Star Wars Outlaws Sabacc Guide

Star Wars Outlaws has a decent number of mini games to pass the time with, one of which you’ll encounter in several locations as you explore the galaxy. The series iconic card game of Sabacc is here in full force and has been tuned to be somewhat challenging despite its game of chance.

Sabacc becomes available as an optional mini game in Star Wars Outlaws following the progression of the main story. You’ll get introduced to it on the planet Toshara and from there encounter the game across Kay’s journey.

The type of Sabacc played in Star Wars Outlaws is known as Kessel Sabacc – named for the spice-rich planet in Star Wars lore – and is a popular game where players must keep their chip stack afloat despite the Imperial Tax.

How to play Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws

Getting to play Sabacc is straightforward, and the game does well to walk you through the simple mechanics. Upon joining a match, which you buy in with a set number of credits and can glimpse the reward for winning such as valuables and additional credits, it’s time to take a look at what you’ve got to play.

Right away, take note of the three turns you have to play, along with the number of tokens, and your current dealt hand. These will be important as the game continues. In Kessel Sabacc, the goal is to invest chips to improve your hand and get a pair known as a Sabacc hand.

To win a round, you need to have said pair closest to the number zero, the numbers which are displayed on each card. The last player with chips in stock will win the game and the credit pot.

Each round will result in a winner, who will take their invested chips used during the game back into their own stack. Without a Sabacc hand, you’ll be taxed an amount equal to the difference of your card values. If you end up with a losing Sabacc hand, you get taxed one chip and there’s no getting these back.

Kessel Sabacc introduces an item known as Shift Tokens, which are effect cards that can only be played before Draw or Stand (when you pass on drawing a card) actions.

These card actions include things like being able to draw a card without spending a token, set Imposter value (the value taken of one of two dice thrown) to 6 until the next reveal, or preventing Shift Token effects against you until the next reveal.

How to win at Sabacc in Star Wars Outlaws

Winning at Sabacc is easier than you might think, but it still takes some strategizing and thinking about your next move. When the game begins, take note of the initial cards you've been dealt. Your goal is to get them as close to zero as you can, with them both being matching numbers. So for example, if you start out with a 1 on one card and 5 on another, you'll want to focus on the 5 card for your first turn.

Let's say in this example, the 5 card is red (there's two types red and orange). When your turn comes up, you can draw another card from the red deck and if the number on it is lower than your current card, keep the new one and discard the old one into the pile. Keep an eye on the discarded piles too as you can draw from those if there happens to be the lower number you need sitting on top.

Once you get your cards where you want them - the closest to zero, that is - you can simply Stand when it's your turn and get to the end of the round. The number of rounds you participate in depends on how many opponents you take out.

When you get down to the remaining opponent, is a good time to use your cheats and Shift Tokens if you have them. Being cautious is the play because if you lose you'll have to try the game all over again. That said, having Nix spy on your opponent's card is a good way to determine which strategy to use with the Shift Tokens. One of the best ones is being able to remove the ability of Shift Tokens being used against you, so you can avoid any harsh retaliation from the opponent. Forcing your opponent to draw is also a good one to keep in mind because it can upset their hand in your favor.

As for getting more Shift Tokens, you do start with some, but some can be had from defeating other NPCs around the galaxy in a game of Sabacc. A few of them are also hidden in vaults, or can be purchased from smuggler merchants.

Completing the ‘No such thing as luck’ achievement in Star Wars Outlaws

As you progress through Star Wars Outlaws, you’ll come across a myriad assortment of characters – including some that may seem familiar. In order to satisfy the ‘No such thing as luck’ achievement, there’s a certain person you’ll need to meet early on, satisfy their quest, and then you can challenge them to Sabacc.

This character’s appearance is a bit of a spoiler, so here’s your only warning before we break it down.

In order to meet this character, you must travel to the planet Akiva and look for the side quest ‘The High Roller’, which should show up on the map and allow you to select and track it. Once you do that, travel to the marked location within the starting city and Kay will find out about an exclusive high roller game of Sabacc.

Once she’s in, she will encounter the one-time administrator of Bespin, Lando Calrissian, who needs her help and sends her off world to retrieve an item through another quest that involves winning at Sabacc. Completing this quest will unlock a new ability – a Sabacc trick that will help Kay even the odds called Double Draw. Accept the prompt during the Draw Phase to start the cheat.

Additionally, you’ll unlock Lando as one of the game’s Experts, so be sure to complete his related tasks to unlock those abilities.

After that, you can find Lando after starting a separate quest line – ‘High Stakes Showdown’. Take on each planet’s high roller in Toshara (you should encounter this early on when learning about Sabacc for the first time), Kijimi, and then on Tatooine, before circling back to Akiva once you get the call from Lando.

Getting the achievement after that is easy – just beat Lando using a cheat and that’s it. There’s a ways to get to him even after you’ve met him early on if you haven’t made your way through the rest of Outlaws already, but if you’ve completed the game, it should be fairly easy to go back, grab the quest line and fast travel to each location.

Otherwise that’s about it. Once you unlock Sabacc, there’s that whole quest to take care of, plus other Sabacc tables you can play at to hone your skills and a good way to spend downtime in Star Wars Outlaws.