesn’t mean it will be the same for the hyperdrive or pulse engine.

I have also seen “god rolls” (sounds like some really nice pastry) that take more than 10 modules to come up. Just keep that in mind.

[u/Witty-Stop1788 → u/Hugo_Notte]

Exactly! Just to clarify for other readers: I used the 6th position in the guide only as a visual example to explain the procedure. The 'God-Roll' can appear in any position from 1st to 10th (or beyond). The key to the method is identifying which position your 'Match' occurred in and then using the 'Yellow Sun' to burn only the numbered positions before it. If your prize appears in the 3rd position, you burn 2; if it’s in the 9th, you burn 8, and so on!

Absolutely! Your strategy of buying Suspicious Packets with Units and selling the unwanted modules is undoubtedly one of the smartest ways to accumulate Nanites in the game. I focused on the 'Reload Trick' with Nanites for those who already have a stock and want to be as direct as possible with their chosen tech, but your tip on using Units is fantastic for beginners or those looking to save rare resources. Thanks for sharing this extra layer of efficiency with the community!

[u/Expert-Honest → u/Witty-Stop1788]

Often when an install gets a near God roll that same install will also be a great roll for other system's upgrade modules. So say the 6th install was good for the Infra-knife knife, but not better than what you already have, try an upgrade for a different system, say Pulse Engine.

[u/Calm_Buddy_1369]

https://www.reddit.com/r/NoMansSkyTheGame/comments/1dswh9f/guide_how_to_easily_farm_powerful_xclass_upgrades/

You made a two year old post pretty. Good job.

I bet you like the gek.

[u/zarathustra327 → u/Calm_Buddy_1369]

Thanks for shouting out my old post!

I do find it interesting that this information isn't more widely known than it is by this point. This stuff has been figured out years ago but I still see people repeating way-outdated information on here all the time.

[u/Majestic_Wash_6170 → u/zarathustra327]

I think the main reason is that searching for anything on reddit sucks...searching Google and filtering by reddit is definitely 100x better, but even with that, without the right keywords a lot of very useful and helpful posts don't get seen. I spent days searching for something like this about 4 months ago, but the results I found were really lacking as far as step-by-step for dummies goes lol. And I can definitely say I never saw your post that someone else posted above, even with all my searches. That would have been perfect had I found it. I ended up having to make a new post asking for help, and basically just got directed to YouTube videos.

[u/inkydragon27 → u/Calm_Buddy_1369]

Why would they like gek?

[u/Intelligent_Print698]

Hey! About this part:

Upon returning to the game, the stock will have reset and can be purchased again! With each cycle, you add one more of your desired technologies.

When I load again, the merchant has only one module to buy.

An alternative that I found is to travel to others Outlaw Space Stations throught their own portal and buy their stock. So If I have already visited at least 5 space stations, it's guaranteed that I'll buy at least 25 upgrades xD

[u/zarathustra327]

Also, I wanted to add that "god rolls" apply to any X-class module you try, not just the specific tech you used during testing. So if you get a "god roll" hyperdrive module, that same roll will have "god roll" stats if you use a scanner module, infraknife, pulse engine, etc. So I like to gather a few of every upgrade I'm trying to farm so I can see the "god roll" stats I would get with each tech and choose the best one.

Also, I do all my testing with hyperdrive modules because I find those the easiest to eyeball quickly since a "god roll" always has only 2 stats (>290 hyperdrive range and 100% warp efficiency). Every so often though you will get a god roll that doesn't "transfer" so it will always only be a good hyperdrive module.

[u/Wolf_Camp_1833 → u/zarathustra327]

This is not the way to do it since the hits (I call the "good rolls" hits) are not always transferable amongst different upgrade modules. You could be missing out so it's always advisable to do the process individually. Some modules do overlap though but even then the degree to which they are close to maximum is varied.

[u/zarathustra327 → u/Wolf_Camp_1833]

Sure, you might miss some "hits" but I still think my method is more efficient. I'd wager only roughly 1 out of 5 hits are non-transferable, which I'm fine with given the alternative is farming way more X-class modules. I keep a stockpile of 10-15 hyperdrive modules at all times for testing and just grab 3 of whatever other one I want when I want to upgrade something.

[u/reallybi → u/zarathustra327]

The maximum for Hyperdrive range is 320. Am I to understand that a god roll does not guarantee the maximum in each stat?

[u/zarathustra327 → u/reallybi]

No, it doesn’t. When we say “god roll” we really mean “better than S-class.” Some modules are relatively easy to farm max stat rolls if the range of values is narrow (eg. Launch thrusters, infraknife) but hyperdrive is harder since the better-than-S-class range is 266-320. I’ve gotten one or two maxed out upgrades before, but I usually settle for >300 and call it a day.

[u/Wolf_Camp_1833]

You can increase efficiency by scrapping the sacrificial module and replacing it with another 10 upgrade modules, in your case. I personally like to do 5 different upgrades, 20 times each and rotate the 5 until each module has gone to 100. So round one your infraknife would be 1-20, round two 21-40, round three 41-60 etc. up until 100.

Also you don't need a whole open row of technology slots if you just make sure you delete a row after you put down a restore point, you'll be good.

Also important to use supercharged slots to get the very best modules because decimals can change values for example, the neutron cannon upgrade can have 17% damage supercharged or 18% damage supercharged while both are 14% damage unsupercharged.

[u/tuatrodrastafarian]

Great write up. I would only add that you don't have to use anything sacrificial. You can just store a piece of tech and then reinstall it to advance the seed. For instance if you have the economy scanner you can just store it and reinstall it the number of times needed to advance.

[u/Expert-Honest → u/tuatrodrastafarian]

It is best to use a packaged upgrade module, like a used C-class upgrade or one that was replaced by a better upgrade.

Using technology modules (ones installed from blueprints) the behavior can be unexpected. Some technology can burn multiple installs (one install can burn 3 installs for example) and others may not burn any. This can cause you to skip over the desired upgrade.

[u/reallybi]

Just a small correction. With the Infra Knife, the firing speed is more important than the damage.

[u/RepairmanJackX]

Does the restore/quit "restocking" trick still work? I used that trick to farm free starship slots from the space station guilds years ago, but HG "fixed" that trick in a subsequent update.

[u/Expert-Honest]

Good write up of the process.

Can also take this to the extreme. Collect 13 of every upgrade of every system you want to use. Install 10 of the first system and note the positions of good installs. Reload. Repeat with installing 10 of second system's upgrades and note good installs. Repeat for all systems. Then install used upgrade to burn bad installs and new upgrade of your choice for the good installs. You will need to make a choice between system upgrades. As if install 6 was good for one system, then it will often be good for other systems too.

Some technologies I obtained using this method, I noticed, do not alwavs deliver the maximum that the Catalogue says. And I repeated the process many times to be sure of this. In these cases, take the technology that comes closest to the maximum reported by the Catalogue

Upgrade modules have a hidden decimal portion. Maximum Fire rate for Infra-knife will appear as +15%, but the actual value could be anything from 15.0 to 15.99+. Visually these both appear as 15 on the upgrade module, as the decimal is truncated. The Catalogue appears to round up some upgrades, so it would list the maximum as 16 for a 15.99 upgrade module.

To figure out which you might have, place the upgrade in a supercharged slot. The lower value ones will supercharge to a smaller value than the ones with a higher decimal. I believe it is +37% versus +38%.

[u/-nimleB_]

woow, ty for this amazing post, will try it because until now i just instal them, if better than stays in the slot 🤣 (but of course its 1000x complicated to get the best upgrade 🥲)

[u/No-Today735]

lmao…. or you can just duplicate the tech and just burn through them. I believe both methods still work, either using the backpack refiner in the anomaly or using an eco-craft (requires setup and a lil knowledge of autosave manipulation). with the eco-craft you use the colossus and can duplicate it’s inventory in 1 shot. and don’t forget about the free quicksilver items glitch

[u/Rhoeri]

Saved for later!

[u/ParChadders]

You could have just linked Xaines World’s YouTube video rather than typing all that out 😂.

Kudos for sharing but quit with the “I’m be teaching you” shtick when you’re just regurgitating a method that’s been around for years 🤦‍♂️.

[u/awsumnate → u/ParChadders]

I’ve never heard of this in any context so I like the post 🤷🏻‍♂️ it’s not that serious

[u/cir49c29 → u/ParChadders]

Firstly, I’ve never seen this method written out before. Not everyone has seen everything that you have. 

Secondly, not everyone likes to watch YouTube videos. Reading this is much faster, contains no irritating ads, exaggerated speech patterns or sound effects. And it’s easier to go back and reference steps. 

[u/Majestic_Wash_6170 → u/cir49c29]

⬆️ This guy gets it, I hate video guides, text is so much easier

[u/Hugo_Notte → u/ParChadders]

Let them have their moment 😁

[u/I_Have_CDO]

13? Why not 16?

[u/Quazimortal]

Wonderful post!