Outriders Guide For Beginners

Outriders, the new looter shooter by Square Enix and People Can Fly, has been a surprise hit. Topping over 100,000 concurrent users on Steam and growing a rapid, passionate fanbase. So how exactly does this game stand out from the pack and what should you know before diving into the alien world of Enoch? We have you covered here with this brief beginner's guide.

Outriders Guide For Beginners – The Basics

Outriders is a cover-based RPG shooter at its core. You hit a button to stick to cover, then take potshots at your enemies when they peek up to shoot at you. You get different weapons and armor from beating tougher enemies and completing missions. Equipping gear with higher numbers increases your attack and defense. You keep making those numbers go up, fight increasingly tougher enemies, rinse and repeat until you reach the credits. If you can imagine the Gears of War series getting mixed with the loot system of Diablo, you'll have a good idea of what to expect here.

But that's just how Outriders starts out. Early on, you gain access to one of four character classes, which completely overcharge the cover shooting. Devastator turns you into a walking tank. Trickster allows you to teleport and throw up time-stopping bubbles. Technomancer lets you call down long-range ice blasts that slow and interrupt foes. Finally, Pyromancer is all about slinging flame and sick burns. No matter class you pick, you gain the ability to heal by killing enemies. There is some nuance as to how they must be killed based on your class.

This brings me to the first major combat tip: keep moving and keep fighting. Because you heal by beating enemies, Outriders encourages you to stay active and take more risks. Depending on what weapons you have, the cover is meant more for your enemies than you. If you're a Trickster or Devastator, you mostly heal by fighting at close range, so your weapons of choice will be shotguns and submachine guns. Technomancers are more long range supporters so assault rifles and sniper rifles are musts. As for Pyromancers, you'll have to get good at corraling enemies into your fire abilities. No matter which of these classes you're playing, if you aren't hitting something, you better be reloading or moving. Be aggressive and be proactive, otherwise you will be pinned down.

The biggest tips I can offer across all four classes is spend your perk points and try out different abilities. When you first choose your class, you get three unique abilities, but you unlock more as you level up. It can be way too easy to forget that you have these since you have to open your character menu, switch to the Class screen, then manually swap out one of your three abilities for one of the new ones. Thankfully, People Can Fly have done a great job making each power feel dynamic and exciting, so a simple change can really help keep your playtime fresh. As for perk points, these are used in your class's skill tree. These are more numerically driven boosts, stuff like increasing weapon damage, maximum health or armor penetration. These numbers do add up and can help give some extra punch to your attacks. Thankfully, if you don't have the right perks for the build you have in mind, you can respec for free.

Outriders Guide For Beginners – Mod Your Weapons

One of the biggest ways Outriders stands out from other looter shooters is its crafting system. As you get more gear, you can either sell them at shops for leather or dismantle them for scrap. But early on in the game's campaign, you'll gain access to a crafting table, and here is where things get interesting. Whenever you dismantle a piece of gear, you not only get the raw materials, but you get all of the mods as well. Generally speaking, these mods range from leeching life from enemies with every hit, speeding up ability cooldowns, to status effects like bleed or poison damage. Once you get the mod once, it becomes permanently unlocked. When at a crafting bench, you can then switch out mods on a piece of gear and add ones you have earned. The only restriction is that multiple mods do not stack.

This is the key to success in Outriders. While other games in this genre like to put some sort of restriction on what you can and can't equip by limited rolls and unique weapon types, this game tells you to go nuts. This extends to armor as well. Pay attention to how the perks enhance your playstyle and lean in to it, see our more dedicated guides to the four main classes for additional information.

Outriders Guide For Beginners – World Tiers and Difficulty

Finally, if Outriders seems to be getting unfair with its difficulty, feel free to mess with the World Tier system. Simply put, the higher the World Tier, the tougher enemies will be. The trade-off is there's a higher chance of you getting better gear. But since Outriders has no real competitive PvP mode and the online co-op is a little dicey right now, there is no shame in dialing back the World Tier if you end up hitting a wall or just want something more casual.

And with that, you should know what you're getting into in the world of Outriders. The world of Enoch is brutal and unforgiving, but if you keep these beginner's tips in mind, you'll be even worse.