Obsidian is finally back with its next nihilistic RPGThe Outer Worlds. The company is most well-known for its amazing additions to the BethesdaFalloutseries,Fallout: New Vegas. And,The Outer Worldsis unapologetically based upon the mechanics of the present-dayFalloutgames, complete with a pseudo VATS system, companions, and even the perks.
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ThoughOuter World’sPerk tree might be a bit more boring in terms of the “wackiness” of the perks, it’s definitely one of the most balanced iterations. This article will explore which areThe Outer Worlds' best perkswithin these three tiers of overpowered abilities.
Updated on August 6th, 2021 by Josh Davison:Obsidian’s Outer Worlds remains a beloved and popular game amongst those who enjoy a space-faring action RPG. While this game isn’t among the most difficult of the genre, any expansive open-world RPG can be quite daunting at first glance. Furthermore, more people are checking this one out after the announcement of its sequel earlier this year. As such, it seems as good a time as any to dive back into Outer World’s mechanics and perk system and try to sus out which are the best for keeping your character alive in the unforgiving wilds of the Halcyon colonies.
15Tier 1: Toughness And Resilience Can Keep You Alive
Right off the bat, health is important.Outer Worldsis actually a relatively easy game, so many players and publications are recommending people play on Hard, and we agree. That said, the Hard difficulty is at itstoughest in the early game we think, as players haven’t been able to pump up their armor or perks quite yet.
So, our advice is to hold back that excitement for the more interesting perks and grab these two ASAP. Believe us, bullets shred health quite quickly in Edgewater, and a bit more health andsome armor make quite the difference.
The Tactical Time Dilation gauge or as we like to call it the “Definitely not the VATS system” is Obsidian’s way of improving upon theFalloutfranchise’s poster-boy mechanic. While activated, time plays out very slowly and players can target specific areas of enemies.
It’s minorly useful in the early game, but massively helpful once players unlock the hit-location effects. So, we recommend players grab one or both of these perks sooner than later because stacking debuffs on enemies is the best way we’ve found to manage tons of enemies all at once. Our favorite thing is to waltz into a Marauder camp, spend our TTD to blind every single bandit, then wack them with our big ol' hammer, one by one.
13Tier 1: Deadly Demonstrations Or Lone Wolf (Depending On If You Use Companions)
Unlike the last recommendation, we included both of these perks as one entry primarily because it’s important to pick what playstyle you want to go for.
There are six Companions inThe Outer Worlds, and while only two can be used by the player at a time, they get pretty overpowered as soon as they’re handed some decent armor and weapons. But, some players love a challenge, and they also like to take out every enemy themselves. So, it’s important to figure out early if you’re going to be a Lone Wolf, or roll with a crew because there are quite a few perks and advantages to either.
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Picking early allows players to nab either of these perks that both make a huge difference in helping get over that early hard-difficulty hurdle. That said, respeccing is available right from within the ship, so neither of these is a permanent commitment.
12Tier 1: Cheetah Makes The Player Run Faster
Being able to run 20% faster is just generally convenient for traversing the vast wildernesses across the Halcyon colony. There is a lot of open area between settlements, so it’s helpful to be able to shorten that downtime between combat and objectives.
That said, running faster is also useful for outrunning Mantiqueens, moving from cover to cover in a firefight, or closing the distance on enemies for melee combat.
11Tier 2: Soliloquy Boosts Dialogue Skills When Alone
As with any Obsidian RPG, being able to talk one’s way out of sticky situations is still a useful skill. Not every situation needs to be solved with violence and bloodshed. Sometimes a quick tongue can solve more than a quick gun hand.
The drawback is that the Soliloquy perk only works when the player is without any Companions. That said, it gives a +10 boost to dialogue skills, so perhaps leaving your friends back on the Unreliable isn’t a bad idea.
10Tier 2: Scanner Allows More Damage To Weak Spots
The Scanner perk is especially useful for those who rely on the Tactical Time Dilation ability. This one allows the player to deal more damage with headshots or attacks to the weak spot by +20%.
Some enemies have thick hides or heavy armor that can be better dealt with by hitting them in their particularly soft parts. The Scanner ability makes it so the player can deal out even more devastating attacks when exploiting those weak parts.
9Tier 2: The Reaper Can Heavily Weaken Opponents
Just like we mentioned earlier, the TTD Gauge is crucial after a certain point in the game. It can cause opponents to temporarily go blind, get staggered, weakened, crippled, bleed, or even knocked down. All of these effects play a huge part in fights with lots of enemies, and some of them are the defacto best way to fight Mega-versions of creatures.
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That said, none of these effects are possible without TTD, so the player needs a lot of it. If they grabbed either of the TTD-focused Tier 1 abilities recommended previously, this perk only becomes even more useful. And finally, when combined with the Harvester perk, players will be able to bounce back into the fight after every single kill.
8Tier 2: Harvester Boosts The Effect Of Consumables
Speaking of the Harvester Perk, here it is. Yes the TTD gauge is useful, but you know what’s even more crucial? Keeping the health bar above 0%. In fact, we might be so bold as to say that’s the most important thing in the game. Crazy right? So what can help with that? Well, the Inhaler, a few base health buffing consumables, oh and the Harvester Perk.
This ability essentially boils down to Life Steal. After every kill, players receive 15% of their health back, and that’s including Companion kills. As someone who just recently ventured through the monster-infested wastes of the Monarch Wilderness, it can be stated without a shadow of a doubt that Life Steal is crucial for surviving fights against five or more enemies.
7Tier 2: Weird Science Boosts The Crazy Fun Sci-Fi Weapons
Just like in previous games,Outer Worldshas a seriously lopsidedbias towards technical skills. Original players ofNew Vegasmight remember that the most important skills to rank up early were both the hacking and lockpicking skills, as players will find an absolute abundance of chests and terminals in their travels. Well, this bias is back, and now the Science skill has entered the mix thanks to Science Weapons.
These are specialty weapons players can find in the game that deal damage depending upon the player’s Science Skill. But, there are also two perks that buff Science Weapon damage by a staggering amount, and Weird Science is one of them. Notice how useless but fun that Shrink Ray is? Well, grab this Perk and try the Shrink Ray again to see how strong Science Weapons can be.
6Tier 3: Confidence Makes The Player A Melee Champion
Again, not a perk that’s necessary until the player starts fighting 5+ groups of enemies consistently, but once they do, this Perk is obscenely strong. It’s pretty simple, after every kill, the player gets a free critical hit on their next attack. This could be a melee attack, a sniper shot, or even a shotgun blast.
It’s perfect for a melee build, especially with power swings. Though, it’s even more perfect for sniper-builds, as every kill after the first quickly becomes a one to two-shot kill. One of the best methods of abusing it comes from fighting Mega-creatures. Usually, they’re accompanied by goons, so take this gun, use the free crit on the big boss, take out another goon, and repeat. And that’s just one way of utilizing this shockingly useful Perk.
