You won’t find healing potions in Outriders, so how do you heal? The most direct way to ensure you don’t head into the white light is to kill. Kill a lot. Seriously, that’s how you heal, take out any and all enemies in your path and you’ll see an immediate green animation near your bar to indicate regeneration to your health. 

Choosing your class impacts your ability to heal, here’s a quick breakdown: 

• Devastator: Recover health by killing enemies in close range
• Tricksters: Recover health (and shields) by killing enemies in close range
• Pyromancer: Recover health every time a marked enemy dies via abilities 
• Technomancer: Recover health every time damage hits 

There are four classes to choose from, as noted above, but which one is right for you? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered: 

Devastator 

• The Devastator is the backbone of any group of Outriders, and that’s something I talked a little more about in our Review in Progress. Strong and tough, they control gravity and use the power of the earth to crush their enemies. A close-combat specialist that wades into damage; their powers allow them to leap into the fight, cover themselves in rock-like skin, and send their enemies flying with powerful ground pounds.

Pyromancer 

• The Pyromancer is a medium-range class with powerful AoE damage. Wielding the power of fire, Pyromancers cover the battlefield with their blazing fury. The Thermal Bomb turns any enemy within range into a walking explosive that detonates when that enemy dies. Their firewalls tear across the battlefield and flushes enemies out from cover. Pyromancers may not be as durable as Devastators or as mobile as Tricksters, but their explosive arsenal makes them a threat in any situation.

Technomancer 

• Technomancers control technology and can manifest weapons of destruction from thin air. This class is especially perfect for those that like engineering-based combat. It’s a flexible combat style that can be built as a crowd-control support character, damage over time monster, heavy ordinance blaster, or a hodgepodge of everything. This is the only class in Outriders that can heal teammates with its powers, which makes them great for teams running together.

Trickster

• The Trickster is the hit-and-run damage dealer of Outriders, they’re there to cause chaos (much like the name suggests). They operate at their full potential in close combat and are equipped with powers that allow for unrivaled mobility on the battlefield as they flank enemies. They can slow down time, a power that’s great both defensively and offensively, and can teleport around the battlefield. Up close, they wreak havoc with their Temporal Slice, a wide arcing melee attack that turns unfortunate foes to skeletons.

Don’t be afraid to just go ham with those fists, there’s more to playing aggressively than you might think. Not only is meleeing an enemy going to make you feel like a total badass, but it’s also going to help you heal, help you control the combat with that particular enemy, and interrupt any attack that your foe has in progress. Control the battlefield; it’s yours for the taking. 

To unlock the full potential of your melee power, you’re going to want to pay attention to your skill tree. And that, friends, is the perfect segue into our next part. You guessed it, let’s talk about skills (to pay those biiilllls).

There are 22 levels for building up your skills in Outriders. When you first start out, you’re going to be fleshing out your core abilities. That being said, the further you progress, there will be branching skills to be made aware of. Here’s a simplified breakdown of what you need to know for each class’ usable skills. 

Pyromancer

• Level 1: Heatwave
  Type: Ignite
  Summon a fiery wave that deals damage and inflicts Burn to all enemies. 
• Level 3: Feed the Flames 
  Type: Immobilize 
  Pull an enemy toward you, dealing damage, draining Health, and inflicting Ash.
• Level 4: Thermal Bomb
  Type: Explosive
  Interrupt. Select an enemy to Burn, Interrupt and deal damage to. If killed while still afflicted by the skill, the enemy will explode, dealing damage in a large radius
• Level 6: Overhead
  Type: Explosive, Interrupt.  
  Deals a little damage to all enemies in a large radius and Interrupt their skills. Enemies afflicted with Burn receive additional damage and the Burn will be consumed.
• Level 9: Volcanic Rounds 
  Type: Ignite
  Fill your current weapon’s magazine with Anomaly-infused bullets that will inflict Burn within a small radius and pierce targets, damaging enemies behind them. The skill lasts until you reload or switch weapons.
• Level 13: Ash Blast
  Type: Immobilize 
  Create an Anomaly blast to inflict Ash on all enemies in a large radius around you.
• Level 17: F.A.S.E.R Beam
  Type: Ignite, Interrupt
  Fire an energy beam that deals damage that benefits from 125% of Status Power, inflicting Burn and causing Interrupt.
• Level 22: Eruption
  Type: Unknown
  Create a volcanic eruption beneath the selected enemy, dealing damage to them, and all enemies within a small radius around the target.

Technomancer

• Level 1: Shrapnel
  Type: Ordinance, Interrupt 
  Throw a proximity device. The explosion deals damage and Interrupts the skills of enemies caught within the blast radius.
• Level 3: Cyro Turret
  Type: Gadget, Turret
  Place an automated turret that deals damage and inflicts Freeze onto enemies. The turret’s health depletes slowly over time and when it takes damage.
• Level 4: Pain Launcher
  Type: Ordinance, Interrupt
  Place a missile launcher and bomb the area in front of you. Each missile deals damage per hit and Interrupts enemy skills.
• Level 6: Blighted Rounds
  Type: Decay
  Fill your current weapon’s magazine with decay-infused bullets that inflict Toxic onto enemies. Enemies within a small radius of the main target also receive Toxic and 50% of the damage. The skill lasts until you reload or switch weapons.
• Level 9: Tool of Destruction
  Type: Ordinance, Interrupt
  Conjure a Rocket Launcher that can Interrupt enemies or a Minigun that deals damage per shot. The skill will remain active until all ammo is depleted or until you switch weapons.
• Level 13: Fixing Wave
  Type: Gadget, Heal
  Release your energy to restore 33% of Health to all players and 50% of Health to your turrets regardless of distance.
• Level 17: Cold Snap
  Type: Gadget
  Drop a gadget to inflict Freeze onto all enemies within a large radius around you.
• Level 22: Blighted Turret
  Type: Decay
  Place an automated turret that deals damage and inflicts Toxic onto enemies. The turret’s health depletes slowly over time and when it takes damage.

Trickster

• Level 1: Temporal Slice
  Type: Damage, Interrupt 
  Paralyze and slice enemies in front of you, dealing damage and inflicting Slow and Interrupt to all targets.
• Level 3: Slow Trap
  Type: Deception
  Create a spacetime Anomaly that inflicts Slow onto enemies and projectiles for 10 seconds.
• Level 4: Hunt the Prey
  Type: Movement
  Select an enemy and teleport behind them and receive a shield bonus.
• Level 6: Twisted Rounds
  Type: Damage
  Fill your weapon’s magazine with Anomaly-infused bullets that deal significantly more damage to enemies. The skill lasts until you reload or switch weapons.
• Level 9: Cyclone Slice
  Type: Damage, Interrupt
  Create a whirlwind of Anomaly blades that deal damage and Interrupt onto enemies within a small radius of you with every hit. The skill lasts for 5 seconds.
• Level 13: Borrowed Time
  Type: Movement
  Receive a shield and mark your location for 28 seconds. Triggering the skill again will bend spacetime and teleport you back to the marked spot.
• Level 17: Venator’s Knife
  Type: Deception
  Throw a temporal knife at an enemy. The blade will ricochet between a maximum of 5 enemies within a small radius, dealing damage and marking them. All marked targets will be inflicted with Slow and for 10 seconds the first damage dealt by you will be doubled.
• Level 22: Time Rift
  Type: Deception, Interrupt
  Create a shockwave that suspends enemies in the air leaving them unable to fight for 3.5 seconds and inflicts Weakness.

Devastator

• Level 1: Earthquake
  Type: Seismic, Interrupt
  Release a shockwave to deal damage and Interrupt all enemies in front of you.
• Level 3: Golem
  Type: Protection
  Fortify yourself against 65% of incoming damage for 8 seconds.
• Level 4: Gravity Leap
  Type: Kinetic, Interrupt
  Leap into the air and strike your targets from above, dealing damage and Interrupting enemies within a small radius of the area you land in.
• Level 6: Reflect Bullets
  Type: Protection
  Create a barrier that captures all enemy projectiles and accumulates damage. After 10 seconds of triggering the skill, the accumulated damage is reflected back to enemies in front of you. The barrier also protects against melee attacks by reflecting some damage back.
• Level 9: Impale
  Type: Seismic, Interrupt
  Select a target to Interrupt their skills, inflict Bleed, and deal damage. If the damage is lethal, the enemy will be impaled, creating a zone that grants a powerful bonus to Armor and Health regeneration to all allies in range for 9 seconds.
• Level 13: Tremor
  Type: Seismic
  Create a series of explosions around you, each dealing damage and draining Health from enemies within a medium radius around you.
• Level 17: Boulderdash
  Type: Kinetic, Interrupt
  Charge forward to Interrupt all enemies in your path and deal damage. At the end of the charge, you will smash the ground and deal damage to all enemies in a small radius around you.
• Level 22: Endless Mass
  Type: Kinetic
  Encase a target in stone, inflicting Bleed and pulling enemies within a small radius towards the initial target. The stone will then explode, dealing damage to all enemies within a small radius around the target.

The perks will help you hone in your combat style and defensive positions, all filtering into one of three options for a finalized style. These will be upgraded with Class Points for the following final perks: 

Technomancer

Trickster

Pyromancer

Devastator

That’s a lot of info above to take in – I get it – but there’s another cool facet about skills that you should be aware of: You don’t have to be limited to what you choose. In the Perks section, you can modify your build to suit your play style. For me, I play heavy tank, so I invested heavily in beefing myself up with high defenses and with more melee power. Honestly, there are numerous ways to roll your character. My best advice? Play around, try out different things. You might be surprised what feels like the perfect fit and what just feels like a hinderance. 

Auto-collection is one of my favorite features in loot-based games, mostly because I’m lazy when it comes to retracing my steps and I don’t want to stop shooting. When you’re in a fight, there is going to be loot that pops out as a big glowing orb that’s colored to the level of loot it is, but sometimes they drop on ledges or in a hot zone you might not be totally willing to wade into yet. To make sure you grab every piece of gear possible, head over into your settings menu. 

Settings > Gameplay > Auto Loot Minimum Rarity 

This will make sure you scoop up everything, which is great for something we’re going to dive in next when it comes to dismantling. 

So when I said hoard everything, I did mean it. Sort of. But there is merit in getting rid of some of that lower-tiered loot as well. You can dismantle various gear types like armor and weapons to help craft and upgrade better equipment to don when heading back out into danger. You’re going to be constantly getting new loot from enemy drops, so pay attention to what’s no longer usable and dismantle it, especially for higher-tiered goods. For lower items like Common and Uncommon, you can sell those for money to the vendors in-camp. 

I feel like this is a no-brainer, but just in case you might be thinking on skimping out on some of the side quests: don’t. Outriders has some downright stunning weapon designs, especially for the Legendary gear types, and a solid way to get those is through the various side quests found throughout the game.

More than that, doing these quests will also better formulate how you see the world you’re suddenly in, getting insight into what life looks like for those outside of yourself. This enriches the RPG aspect of this game and makes worldbuilding more rewarding and immersive for players. If you’re looking for a story, this is a good chunk of that, so skimping out on them to save some time only hurts your experience. 

Outriders gives players a lot of freedom to tailor how they want to fight in-game. Mods help to further that customizable experience with different options to equip in order to achieve a certain build. 

Mod types will include buffs, ways to enhance current skills, what your offense looks like in comparison to your defense. They aren’t the end-all-be-all of character craftmanship, but like Destiny – they are a vital part of taking your character to the next level. 

At the end of the day, games are about having fun. Outriders can absolutely be played solo, but it definitely has a special charm when playing with friends. Play around with the different mods, the different weapons. Don’t force yourself into a box. People Can Fly did a great job at adding variety into the gameplay mechanics of Outriders, so go ham. Be the chaos machine you’ve always wanted to be, or be the strategic overseer that keeps your teammates alive. Whatever you do, just make sure you’re having fun. Otherwise, what’s the point?