Outward |OT| Not All Those Who Wander Need Quest Markers

texhnolyze · Apr 1, 2019

Finally crafted the blues and armor set. Hopefully it'll be worth it. I like the models, at least, not too bulky like the other heavy armor.

I found a traveling peddler earlier in the forest. It's so conveniently placed so that I can kill nearby enemies and sell the loot to the NPC quickly.

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UltraJay · Apr 1, 2019

texhnolyze said:
Finally crafted the blues and armor set. Hopefully it'll be worth it. I like the models, at least, not too bulky like the other heavy armor.

I found a traveling peddler earlier in the forest. It's so conveniently placed so that I can kill nearby enemies and sell the loot to the NPC quickly.

I ran into one in the first region as well. Along the southern coast I believe near either the bandit camp or the fortress.

MonthOLDpickle · Apr 1, 2019

So how does one enable dev console? Just had some dude (random) get into my session that I sent a DM to on discord. Turns out supposedly you can browse rooms and join.
Random person teleported me to

In Between

. Then I got teleported to

monsoon

which I never been to, I just went into the forest.
If this happens I can't go around asking somebody with dev console to teleport me back.

Granadier · Apr 1, 2019

Lots of weird/annoying co-op bugs. Nothing game breaking, just annoyances.

Like how the lighthouse stash only works for the host. The partner joining can access all your storage.
Also if your partner talks to quest NPCs first they will get the rewards and then the game will act like it's done so you won't have the chance to get them yourself. That happened to me for the mana quest line, so now my friend has the spell I would've gotten and I just have Spark and less health/stamina

MonthOLDpickle · Apr 1, 2019

Granadier said:
Lots of weird/annoying co-op bugs. Nothing game breaking, just annoyances.

Like how the lighthouse stash only works for the host. The partner joining can access all your storage.
Also if your partner talks to quest NPCs first they will get the rewards and then the game will act like it's done so you won't have the chance to get them yourself. That happened to me for the mana quest line, so now my friend has the spell I would've gotten and I just have Spark and less health/stamina

The skill thing is random. That happened with a friend. But not with a random. lol...=/

Dynamic3 · Apr 1, 2019

Is there enemy scaling here? Curious how things work given there's no conventional leveling system.

texhnolyze · Apr 1, 2019

Dynamic3 said:
Is there enemy scaling here? Curious how things work given there's no conventional leveling system.

No. But there's no stats progression either as you may have guessed. You only get stronger with better gear and more skills, as well as more access to various buffs.

Rubikant · Apr 1, 2019

PROTIP: Actually read what NPC's say and don't depend on your quest journal.

I've seen a lot of complaints from players that would have been avoided if they actually read the NPC dialog. For example, a player saying they can't find the recipe anywhere for an item an NPC asked them to make... but the NPC actually directly told them how to make that item (using the Manual Recipe feature) when they gave the quest!

NPC's often give precise directions to locations they are telling you about, but again those don't show up in the journal.

You know how at the start of the game you are told you owe 150 silver, or you can get a Tribal Favor instead? Everyone I've seen talk about how to get that Tribal Favor acts like the only way you'd know about it is by stumbling across it randomly if you didn't read about it online. But if you follow the advice of the tribe leader lady and go talk to people in town, the innkeeper directly tells you where you should go to find someone to help. It doesn't mark it as a quest in your quest log, which is why a lot of players might not even realize this even if they did talk to the innkeeper, but if you actually read what they say then you would easily find this solution yourself.

I've also seen a lot of complaints about a bad event happening later in the game with "no warning", because it didn't pop up in their quest log or anything. You get a really long time to deal with the problem (an in-game month) but unless you talk to a few specific NPC's you won't get an official quest about it. However, tons of random NPC's, particularly innkeepers, talk about the event happening and express their worries about it and drop hints you should look into it, so if you actually talk to NPC's and read what they say, you'd definitely know about it and have a chance to go and get the official quest in time to prevent the issue.

Just like not giving you a location marker on your map, this is all part of the intended design of the game not molly-coddling players like so many AAA games. I know we are all used to just running around talking to everyone ignoring what they say and checking our quest log and auto-marked map for what to do next, but that isn't how things work in Outward, and personally I appreciate that (again harkens back to what I loved about Gothic).

PROTIP2: Here's a handy guide I made about how food is more important for its effects, including being primary source of healing, than it is about dealing with hunger: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1699751672

Granadier · Apr 1, 2019

I started taking screenshots of NPC dialog when they give key details because there's so many things that don't get recorded into your journal.

Rubikant said:
PROTIP2: Here's a handy guide I made about how food is more important for its effects, including being primary source of healing, than it is about dealing with hunger: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1699751672

Thanks for the guide!!

Massicot · Apr 1, 2019

^ Great post. Just gonna note that stamina level 4 from Marshmelons / Marshmelon Tartines is really, really good.

I was doing a quest for Mofat (?) in Monsoon, and if you followed the questlog alone, you'd miss at least two optional components to the quest. The quest log mentions just going to the campsite to find out what happened to the missionaries, but then one of the NPCs mentions that they were probably dragged off to a mountain camp west of there. If you go there, you learn that these mercenaries are surprisingly well armed and you find out details about the arrangement. EVEN AFTER your journal updates with the new information you gather at the mountain, THERE'S still more in that camp, and you find out that the implications are far deeper than even that.

I had a similar thing pop up when dealing with the ash giants. I was able to incorporate optional dialogue from information I learned from the Elatt Priest, from the Giant Merchant, and from the journal abandoned in the Giant's ruins. While the quest log did mention seeking out additional information, it never pointed me to these things specifically. Even after one of the giants tipped me off about the journal specifically, I had to wander over there myself.

If it's not obvious, I'm really enjoying myself, even though I agree with the complaints about floaty combat and weird dialogue VA. Also I hope they come up with some solution for quest rewards in co-op. (IMO, the host should get it no matter who 'turns in' the quest. On paper it seems like both parties should get the reward but that might be extremely exploitable.)

Cosmic Guru · Apr 1, 2019

Yes, I realise now that my problem posted earlier in the thread primarily relates to timing - spending time exploring and "dieing" many times have caused too much time to elapse. Also, one of the three quest lines makes it an explicit quest to deal with the problem.

texhnolyze · Apr 1, 2019

I've complete the initiation quest to join the Blue Chamber. Seems like it's just a simple quest. I plan to do the early quests for each faction before joining Levant.

Anyway, thanks for the great tips, Massicot and Rubikant!

MonthOLDpickle · Apr 1, 2019

texhnolyze said:
I've complete the initiation quest to join the Blue Chamber. Seems like it's just a simple quest. I plan to do the early quests for each faction before joining Levant.

Anyway, thanks for the great tips, Massicot and Rubikant!

Wait so when does it lock you out from other factions?

texhnolyze · Apr 1, 2019

MonthOLDpickle said:
Wait so when does it lock you out from other factions?

There's a confirmation dialogue. Something like "Are you ready to join our faction?"

MonthOLDpickle · Apr 1, 2019

Okay sweet. The item from the blue one seems very useful though..so probably do that before going to another legacy myself.

texhnolyze · Apr 2, 2019

This build sounds legit lol. You can basically become OP if you want to.

Basically, there's this bow skill that inflicts extreme bleeding, so you only need to hit the target once and see it dead. To make things worse, you can also use a poison bow so the target will get 2 health draining debuffs instead of just one.

Rubikant · Apr 2, 2019

So today I found out two big combat-related misconceptions I had, and they totally changed how I viewed my approaches to combat. These may be obvious to everyone else that didn't make the same mistaken assumptions I did, but just in case, here's what I discovered:

1) Shields can block magical projectiles.

There's a loading screen hint that mentions that shields can block "arrows and the like" but can't block "magical blasts". I assumed this meant they couldn't block magical attacks, only physical ones. Turns out "magical blasts" just refers to those point-blank AoE attacks that magic users use when you get too close. The shield can block magical projectiles just fine (unlike blocking with a weapon). This includes those electric bolts the shrimp things shoot.

I thought dodging was the only option for magical projectiles (though I was getting pretty good at it). This knowledge makes me think much more seriously about using a shield (plus the Shield Charge skill you can get from the trainer in the first town is quite powerful).

2) Once an enemy's stability/poise bar hits 50%, ALL attacks will stagger them and interrupt their actions, and they'll fall down (but refill the bar) once it hits 0%.

See I knew that if your attack's impact lowered their bar from above 50% to below 50% it caused them to stagger, and getting it to 0% caused them to fall down, but for some reason I thought you only got a single stagger, and they would tank through any hits after that until/unless you got it to 0%. So I figured you either had to go all out and try to get their bar down to 0% by using multiple high-impact Skills in a row to take advantage of the knockdown, or going for impact wasn't really worth it and better to back off after you got that first stagger.

But in reality once they hit 50% you can then essentially stun-lock them until they fall over, and then get even more hits in. Now I am re-thinking weapon type combos for their ability to capitalize on stun-locking in addition to other factors I had been considering, where I focused on just getting clean hits in.

This also means Kick is incredible useful early-game. You just need one opening on a bandit or hyena and rather than going for the attack with your weapon, use the kick. It will drop them to just above 50% stability and any follow-up attack will start a stun-lock combo and probably finish them off after they fall over (provided you don't run out of stamina).

Until this point I had been mostly fighting with a strategy of individual pokes and retreats, and trying to use attacks that re-position my character to get extra hits in by hitting while moving away in a single motion. It was working all right but understanding the stagger mechanic properly makes fights much quicker.

people · Apr 2, 2019

Rubikant said:
This also means Kick is incredible useful early-game. You just need one opening on a bandit or hyena and rather than going for the attack with your weapon, use the kick. It will drop them to just above 50% stability and any follow-up attack will start a stun-lock combo and probably finish them off after they fall over (provided you don't run out of stamina).

Until this point I had been mostly fighting with a strategy of individual pokes and retreats, and trying to use attacks that re-position my character to get extra hits in by hitting while moving away in a single motion. It was working all right but understanding the stagger mechanic properly makes fights much quicker.

For the same reason the shield rush skill (not sure what it's actually called, I uninstalled the game lol) is very useful as well. Short cooldown, low stamina cost and takes a lot of stability off when used appropriately.

Massicot · Apr 2, 2019

Right now I'm using Shield Bash (Confusion) -> Talus Cleaver (Pain and Cripple) -> Attack with a 1h axe that is very fast and causes extreme bleeding. It seems honestly overpowered. And seeing these bow videos and 0% mana cost magic builds, I guess there's a handful of skill/equip combinations that kinda put you over and make the combat far less challenging, lol.

people · Apr 2, 2019

Massicot said:
Right now I'm using Shield Bash (Confusion) -> Talus Cleaver (Pain and Cripple) -> Attack with a 1h axe that is very fast and causes extreme bleeding. It seems honestly overpowered. And seeing these bow videos and 0% mana cost magic builds, I guess there's a handful of skill/equip combinations that kinda put you over and make the combat far less challenging, lol.

I used this for most of my playthrough(s), adding poison/fire if I remembered to do it for added DoT. I started with the "Fang sword" and the Puncture skill until I made that axe. I haven't actually used magic very often, my 3rd playthrough I didn't even unlock Mana.

texhnolyze · Apr 2, 2019

Massicot said:
Right now I'm using Shield Bash (Confusion) -> Talus Cleaver (Pain and Cripple) -> Attack with a 1h axe that is very fast and causes extreme bleeding. It seems honestly overpowered. And seeing these bow videos and 0% mana cost magic builds, I guess there's a handful of skill/equip combinations that kinda put you over and make the combat far less challenging, lol.

Yeah, the game really rewards you for making use of the systems. And the opposite is true, it also punishes you if you ignore them. Getting into combat without using any buff, trap, and skill makes it a few times harder than exploiting them.

crazillo · Apr 2, 2019

Rubikant: Great posts, I won't get myself spoilered but will pay close attention to the world. Reminds me a bit of Morrowind with the notes and the quest journal that was topical rather than listing quests, yet goes further. This game will be right up my alley when I find the time for it on my next holidays.

people · Apr 2, 2019

PS4 Version 1.03 EU (probably 1.04 for US since version numbering is different for some reason)

- Items no longer disappear from backpack
- Issue with disappearing mana is fixed
- Broken map issue is no longer present
- Burac no longer gives skills for both players in multiplayer
- Some more minor issues were resolved

Cosmic Guru · Apr 2, 2019

Pleased to see the disappearing items is being fixed. Even though I'm making zero progress toward any faction quests, I'm still enjoying exploring in the hope that a focused objective based run will put that knowledge to good use.. Skills and buffs are hugely important in this, as well as watching the clock if you want to avoid the problem I encountered. There is in fact ample notice of it, but it still provided me with one of those long to be remembered gaming moments.

DrDamn · Apr 2, 2019

people said:
PS4 Version 1.03 EU (probably 1.04 for US since version numbering is different for some reason)

Nothing on PS4 texture issues? I thought an earlier dev comment implied they thought that was already fixed.

people · Apr 2, 2019

DrDamn said:
Nothing on PS4 texture issues? I thought an earlier dev comment implied they thought that was already fixed.

Nothing about texture issues in the PS4 patch notes, but those dev comments that are being talked about are supposedly from Discord.

Also, patch/update may fail to download (CE-4085-9), re-trying and/or restarting PS4 may resolve this (I had to retry twice, YMMV).

texhnolyze · Apr 2, 2019

Good to see they finally fixed some of the most glaring issues.

They have acknowledged the PS4 texture issues, but it's down there in the priority list so you probably have to wait until the next patch for that.

Edit: Here's the official announcement from Discord:

If you haven't noticed yet, the patch is up on PS4. Will update when Xbox is too. Here is the patch notes:

- Region lock removed
- Items no longer disappear from backpack
- Issue with disappearing mana is fixed
- Broken map issue is no longer present
- Burac no longer gives skills for both players in multiplayer
- Holding the Lexicon in hand fixed
- Some more minor issues were resolved

Note that we started to work on texture improvements on PS4. We just started to adjust a few, and will look to get more of them in a future patch, so it is normal.

flyinj · Apr 2, 2019

I'm hoping the items disappearing from backpack also fixes the bow disappearing when in combat?

Granadier · Apr 2, 2019

The shield is highly underrated from what I've seen so far tbh. I ended up getting the tower shield + brutal mace from one of the bandits outside the Vandemeer keep and it has been such a reliable setup for a long time now.

Kick + two mace attacks and most enemies are on their butts.

Egida · Apr 2, 2019

I've been playing local coop and so far it's been a blast. Last session we reached the mana source, almost died at the beak of one of those black murderous geese, we have a cooking pot, an alchemy set and decent armor and weapons. Life is good so far. Well, except that time we were made slaves.

My only complaint is the fast access items/skills from the second player being erased every time you boot the game.

texhnolyze · Apr 2, 2019

I've been into all 4 zones, finally. I have a good setup now that I deal with everything.

Open every fight with extreme pain bow skill, shoot an arrow or two if possible, then finish them off with sword & shield. Though I've been thinking of changing my armor, the ammolite set is too good with nice protection and damage bonus, but it looks horrendous.

Massicot · Apr 3, 2019

Finished one of the main three questlines. Unfortunately, to say the game ends on a whimper would be an understatement. A small blemish on a game I enjoyed a fair bit though.

Gonna adjust my build to a 0% Mana Rune user and join a friend for another one of the questlines over the weekend.

people · Apr 3, 2019

After finishing the game the other day, one question has arisen: "What if" I have started to appreciate/like several of the core aspects of this game along the way, would I enjoy ELEX? Or in forum terms: Should I play ELEX? (it's still €15 for a few days on PSN).

About the Story: The story and faction/parallel quests were quite disappointing.

To start, the 3 quest lines aren't all that different. in fact they are mostly variations of the other factions' (parallel) quests, but from inside the faction you joined of course. There are some notable differences in what you actually do and some have you go to different places altogether, but for the most part you'll be talking to the same people and be sent to the same locations.

The most disappointing however is the finale being almost literally exactly the same for all 3 factions. The difference may be some of the people may have died due to your actions/decisions, but you fight the same enemies/"boss" in the exact same place. My last faction was the Heroic Kingdom and I was hopeful that the finale would be different, because it seemed it could be for a while. But no, I was told to go to that place again, so I set up traps at the spots where the enemies had appeared the previous 2 times and that unfortunately worked out great.

Cosmic Guru · Apr 3, 2019

people said:
After finishing the game the other day, one question has arisen: "What if" I have started to appreciate/like several of the core aspects of this game along the way, would I enjoy ELEX? Or in forum terms: Should I play ELEX?

Yes, Elex is excellent for the most part. It's a lovely world to explore with your nifty jet pack(go for ranged combat) and you can spend a lot of time winding up or helping the 3 factions before you finally decide which one to join. The last act is poor, but overall it's highly recommended.

traillaitor · Apr 3, 2019

The IGN 'review in progress' is absolutely damning. I was interested in this at preview stage but it sounds a bit of a mess?
Those who have played a bunch of hours, are you enjoying it?

texhnolyze · Apr 3, 2019

people said:
After finishing the game the other day, one question has arisen: "What if" I have started to appreciate/like several of the core aspects of this game along the way, would I enjoy ELEX? Or in forum terms: Should I play ELEX? (it's still €15 for a few days on PSN).

About the Story: The story and faction/parallel quests were quite disappointing.

To start, the 3 quest lines aren't all that different. in fact they are mostly variations of the other factions' (parallel) quests, but from inside the faction you joined of course. There are some notable differences in what you actually do and some have you go to different places altogether, but for the most part you'll be talking to the same people and be sent to the same locations.

The most disappointing however is the finale being almost literally exactly the same for all 3 factions. The difference may be some of the people may have died due to your actions/decisions, but you fight the same enemies/"boss" in the exact same place. My last faction was the Heroic Kingdom and I was hopeful that the finale would be different, because it seemed it could be for a while. But no, I was told to go to that place again, so I set up traps at the spots where the enemies had appeared the previous 2 times and that unfortunately worked out great.

ELEX is more fleshed out in term of story and faction quests. There are cutscenes and actual quests from citizens of each town. There are three factions just like in Outward, each with its own views and values. There are also companions that you can befriend with, even romance. It's a full-blown Western RPG in the same vein as Gothic series and co. Combat is the weakest aspect of ELEX, it's very janky and makes Outward combat feels polished.

crazillo · Apr 3, 2019

I'm really glad this thread is alive and kicking. Could be a early sleeper hit of the year together with Operencia: The Stolen Sun.

Cosmic Guru · Apr 3, 2019

It's strangely enjoyable to play, despite all the flaws and short comings. Little details like the way the lantern attaches to your backpack alters as you replace it with better, some of the clothing and armour options (regardless of efficiency) are pleasing. There is always the hope the next chest will yield something game-changing. Even the 50g skills make a difference (the long distance arrow shot is surprisingly good value).

I've left my over-encumbered character to freeze to his death at the blocked gate and have taken my alternate on a long journey round the forest and desert regions, picking up some really nice hot weather gear along the way. Likely she will fail her rather half hearted efforts to aid the blue faction (especially if time limits kick in again) but that doesnt seem to matter a great deal. I'll use my third character slot to try to learn from these experiences and progress further faster.

Re combat in Elex - it's always heavily criticised but if you stick to ranged options you won't go wrong - the verticality of the areas is just screaming out for that approach.

people · Apr 3, 2019

Cosmic Guru said:
Yes, Elex is excellent for the most part. It's a lovely world to explore with your nifty jet pack(go for ranged combat) and you can spend a lot of time winding up or helping the 3 factions before you finally decide which one to join. The last act is poor, but overall it's highly recommended.

texhnolyze said:
ELEX is more fleshed out in term of story and faction quests. There are cutscenes and actual quests from citizens of each town. There are three factions just like in Outward, each with its own views and values. There are also companions that you can befriend with, even romance. It's a full-blown Western RPG in the same vein as Gothic series and co. Combat is the weakest aspect of ELEX, it's very janky and makes Outward combat feels polished.

Re:ELEX. Thanks for input, I will keep an eye out for it and put in my wish/watchlist to be added to my backlog. More story/better quests (compared to Outward) is what I'm interested in.

Cosmic Guru · Apr 3, 2019

You won't be disappointed in that case - in the course of fulfilling your quests you will appreciate how well fleshed out the factions are - you get a good idea of how they make money, how they find food, their beliefs, technologies etc. You are also free to aid / betray / kill and so forth as you go along, and your actions are remembered down stream. Additionally you can just go out and explore and expect the greatest rewards in places of greatest danger. That's basically the crux of the game - think New Vegas but in more of a Euro style. It think there may be a sequel coming out too. Some reviewers just didn't get Elex at all, so use caution there.

(apologies for being OT, but it is a fair reference to make in this thread, in the sense of "if you enjoy this then try....." )

Casper · Apr 3, 2019

Cosmic Guru said:
(apologies for being OT, but it is a fair reference to make in this thread, in the sense of "if you enjoy this then try....." )

I don't think any apologies are needed and I agree, I think there are plenty of people that are enjoying/have enjoyed Outward and want something similar. My experience with Elex says the same. Ultimately what saw me drop out of Elex was the controls. Even after wrapping my head around the timing you need to pull off to do actual damage, it just felt off. Never clicked. There is a ton to see and do though, that's for sure. Worth a look for anyone not satiated once they are done with Outward! I had the same sense of wonder and exploration that I am getting here, in Outward and got in games like Dragon's Dogma and even FFXI. New area, new things, lots of oooooohs and 'wtf is that?'s

texhnolyze · Apr 3, 2019

Totally not inspired by BOTW. :P

MonthOLDpickle · Apr 3, 2019

From my friend:

Cenauru · Apr 4, 2019

All of the previews and dev videos I've seen sound like this game would be perfect for me, only thing preventing me from impulse buying is that I keep hearing it's really buggy and janky? Really want to get this but I don't want to have to fight the game for it to work, are those exaggerations or are they true?

texhnolyze · Apr 4, 2019

Chandler said:
All of the previews and dev videos I've seen sound like this game would be perfect for me, only thing preventing me from impulse buying is that I keep hearing it's really buggy and janky? Really want to get this but I don't want to have to fight the game for it to work, are those exaggerations or are they true?

Most of the noteworthy bugs are already squashed. It's like the most polished janky RPG that I've ever played, if that makes any sense to you lol.

Cenauru · Apr 4, 2019

texhnolyze said:
Most of the noteworthy bugs are already squashed. It's like the most polished janky RPG that I've ever played, if that makes any sense to you lol.

I can handle janky feeling, it's the bugs that screw up the gameplay that I can't stand. Definitely gonna check it out then if most of them are squashed.

Alastor3 · Apr 4, 2019

MonthOLDpickle said:
From my friend:

Wait is that the ultimate chakram?

Cenauru · Apr 4, 2019

Bought the game, put a few hours into it before getting completely rekt by a fort in the south of the first region and got sent to their slave barracks and managed to scrounge enough silver to bribe my way out, and I died a few more times to the point where I got left back at the main city you start in and it was already day 16. Restarted on a new character and it went MUCH smoother, managed to pay off the debt with a favor before stopping for the night. Getting the hang of it and I'm very happy with my purchase so far. It really does feel like an old-school MMO if it was turned into a single/ two player RPG, and I'm really digging that.

Noriea · Apr 4, 2019

Game starts out really rough and there are numerous co-op bugs, but my friend and I have been having fun exploring. Rune magic is really fun.

flyinj · Apr 4, 2019

Does everyone have the bug where the marks you place on the map drift from where you placed them more and more as you play the game?

Outward |OT| Not All Those Who Wander Need Quest Markers

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