With so many things happening at once, like making choices and exploring faraway spaces, facing consequences, and deep RPG systems, it can feel a bit overwhelming at first in The Outer Worlds 2. It is easy to feel lost. If you are a complete beginner or someone who wants to take a step ahead of others, then this guide is for you. In this The Outer Worlds 2 Beginner’s Guide, we will discuss the most important things to do early in your adventure.
Beginner’s Guide – The Outer Worlds 2
Read on below for some helpful tips and tricks that will help you kickstart your journey in the game.
Choose a Clear Skill
When you are increasing the skills of your character, you might want to increase his skill points in every skill field. But in The Outer Worlds 2, it is good to focus on just a few skills, because there are many skill checks in conversations and missions, and you can’t pass them all.
So, before starting, decide what kind of character you want to be: a talker, a gun specialist, a master of stealth, or a tech expert. You can always change it later if it doesn’t feel right after the starting mission.
Pick the Tutorial That Fits You
During the opening mission at Horizon Point Station with Niles and Helen, you will reach a crossroads, where Helen tells you that if you go on to the left, you will reach the Security Ops, and if you go right, then you will reach the Central Dispatch.
At Security Ops, you will get a Stealth tutorial, and at Central Dispatch, you will get a Combat Tutorial. None of these choices has any effect on you, but choose the one that suits your preferred playstyle. If you want to see both, you can save the game after the first one and then reload to experience the second choice.
Get the Rookie’s Reward Gun
When you are on your ship, the Incognito, go to the room with lockers and a Workbench. There, you can upgrade your weapons. Also, you will see a locked wall container that requires a Lockpick of Level 11, and behind it, you can see a powerful SMG called the Rookie’s Reward, a special gun that improves damage, ammo, and recoil, the more you use it.
To unlock this gun without any need for Lockpick 11, there is a trick. In the same room, you can see stacked boxes near the Workbench. Jump onto them, and you will find a switch on the wall, written “Disable Power.” Flip it, and the container will open.
Craft and Upgrade Everything
Use Workbenches to:
- Break down materials you don’t need.
- Craft new items or mods.
- Upgrade your and your companions’ weapons and armour.
Crafting or upgrading is usually cheaper than buying from vendors, though there are exceptions.
Get Your First Pets
Pets are also part of your Outer Worlds 2. They stay safely on your ship, the Incognito, and don’t take part in battles. You can only have one active at a time.
Here’s how to get your first two pets:
- Go south of the Incognito, which leads to Crabble Farm.
- Talk to Crabble Rancher Casey, who will tell you that Lucy the Crabble is sick.
- Use a Trauma Kit to heal Lucy, then interact with her to pet her.
- You can buy Trauma Kits from doctors in Fairfield or the Euphoria Repair Center, if you don’t have any.
- At the Euphoria Repair Center, buy a Hover Drone pet for 1000 bits.
Once you have pets, go to the Workbench room on your ship to view or switch them.
Find the Incendiary Triple Barrel Shotgun
You can find this strong early-game weapon by going north of the Euphoria Repair Center.
- Go to Red Spire, climb the east side hill, and defeat the nearby Raptidons.
- After defeating the Raptidon Colossus, search near the cliff edge. You will find a dead body holding an Incendiary Triple Barrel Shotgun.
Early Loot on Paradise Island
For loot, after landing on Paradise, turn left from your ship. You need to follow the road north past a burning wreckage. After some time, you will find several bodies with materials, ammo, and a helmet mod that gives you an extra weapon slot.
Near the water, you will find a body with a Triple Barrel Shotgun and an Auntie’s Choice hologram.
Get the Double Jump Boots
Moving in the world is a big part of the game, and sometimes, you are required to jump to higher areas. For that, you can use double jump boots.
To get them, talk to Huell Chaudry outside the police station in Fairfield. He will ask for your help and start a task called “Perilous Journey to the Grove.” Completing it gives you the P.A.L.E. Double Jump Boots.
Meet Milverstreet and Kaur Early
Before wandering too far and doing anything, head into Fairfield’s main town hall to meet Milverstreet and Kaur, who are fighting for control of the settlement.
Listen to both of them and decide who you want to support. Choosing a side unlocks new objectives that lead to different regions of the southern island.
Get Zyranium Shield Gadget
During your exploration, you will see areas filled with Zyranium, a deadly gas. To pass through safely, you will need a Gas-Energy Deflection Apparatus, which helps you to pass through that deadly area, and can be used via the Gadget menu. This gadget can also help in fights, reducing incoming damage from enemies.
Understand Flaws
As you play, you will get Flaws based on your actions in the game.
For example:
- When you stare at the sun for too long, it will give you the Sungazer flaw, which weakens your vision but increases your ranged weapon spread by 100%.
- When you overspend, it might trigger Consumerism, making items sell for 10% less but lowering vendor prices by 15% also.
You can accept or decline them when they appear, but once you choose, they stay with your character.
Right Skills and Perks
Skills work like traditional RPG abilities, improving specific actions.
Good early choices include:
- Guns or Melee, depending on how you like to fight.
- Lockpick, since there are many early areas with locked doors.
- Medical, to boost your Toxicity limit and Inhaler use.
- Observation, which helps with hidden items and saves time while exploring.
- Speech, which adds dialogue effects.
Perks are smaller bonuses you unlock with Perk Points as you level up.
Examples include:
- Comradery for better damage resistance.
- Bag Check to check into others’ pockets before stealing.
- Commando, which adds an extra weapon slot.
Manage Your Toxicity Bar
Healing in The Outer Worlds 2 works very differently. There are no potions here. Instead, you will use a Medical Inhaler.
If you use your Inhaler consistently, it raises your Toxicity bar. If it fills up, you will crash, making you unable to heal for a short time, which is a dangerous situation in combat.
You can manage Toxicity by:
- Upgrading your Primers to boost your Inhaler’s power.
- Investing in Medical skills and perks like Crash Recovery, which heals 2% HP per second during a crash.
- Using your robotic companion, Valerie’s Life Injection Module, which fires healing syringes at you when needed.
Make Combat Easier by Experimenting
Combat in The Outer Worlds 2 is easy if you follow these steps. There are six types of damage: Physical, Plasma, Corrosion, Shock, Frost, and N-Ray. If you use any except the Physical, you can have a side effect on your enemy.
Each type has different effects, but Shock, for example, works great against mechanical enemies like the Protectorate Dragoons.
Also, there is Tactical Time Dilation (TTD). Press Q to slow time, giving you precise control during firefights. Standing still drains TTD slowly, while moving or shooting depletes it faster.
Avoid being an Outlaw
When you commit a crime like stealing, fighting, or killing NPCs, there is no worthy action that will be taken against you if you commit it only one or two times. But if you do it consistently, then there is a consequence for this. A faction will be formed against you. Every violent act increases your bounty within that faction.
If your bounty gets too high, you’ll be branded an Outlaw, and members of that faction will attack you on sight. Killing key NPCs can also lock certain Companion quests and damage your reputation.
Turn On Adaptive Triggers (For PS5 Players Only)
If you are playing on PS5 and notice that your DualSense controller’s triggers feel normal instead of vibrating, then it means the Adaptive Trigger feature is turned off by default.
To enable it, follow the following steps:
Go to Settings -> Controls -> Toggle Adaptive Triggers on.
That is all for this guide. Additional The Outer Worlds 2 guides are linked below:
- The Outer Worlds 2 Companions Guide – How to Get All Companions
- The Outer Worlds 2 Best Skills Guide – Skills to Unlock First in the Game
This concludes our The Outer World 2 Beginner’s Guide. If you have some tips and tricks that you would like to share with us, feel free to comment them below.
