We’ve been waiting far too long for an interesting new Star Wars games not made by EA, and it’s finally here. Star Wars Outlaws follows the adventures of scoundrel Kay Vess as she maneuvers around the galaxy’s most notorious criminal syndicates. It’s a massive, open-world action-adventure game with seven planets to explore, and in typical Ubisoft fashion there is a lot to keep in mind as you explore.
Star Wars Outlaws also features many unique mechanics and gameplay systems compared to other Ubisoft games, though, so even familiar fans may find themselves scratching their heads at first. Here’s our ultimate beginner’s guide to Star Wars Outlaws, with seven tips and tricks to turn you from bumbling novice to veteran scoundrel in moments.
If you keep these in mind, everything else you need to know about Star Wars Outlaws will come naturally.
1. Play until your ship is in Jaunta’s Hope
Star Wars Outlaws may be an open-world game that spans seven detailed planets, but it actually takes a while before your reigns are loosened. At first, Kay Vess is stranded in the entertainment city of Canto Bight on Canto, and for the first hour or two you’ll be very limited in where you can go, with little reason to explore the few places you can go. Even after you escape Canto and crash-land on Toshara, you still won’t be allowed to roam.
Sure, you’ll have access to your handy speeder, but you’ll basically have to take it straight to the city of Mirogana. From that point, you’ll mostly be restricted to the city until you reach the “New Tricks” mainline quest. Finally, you have freedom! It’s at this point you’re told to leave the city in search of a part to upgrade your blaster, and at the same time you’re informed by your companion Waka that your ship, the Trailblazer, has been moved to the village of Jaunta’s Hope.
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This is when Star Wars Outlaws properly opens up, although you still won’t be able to quite leave the planet. Completing the “New Tricks” quest lets you exit Toshara’s atmosphere, but not its orbit. Still, there’s literally hours of content and quests just on Toshara alone, so I suggest playing up until this point before really committing to exploration or completion.
This is also when you’ll be able to begin tracking down new Experts in order to unlock important new abilities, like the Speeder Boost and Advanced Slicing Kit, that give you access to new areas and secrets.
2. Take advantage of Nix’s abilities
It seems you can’t make anything Star Wars without also having a cute animal or droid companion, and Star Wars Outlaws is no exception. This time, your best friend is Nix, an adorable and highly intelligent furry critter that can help you in far more ways than you might expect. Nix is your most valuable asset when exploring Star Wars Outlaws, and it massively helps to know what they’re capable of.
- Nix can access many areas that you can’t thanks to small openings and gaps
- Nix can open and close doors, vents, and shutters for you, even from a distance
- If you spot items or loot in hard-to-reach places or want to snatch something without being caught, Nix can fetch almost any loose items and bring them straight to you
- This includes weapons, as Nix can pick up powerful weapons from gun racks or fallen enemies and bring them to you
- Nix is also able to sabotage alarm systems and set explosives and other traps to detonate on a brief timer, often with far more subtlety than you’d be able to on your own
- Nix can attack enemies to give you a starting advantage in combat (including letting you do a quick takedown)
- For the stealthier approach, Nix can distract enemies with a little show, moving them away from their position and occupying their attention for a brief time
- Finally, Nix can use their enhanced senses to “scan” the area around you, temporarily highlighting enemies and interactable elements
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Nix isn’t a get-out-of-jail-free card, as it takes them time to move and enemies can notice them, but they’re still extremely versatile when it comes to assisting you in almost everything you do. You can also customize Nix with unique cosmetic accessories, or give them new abilities (like the ability to kick grenades away from you) by taking them out to eat and obtaining treat charms.
There are parts of the game where you simply won’t be able to manage without Nix, but in basically every situation they’re handy to have around. I find myself using Nix more and more as time goes on, so the sooner you explore Nix’s abilities, the better.
3. Use your Journal and acquired Intel
Star Wars Outlaws is happy to hand you out new quests and objectives just by way of its main storyline. But, much of what you’ll do in Ubisoft’s latest adventure is actually motivated by the intel and info you pick up along the way. As you explore Star Wars Outlaws, you’ll find various datapads that contain notes and tidbits of info, or encounter people engaged in a private conversation on which you can eavesdrop, or make new discoveries simply based on the connections you’ll create throughout the game.
Anything you see, hear, or do that can lead to rare upgrades, new secrets, and even entire quest lines is classified as Intel, and it’s organized in your Journal. If you want to make the most of your time in Star Wars Outlaws, be sure to use your Journal, regularly checking it to follow new clues and track down new leads. The Journal organizes all your Intel in separate categories depending on their importance and difficulty, helping you prioritize what you should do next.
One piece of Intel may have you track down rumors of a new Expert, which in turn will become a series of quests you’ll need to complete in order to gain that Expert’s trust (and help). Another may be a hint of a hidden stash somewhere in the world that you have to track down. It’s an interesting quest system, especially considering all the possible sources of Intel. Your Journal will also link to the map whenever you have location information, making it even easier to track things down.
4. Pay attention to your Syndicate Reputation
One of the biggest systems in Star Wars Outlaws is your Reputation. Kay Vess has relationships with up to four of the galaxy’s biggest Criminal Syndicates (the Pyke Syndicate, the Crimson Dawn, the Hutt Cartel, and the Ashiga Clan). Knowing your Reputation with these Syndicates can play a huge role in how successful you are in certain quests and just in general, honestly.
You’re always able to check your Reputation with each of the Criminal Syndicates in the dedicated menu, and it basically ranges from “shoot them on sight” to “we love them, they have no restrictions.” Each Criminal Syndicate will have various territories all over the playable planets, for example, and your Reputation with that organization will dictate whether or not you’re allowed to roam inside and what kind of access you have.
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An improved Reputation also means access to Criminal Syndicate-exclusive merchants, and as your relationship with a syndicate grows, so too does the stock the merchants can offer you and the discounts on that stock. You can even see a list of all the syndicate-specific merchants you’ve met on each organization’s dedicated page.
You also get exclusive benefits and rewards for reaching new Reputation tiers with each organization. Accidentally wandering into the wrong territory when your Reputation isn’t good enough is a fast way to get shot, though, so it’s important to be familiar with how to check your Reputation. Of course, it’s also important to know how to improve your Reputation.
5. Master juggling the four Criminal Syndicates
There are many ways to bolster and tarnish your Reputation with the four dominating Criminal Syndicates in Star Wars Outlaws. Obviously, completing requests for syndicates will improve their trust in you, but it’s more complicated than that. First, let’s cover the negatives. If you’re caught (emphasis on “caught”) stealing or sabotaging inside syndicate territory, trespassing inside restricted areas, or fighting syndicate members, you’ll lose a lot of rep.
The fastest way to make a syndicate dislike you is to betray them, though, and this is where quests and requests become more complicated. Many of the quests you’ll have in Star Wars Outlaws will come from syndicates, either directly or indirectly, and the choices you make during those quests are important. Star Wars Outlaws will frequently force you to make decisions, often with major consequences.
For example, you may be given a quest to recover stolen syndicate property for the Pykes. During that mission, though, a member of the Hutts may approach you and offer you Credits to turn that property over to them instead. Completing the quest like normal will increase your rep with the Pykes, while betraying them may earn you a lot more money and positive rep with the Hutts, but lose you a lot of Reputation with the Pykes.
Sometimes, though, it’s not as clear-cut, and you have to use your knowledge and intel to know which syndicates know about what. You may have an opportunity to recover crucial data from the Empire on the Crimson Dawn, for example. You can choose to sell that data to the Pykes or return it to the Crimson Dawn, scoring a huge amount of positive rep with the syndicate you choose. Either way, the other syndicate will be none the wiser since the data came from another source.
The consequences of your decisions can usually be guessed with common sense, logic, and what you know about the quest you’re on or Intel you’re pursuing, but there can still be unexpected results thanks to the actions of syndicate members. A Crimson Dawn agent may infiltrate a mission from the Hutts, for example, and force you to make a last-minute decision to either betray the Hutts or risk the ire of the Crimson Dawn. Because of all this, your Reputation with each Criminal Syndicate is likely to fluctuate frequently, even if you attempt to please everyone.
6. Take advantage of quests to upgrade your gear
Kay Vess and Nix are a capable duo, but their enemies in Star Wars Outlaws are far more powerful and considerably better equipped. If you want to remain competitive and take on the more challenging jobs with ease, you’ll have to upgrade your gear. There are a few ways to do this, too, and a lot of it comes down to Intel.
As you explore Star Wars Outlaws, you’ll come across a lot of information and leads that could potentially guide you to better gear, valuable upgrade components, and new abilities. For one, you’ll encounter Experts that — after earning their trust — will hook you up with a new ability and a variety of additional upgrades you can earn through completing specific missions.
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You’ll also discover information on specific components and upgrade parts that can be used to make your blaster, speeder, or ship better. These components may be found in hidden stashes, locked inside secure vaults, or even just available for sale by a specific merchant. Yes, merchants play a part, too, and your Reputation with a syndicate may be the only thing in the way of you purchasing a valuable component for your gear.
Finally, Vess can also equip new shirts, pants, and holsters that can provide special bonuses, like increased health or faster movement speed. This gear isn’t particularly common and isn’t something you can make on your own. Instead, you’ll find unique gear spread all across Star Wars Outlaws in various treasure chests. You can also buy gear from certain merchants, with some stock again being exclusive to only the inner circles of the Criminal Syndicates.
7. Use everything you can find in battle
Kay Vess is equipped with a trusty blaster, but it’s hardly the most destructive weapon in the Star Wars universe. Unlike other Star Wars games, you’re not playing as an extremely powerful Jedi or galaxy-renowned warrior. Vess is a thief, and can very easily be overwhelmed in combat by large numbers or even larger guns. To come out on top, you’ll need to take advantage of everything at your disposal.
That means using environmental hazards like explosives to take out groups of opponents, commanding Nix to distract and confuse enemies, and (especially) picking up the weapons on fallen enemies. You can find blaster rifles and sniper rifles that give you a huge edge in battle, and although their ammo is limited and your mobility takes a hit, the increased firepower can be worth the trade-off.
Mostly, though, stealth is your friend. Vess can take down most opponents with quick (often goofy) takedowns, and many of her unique abilities are specialized in moving unseen and dispatching foes just as quietly. Just remember that, if all hell breaks loose, that abandoned blaster rifle could save your life.
Star Wars Outlaws is a big game, but worth exploring
Star Wars Outlaws isn’t a perfect game, with a mesh of bugs and other issues that keep it from our list of the best Xbox games of the year. It’s still a step-up for Ubisoft versus the publisher’s other recent games, however, offering a fun experience that’s a refreshing change of pace compared to other Star Wars games. Playing as a scoundrel in the Star Wars universe can offer a lot of joy, especially with the Intel and Reputation systems.
If you’re looking to dive into Star Wars Outlaws for yourself, this guide is your one-stop shop to get all the basics mastered. Those still on the fence can check out our Star Wars Outlaws review, which goes over all the pros and cons of this open-world action-adventure title. I’ve personally been really enjoying my time with Star Wars Outlaws, although the opening hours could stand to move along faster and I would’ve had an easier time had I already known the above.
