8 things we learned from the Outriders Broadcast: Episode 1

Cool powers, terrifying new enemies and an in depth look at the upgrade system. Here are just a few of the exciting reveals.
Autor: Duncan Heaney

Did you watch the Outriders Broadcast?

In case you missed it, the new monthly series takes fans deep into the game, showcasing new gameplay, revealing new features, explaining the game’s mechanics and much more.

The first episode, titled Built for the Core, was positively overflowing with information about the upcoming RPG shooter - a lot of which was brand new. It’s most certainly worth a watch if you haven’t already:

The video contains so much fascinating information, and we wanted to pull out just a few of the coolest here. For example:


It introduced the First City and a new enemy - the Perforo

Outriders takes place on the dark and desperate planet of Enoch. Once considered a paradise, an anomaly devastated the human colonists. Now, years later, humanity has resorted to savagery, with every day a constant battle for survival.

The extended gameplay shown in the Outriders Broadcast took players to the First City. This visually stunning arrangement of structures and slums is where the human colonists first landed, and a series of disasters has left it irradiated and barely habitable.

We were shown a mission, in which the player - taking the role of a Pyromancer in this demo - explores the area in search of invaluable information about the anomaly. Here, another new element was introduced: the Perforo.

Previously, we’ve only seen footage with human combatants, but the world of Enoch is rich with all types of life… and most of it wants to kill you. That’s definitely the case with these horrifying foes. The anomaly has evolved one of the planet’s native species into vicious killing machines.

They’ll swarm and overwhelm even the most powerful Outrider with sheer numbers. Taking a full group of them on will be an unrelenting challenge - as the Broadcast says, sometimes you just need to run.

Fortunately, Outriders are equipped with all kinds of weapons and powers. With skillful play and good battle strategy, you can turn the table on the Perforo.


The user interface is fully customizable

If there’s one theme that’s consistent across everything shown of Outriders so far, it’s that it the game really wants to give players choice. That’s apparent in the extensive skill system, dialogue options, the different classes, the myriad ways to approach combat encounters and more.

But it also extends to elements like the user interface. There’s a lot of information to convey in the game, but the developers realize that everyone has a different idea about how much they want to see on screen.

That’s why, in Outriders, almost every element of the user interface can be adjusted. On-screen elements like life bars, the mini-map, XP bars, damage numbers and more can all be turned on and off as needed. You can fiddle with the crosshair, the scale of the HUD, player and NPC icons… the list goes on. It means that you’ll be able to enjoy the game the way you want to.


World Tiers allow for dynamic difficulty

One of the coolest things shown by the Outriders Broadcast was the World Tier system. This is a flexible difficulty system that allows you to fine-tune the game’s challenge at your leisure.

It means that the game will organically find the right difficulty level for you - keeping you on your toes at all times, but never making things feel completely unachievable. Even if you’re a fully levelled up super-warrior, World Tiers will ensure you still face a fair challenge.

You start the game on World Tier One and scale up depending on how you play the game. Higher World Tiers offer a more difficult experience, increasing enemy stats like levels, armor and health. Should you brave these greater challenges though, you’ll be richly rewarded with better loot, and more accolades.

That said, if you want to raise or lower the difficulty, you can do so manually on the fly. Again, it’s about giving you choice, whether you want to play Outriders for the story or push your skills to the absolute limit.


The challenge scales depending on the number of players

Outriders can be played co-operatively with a party of up to three people. That can be a little daunting for people who want to play as lone wolves - but worry not! The difficulty of the game scales depending on the number of players.

Whether you’re solo, part of a duo, or the big three, the game is designed to offer the right level of challenge - hard enough to keep you on your toes while keeping victory within reach.


The story is a big focus - and it’s all included on the disc (or download)

We’ve often describe Outriders as an RPG Shooter - and that’s not just because of the intricate customization systems. It’s also a very story-focused game, with rich characters, and a deep narrative that really goes places.

According to the Outriders Broadcast, it was important for the developers that people have access to the full story from day one and can engage with it how they please.

You’ll be able to talk to various NPCs, choosing dialogue options to get extra information, backstory, lore and more - and if you really want to deep-dive into the world of Outriders, everything you learn can be reviewed in the menus later.

Much of this is, of course, optional. Some players want to get straight to the shooting - they can blast past the narrative and get quickly back into the action.


New details about the Trickster class were revealed

We’ve talked before about the different classes you can play as in Outriders - you can read about them here:

Tricksters control time and space, making them perfect for players who like to surprise enemies and get out of the way before they can react. For example, they can create time bubbles to slow down foes, teleport behind them and slice them up from close range. With time!

We’ve taken a close look at the Trickster in the afore-mentioned deep dive, but the first Outriders Broadcast provided even more information about these assassin-like warriors. For example, it revealed that all classes have different melee attacks - one used when standing still and the other activated by sprinting.

For the Trickster, the standard melee stuns and slows enemies, while the sprinting version creates an impressive timey-wimey shockwave.

Another new power was showcased too - Borrowed Time coverts a percentage of your maximum health into a shield that absorbs damage. What’s more, using the power creates a ‘time clone’ in your location it was activated. If you use Borrowed Time again while the clone is still active, you’ll teleport instantly back to that location.

It’s really handy for getting out of fights quickly.


The different upgrade paths for the Trickster were revealed

You have a tremendous amount of control over how you build your character in Outriders. The class tree is large, and full of options that let you customize your hero to fit your preferred playstyle. And yes, that does mean you can take an assassin class like the Trickster and turn it into a tank.

The Outriders Broadcast went into a lot of detail about the Trickster’s upgrade potential. Each class has three trees of class point nodes that you activate as you level up. These have a big impact on your stats, and how even how your skills work.

The Trickster’s three trees all tie into the basic fundamentals of the class: Master of Space is all about movement, Harbinger gives you options to increase damage and Assassin lets you really ramp up your skills.

All branches are intertwined, so you can cross link them to create your perfect build. And yes - you can respect at any time.


Common questions about Outriders were definitively answered

Some of the more frequently asked questions about Outriders were given definitive answers by Outriders Community Manager Robbie Palmer. Here are just a few - you can see more in the full Outriders Broadcast.

  • Is Outriders a Games as a Service title? No - it’s a complete experience out of the box (or download if you go digital).

  • Will Outriders progression be locked behind microtransactions? No. Outriders does not contain microtransactions.

  • Will Outriders use Denuvo? No.

  • How did Robbie get that awesome Avatar? Ok - so this one isn’t actually in the video, but inquiring (and jealous) Square Enix Blog team minds want to know.


That was just a brief rundown of some of the key things showcased in Episode One of the Outriders Broadcast. That really was the tip of the iceberg though - there’s much more to uncover in the full video, from gameplay to additional information.

And, of course, all that was merely the first episode. It makes you wonder what’s going to be in the next one, right?

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