Outriders: End Game – Expeditions
As we move forward into the next generation of gaming we have a higher expectation of what our games will do for us. We want to get the most out of them, and most multiplayer looter shooters offer some sort of games as a service or live service plan that lets the game continue to be updated, added to, and enhanced as time goes on to keep the grind moving forward. People Can Fly have promised since day one that Outriders is emphatically NOT that kind of game. There is no season pass, there are no microtransactions, this is not free to play or games as a service. The entire experience is right there out of the box.
While many – myself included – were relieved to know we would be getting a complete story, some were quite skeptical about the longevity of the game. After all, this genre is often reserved for the loot grind fans, the gamers who want to find a reason to power on through more and more difficult terrain. With a campaign mode set to last 25-30 hours per character (and players each having six character slots across four classes to choose from) as well as an additional 30-60 hours of side missions, quests, and activities, that already has a whole lot of time to invest into a game. In fact, if you played it only once in a perfect run as a single character it would work out to under a dollar per hour! At any rate, fans have been begging to know more of what we can do when the campaign is over and – we assume – the mystery of the signal has been solved. After many months of waiting we finally have an answer: Expeditions.
Somewhere between being a Strike and a Raid, Expeditions are only playable after the main campaign has been completed. There are 14 Expeditions to compete in, each one in an entirely new location players have never been to before, and each harboring their own unique tale of Enoch. These areas will also feature their own unique mechanics and enemies not seen elsewhere in the game.
The biggest factor for those looking to enjoy the grind is Challenge Tiers. Similar to World Tiers in the main campaign, Expeditions feature 15 levels of unlockable challenge tier based on your ability to survive the adventure. The higher your Challenge Tier, the greater the rewards available to you, but it isn’t called a challenge for nothing. Enemies will grow more difficult and more brutal exceeding anything you have faced before. Player levels will max out at 30, however completing Expeditions on higher Challenge Tiers will see the enemies – and rewards – appear at a much greater number; all the way up to level 50 in fact!
While exploring the bloodbath of Expeditions, enemies will not drop any loot as they would in the main campaign. Instead, all of your earned goodies will appear at the very end of the run – provided you survived. In the small sample we saw during Broadcast 4, the highest tier rewards for the fastest run time was 15 minutes with the lowest reward at 30. That is of course only for that particular Expedition, so expect them to take quite a bit of time until you get both your strategy and build down to a science. Expeditions are built to be particularly difficult for players to put their skills to the test as they attempt to perfect the very best builds for facing off against the most dangerous circumstances Enoch has to offer.
If expeditions don’t sound like your cup of tea, the developers have said in the past that you can expect the option to replay any story mission you like, as well as clean up any incomplete side activities, missions, bounties, and hunts you may have put off. Whatever you choose to do, there is plenty of options in the post-game once you discover the truth of the signal – not to mention jumping into a friends game to help them out and show off your badass legendary gear! We can’t wait to dive in to see more! Be sure to check out our deep dive on over 100 mods for Outriders to get you started on your journey into Enoch, as well as our close look at each of the four classes: Trickster, Pyromancer, Devastator, and Technomancer.