Legendary weapons and armor are the most powerful pieces of gear you can find in Outriders. These pieces come pre-loaded with a Tier 3 mod and exceptional stats. If you intend to push into the highest challenge tiers of Outriders' end game activity, Expeditions, you'll want to build up an armory of weapons and armor to help you get there. While there are a few guaranteed ways to farm legendaries throughout the main campaign, your main source of legendaries will come from Expeditions. Here are all the ways to acquire legendary weapons and armor.
Guaranteed Legendary Drops
There are three legendary items that every player will receive as rewards after certain boss fights in the campaign. There are three guaranteed legendary drops, one after the second Muloch fight and one after each of the Yagek fights. Each player will receive a random legendary weapon or armor piece at or around their current average item level. Because these legendaries drop at relatively low levels, it can be quite expensive to carry them forward to the end game and it might be in your best interest to dismantle them for their powerful Tier 3 mods.
Additionally, there are two legendaries awarded for completing all ten of the Wanted and Hunter side quests. You will receive a random legendary weapon after completing all ten wanted quests and a legendary piece of armor after completing all ten hunter quests. It's best to save this reward until after the campaign is complete so that the legendary you receive can be used to push higher challenge tiers in Expeditions. Complete nine of the missions to earn a large number of blue and purple upgrades, but save the tenth until you need to progress in the endgame.
The "Outrider's Legacy" side quest rewards one random legendary item. This is the longest side quest in the game and can only be completed once you've explored The Gate region at the edge of the forest. You'll be making several return trips to the Outrider's bunker in the Quarry, but you won't receive a legendary until the third and final visit. Once again, it is recommended that you wait to finish this quest until after you've completed the main campaign.
Finally, you'll receive one legendary weapon for each World Tier your progress past Tier 11. You receive one legendary as a reward every World Tier between 12-15 for a total of four. Once you've completed the campaign, you can continue to increase your World Tier by completing and repeating side quests. Maxing your world tier also increases your wearable item level cap, so it's best to push for World Tier 15 as soon as you're able to.
Farming Legendary Gear
In the Outriders demo, it was possible to farm legendary gear by repeatedly running side quests, opening all the chests, dying, and restarting. This was an incredibly efficient way to farm lots of gear, and as a result, the developers decided to remove legendary gear from all chests. This change carried over to the full game. Players can no longer farm legendaries from chests, instead, legendaries drop exclusively from elites and as rewards from high-level Expeditions.
As you progress through the campaign, your World Tier will increase as you defeat enemies and complete missions. Each new World Tier increases your chance of finding legendary gear. At World Tier 15, your legendary drop rate modifier bonus is increased to 425%. While this may seem like a significantly high chance to find a legendary, the modifier is only affecting a fraction of a percent of a chance. For this reason, farming legendaries in the campaign is not a viable method. Don't be surprised if you've made your way through the entire story, completeled all of the side quests, and you've only found one or two legendaries.
The real legendary farm has been relegated to the end game activity Expeditions. Expeditions, which unlock after you complete the story, are time trial missions that reward gear based on how quickly you're able to complete them. When you select an available Expedition, you'll then need to select a Challenge Tier. Completing an Expedition on the highest available Challenge Tier will unlock the next Challenge Tier, all the way up to Challenge Tier 15. When you complete the Expedition, you'll be rewarded with either a Bronze, Silver, or Gold cache based on how quickly you complete the mission.
Starting at Challenge Tier 6, there is a 0.75% chance that any of the four gear rewards from a Gold cache will be a legendary. The chance of a legendary drop increases with each Challenge Tier all the way up to Challenge Tier 15. At the highest Challenge Tier, a Bronze cache rewards two items with a 6.25% chance of a legendary, a Silver cache rewards three items with a 12.5% chance, and a Gold cache rewards four items with a 25% chance.
Progressing through the Challenge Tiers in Expeditions is the best way to farm legendary items. You won't always be able to push to the next higher Challenge Tier with your current gear, but if you focus on increasing your World Tier, upgrading your best items with the available resources, and grinding the highest Challenge Tier Expeditions you can, you'll slowly but surely make progress towards the higher Challenge Tiers where legendary items are far more common.