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Star Wars: Outlaws guide: five essential tips to master the criminal underworld
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Shaan Joshi
A helping paw
Without going into story specifics, Kay will be traveling solo for Outlaws’ first act, which means you’ll be infiltrating hideouts and blasting away at enemies by yourself. Thankfully, your loyal four-legged pet Nix is more than capable of helping out on your journey, and he’s an invaluable tool that you shouldn’t hesitate to lean on in the opening hours.At any point, you can activate Nix Sense, which highlights anything important in your immediate vicinity. Not only will it show valuable resources and quest items that you (or Nix) can pick up, but it’ll even provide a faint outline of nearby enemies, letting you plan out your route or check what’s around a corner without blowing your cover. From the get-go, Nix has several tricks up his furry sleeve—he can flip switches, open doors, distract cameras, and even attack enemies, giving you a few precious seconds to sneak by undetected or follow up with a punch or two of your own to knock out enemies. Thankfully, Nix is invincible, so you don’t have to feel too bad about relying on him in the heat of battle.
Over time, his roster of moves will continue to expand, allowing you to set traps or even trigger grenades that are hanging off an unsuspecting enemy’s utility belt. For early upgrades, keep an eye out for Galactic Street Food vendors—we recommend visiting the one in Mirogana’s Market District and splurging for the Che Mosska meal. After completing a quick-time event challenge, you’ll be able to equip Nix with a new treat, giving him the ability to knock enemy grenades away from Kay. You’ll want to keep an eye out for these vendors as you travel to different cities and planets, as they are easily one of the best ways to expand Nix’s repertoire of skills.
Exploration is key
Even with Nix by your side, Star Wars: Outlaws is by no means a cakewalk, especially if you try to tackle every problem head-on with a blaster in hand. While you might be able to brute force your way through a mission with firepower alone, Kay’s expertise lies in her ability to suss out and take the sneakier route.If you find yourself having to take on a contract or mission that demands stealth, be sure to plan your route ahead of time by exploring and observing your surroundings. If you have to sneak your way through a sea of enemies, look for alternate paths—developer Massive Entertainment has designed Outlaws’ world with verticality and choice at the forefront, which means that there’s usually a hidden vent or alternate path you can take to make it to your goal. For the moments where timing your movements to sneak around enemies is required, be sure to use your binoculars to tag enemies, making it easier to track them and figure out their patrol routes.
Occasionally, you’ll even be able to completely avoid direct encounters by bluffing or tricking an unsuspecting guard using information that you picked up on by observing your surroundings. When entering a new area for the first time, be sure to check out nearby clubs or food stalls, which are ripe with opportunities for eavesdropping and information gathering. It also pays (literally) to explore every nook and cranny, as you’ll often find valuable resources or crafting materials just off the beaten path.
While cities and markets are densely packed with missions and money-making opportunities, it also pays to explore the outlying wastelands and deserts, especially once you have access to your trusty speeder. It never hurts to hop off your bike and explore a nearby cave or farming installation, as you can always fast travel back to your bike. And once you unlock different planets, don’t forget that you can fast travel directly from one planet to another; there’s no need to travel back to your ship first.
Friend or foe?
One of Star Wars: Outlaws' defining features is its Syndicate Reputation system. After the prologue wraps up, Kay Vess will run into associates and contacts from a few different criminal syndicates. As you progress the story and complete jobs for each faction, Kay’s reputation with each will wax and wane; usually, proving your loyalty with one will come at the expense of your relationship with another, and your current standing with each syndicate will affect whether or not they welcome you with an open hand or a closed fist.On paper, this juggling act sounds like a recipe for disaster, especially if you find yourself stressing about trying to please everyone. Thankfully, we’re glad to report that you don’t really need to worry about it. Upsetting Jabba the Hutt or betraying the Pyke Syndicate doesn’t necessarily spell doom, and you can always repair your working relationship with each faction later on.
During the game’s opening hours, feel free to side with whatever faction you prefer. Once the game opens up and more areas become available to explore, you’ll gain access to Contracts, which are special missions that are handed out from contract brokers across Outlaws’ different planets. These side quests are the best way to repair or bolster your reputation with the game’s four factions, and while you’re often given a choice to betray them towards the end of each contract, opting to stay loyal is a surefire way to getting into everyone’s good books.
It’s also not a bad idea to hold off on completing optional missions if it involves entering an area controlled by a syndicate that’s currently peeved at you. Typically, these restricted areas are not open to those who aren’t on good terms, which means you’ll be forced to rely on stealth and not engage in combat directly. Instead, you can choose to revisit these missions later on once you’ve patched things up.
Consult the experts
In Star Wars: Outlaws, Kay doesn’t unlock skills by collecting XP and leveling up. Instead, you learn new abilities by establishing contact with so-called "experts." By taking on missions for them and completing optional challenges, you’ll gain access to some key abilities that you’ll need throughout the story.Thankfully, the first expert, Bram the Bartender, is available from the start of the game, and he’ll provide instant access to basic melee attacks and lockpicking. We suggest focusing on unlocking Fast-Talk as soon as possible. Once you use your special Takedown on 3 enemies and knock out 5 enemies with regular fisticuffs, you’ll be able to use Fast-Talk and delay an enemy’s response when they catch you sneaking around. These crucial extra seconds will give you just enough time to fire off a stun shot or smoke bomb, which can spell the difference between life and death.
Once you complete a few story missions and unlock the Jaunta’s Hope hub area, you’ll want to keep an eye out for Selo Rovak, whose questline can be found at the Daruda Diner. Completing her associated missions and challenges unlocks the boost and jump abilities on your speeder bike (which are required to reach some hard-to-reach areas), and she also provides you with the aforementioned smoke bombs.
Breaking in
Aside from all the running and gunning, Star Wars: Outlaws has a few mini-games for lockpicking and computer hacking (slicing), to name a few. These sections do a great job at switching things up and keeping you on your toes, but some players might find trouble successfully completing them, especially if you aren’t adept at rhythm games.For that, you’ll want to turn to the game’s robust accessibility options—you have the option to turn on visual cues for the lockpicking mini-game, increase the leniency for timed button prompts, or auto-complete them entirely. (These accessibility options also allow you to fiddle with the game's combat difficulty). These options extend to a few of the other mini-games as well. Not only can you remove the timing requirements for Fast-Talk and Galactic Street Food Challenges, but you can also swap out the glyphs and stylized numbers for simple numerals. If you were having a bit of trouble visually parsing symbols in the slicing mini-game, or reading everyone’s cards when playing Kessel Sabacc, these accessibility options will help turn the tides in your favor.
With these tips and tricks in your tool belt, you’ll be able to make the most of your time during Star Wars: Outlaws’ first few hours. Jump on your speeder bike and get blasting!
Star Wars: Outlaws will release on the Epic Games Store on August 30.