All Traits in The Outer Worlds 2

Traits in The Outer Worlds 2 add unique strengths and weaknesses to your character. This guide breaks down every positive and negative trait you can select, helping you build your Earth Directorate Agent with personality, power, and risk.

The Outer Worlds 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to Obsidian Entertainments’ 2019 hit RPG, expanding on everything that made the original game great along with their fan favorite Fallout: New Vegas – deeper character customization, build crafting, a more complex story, and a larger world. With a significantly larger budget and development timeline, Obsidian is set to deliver one of the biggest upcoming RPGs of the year when the game launches on October 29, 2025.

In this guide, we’ll break down all known Traits in The Outer Worlds 2, a new system that allows you to further personalize your character through meaningful bonuses and gameplay-altering effects. This page is a work in progress and will be continuously updated as more traits are revealed in official previews, developer interviews, and gameplay showcases.

Below is everything we know so far about Traits in one of 2025’s most anticipated RPGs.

How Traits Work in The Outer Worlds 2

The Outer World 2 expands the original’s “Flaw” system into a more structured Trait system, chosen at character The Outer World 2 expands upon the “Flaw” system from the first game into a more structured Trait system, chosen at character creation. The original game had “attributes” which are now replaced with traits, allowing for different approaches, and multiple ways to plan or solve problems throughout the game.

Traits are optional modifiers that can be selected during character creation. You can choose one positive trait for permanent bonuses without selecting a negative trait. However, if you select two positive traits, you will be required to select a negative trait. Each trait affects gameplay in a variety of ways:

• Some increase combat performance or introduce new play style options
• Others improve skill checks or lead to new dialogue options and choices
• Trait stacking can lead to specialized or thematic builds in numerous ways

Remember, The Outer Worlds 2 does not allow for respec or reroll, therefore your traits are permanent. You must select at least one trait, so pick one that suits your overall build, playstyle, and Role-Play goals.

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All Traits in The Outer Worlds 2

You can find all The Outer Worlds 2 traits listed below.

Positive Traits in The Outer Worlds 2

Brawny

• Description: You’re able to perform great feats of strength. In combat, you’re an unstoppable force.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: Sliding or sprinting into hostiles will knockdown hostiles. Cooldown: 5 seconds
• Build Recommendation: Melee-focused bruiser or shotgun frontliner
• Best Faction: Protectorate (militaristic themes fit aggressive play)
• Recommended Companion: Tristan and Aza

The Brawny trait is perfect for melee weapons oriented gameplay. With only a five second cooldown, you can sprint or slide aggressively and knockdown enemies. You can also pair this trait with an up close shotgun or pistol playstyle as well.

When it comes to companions, Tristan or Aza are also fellow melee up-close damage dealers. These two would be good to select depending on your characters story. With your second companion, Inez would be a good choice because she can play medium range and heal.

Consider Brawny a must-have trait for aggressive melee damage dealer wielding big hammer or melee weapons.

Brilliant

• Description: You’re intelligent, able to easily solve problems and more easily pick up new skills.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: During skill selection, specialize in 1 additional skill. Specialized skills start with 2 points.
• Build Recommendation: Skill-focused character, hybrid tech/hacker or science weapon user
• Best Faction: Order of the Ascendant (scientific and intellectual faction)
• Recommended Companion: Marisol and Inez

For the Brilliant Trait, you gain access to one additional skill at character creation. This can help you focus on multiple pathways to increase your characters power. Moreover, it’s a universally good trait if you don’t know what else to pick.

From a story perspective, the Order of the Ascendant faction and Marisol companion are the best role-play fit. Marisol is a scientist and plays as an assassin. The Order is entirely math based, and thus makes a good combination. Also consider using Inez for healing or Aza for melee damage to form a good party composition. Lastly, consider using science weapons since they have been expanded in the Outer Worlds 2 and will likely have the most impact in combat.

Heroic

• Description: Others tend to naturally follow and look up to you.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: -20% Companion Ability Charge Time
• Build Recommendation: Leadership/Charisma build focused on buffing companions
• Best Faction: Earth Directorate (they value leadership and loyalty)
• Recommended Companion: Niles and Val

The Heroic trait is perfect for players wanting companions to do most of the work. You gain an additional -20% companion ability charge time, thus making companions reliably spam their ability. Niles and Val are a one-two combination with Niles playing medium range and Val playing far range. Val has a rocket that can hit targets from afar and do massive AOE damage.

Since you are an Earth Directorate “space marshall,” that faction should be your main priority. You can take the story any direction with this trait and whatever background you chose. Depending on your faction, chose a weapon with bonuses to abilities. There maybe ways to increase companions effectiveness with gear and that’s what you want to center this build about.

Innovative

• Description: You are inventive and crafty, always able to find unique solutions to complex problems.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: Various crafting recipes are more effective, allowing you to create more items for fewer resources.
• Build Recommendation: Crafter, tinker, or mod-focused tech build
• Best Faction: Order of the Ascendant (innovation + research theme)
• Recommended Companion: Marisol and Inez

The Innovative traits is good depending on your use of consumables. Oftentimes in RPGs, consumables aren’t considered a main focus of players builds. However, they can add massive bonuses, and if you spend time collecting the materials, a massive boon to your overall power.

Marisol could be a good choice for her tech and research theme while Inez is a solid go-to with Auntie’s Choice connections. However, this trait doesn’t force you into one specific playstyle or another and has universal applications. Depending on the Outer Worlds 2 crafting depth, this could be an amazing trait or weak so keep that in mind.

Lucky

• Description: You’re lucky—things tend to go your way.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: +5% Critical Chance. Certain opportunities are just accessible to you.
• Build Recommendation: Critical hit DPS or stealth trickster build
• Best Faction: Auntie’s Choice (corporate faction favors gambling and luck)
• Recommended Companion: Aza and Inez

The Lucky Trait is likely to be one of the most used in the Outer Worlds 2. You gain a 5% bonus to critical which is massive on any build. Moreover, the description hints that certain opportunities are accessible to you. While we don’t know what those are, traits not only affect combat but dialogue and questing. Therefore, Lucky is a Cowboy Space Marshalls dream selection.

Therefore, build into the Space Cowboy theme with Auntie’s Choice and companions like Aza and and Inez. The Roustabout background would also be a great selection, or you can forgo all of that and just get the massive critical bonus!

Nimble

• Description: You’re quick and dexterous, able to move more quickly while stealthing and in combat.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: +25% Crouch Speed, +25% Combat Sprint Speed
• Build Recommendation: Stealth, scout, or hit-and-run ranged combatant
• Best Faction: Auntie’s Choice
• Recommended Companion: Aza and Marisol

The Nimble trait is perfect for someone wanting to play a stealth rogue build in the Outer Worlds 2. You can increased crouch speed and combat sprint speed of 25%. There’s also a flaw called Bad Knees which helps boost your speed, though your knees can pop alerting others of your presence! Or pair this with the Serial Killer trait for a truly evil combination! You’re likely to work with Auntie’s Choice as a smuggler, bounty hunter, or assassin.

When it comes to weapons, consider carrying a knife for melee kills and silenced pistols for close range. Aza would be a good companion to bring for getting melee attention once combat has started. However, Marisol is an assassin and would fit the parties goals.

Resilient

• Description: You can power through even the deadliest of injuries. It requires more than usual to take you down in combat.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: Death is prevented for 3 seconds the first time you would have died each combat.
• Build Recommendation: Solo survivalist or frontline tank
• Best Faction: Protectorate
• Recommended Companion: Tristan and Inez

The Resilient trait is perfect for anyone playing on the hardest difficulty and absolutely hates to die! You gain three seconds of immunity to death the first time in each combat situation. This trait is aimed at the “solider” type build that loves to run and gun and wants combat proficiency to be the maximum.

When you’re crafting your build around this trait, consider Tristan and Inez. Tristan is the tank melee companion who can soak up damage while you hang at medium range taking out enemies. Meanwhile, Inez is the healer, giving you the holy trinity setup. The downside is, you have no offensive bonus and it’s likely to be weaker trait on lower difficulty playthroughs.

Suave

• Description: You have a way with words, getting you discounts at vendors and talking your way out of minor crimes.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: 10% discount at all vendors. Bounty must be 20% higher than normal to be seen as an Outlaw.
• Build Recommendation: Speech-based character, stealth/speech hybrid, or merchant build
• Best Faction: Auntie’s Choice (negotiation and trade-focused)
• Recommended Companion: Marisol and Niles

The Suave trait is the best trait for outlaw type builds and playthroughs. You gain 10% discount at stores and also 20% higher bounties to be seen as an outlaw. Therefore, if you intend to sneak, steal, and thieve your way through the Outer Worlds 2, consider this trait.

Likely players will want to work with Auntie’s Choice to negotiate and trade centered faction. For companions, Marisol is a good choice because of her tech background and assassin abilities. Meanwhile, Niles is the jack of all trades and could help in any situation and likely won’t have a problem with you stealing and selling items.

Witty

• Description: Your fun demeanor and quick-wit makes you popular with others. Others are willing to forgive your past transgressions.
• Type: Positive
• Bonus: Reputation with any faction can never decrease below Neutral, preventing any penalties that would be gained from having a negative reputation with a faction such as vendor discounts.
• Build Recommendation: Speech Build
• Best Faction: Auntie’s Choice (negotiation and trade-focused)
• Recommended Companion: Marisol and Niles

The Witty trait is perfect for a speech build that wants to manipulate dialogue and wants to maximize faction bonuses. Often times, you must make a choice between siding with one faction or another. Typically, this doesn’t allow for you to see and complete all the factions quest and story in a single playthrough and can even make one faction enemies against you. Therefore, if you love faction type of questing and side quests, consider the Witty trait so you can never drop below neutral.

Negative Traits

Abrasive

• Description: You’re hard on the ears and people don’t like talking to you. Others have a hard time accepting you into their communities and organizations.
• Type: Negative
• Bonus: Standing with any faction can never increase past Trusted. Limits discounts, Speech bonuses, and options with factions.
• Build Recommendation: Lone wolf or outlaw playthrough; minimal faction reliance
• Best Faction: Smugglers, pirates, or no faction (go solo)
• Recommended Companion: Val (robot who likely doesn’t care about your personality), or morally ambiguous characters

The abrasive trait has a major downside, you won’t be trusted with any faction, and it limits bonuses for factions. Only take this if you don’t intend on maxing out the factions standing. Likely standing will have achievements associated with them, so achievement hunters steer clear of this negative trait.

Companions like Val (Robot) and Aza aren’t likely to care about your outlaw trait. However, many other companions will and thus it could be a punishing selection.

Dumb

The Dumb trait might be one of the best and most fun for players to select. You are locked in available skills, and you can never add points to them. Therefore, it’s meant for a pure combat focused playthrough. Moreover, you can sometimes use this Dumb trait to your advantage like smashing objects instead of hacking them and so forth.

When creating a build, you’ll want to have Marisol to fill the gaps in any tech bonuses you lack. Tristan and the Protectorate faction are an obvious choice for a pure combat soldier type of build. While silly and wacky, Dumb could be great depending on the locked skills and your overall desires throughout the game.

Sickly

• Description: Your body is weak, prone to breaks, scrapes, and illness. Injuries and crashing from primers are more likely.
• Type: Negative
• Bonus: -15% Base Health, -15 Toxicity Crash Threshold
• Build Recommendation: Long-range sniper or support character who avoids direct damage
• Best Faction: Order of the Ascendant (tech-focused healing might help)
• Recommended Companion: Tristan

The Sickly negative trait imposes massive downsides like less base health and toxic crash threshold. The only logical way to make Sickly trait work is with a sniper setup. Hanging back at a distance and never engaging up close is likely your best bet. The positive trait Resilient would be a great selection since it helps you survive death each combat engagement. Therefore, consider taking two positive and this as a negative only if you have resilient selected or combat could be brutal to survive.

FAQs – Traits in Outer Worlds 2

Are traits permanent?

Yes, traits chosen during character creation are permanent.

Can traits be removed or respec’d later?

Currently, no confirmation—players likely must live with their choices.

Can I take multiple traits?

Yes, you can take at least two, but you must select a negative trait if you take two positive traits.

Are traits the same as flaws?

No, flaws return as a separate system acquired in-game. Traits are pre-selected bonuses/penalties.

Dive Into The Outer Worlds 2!

Check the links below to browse more guides and builds for The Outer Worlds 2: