The Outer Worlds is out now; it’s a pretty awesome sci-fi RPG if you’re into the genre. It can also be a bit tough if you’re planning on tackling it with no prior knowledge of  Obsidian’s RPGs.

Fortunately,  we’re here to help. Here’s a quick guide to sort out what you need to maximize your Outer Worlds experience.

Some Starter Tips To Make Your Space Trip Enjoyable

Spend Time In The Character Creation Screen

Your attributes and skills will determine your playstyle. It’s best to min/max some bits. If you don’t mind being a lunkhead who can bash things good up-close, just buff up your strength, dexterity, and temperament. If you want to talk your way out of trouble, then buff up your charm, perception, and intelligence.

Bring The Right Companion(s)

You might as well turn one of your not-so-important attributes to below average and let one of your companions pick up that slack. So if you’re not into being a tank or melee kinda person, have Parvati fill that void.

It’s  Better To Dismantle Guns & Armor Than Sell  Them

You’ll be out in the wilderness for quite a  bit, so it’s best to have some backup engineering skills so that you can repair weapons while on the road. You can only do so with weapon and armour parts. While money is good, having well-maintained armour and weaponry that are at full capacity can make you survive longer.

Oh, and if you have a weapon with a diamond icon next to it,  sell that instead. Most diamond weapons are about the same; they just have a higher selling value.

Mod The Living Daylights Out Of Your Favourite Weapon(s)

By Level 10 or so, you should have figured out your favourite tool of destruction. Stick to it,  then mod it as much as you can with whatever tools you acquire through your adventure.  You probably won’t need to use another weapon until you start receiving level 20  weaponry.

A note on Science weapons (the ones with yellow backgrounds in their icons): you can’t mod those, but these guns can still be tinkered with,  meaning you can buff up their damage as long as you have the cash.

Fallout: New Vegas Veterans – Bump Up The Difficulty…

…but don’t go straight to Supernova yet. Finish the game first on Hard; Normal is fine and all, but most enemies will die to your modded gear and weapon combos after Level 13 or so. Putting it on Hard at least makes the Primal giants and Manticore Queens much more formidable threats.

Take A Flaw In Once In A While….

When you’re at level 12 or higher, chances are you can figure out how not to get too much into combat situations. So around this period when you get prompted to receive a phobia (which debuffs you when fighting certain enemy types or get hit by certain elements) in exchange for an extra Perk point, take it.

You can always use an extra Tier  1 or  Tier 2 perk to even the odds a bit.  Speaking of which…

Perks Guide

Which Perks Are Right For You?

It really depends on your playstyle.  Perks like Lone Wolf and Soliloquy give you nice bonuses in combat and non-combat situations if you’re not bringing companions. Conversely, Tier 3 skills like Don’t Go  Dyin’ On Me! can resurrect downed companions nearby if you use the Inhaler (the game’s Stimpacks/Health Potion).

Here are our general suggestions:

-Go for the Tactical Time Dilation buffs. Tier 1 and 2 have good ones like Slow The World, Quick and the Dead,  and The Reaper; use them to gain longer TTD  when killing foes and prolonging the effect, making for a smooth and stylish use of this nice replacement to V.A.T.S.

-Move faster with Strider and Cheetah. Sure, you can use the game’s Fast Travel to warp around, but most of the time, you’ll be discovering places to warp to. Might as well speed it up with these Tier 1 Perks.

-Get the Traveler perk. Overburdened with stuff to sell and mod? Get this perk so that you can Fast Travel even when encumbered.  Very useful if you hoard like mad.

Perks List

FYI, you get a new perk every even level. You can unlock a new tier with every five unlocked perks.

Tier 1

• Toughness: 50%  base health.
• Slow The World: 25% Tactical Time Dilation (TTD) meter max.
• Lone Wolf: 25% Damage when alone in party.
• Strider: 25% walk speed.
• Cheetah: 20% sprint speed.
• High Maintenance: 25% decrease to weapon/armor durability loss.
• Precision: 15% companion crit chance.
• The Negotiator:  20% decrease vendor prices
• Deadly Demonstrations:  50% XP from companion kills.
• Traveler: Unlock the ability to Fast Travel when encumbered.
• Quick and the Dead: 50% TTD recharge rate.
• Pack Mule: 50kg carrying capacity
• A  Few Bits More:  100% additional ammo stock on vendors, 100% additional consumable and general stock on vendors.
• Resilient: 5 base armor rating

Tier 2

• Run and Gun: 65% decrease to movement penalty to accuracy.
• The Reaper:  25% TTD restored per kill.
• Weird Science: 50% science weapon damage.
• Speed Demon: 25% movement speed during TTD.
• Scanner:  20% bonus to extra headshot/weakspot damage.
• The Collector:  5m interactable highlight range.
• Snake Oil Salesman:  20% vendor buying price.
• We Band of Brothers: 25% chance to reset a  companion ability cooldown on each critical hit.
• Tag Team: 25% chance to reset a companion ability cooldown when using the other companion’s ability.
• Rolling Thunder: 20% decrease companion ability cooldowns for each of your kills.
• Harvester: 15% health restored per kill.
• Hoarder: 50% decrease in consumable weight.
• Pack of Pack Mules: 40kg carrying capacity bonus from companions.
• Soliloquy: 10 Dialog skills if you have no companions in your party.

Tier 3

• Wild Science: 50% science weapon damage.
• Steady Hand: after killing an enemy, you get 100%  reduction in ranged weapon sway and movement penalty to accuracy.
• Confidence: Your next attack after killing an enemy is a  guaranteed critical hit.
• Armor Master: Increase the armor rating and skill bonuses from any armor you wear.  10% armor rating bonus, 100% skill bonus.
• Super Pack Mule: 100kg carrying capacity.
• Tactical Master: When you activate TTD, you continue to move at normal speed for a short time. This only occurs when your TTD meter is full at time of activation. 70% movement speed during TTD for 5 seconds.
• Revenge: When you are affected by a harmful combat effect, you deal 20% damage.
• Last Stand: When your health is under 25%, you deal 30% more damage.
• Boom,  Headshot!  Headshot kills deal 25%  of their damage to enemies within  2.5m.
• Don’t Go Dyin’ On Me! When you use the inhaler, any downed companions are revived with 25% health. Cooldown for this perk: 15 minutes.
• Penetrating Shots: Ranged attacks inflict -1  armor rating for 10 seconds, and can stack up to -10.
• Thick Skin: You take  15% less AoE damage. You also take 15% less Plasma damage.
• Tit for Tat: 15% melee damage you deal will be returned as health.
• Solo Sneaker: 33% reduction in detection radius of enemies if you have no companions.