devtrackers.gg
Welcome, Outrider!
Playing Outriders is hard, so hard that you may bang your head in despair... but then, at last, you'll successfully launch the game and connect to the servers and begin a fun game.
MINI-LEVELING GUIDE
Choose whatever class suits you best. The in-game descriptions are good - a tanky Devastator, a melee Trickster, etc. They all work. If you're uncertain, the Technomancer is the most versatile for ranged attack.
Run with a close-range and a long-range weapon for the first maps. The game tutorials encourage you to fight from Cover, and this works in the early game. But it won't be long before fighting becomes closer and more mobile.
You get a sense of the late game in your first boss fight, against Reiner in the side quest Payback, or against Gauss in the main campaign. In those fights and as the game progreses, stay mobile rather than fighting from stationary Cover.
Try out different weapons and skills. They'll all work, and leveling up is a perfect time to find favorites.
ALL of them work, when leveling. Play what you find fun.
Try different Class traits, once you get points for them. You can reset anytime, so choose what you find fun.
As you play, your World Tier will advance if you have the default Options -> Auto Set Maximum World Tier, increasing the difficulty.
Play at whatever World Tier you find the most fun. I can't emphasize this enough. You'll find advice to speed through at low WTs or to run at max setting for more rewards, but the truth is, either route will work, so play at the level you find most fun.
Seriously, play at the World Tier level you find most fun.
Return to Rift Town by taking your Truck. It isn't clear to some new players that your flag allows Fast Travel only within a Zone, and that the Truck moves you between Zones.
The Matchmaking System could be better, no doubt. If you join a random game, you'll continue your story at whatever World Tier is set by the host. Lower WTs are more common. If you want to play only at your WT, you can open your game (from the Main Menu, select Game Privacy: Open), and you may get partners. Again, lower WTs are more popular. Many players finish the Campaign solo.
I start Matchmaking with plenty of space in my bags and Stash so that if I get a good team, I can keep rolling with them without delay between missions.
Managing All Your Stuff
Sell or Dismantle? Either work, and the difference isn't as big as some guides suggest. To Level Up a weapon from level 15 to 40 costs the materials from about 75 Rare weapons, or you can buy a new one for the scrap you'd get from selling about the same.
But there's a huge advantage to Dismantling a Rare (Blue) or better weapon when it's the first time you've dismantled that type, giving you access to a new Mod. To check, mark an item or items, then hover over Dismantle Marked.
Modding Gear
When starting, don't worry about increasing Attributes and Leveling Up gear. You'll quickly get better stuff just by leveling.
But do change Mods to try them out. It's cheap - you'll get lots of iron - and can make a big difference in your gameplay.
Building for High Levels
If you advance your World Tier, at some point, things will start getting tougher. For me, the step up to World Tier 11 was a wake-up call that I couldn't swap things around piecemeal. Whenever you find the game tough, choose Skills and Gear and Class Traits that work together. When you swap a piece of gear, it often affects your choice of Skills and vice-versa.
TIPS & TRICKS
Use Auto-Loot. Under Options-> Controls, check or set the key/ button, and under Options->Gameplay, set the rarity to Common. Press it to loot any item or materials (but not ammo) on your current map.
Restock your ammo to replenish ammo and reload all your weapons at the same time. In combat, this often beats reloading a slow weapon.
Melee to Interrupt enemy abilities.
Melee to break out Freeze.
Melee to break out of Ash.
Roll to stop Burning.
Hold still to stop Bleeding.
Decipher the icons
above your health bar.
Roll to the side to avoid attacks, rather than back. Many bosses have a leap or extended reach that can hit you if you go back.
Using an object to advance - breaking logs and rocks, pulling a lever, turning a wheel - resets your skill cooldowns. If your teammate does it, it resets yours, too.
Understand the limits of your self-revive, if you select it in your Class tree. Here's a good post explaining when it works (and doesn't) for the Technomancer.
To heal, keep hitting targets. Better to hit multiple targets than to focus on one. Skill Leech heals you for 10% of your Max Health every time an enemy suffers under your Status effects (Burn, Toxic, Bleed). Weapon Leech heals you for 10% of Max Health every time you shoot an enemy.
Check Outriders Discord for info, but don't abandon your favorite build because of a comment or two. Builds see more thoughtful discussion here on Reddit.
Want to know how Shield works? How to raise the Health Regen cap? The in-game Guide (Main Menu->Guide) is short, sweet, and overlooked.
Save your CC abilities when an Elite enemy has a blue vortex icon next its Health Bar. That Effect Resistance builds up, then fades, and it can be broken with Resistance Piercing.
Play the builds you enjoy, regardless of what gets the most Likes on YouTube. (Almost) anything can be made to work.