Now that the server issues that plagued Outriders over the launch weekend have cleared up for the most part, you’re probably ready to jump headfirst into People Can Fly and Square Enix’s new looter shooter. The reviews are starting to pile up, and they look to be a mixed bag. I myself had a rough start in Outriders, but after chugging through a few not-so-enjoyable hours, I have gained my stride and am now having a good time adding to the carnage on the inhospitable planet of Enoch. In an effort to make time with Outriders a better experience, I’ve put together 7 tips that will help you build a better life on Enoch.
Try All The Classes
If you are a few hours into the game and questioning why you bought Outriders, you may want to give a different class a try. I love melee classes, so I initially picked the Devastator, and it just wasn’t clicking for me. I was about to give up on the game when I gave it a last-ditch effort and started fresh with the Technomancer. Boy am I glad I did because I now have a completely different opinion of the game and can’t wait to get back in and continue the fight to save Enoch.
Skill Check
In Outriders, you earn skill points with each level up. For many players, that means you won’t have a clue which skills you want to invest in so early in the game. Don’t worry though. Unlike most games that penalize you for using skill points before you know what you really want, Outriders allows you to respec your skills for free. So throw those points into your skill tree as quickly as you get them. Then, once you get a feel for what skills you like and don’t like you can go back in and optimize your skill tree for maximum death and destruction.
Read All Of The Story Options
I’ve seen where a couple of reviewers disliked the lack of story in Outriders. If you are pushing through the campaign as fast as possible, that may be true. But if you stop to read all of the dialogue options, as well as check out the codex as you go, you will discover a lot of lore that will give a little more context to the struggles humanity faced during your 31-year nap. Outriders is a looter shooter so don’t expect the greatest story of all time, but at least it adds more to the game than just combat.
Use Cover, Or Don’t
I’ve also seen where some players are saying that you shouldn’t use cover and instead throw caution to the wind and charge in headfirst. Playing aggressive can be a lot of fun, and some classes will benefit from charging in and getting up close and personal like. It’s not a playstyle for everyone, though, and contrary to what you may be hearing, using cover can be an effective way to handle a fight.
Who needs cover when you can deflect bullets?
Some enemies like to charge your position or throw a grenade or two your way, so be ready to advance or fall back at a moment’s notice. If the slow and steady strategy of using cover is to your liking, it’s best to pick some defensive skills that will stop advancing enemies in their tracks. Of course, sniper shots to the head will work too.
Kill To Heal
You will gain a small portion of your health back whenever you aren’t taking damage, but one thing you’ll quickly learn is there aren’t any health potions to get you back up to full health. Instead, you are gonna have to dole out damage to get health back. Your class determines the exact way you will gain health. Devastator and Trickster both regenerate health by performing melee kills while the Pyromancer gets health from any foe who is downed while they are marked by one of their skills. The Technomancer works a little differently than the other classes, getting health back for any damage they deal out.
Adjust The World Difficulty
People Can Fly took an atypical approach to the difficulty level in Outriders. Instead of picking easy, normal, or hard at the start of your game, everyone starts at the easiest difficulty level. As you gain experience and level your character, you also gain experience in your World Tier, opening up progressively harder tiers. With each tier comes harder foes, but also better loot.
There are points where your World Tier can outpace your character’s level and gear, though. When that happens, there’s no shame in ratcheting down the difficulty a notch or two. Your character still gains experience points of what World Tier you are playing on; you’ll still want to keep it as high as you feel comfortable with since higher tiers offer up better loot. And before you know it you’ll be able to fully take on the worst the game has to offer.
Hidden Chests And Auto-Loot
With large waves of enemies hitting you over and over, it’s sometimes difficult to keep track of the loot dropping on the ground. Fortunately, Outriders has an auto-loot option. Hidden away in the Gameplay Options menu you’ll find the Auto Loot Minimum Rarity setting. This option is set to Rare and above by default so early in the game you won’t pick up any of the common or unusual items you come across. Lowering the option down, at least in the early levels, will turn your character into a virtual vacuum cleaner, picking up every item they come across. Don’t worry, there isn’t that much loot to be found, and you can dismantle or sell most of it quickly.
Not all the loot in Outriders will be flying out of the exploding carcasses you leave in your wake. There are Chests and resource deposits located throughout all of the areas you travel. They aren’t actually hidden but they don’t show up on your minimap. Be sure to check in all the nooks and crannies between fights to make sure you don’t miss any good loot.
