Welcome to the first of many Outriders' main quest guides. Before you carve a path through the game's endgame Expeditions, you'll have to complete the Outriders campaign. Featuring over 20 missions, this campaign will take most players 20 to 30 hours to complete on their first playthrough.
This guide will cover the first three quests tied to the game's prologue sequence: Arrival, Tempest, and Carnage. We'll go over how to complete each quest, ways to speed up the mission, and some tips on which class to play as. There are quite a few quests after these first three, so let's get straight into this.
Arrival
Quest Synopsis
- Follow Captain Tanner
- Look around the camp
- Talk to Jakub
- Complete the shooting test
- Locate the probe
- Return to Tanner
Follow Captain Tanner
After making your character, you'll be tasked with following Captain Tanner. You can actually walk right past him during this part to speed up the prologue. Follow the tutorial prompts to learn how to take cover and mantle over objects.
When you reach the end of the path, they'll be a holographic flag you'll need to interact with. Place a flag down. Tanner will start barking orders for a minute or so. When Tanner's done, speak to him. He'll suggest you talk to Jakub to test your weapons.
Turn around and walk towards the parked APC to reach Jakub. It'll move out of the way after a few seconds. Speak to Jakub to begin a shooting range test.
Complete The Weapons Test
Take cover behind the boxes, then use your weapons to take out the holographic enemies. Ignore the tanks, as they can't be destroyed. Use this tutorial as a chance to adjust your sensitivity and general controls.
Speak to Shira when you've racked up a high enough hologram body count. She has located the location of a nearby probe.
Locate The Probe
After the Outriders move the tree branch beside Shira, follow the waypoint on your minimap to reach the probe. Some wildlife will run past you during this. You can safely ignore them. Cross the field, climb up the path, then interact with the probe.
Immediately double back to the camp when you're done with the probe. You can now sprint, so sprint past the field to reach Tanner quicker. When you get near him, the quest will end and start the next part of the prologue.
Tempest
Quest Synopsis
- Locate the second probe
- Get back to the Outriders' trucks
- Pursue Maxwell
Thanks to plot armor, you don't have to worry about the strange grey goo that's making your allies sick. Push through the forest on your own, keeping your eyes and ears out for a second probe.
After a short walk, you'll be ambushed by an aggressive alien creature that will immediately charge you. Roll out of the way, then use your weapons to take it out. The creature will repeatedly charge you, letting you practice your dodge timings. Get used to rolling, as you're going to be doing it a lot throughout your playthrough.
Continue up the path the creature was guarding to find the probe.
Get Back To The Outriders' Trucks
Mother nature decided to kill everyone in the forest, as a nasty anomaly storm has formed overhead. You need to double back to where you came from, avoiding the red AoE circles on the floor. It's tough to die during this part. Just keep sprinting forward to avoid most of the lightning strikes.
Pursue Maxwell
Maxwell has ordered his troops to kill you. Fortunately, they aren't very bright. The enemies here will stick to cover and never push you, so take to the offensive. Rush into the line of fire and take them out. Don't worry, your character has a large health pool to soak up most of the damage you'll take.
Before you push into the camp, open the crate beside the first group of enemies you killed. You'll get an assault rifle with the Bone Shrapnel mod, turning enemies into exploding piles of gore. Don't ask why Maxwell has a gun that does this. Push forward with your newfound rifle to kill the Outrider soldiers.
Note: If you stick to cover for too long, enemies will throw a grenade at you. You can either ignore cover or shoot an enemy cooking a grenade, forcing them to drop it. We recommend the former; you'll see why once you get to select a class.
You'll find Maxwell at the very end of the camp. He's tankier than the previous enemies, but he doesn't stick to cover. Use your bone-detonating rifle and shotgun to take him down, using cover if need be. Run up and interact with Maxwell once his health reaches zero to finish the quest.
Carnage
Quest Synopsis
- Choose your class
- Get to the other side of the battlefield
- Follow the trench
- Survive
In a desperate attempt to keep you alive, Shira has placed you in cryosleep in hopes of figuring out a way to help you later. After witnessing a strange vision, you awaken to a much different version of Enoch, one that is in a perpetual state of chaos. Bandits take you hostage and throw you into "No Man's Land," a barren battlefield that's about to experience an anomaly storm.
The anomaly storm flings a metal rod right through your chest, yet it doesn't kill you. You instead become "Altered," a human enhanced by the powers of the anomaly. It's time to pick your class.
Choose Your Class
You cannot change your class after this point! You have four classes to choose from. Each class has a unique passive tree, skills, and healing mechanic that you'll need to consider. The four playable classes are the following:
- Technomancer
- Pyromancer
- Trickster
- Devastator
The Technomancer is suited for mid to long-range combat, utilizing turrets and gadgets to control the battlefield. Endgame builds for Technomancers involve using Blighted Rounds or their minigun to tear through enemies. This is an excellent class for newer players that prefer playing solo. Technomancers heal by damaging enemies.
Pyromancers focus on weaving abilities to disintegrate targets. Their skills focus on burning targets, inflicting massive area damage, or freezing enemies in place with ash. They are the most gear-dependent out of the bunch, making them somewhat tough to play while leveling. Pyromancers heal by killing enemies "marked" by their burning skills.
Tricksters manipulate time to kill targets. Nearly all of their abilities slow and encourage close-range, aggressive playstyles. This class is great for newcomers. Tricksters heal by killing enemies at close range (ten meters or closer).
Devastators utilize the earth itself to bolster their defenses and pummel foes. They allow for extremely aggressive, ability-centric playstyles—albeit they rely heavily on Anomaly Power. If you want an ability-heavy alternative to the Trickster, the Devastator is a great choice. Devastators heal by killing enemies at close range (ten meters or closer).
If you want a more in-depth look at each class before making a choice, we have in-depth guides for each class you can find below:
- An In-Depth Guide On The Technomancer
- An In-Depth Guide On The Pyromancer
- An In-Depth Guide On The Trickster
- An In-Depth Guide On The Devastator
Get To The Other Side Of The Battlefield
With your newfound powers, make your way through the trenches ahead, taking out any enemies that get in your way. You have a lackluster assault rifle to start, but you have a powerful primary skill and melee attack. If you get swarmed, melee! Your melee attacks hit incredibly hard for the first few levels.
After a short skirmish, you'll come across a crate with a sniper rifle. Take it, then use your vantage point to land a few headshots. Push further into the trenches when you're ready.
Tip: Stay aggressive! Outriders' healing mechanics encourage non-stop aggression from you. Keep using your abilities, melee attack, and weapons to lay as much damage into enemies as possible. Doing so will keep your health topped off and allow you to survive intense combat encounters.
Inside the trenches, you'll have to face multiple Rifleman and two Cremators. Cremators are tanky enemies that will quickly widdle down your HP with their flamethrower. You can instantly kill these enemies by shooting their back canisters, causing them to explode. If you get low on health, kill the nearby Riflemen to regenerate your health. Defeat the Cremator duo and Riflemen squad, then proceed past the trenches to finish the quest.