Outer Worlds 2 welcomes you to Arcadia

The Outer Worlds 2 takes the retrofuturistic, hypercapitalist atompunk vibes of the first game and turns it up to 11. We're headed to the far-off colony of Arcadia this time.

Whether this is your first Outer Worlds game (it's a standalone sequel, so you're not really missing anything), or you're a loyal customer back for more, we've got some tips to help you get started.

Healing is complicated in a confusing way

You have two options for healing in Outer Worlds 2. Out of combat, you can consume food and drink — items that you find while exploring. That’s easy enough to understand.

In combat, though, you can only use your medical inhaler. This is the part that confused me.

While scrounging around, you’ll find items labeled as drugs. Picking these items up automatically generates a portion of a charge for your inhaler — pick up enough, and you’ll get a full charge. You can also craft charges at a workbench. This is shown as the gas mask along the bottom of your HUD, the meter below it, and the number.

Using your inhaler at all increases your toxicity. If you use it too many times too close together, you’ll enter a drug crash. During a crash, you won’t be able to use your inhaler at all.

The other part of the medical inhaler is primers. These are equippable items (on the Inventory > Inhaler & Gadgets tab) that determine how much your inhaler heals, how fast, and how much toxicity it generates. Perks and equipment can increase the number of primer slots you have, eventually allowing you to mix and match primers. 

Don’t get bogged down with details in the prologue

Once you have your character made, you’ll drop into a mission. Without giving too much away, this mission isn’t supposed to go well. There’s tons of stuff to find and a lot of opportunities for you to practice some of the game’s mechanics along the way, but don’t get too caught up in it — this isn’t the actual game yet.

The game proper starts a bit later. You’ll even get a chance to respec when it happens. Use the prologue to stretch your legs and get a feel for what’s coming, but don’t think there’s a right answer for every interaction or a clean ending.

Do the ‘Perilous Journey to the Grove’ side quest first

Once you arrive on Arcadia and start exploring the island, you’ll head into Fairfield. Just past the medical center, you’ll meet a man near the bounty kiosk named Huell Chaudry.

Talk to him to pick up a side quest called “Perilous Journey to the Grove.” The details of the side quest don’t matter (we’ll still probably write it up, though). What matters is that you’ll walk away from the side quest with a double jump — via the PALE (Plasma Augmented Leap Enhancer). That’s going to come in handy.

But focus on the main story for a bit

Aside from that one side quest, focus on the main story for a little bit while you figure out the game and start levelling up. It’s an open-world rpg, so there’s constant distractions and opportunities, but you need to focus on getting stronger before you can tackle a lot of them. 

Stick to the roads

Arcadia is criss-crossed with tracks and paths between the various points of interest. It’s possible to travel cross-country, but it’s also, frankly, a pain in the ass — even with the double jump.

Stick to the main thoroughfares to save yourself the headache. You’re also less likely to get eaten by raptidons that way. 

Stealth is a viable option

No matter how punchy-shooty-brawny you make your character, stealth is an option. Early on, it’s a really good option. Getting through encounters and side quests without killing anyone is almost always an option, so, when you’re outmatched by the baddies, try sneaking instead of shooting.

There’s probably a way in through the roof

Related to sneaking, there’s a tendency I’ve noticed already in Outer Worlds 2 — if it’s someplace the game wants you to go, there’s probably a second (or third) way in. And more often than not, that way in is a hole in the roof. Look out for skylights, ventilation ducts, and giant, obvious holes for options.

Skills open doors and conversations

Look, I’m sure we’ll spend plenty of words writing about the best skills and perks and character options. But the quick and dirty version is this: skills like Engineering, Lockpick, and Hack will literally open doors for you (the Brawny trait works too if that’s more your speed, but it comes up less often). You don’t have to become a master hacker or anything, but a few points in those skills will get you through a lot of locked (well, “locked”) doors early on.

Similarly, dropping a few points into Observation will open up new dialogue options and outcomes. And it’ll make it easier to find hidden stuff.

Be careful in conversations

Speaking of, well, speaking: pay attention to what you’re saying. There’s not going to be a big red button that says “I SIDE WITH THIS GUY” in the dialogue tree. It can be as simple as continuing a conversation. When you’re weighing your options between people, factions, and outcomes (these choices come up a lot), don’t go too far down any one conversation path unless you’re sure you want to side with the person you’re talking to.

This tip is for me. I accidentally sided with someone when I wasn't paying attention.

Lockboxes are a whole thing

On your way off The Incognito (your ship and the game's companion hub) the first time, Outer Worlds 2 will introduce you to the lockbox dispenser in the cargo bay. It's confusing at the time because not only is it broken, but you can't actually do anything with it.

It works like this: finding a High Security Lockbox out in the wild will send it to your ship and add it to the dispenser. Each lockbox requires Advanced Decryption Keys – also found out in the world. Finding lockboxes and keys is all you can do when you're not on your ship – you cannot open a lockbox in the wild.

Once you have a bunch of the keys (you need four before you can open your first lockbox), you can head back to the ship and start opening them. It's unclear if they go into the dispenser in order or randomly, but it kind of doesn't matter.