Dive into the vibrant universe of The Outer Worlds 2 with confidence! Whether you’re stepping into Obsidian Entertainment’s latest RPG for the first time or looking to sharpen your gameplay, these 11 essential beginner tips will set you on the path to cosmic success. Get ready to explore, strategize, and conquer like a pro from the very start.
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Don’t be afraid to specialize
In The Outer Worlds 2, embracing specialization early on can significantly enhance your gameplay experience. Focusing on a particular skill set or combat style allows you to maximize your character’s strengths and overcome challenges more efficiently. Don’t hesitate to commit to a path that suits your preferred playstyle, whether it’s stealth, engineering, or heavy weaponry-specializing helps you build a distinct and powerful identity in the vast RPG world.
The Outer Worlds 2 is full of skill checks. For example, you may open a secret room by hacking a mechanism, use a shortcut through engineering, or save a life as an expert in medicine. However, as you only receive two skill points per level, you can’t be good at everything.
Here’s some good news: It’s totally fine to miss out on certain skill checks. There are always several ways to uncover secrets and reach different quest outcomes, so it’s okay to miss things. However, beware that skill checks come with a skill point requirement, such as a Hacking check that requires a Hacking skill of level 5. It’s therefore best to pick a few skills you like and focus on them instead of dividing your skill points evenly, which would make it difficult to pass any skill checks at all.
Get more ammo
To keep your weapons ready for any encounter in The Outer Worlds 2, prioritize gathering ammunition early and often. Explore every corner, loot crates, and scavenge from defeated enemies to stockpile a variety of ammo types. Managing your ammo efficiently ensures you’re always prepared for intense battles without running dry when it matters most.
You think you’ve got enough ammo? Get some more! In The Outer Worlds 2, you’ll easily run out of ammo if you don’t buy or craft some more. It’s highly advisable to stack up on extra ammo – not just the ammo you’ve found by looting.
- To buy more ammo, visit a vendor machine, where you can also buy ammo crafting recipes. One of the first vendor machines you’ll find is in the heart of Fairfield, on the first planet.
- To craft more ammo, buy some ammo crafting recipes and visit a crafting workbench.
Watch out for unintended thievery
Be cautious when looting or interacting with items in The Outer Worlds 2, as picking up belongings that don’t explicitly belong to you can quickly turn into unintended theft. This can lead to negative consequences like hostile reactions, loss of reputation, or even bounty hunting. Always check for ownership markers and be mindful of your surroundings to avoid unnecessary trouble early in your adventure.
In The Outer Worlds 2, it’s very easy to accidentally steal stuff. There’s no pop-up to warn you when you’re about to grab an item that belongs to someone else, and the outline of this item will be the exact same as a piece of free loot (light blue by default). In the example below, one of the items is loot, the other can be stolen; the only visual difference between them is the red text that reads “steal” if you hover over the non-loot.
So, to avoid angry NPCs and bounties on your head, don’t be too quick to grab the loot in The Outer Worlds 2. If you’re in someone’s house, office, or shop, be especially mindful that some items may be off-limits to you.
But also, steal like nobody’s watching
In The Outer Worlds 2, stealing is a valuable skill that can give you a significant advantage early on. Don’t hesitate to swipe items and resources whenever you spot an opportunity-just be smart about it. Keep an eye on your surroundings, use stealth abilities, and remember that the game rewards creativity. By stealing like nobody’s watching, you can stockpile gear, weapons, and valuable loot to make your journey smoother and more enjoyable.
When you can safely pocket something, you absolutely should, especially if it’s food. You can use food items outside of combat to restore your health, which saves inhaler charges for when you really need them and you don’t have to go back to an Autodoc unit just to replenish. Just, y’know, make sure no one can see you do it. Stealing anything reduces your hard-earned reputation with whatever faction governs the location you’re in, which matters later in the game, and bounties are expensive to pay off.
Side questing is as important as anything else
In The Outer Worlds 2, side questing offers valuable opportunities to explore the game’s rich world, deepen your understanding of its lore, and earn unique rewards that can significantly enhance your journey. These quests often provide diverse challenges that complement the main storyline and allow you to develop your character in new ways. Don’t rush through the main missions-investing time in side quests can uncover hidden secrets, build better relationships with companions, and make your overall gameplay experience more rewarding and immersive.
More common than side quests in RPGs are the number of times we ignore these secondary missions to focus on the main campaign. They might give you more experience or items, but it’s the main quest where the juicy parts are, right? Not in The Outer Worlds 2.
Many side quests are, fundamentally, steps that you must go through to complete or assist you in completing the main quests. They may introduce a character who’s going to help you find the piece of information you need or give you the gadget you need to survive the confrontations that you will inevitably face. So get ready to be a completionist when playing The Outer Worlds 2
One man’s trash is another man’s treasure
In The Outer Worlds 2, don’t overlook seemingly useless items you come across. What may seem like trash at first glance can often be crafted into valuable gear or sold for useful resources. Keep an eye out for hidden materials and components that can give you an edge in your journey through the Halcyon colony.
Experience points might unlock new perks and skills, but money gives you access to all the goodies vendors have to offer. You can craft many of these items, but if you can make your life easier, why not do so? And the best way early in the game to make money is by selling trash.
In The Outer Worlds 2, different items are considered trash, and some can be broken and turned into crafting materials. Keep this in mind, but while you’re just exploring the initial areas, you should sell most of them and get your pockets full of cash.
Experiment with combat styles
In The Outer Worlds 2, experimenting with different combat styles is key to finding what suits your playstyle best. Whether you prefer stealthy sniping, heavy weaponry, or close-quarters melee, the game offers a variety of options to customize your approach. Don’t hesitate to try out diverse weapons and abilities early on, as mastering multiple styles can help you adapt to any combat scenario and overcome tougher enemies more efficiently.
Even if you don’t invest skill points into things like Melee, Science, or Guns, you should still fool around with any kind of weapon you find to see how you like it. Damage stacking from weapons like the Bio-Mass Pistol might not be as high without points in the Science stat, but its corrosive damage is still exceptionally useful. Likewise, heavy melee weapons such as hammers still pack a mighty wallop of a punch regardless of your Melee stat. You always want to start a fight with multiple weapon and damage types in your loadout, so getting used to how they all play and what suits your style best is a smart idea.
Aim for weak points
Focusing on your enemies’ weak points can dramatically improve your combat efficiency in The Outer Worlds 2. Pay attention to enemy vulnerabilities and exploit elemental weaknesses or status effects to gain the upper hand. Using the right weapons and tactics tailored to these weak spots will help you conserve resources and defeat tougher foes more easily, making your early game progression smoother and more enjoyable.
Hitting an enemy’s weak point always deals more damage in The Outer Worlds 2, so that’s what you should aim for. For humans and creatures, the weak point is usually their head, but if you’re battling mechs, the weak point isn’t always the same spot, making it harder to find.
Carefully observe mech-type enemies and try to spot glowing parts; these are their weak points. In the case of this burly automech, for example, the weak point is the blue glowing core:
Hide your helmet
Hiding your helmet can help give your character a more personal touch during dialogue and exploration. Many players find it distracting when their character’s face is constantly covered, especially during story moments. You can toggle this option in the settings menu, allowing the game to hide your helmet during conversations while keeping its stats active in combat. It’s a simple visual tweak that makes the world and your character feel more alive.
While it doesn’t affect gameplay, The Outer Worlds 2 offers the option to hide your character’s helmet. Don’t want to look at ghillie hoods and gas masks? Go to “Settings” and “Gameplay,” then switch “Show Helmet” to “Hide Helmet.”
You can also choose to hide or show your companions’ helmets, but know that this affects all companions, so you can’t pick and choose which individual companions show their faces. If you leave this setting on “Default,” some companions may show their helmets while others don’t.
Keep gear duplicates and use mods
In The Outer Worlds 2, it’s wise to keep duplicates of valuable gear rather than selling or dismantling them immediately. These duplicates can serve as backups in case your favorite items break or you encounter situations where specific mods would enhance your effectiveness. Using mods on your weapons and armor strategically can significantly boost your performance, tailor your playstyle, and help overcome tougher enemies as you progress through the game.
Tempting as it may be to break down or sell duplicates of weapons or armor you already have, it’s a good idea to keep more than one if you can, and that goes double for Science weapons. And the reason for that is mods. The Outer Worlds 2’s weapon mods include things like silencers, exploding ammunition, and rounds that change a weapon’s damage type (from corrosion to frost, for example), and you can use mods that protect against specific damage types. It’s all highly useful – in certain circumstances. The catch is that modded gear can’t be un-modded. That shock-resistant armor won’t do you much good against plasma damage, but if you have a spare, you can mod it to reduce incoming plasma damage or other damage types.
Save, save, save
Managing your resources wisely is crucial in The Outer Worlds 2. Focus on saving your credits by avoiding unnecessary purchases and keeping only the essential items. Collect and store valuable gear and materials for crafting or trading later. Being frugal early on sets you up for success, helping you upgrade your equipment and survive tougher challenges ahead.
If you’ve played RPGs like this before, keeping multiple save files is probably second nature. If not, it should be. The Outer Worlds 2 has a lot of branching choices, including conversations with several bad outcomes and one very specific path to the good one. That’s in addition to giving you plenty of ways to accidentally make your friends hate you. While you can rely on the handful of auto-save files it keeps, they only stretch back about 20 minutes or so – not useful if your regretful incident happened earlier and you want a better outcome.
Best starter builds for beginners in The Outer Worlds 2
The best starter builds for beginners in The Outer Worlds 2 focus on a mix of combat efficiency, utility, and dialogue options tailored to early game success. Here are some top beginner-friendly builds:
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Sneaky Scientific Wordsmith
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Background: Professor is highly recommended for extra science knowledge and unique dialogue options.
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Traits: Brilliant (extra specialized skill) and Lucky (increased critical chance) are excellent for versatility.
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Skills: Specialize in Science, Lockpicking, and Speech to access dialogue advantages, hack, and unlock areas while using science weapons effectively.
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Playstyle: Use pistols like the biomass pistol that scale well with science and status effects, combine stealth tactics, and dialogue to navigate encounters.youtube
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Gunslinger (Ranged DPS)
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Background: Xconvict or similar to brute force through checks.
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Traits: Lucky for critical hits.
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Skills: Focus on Guns and Observation (weak spot damage), plus either Lockpicking or Speech.
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Playstyle: Use versatile pistols and rifles, aim for headshots, pick perks like Trophy Hunter for crits and Ninja for evasion. Medium or light armor to keep mobility.
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This build scales well from start to endgame with powerful unique weapons like the Bullet Blender.youtube
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Melee Bruiser
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Background: Any, but Xconvict or Renegade adds flavor.
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Traits: Bronny (stun on sliding) to enhance melee control.
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Skills: Melee to increase damage and block, Engineering for armor boost, Speech to expand dialogue-based perks.
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Playstyle: Use heavy melee weapons for powerful close combat, equip heavy armor for defense, perks to boost survivability.
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Good for players who want aggressive up-close combat.youtube
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Utility Lockpicker
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Build a character with Lockpicking, Speech, and potentially Engineering or Science.
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Backgrounds: Professor or others with bonuses in relevant skills.
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Traits: Brilliant for more skill slots.
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Focus on gaining access to locked containers and doors, unlocking extra loot and story areas.
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Balanced combat with ranged or melee as per preference.
Additionally, focusing on traits that grant bonuses like increased critical hit chance (Lucky) or extra skill points (Brilliant) is very helpful early on. Weapon-wise, pistols such as the biomass pistol and unique ones like the Rattler are great starters. Medium or light armor enhances mobility without sacrificing too much protection.
These builds allow beginners to succeed early with diverse combat and dialogue options, while also leaving room for res
Which weapons are best for a beginner science build
The best weapons for a beginner science build in The Outer Worlds 2 are the Shrink Ray, Rattler, Goomerang, and Big Bang.
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The Rattler Pistol is a unique revolver that shoots six shotgun rounds per shot and can be modified to use a Plasma Barrel for high science-packed damage.
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The Bio Mass Pistol is an early-game weapon that deals corrosion damage, very effective against heavily armored enemies, and can be purchased or found early.
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The Shrink Ray is a standout science weapon that shrinks enemies, dealing significant crowd control damage, although it consumes a lot of ammo and is best used on weakened foes.
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These weapons align with a science-focused playstyle, maximizing damage through science skill bonuses and status effects.
These options provide strong damage output and utility for starting science builds and fit well with early and mid-game progression. The Bio Mass Pistol is especially good for starting out, while the Rattler and Shrink Ray scale better into later content.
This knowledge combined with the general beginner tips and builds from before offers a solid foundation for playing a science character effectively in The Outer Worlds 2.youtube
