Outriders: How to Thrive on Enoch, and Other Tips
Enoch is a dangerous place. It was meant to be a second chance for humanity, a new Eden untouched by the decay of humans. A place where things could be different, where a new beginning could mean a prosperous people. Humanity was not ready for the Anomaly.
Outriders may seem like just another shooter at first glance, but there is so much more going on with nuanced builds, incredible gear mods, re-specable perk trees, the list goes on. If you haven’t heard much about what Outriders has to offer than look no further as we throw some helpful tips at you for getting the most out of Enoch.
1. Explore Everywhere
This should be a no-brainer by now, especially as an RPG. The maps in Outriders may not be open world, but they are intricate and full of secrets to explore. If you come across a door or gate that is locked, make a mental note of it because chances are there will be a way to get passed it. It’s also important to keep an eye out for any mineable resources along the way. Iron, scrap, leather, and other materials are vital to upgrading and modifying your gear in the game. Many of these resources are just sitting there waiting for you to take them, you just have to look. Let’s not forget the world is filled with expertly written lore to collect as well, coming from Joshua Ruben himself who is credited with writing for Destiny, Assassin’s Creed 2, Telltale’s The Walking Dead, and many more iconic properties.
2. Check For Mods
Each character file you create will have its own library of weapon and gear mods you can use to enhance your loadout, but the only way to unlock them is by dismantling gear that already has the mods attached. Anything with a blue rarity or higher will have a mod, but how do you know what you already have? When looking at the item and reading its mod you’ll see a distinct icon in the right hand corner to let you know if it is already in your library. The icon looks like four small squares, so if you see this, know that your best value is to sell the item rather than disassemble it.
It’s also worth your while to check in with the vendors regularly and see what they have for sale. They might have an item with inferior stats or a weapon you don’t particularly like, but it COULD have a mod not yet in your library, and what is a few thousand scraps for the chance to make every bullet explode on impact or summon flaming spectral chains to wrap around your enemy? (both real mods!)
3. Know When to Sell
Dismantling items will provide you with a small amount of resources (leather for gear, iron for weapons) as well as unlocking any attached mods that you don’t currently have, but that doesn’t mean you need to be mass-dismantling everything unless you desperately need the resources. High quality items are going to require scraps, and so will upgrading your prized loadout, so unless an item has a mod you haven’t logged yet, it will always be better to sell your extra loot to a vendor and start loading up that wallet.
4. Free Re-Specs
There is nothing worse than dropping a point into a skill tree and realizing it was absolutely pointless. It sucks to feel like you’ve wasted it, and many games will make you spend resources to get those points back. Each class in Outriders has a skill tree with three major branches and multiple points where these intersect, allowing you to go part way down one tree and easily cross over to another. There are just over 70 perk slots in total for each class, but you’ll only get 20 points for your character. This gives you just enough to reach the end of one tree and drop a few points elsewhere, but you won’t be able to max out everything. This encourages you to refine your build, but if you don’t like how its working you can re-spec the entire tree at any time for 0 cost, even in the midst of battle (although why would you do that with a gun to your head?)
5. The Very, VERY Short Cooldowns
Outriders is not the first game to feature powers by a long shot, but in most cases having enhanced abilities comes at the expensive of a long cooldown or other costly measure to make sure you use it sparingly. Outriders is the exact opposite of that. While the time may vary, powers tend to have roughly a 10-second cooldown, with mods and perks that will reduce that even further. You are encouraged to use the powers as often as they are ready and absolutely dominate the battlefield. Different combinations of powers can make for exhilarating moments and that’s what the game is all about; giving you these moments of overwhelming power and realizing just how badass you are. It can take some time to get used to, but don’t be shy about using those powers. Go all out and destroy anything that gets in your way.
6. Variable Difficulty
It’s been touched on before, but if you are new to Outriders it is important to know how the difficulty works. The game features 15 tiers of difficulty called World Tiers. The better you do in game, the more your World Tier Experience will build and automatically move you to the next tier. The higher the tier, the more difficult the enemies but the better the rewards, and should you die, you’ll lose a portion of that experience bar to make sure you don’t get too ahead of your skill level. Once you have unlocked a World Tier level you will NEVER lose it, only losing progress in that level, and if a section becomes too difficult or you just want an easier experience, the difficulty can be adjusted at any time. You’ll also see that the enemies strengths and the number of enemies will increase based on how many players are in the instance, so the more players in your squad, the greater the carnage.
7. Be Aggressive
It might just sound like a tag line at first but Outriders really does require you to play aggressively. The healing mechanics for each class rely on dealing damage and laying waste to your enemies, so hiding behind cover or playing it safe will get you killed more often than not. There is of course a time and a place to use cover: if you are a Devastator and you need to close a long gap without Gravity Leap or if you just need a breather to regroup and change tactics, cover becomes a huge asset. Just don’t forget that in Outriders you belong in the thick of battle.
8. A Tireless Killing Machine
People Can Fly want you to get into the action and stay there, so what sense would it make to limit you with something silly like stamina? One of the most important things you can remember to do in Outriders is dodge. Your dodge roll will get you out of range of most explosives and swarming enemies to give you that extra few moments to regroup. The cooldown on the roll is fairly short as well and can often times be the difference between life or death. On top of that, not everyone can simply teleport around the battlefield, so don’t forget to sprint into the fray. Not only can you get around incredibly fast but your running melee attack does an impressive and wide reaching AOE! Got a close range Pyromancer build and you need to heal quick? Slam that running melee to ignite all of them for some easy health regen.
9. Stats vs. Mods
In the early to mid-game you will no doubt come across a new gun or piece of armor that has the little green arrow letting you know it is superior to what you have equipped. While instinctively you’ll want to snatch that up at a moments notice it is important not to forget the value of mods in Outriders. These mods can make all the difference to your experience and survival on Enoch, with some offering free shields and health regen, multiple uses of a power, and a whole host of other enhancements you might be taking for granted. Always weigh the pros and cons of swapping your item. That shiny new assault rifle may be 5 points higher, but is the new mod better than what you already have equipped? Outriders wants you to look a lot more closely at your gear before deciding to scrap something for that enticing little green triangle.
10. Experiment With Your Powers
Each class has eight unlockable powers, however, you can only equip three at any given time. These powers can be swapped at a moments notice (even in combat provided they aren’t on cooldown) but that also means there are an incredible number of potential combinations to work with. You might be tempted to get set in your ways with a few key powers but I highly encourage you to experiment with different mash-ups and devastating combos to really see what each class has to offer. Devastator’s Endless Mass will pull everyone into one spot, so why not slam them all with Gravity Leap? Pyromancer can strike a ton of enemies with Heatwave and with the snap of his fingers cause them all to burst into white-hot flames with Overheat for massive damage. Every power has something cool to offer, so really explore what you can do and don’t limit yourself.
Got any tips of your own you’d like to share with your fellow Outriders? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or the Comments section below, and don’t forget to check in our simple build guides for Trickster, Pyromancer, Devastator, and Technomancer, as well as our round up of 200 mods.