The variable difficulty toggle will help you a lot
Outriders, like many modern looter shooters, can seem daunting at first. It’s really not!
Here are a few quick tips to help you on your way.
Learn to adjust the World Tier system at all times.
It’s very important that you remember that the difficulty of the game is variable at any point. If something is too tough, click down the World Tier and deal with slightly worse (but still good) rewards for even one fight. If it’s too easy, click it up.
Change your accessibility settings to pick up all gear (at first)
While turning off “auto junk loot pickup” is useful in the endgame, initially, even basic grey-level gear can be a huge upgrade over greens. Don’t sleep on random gear.
You can also loot items with down on the d-pad. You’re welcome.
Balance your abilities to allow for quick special kills if needed
So in Outiders, kills with abilities will grant you a large amount of life leech, effectively serving as your medkits throughout the game. You might be swayed to take your lengthy-cooldown, heavy-hitting abilities as your three choice powers.
Instead, weigh your options and consider an ability you can constantly use with a low cooldown, even in just one slot, so you can heal in a pinch.
Interrupt, interrupt, interrupt
Some enemies will have a little casting bar appear above their name like an MMO. This ability is generally reserved for elites, and you can interrupt their abilities with your own powers: just make sure you slot at least one interrupt, which are listed in your skill menu.
This is where you can shine in multiplayer, as each person can rotate their interrupts. Note that like diminishing returns on Tony Hawk tricks, the efficacy of this strategy lessens the more you do it in a particular fight.
Go straight for the big nodes in skill trees
So this is kind of an important one. Pick a track to start with and go with it. The skill tree really isn’t restrictive, so you don’t need to hit all of the attached nodes to power up and unlock a node. Go for the big ones as those are generally the most important powers.
Dismantle all of your gear instead of selling it
Click in the right stick to mark a piece of gear ready to dismantle. By junking it, you’ll not only gain materials for crafting and upgrading existing gear, but you’ll also unlock mods that grant that gear extra oomph. You can junk gear out in the wild, you don’t need to go to a vendor.