1. Loot everything and scrap items
From the moment you’re dropped into the world of Outward, you’ll find that money is hard to come by. This should motivate you to loot everything you see and inevitably make you face the most difficult boss of Outward - inventory management.
Make it easier on yourself and scrap weapons and armor instead of dropping them to make room for others. Scrapping can be done anywhere, providing you with essential materials like cloth and metals, as well as rare crafting materials you’ll find yourself in need of as the game progresses.
To scrap gear:
- Go to your inventory
- Tap on the crafting menu
- Click on one of the four empty boxes
- Place your item of choice
2. Use your basic abilities
Many players go through multiple playthroughs without realizing the power of the starting abilities. More specifically, the Throw Lantern skill. It’s one of the most underrated ones in the game, yet few players ever use it. It does destroy a whole lantern, but they are easy to find or craft and help you deal with most early-game mobs and bosses who are usually weak to fire. It’s also really fun to use!
To make a cheap lantern, all you need is the following:
- 2x Iron Scraps
- Thick Oil
- Linen Cloth
3. Upgrade your backpack as soon as possible
As we mentioned before, inventory management can be a nightmare in Outward. Luckily, you can get some fantastic backpacks fairly early in the game. This should be a top priority for anyone planning to leave Cierzo and start exploring. The best backpacks provide buffs, but a regular old backpack with a fair carrying capacity will make your journey much safer and more profitable.
Great beginner backpacks are:
- Adventurer’s Backpack - Has a 35 carrying capacity but does not interfere with the speed of your rolls (can be found with traveling merchants or by visiting the Friendly Immaculate cave in the starting zone.
- Nomad Backpack - 50 carrying capacity. Can be purchased from one of the merchants in Cierzo’s town square.
- Mefino’s Trade Backpack - A whopping 110 carrying capacity. Can be found in the bandit fortress right outside Cierzo. Requires 2x Power Coils to unlock.
4. Check every corner
Outward rewards exploration to an extreme degree. There are puzzles, hidden chests, corpses, and phantom menaces at every corner. All you have to do is look - you might be surprised that your ridiculous assumptions are often fruitful.
5. Bring a source of light
Do NOT underestimate darkness in Outward. Most dungeons in the game are pitch-dark, which not only affects your ability to navigate them but seriously hinders your combat. Let there be light.
Here are a few sources of light you should consider at the start of the game:
- Torches - Very easy to make. They also provide a bit of warmth for when you’re cold.
- Lanterns - Your must-have light source. They can be attached to most backpacks so that you can use your hands more efficiently. Lanterns run out but can be refueled using Thick Oil.
6. Invest in a better tent early
Tents don’t just skip time and recover burnt stats. They offer powerful bonuses that can make an absurd difference in the open world - ranging from stamina regeneration to cooldown reduction and even raising resistances. You should ideally have a sleep bonus active at all times.
Here are a few tents you’ll easily find early on:
- Camouflaged Tent - Can be purchased in Berg. It’s very time and resource-efficient as it reduces the threat of being ambushed while you sleep, allowing you to put fewer hours on guard duty. Also temporarily grants a powerful stamina-cost reduction buff.
- Fur Tent - Can be purchased in Cierzo. -15% to stamina costs is ridiculously good to combat and traveling. On top of this, it increases your cold resistance.
7. Stack up on tea
Your total Health, Stamina, and Mana will slowly deplete the more you use them. The locked stats are called Burnt Stats. To replenish them, you have to sleep, eat food, or drink tea. Trust me when I say this - you’ll be drinking a ton of tea in Outward. Luckily, they are easy to make and have other bonus stats. But when you lack the ingredients, don’t be afraid to buy a few from local vendors. I usually keep at least 5 of each, just to be safe.
Tea you should have in Outward:
- Mineral Tea - Restores burnt health and removes indigestion
- Bitter Spicy Tea - Restores burnt stamina and protects from cold weather
- Soothing Tea - Restores burnt Mana and cures Common Cold
8. Exploit food buffs
You’ll never really die of hunger in Outward. You can easily survive on berries and travel rations. However, good food makes an incredible difference in combat and when dealing with harsh weather conditions. The effects range from small quality-of-life improvements to down-right overpowered. And most recipes are not that difficult to prepare. A few foods you should easily have in your inventory in the early game are:
- Cierzo Ceviche - Regenerates health and mana and increases resistances. All around a great consumable to have.
- Gaberry Tartine - Super easy to make, perishes slowly, and increases your stamina regen significantly.
- Ocean Fricassee - Health, mana, and stamina regeneration. Really powerful effect.
9. Buy gold ingots
When traveling long distances, you can visit any merchant and purchase gold ingots. They always cost exactly 100 silver, no matter where you are. However, gold ingots are 10x more weight-efficient than silver. You may also be robbed when you die, so gold ingots are a preventive measure for losing wealth.
10. Carry (and use) elemental rags
Every enemy in Outward is weak to a certain element. Luckily, you don’t need a weapon or spells to deal elemental damage - you can imbue your weapon with rags, which are very easy to make. They’re light and powerful, so you have no excuse not to carry at least 1 per element.
Here’s how you can craft Elemental Rags:
- Fire Rag - Linen Cloth + Thick Oil
- Ice Rag - Linen Cloth + Seaweed
- Poison Rag - Linen Cloth + Grilled Crabeye Seed
- Bolt Rag - Linen Cloth + Larva Egg
Extra Tip: Most enemies in Cierzo will be weak to Fire Damage. Stock up on Fire Rags!
11. Drop your backpack before combat
Mobility is crucial in combat, and backpacks tend to hinder your movement. Simply pressing B before entering a fight will make you much more agile, and most importantly, you’ll be able to roll freely à la Dark Souls.
12. Find trainers in every major city
Each big settlement has talent trainers. Unlike most RPGs, you’re free to learn from all of them and make your own build. If you’re short on cash or don’t want to waste your Breakthrough Points, it’s still worth it to talk to the trainers. Most of them have cheap passive perks that can help you survive.
Good skills to learn early on:
- Weather Tolerance - +8 to weather defenses, +5 to Decay Resistance. Learn it from the Cabal Hermit trainer in Chersonese.
- Fitness - +25 total health, 20% increased health regeneration while sleeping. Learn from the Kazine Spellblade trainer in the starting town, Cierzo, for only 50 silver. This is a no-brainer.
- Brace - Considered one of the most powerful spells in the game, it blocks an attack and grants you the Discipline boon, increasing your physical damage. Only costs 50 silver and can be trained with the Warrior Monk trainer in Monsoon.
13. Don’t be afraid to use breakthrough points
Each only has 3 breakthrough points. They can unlock the most powerful spells in each skill tree. On first playthroughs, many players hoard their points until it’s too late. A piece of advice I wish I had known earlier was to be more generous with how I spend Breakthrough Points when just starting out. In your first playthrough, focus on exploring and surviving longer.
Great beginner picks for Breakthrough skills are:
- Survivor's Resilience - +40 total health. Can be learned from the Wild Hunter trainer in Berg.
- Leyline Connection - Allows you to regenerate mana passively. Can be learned from the Philosopher trainer in Monsoon.
14. Carry extra waterskins and gaberries
A simple but very effective tip is to carry waterskins and gaberries to aid your stamina regeneration. Outward forces you to travel great distances. Water and berries increase your stamina regeneration and therefore save you a lot of time. Not to mention that stamina is your #1 stat when it comes to combat. Theoretically, you can survive most fights with 1 hp as long as you have enough stamina to keep blocking.
15. Use ethereal damage
Ethereal damage is considered the best damage source in Outward because most enemies aren’t resistant to it. You can easily imbue your weapon with Ethereal Varnishes, learn skills that deal Ethereal Damage, and be on the lookout for weapons that deal Ethereal damage.
Your best sources of Ethereal damage early on are:
- Spiritual Varnish - Frequent world drop. Can also be purchased or crafted.
- Troglodyte Staff - You can find troglodytes in caves near and even below Cierzo.
- Rune Sage Talents - The Rune Sage is, hands-down, the most powerful early to mid-game skill tree, mainly consisting of Ethereal Damage spells. It’s ridiculously fun to play too! Go to Berg to learn how to cast Runes.
16. Beware of traps
Traps in Outward are rare enough to forget about but frequent enough to become your mortal enemies. They can be deadly, almost one-shotting adventurers who forget to mind their footing.
Be most careful about traps:
- Near and within bandit encampments
- Instanced dungeons
17. Be patient in combat
Combat in Outward is difficult to master. Starting, you’ll want to roll and move around your enemies, taking advantage of blind spots and attack animations. It’s always fun to spam-attack an enemy, but in Outward, hostile mobs often have short attack animations that are difficult to predict. Take your time and kill your enemies hit by hit. Except if you want to die - then please, be my guest.
18. When in danger - run away
You can literally run past any mob in the game and lose aggro in a few seconds or minutes. A mistake many beginner players make is to think they have to fight everything they see. No - in fact, it’s a bad idea.
Running through the world, you’ll often be tired, out of potions, and with burnt stats. Running away is a legit strategy, and there’s no shame.
19. Don’t hoard consumables
Skyrim messed us up with this…
With many RPGs, we tend to hoard potions and food. Outward is difficult - and consumables matter. So don’t you dare to think, “Oh, I’ll just save this for later,” when later never actually comes. Use your potions, apply your varnishes, and utilize all advantages. Because it really makes a difference to your well-being and inventory management.
20. Pay attention to geographical landmarks
While you do have a map, your location isn’t shown in real time. This is very immersive but difficult to navigate at first. It’s okay - we’re used to being hand-held in open worlds.
Outward requires planning and attention. Trust me; it’s worth it.
21. Butterflies are your best friends
This is a lesser-known Outward mechanic. Whenever you find a butterfly congregation, this indicates a safe sleeping spot. Place your tent there, and you won’t have to worry about being ambushed. Neat!
22. Set up a small camp in each of the major cities
You’ll be traveling from city to city quite often. To save time and resources, you should set up a small camp in each city, so you’re all cozy and prepped to rest.
The camp should consist of:
- Plant Tent - Can be bought in any city for 8 silver. You can’t collect this item once you place it, but it’s perfect for a city camp because it refills your hunger and thirst while you sleep - a permanent hotel room for 8 silver.
- Campfire - A source of warmth and a place to cook food, craft items, and brew potions.
- A backpack - Leave a backpack on the ground that will act as a local bank.
23. Your decisions matter - take your time
Outward doesn’t have a ton of dialogue, but when you engage in conversation with NPCs, make sure to read through it. Your decisions make a massive difference in the way the world operates, and you could potentially miss out on powerful perks that can only be acquired through building a good relationship with certain major and minor factions.
24. Don’t try to min-max by watching guides
No better way to ruin your fun than by looking at what other players are doing. Explore the world, learn about the factions, determine what skills fit your playstyle, and play your own game. Sure, some builds are better, but you can confidently beat the game with even the weakest builds. Don’t overcomplicate it. Have fun!
Ironic, considering you’re reading this guide, but you get my point!
25. Stick to it
Outward is a difficult game for newbies, that’s certain. However, when you understand its mechanics and intricate details, you’ll find an extremely satisfying learning curve and a blast of a game with immense replay value. Give it some time, attention, and thought, and I can guarantee that you’ll experience a refreshing and captivating piece of art.
