The Outer Worlds: Beginner's Guide

The Outer Worlds from the very first minutes it is very confusing and scary.

With standard role-playing game difficulties, weighty decisions that come with every main quest, branching dialogue trees, and the ability to kill anyone you meet, it immediately feels like a whole game - and making any decision feels incredibly stressful.

In our beginner's guide to The Outer Worlds we will eliminate the possibility of potential stress for you.

THE GAME IS ADAPTABLE SO DON'T WORRY

At the beginning of the quest, you will make an important decision. Based on your choices, one city survives while another fades. It is easy (and human) to be paralyzed by such decisions. And what if you kill the necessary informant? What if you make the wrong choice about who to trust? What if you give the life (and career) life-saving drug to the wrong group?

Of course, your decisions will have consequences, and you may make enemies along the way, but your choices aren't always as binary as they seem. In the two city example above, right after switching power, the new target moves everyone to the same location, basically better than they were before.

Maybe your choices will mean you miss out on opportunities later, but The Outer Worlds is built around letting you make decisions and then correct course to deal with the consequences.

Don't fret over every decision. Make the choice that feels right to you (or the character you're playing) and go for it. The game is adapting.

YOU HAVE SEVERAL OPTIONS FOR EVERY GOAL

The Outer Worlds is built around not only the decisions you make in the game, but also the decisions you make about character creation. You really don't have to worry about your high stealth character being bad in combat, for example, because that high stealth makes you a good lockpicker on crates containing great weapons.

You'll almost always have multiple ways to complete a task - everything from killing bad guys to finding lost items to breaking into a secure facility. These options generally correspond to different skills that you may or may not have. Solutions will be there, whether you emphasize strength, stealth or intelligence.

You don't have to explore all of these options - and you won't, depending on your skills - but it doesn't matter. Use your strengths to find a solution.

LOOK FOR HINTS EVERYWHERE

Figuring out which of the several paths is best for you isn't always easy, but The Outer Worlds will give you plenty of clues. Look for computer terminals, books, notes, and even the people you're talking to - they'll all hint at different solutions. Whenever you select one of these clues, it will appear in your journal menu under the corresponding quest.

Talk to people. Read all. All this information will make it easier for you to complete your tasks.

LOOK FOR LOOT EVERYWHERE

In almost every room, in the bookcase and in the corpse, there is something for you to loot. You will collect everything from condiments to grenade launchers just by wandering around and looting everything you see.

Explore everywhere and take everything that isn't nailed down. You won't use (or even need) most of it, but you can sell it, break it apart, or give it to your comrades. Nothing is useless, so grab everything.

KEEP YOUR WEIGHT

Encumbrance is a mechanic that comes from your strength, current health, armor mods, and even companions, which all come into play for your throughput. When your inventory weight exceeds your maximum, you will not be able to run or fast travel.

 

When that happens (and it's a question of when, not if), smash your secondary weapons and armor apart. This will usually be enough to get you back to normal.

To avoid this in the first place, make sure you sell your junk and anything you don't use. Unnecessary items are for sale only, and since there is loot everywhere (see above), you will likely find a lot of items for sale.

The backpack will increase your carrying capacity if you have a spare slot in your armor. You can also increase it with a pack mule. (Another perk, traveler, will even let you fast travel when you're burdened.)

CHANGE YOUR GEAR

Capturing everything you can get your hands on and looting every corpse you make means you'll be constantly collecting weapons, armor, mods, and consumables.

When you find a workbench, all you need is bits, the in-game currency, to level up your weapons. You won't need any additional parts or items. And you can install and swap mods.

There's nothing special about (most of) the weapons and armor. If it's better than what you have, use it. If it doesn't, turn it into parts or sell it. Level up your equipment if you have cash on hand. If you don't, just wait until you find something better.

Make your decisions quickly - there's always more gear to find. As for weapons, look at the type of weapon and the damage it does. As for armor, look at its defensive stat, any perks it has, and its weight.

The only caveat to this is to make sure your companions are well equipped. However, treat their equipment the same way. Bigger numbers are better, and that's about as much thought as you have to give it. (You can get more picky as the stats get higher and the differences get thinner, but change your gear often early on.)