The new third-person shooter Outriders has proved popular thanks to a wide array of unique mechanics. One key mechanic in the new title from the development studio People Can Fly is crafting, a staple that will help players progress through the title once unlocked.
As with much of Outriders, however, the crafting mechanic won't make itself immediately known once the title is started. While some may express frustration in not immediately receiving a key mechanic within the game, the temporary gate allows players to become familiarized with certain mechanics before spending hard-earned Outriders crafting materials on short-lived gear.
Players can unlock the Outriders crafting mechanic by progressing through the main story. Upon rescuing Dr. Zahedi from First City, he will become available at every stop along the players' journey, joining the caravan across the campaign. This includes Rift Town itself - you can find the crafter next to the players' stash in the garage. It should be noted that crafting can become an expensive endeavor, and there are ideal times to modify gear to ensure users aren't throwing currency with reckless abandon.
The ideal time to craft is shortly after a new Outriders World Tier is unlocked, when players have received higher-level items yet are still early in the progression of World Tiers. If a gamer can match the timing of a World Tier with a boss kill, customizing the dropped items empirically proves a perfect opportunity to ensure characters are ready for the upcoming content. There are less-expensive opportunities for crafting as well, such as ensuring synergy between used skills and armor mods to maximize firepower and matching opponents.
Players will note that weapons and armor cannot be created with resources- they can only be found in the world, and then modified. This places the impetus on loot rolling and opening as many chests as possible to ensure players have a heft or items to work with, finding ideal pieces that can then be modified to match a players' playstyle. Legendaries in Outriders promise a long shelf life, thanks to the ability to mod a weapon infinitely as long as players have the resources.
The following actions are available from Dr. Zahedi within the crafting screen.
- Improve Rarity - Increases the rarity of an item, costing titanium for an increase to epic tier, and ingots or leather for armor and weapons, respectively. Note that players can only raise an item up to epic tier; players cannot increase an item tier from epic to legendary using the crafting system.
- Raise Attributes - Increase the attributes of an item that are already present, using the attributional shards gained from deconstructing items. Attempting to shift builds sporadically can ensure players have an opportunity to bank shards for new builds. The repeated usage of a specific attribute (such as Crit Damage) could result in scarcity.
- Mod Gear - This function can only work with rare-quality gear and above, as it must have a mod slot available for the slot to be modified. Players can freely interchange modifications using leather and ingots that are already stored, depending on whether the item is armor or weaponry, as long as users have stored modifications from prior dismantling.
- Level Up - Using titanium, players can level up gear in Outriders to maintain favored weapons for a bit longer. Leveling up an item increases its power (either armor or firepower), but comes with the cost of the ever-elusive titanium.
As with all systems present within Outriders, experimentation is key to success. Gamers shouldn't be hesitant to try new aspects and builds, nor to try to increase the rarity of a much-beloved item. Note, however, that increasing World Tiers also increases the attributes of items; investing too much shortly before tiering up is generally a waste of resources.
Outriders is available for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
