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Tips for not being terrible at The Outer Worlds

These tips will give you the confidence required to enjoy The Outer Worlds as a new player.

Bill Lavoy

October 24, 2019 2:00 PM

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The Outer Worlds is a game that has a lot going on. Players will find themselves in situations they had no idea they needed to be ready for, and often that means not being able to adhere to a style of play they’re aiming for. Having put more than 50 hours in already, I wanted to share some wisdom. You won’t find any spoilers ahead, but you’ll find lots of information to make your journey through The Outer Worlds better.

Steal everything in sight

Yes, you can steal things in The Outer Worlds, and you should. You should steal everything you can steal. If you enter a room with a door, close it and take all the goods. If the bartender is looking the other way, stand behind them and loot their stock. If an NPC doesn’t see you, you can steal things. You can even stand behind them and steal things sitting on a table in front of them. Hell, if you can lie, persuade, or intimidate your way out of trouble, you can even get caught stealing once, and should, because it’s free XP to help you level up.

Remember to manually save

There’s no keeping track of how many times I’ve wanted to see if an NPC had something on their body, or just wanted to see how the game would react if I killed everyone but didn’t want to ruin my play through. If you want to try something crazy, create a manual save and then feel free to do whatever you want. Kill everyone in the room, get caught doing something shady, choose a ridiculous dialogue option. Do all the things you are too scared to do when the stakes are high. I’ve been looking for a certain keycard for about two hours in The Outer Worlds, and my current strategy is to kill everyone and search the mess.

Become a pick pocket

Once you level up your Stealth skill to 40, you’ll have the ability to pick the pockets of NPCs in the game. I’m talking about all the NPCs besides your companions. This is vital. Not only will you often get weapons, armor, and ammunition, you’ll also get bits, the game’s currency, and precious keycards that can open a door you otherwise couldn’t access. The Outer Worlds is a game full of small secrets and things to explore, and picking pockets is going to present a lot of opportunities you didn’t have otherwise. Just make sure you can’t be seen by any other NPCs, although you can talk your way out of being caught once.

Companion Abilities

Each of your companions has an ability that is a devastating attack when used against enemies. In order to use them, level your Leadership skill up to 20. Once it’s there, you can order your companions to use their abilities during combat or, as I like to do, to initiate combat. There are even mid-game perks that will enhance these. Besides being highly effective, though, Companion Abilities are a lot of fun. They really do add some spice to the combat in The Outer Worlds. To use these abilities, press the right or left directional arrows on your controller, or C and V on your keyboard.

How do you want to play?

I’m not going to get into quest details, but your skills in The Outer Worlds will either give opportunities to play differently or prevent you from doing so. Skills like Persuade, Hack, and Lockpick are no-brainers for players that want to explore and try to avoid combat. As you progress through the game, higher levels of these are required for players to be effective. You might get away with Persuade 20 in Edgewater, but by the time you’re wrapping up the campaign, you’ll see opportunities for Persuade 100, Lockpick 100, and other things. Invest in the way you want to play.

Talk about everything… with everyone

You’d be surprised how easy it is to miss an opportunity in The Outer Worlds. Most NPCs have several topics they will discuss, and it can get exhausting on long play sessions. Don’t skip, though. Talk to every NPC who will speak to you and explore all their dialogue options even if they seem insignificant. You just never know when someone is going to send you on a small quest for a good time and some precious XP. If you don’t want to read every line, you can hurry dialogue along using B for Xbox One, Circle for PS4, or Spacebar for PC.

That’ll do it for my tips to help you not be terrible at The Outer Worlds. Those are all things that I wish I didn’t have to figure out on my own, and hopefully they’ll help you get a quick start in Halcyon. For more help, visit The Outer Worlds guide and walkthrough.

Bill Lavoy

Managing Editor

Bill, who is also known as Rumpo, is a lifelong gamer and Toronto Maple Leafs fan. He made his mark early in his career through guide writing and a deep understanding of editorial SEO. He enjoys putting in the work to create a great content, be it a wild feature or grinding out an in-depth collectible guide. Tweet him @RumpoPlays if you have a question or comment about one of his articles.