How To Get The BEST Start in The Outer Worlds 2!

In this best start guide for The Outer Worlds 2, we’ll go over some of the best skills, perks, weapons, armor, and gadgets you can get in your first hour of the game after exiting the tutorial that will make you insanely powerful!

The Outer Worlds 2 is a complex game with many branching pathways. Confused on where to start? Don’t worry! With these starting tips, you’ll be able to steal anything, jump farther, dominate your enemies with multiple different weapons, get the best companion in the game, and even turn yourself invisible! Let’s jump right into it.

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Best Start Guide – The Outer Worlds 2

Though you can really do any of these steps at any time, doing these specific steps early on is going to give you a ton of great options and a super powerful character.

1. Character Creation

Now, in terms of character creation, this guide will work for most character builds, but we do need a bit of lockpicking skill early to get access to some better gear. I would recommend prioritizing that or even using the Brilliant Trait. It lets you specialize in three skills. So, you could do guns or melee as your main damage skill, then take lockpick and maybe speech as a third skill for a pretty solid starting build. Make sure to invest up to three skill points into Lockpick as soon as you get them because we will need it to get some extra loot, but also to unlock the Pickpocket Perk, which should be the first perk that you grab just to make things extremely easy.

2. Hibernation Suit

Waking up on your ship, you have a few options right away. First, head into the storage room and check out the lockers along the walls. This will give you a bit of ammunition, but also access to a suit of armor and helmet similar to what you got in the first Outer Worlds game, called the Hibernation Suit and Helmet. The suit here gives you decent defensive stats for the start of the game. The helmet is nice, too, because it recharges your Gadget Energy 40% faster, which is awesome. If you didn’t know, gadget energy powers your gadgets, including the tactical time dilation (slow down mechanic) in the game.

3. Rookie’s Reward

Next to the lockers, you’ll notice a locked cabinet with a legendary rifle called Rookie’s Reward. Even though this is locked with a high lockpick check, you can actually get it quite easily by jumping over the crates in the back of the room and hitting the secret switch against the wall, which disables the power to the cabinet and unlocks it. The Rookie’s Reward starts out weak but levels up and gets more powerful as you use it, making it great for a medium-range rifle build.

4. Triple Barrel Shotgun

Once you’ve left the ship, head immediately to the left looking for the glowing Auntie’s Choice sign. Here you can pick up another great early weapon, the Triple Barrel Shotgun. You’ll be able to modify this later with different damage types like shock damage or plasma, making it one of the most powerful early game weapons. This thing packs a punch!

5. Revolver and Crab Pet

From there, take a quick trip south to the Crab Farm location where you can speak to the rancher and get a quest to heal her sick crab. This is easiest to do if you already have a trauma kit, which you should have left over from the tutorial. Use that trauma kit on Lucy the Crab to get your first pet that gets to live on your ship. You’ll get several pets during your adventure (and there’s even an achievement for collecting them). You’ll also get the Rancher’s Safe Key, which you can use to grab a light revolver pistol if you want another weapon option. This can also be modded with a variety of damage options and is a great starting weapon for a Gunslinger Build.

6. Get Invisibility!

Before entering the main town of Fairfield, make a quick trip around the left side of town through the crop fields where you can find one of the most useful items in the game: the Battle Helm of Ptero Bane. It’s found on top of the scarecrow. Cool name, but it’s basically a bucket with eye holes that grants the Camouflage Perk, letting you turn invisible when you stand still.

You can’t change to third-person view while using it (for balance reasons), but the camouflage invisibility mod works great for stealing or pickpocketing without risk. You can use it right away – and honestly, you can use it the whole game to steal anything you want. Best used with our Thief Build – check it out!

7. Shock Machine Gun & Police Outfit

Once you’re in town, head into the Police Station and talk to the troopers who’ll ask you to use your lockpicking skills to break into the armory. Here, you’ll get an Armor Mod and the very useful Shock Machine Gun, which is incredible against robotic enemies. Before leaving, grab the Police Officer Clothing and Hat in the back office if you’re roleplaying a gunslinger build. It looks great and fits the theme perfectly.

8. Rattler Unique Revolver & Plasma Mod

Next, speak to Arthur Comby in the middle of town – he’s one of the main vendors. From him, you can purchase the unique Rattler Pistol with the Snakshot Mod, converting cartridges into shotgun shells that spread out for huge bonus damage. It’s basically a shotgun in revolver form, perfect for early gunslinger builds focused on weak point damage. Also buy the Plasma Barrel Mod for your shotgun – it’s devastating against creatures. You can even steal a Holster Mod from Arthur’s back room, which lets you equip three weapons at once without needing the Commando perk.

9. Bio Mass Pistol

Head to the largest building in town and speak to the town leaders, Kaur and Milverstreet. Whichever NPC you side with, they both have keys you can steal to unlock chests for solid rewards, including a Burst Biomass Pistol that deals corrosion damage. This is your go-to weapon later against heavy-armored enemies like the Protectorate Faction. Some earlier builds of the game let you get both legendary items from these chests, but Obsidian patched this before release. Now, you can only get one or the other depending on who you side with – Kaur’s Cuirass or the Gentleman’s Hat.

10. Get your Double Jump Boots!

Before leaving town, speak to Huell Chandry, who will task you with tracking down some advanced technology – a side quest absolutely worth doing! Also grab the Bounty Quest from the nearby terminal. Once ready, head west to track down that drone bounty. Mechanical enemies are no match for the shock machine gun from earlier. If you run low on ammo, there’s more in the cabinet at the back of that area.

Continue south until you reach the large structure where you can pick up the P.A.L.E. Double Jump Boots – easily one of the best mobility gadgets in the game. You can miss these if you’re not careful, so grab them early. Use the quest here to practice sprinting and double-jumping up the mountainside. Finish the quest with the two NPCs at the top to earn a Legendary Helmet – the Monocular Target Finder, which grants +10% Weak Spot Damage.

11. Best Early Companion

Now, fast travel back to town, complete the research quest, and turn in your bounty. You should now have access to the Ministry of Accuracy, where you’ll meet Inz for the first time. Follow up with her to eventually recruit her as a companion. She’s arguably better than Val – great healing, solid damage, and some of the earliest upgrades for any companion. Use her alongside Niles, and you’ll have a strong early game setup with powerful weapons, great armor, double jump boots, and your invisibility helmet! Now you’re ready to bring justice to the Galaxy in style!

Final Thoughts

By now, you should be well-equipped, rich in loot, and ready to take on The Outer Worlds 2 with confidence. If there are any tips I missed, let me know. Also, check out our recent video where I go over 20 Must-Know Tips for The Outer Worlds 2 with even more things you need to know before starting the game. I’ll have that linked below!