The Outer Worlds does a great job of allowing you to choose how you want to play the game. There are a lot of attributes, skills, passive abilities, and stats to pay attention to if you want to build the character exactly how you want them to be built.
One of the most effective ways of getting through The Outer Worlds is by building your character to be a stealth sharpshooter. There are a lot of opportunities to sneak past enemies in dangerous territory, and nothing is safer than being able to snipe your enemies from a long distance.
Attributes And Skill
At the very beginning of the game, your character is awakened by the mysterious Phinneas, and from here you begin to apply points to your character’s skills and attributes.
You will first be presented with three attributes to give points to; Mind, Body, and Personality. You will also see what skills each attribute affects, so be sure to give a lot of attention to the skills Long Guns, Sneak, and Temperament.
Long Guns
Long Guns will essentially give you an edge with any weapon that has a long barrel, which is pretty important when you’re a sniper! Leveling up your Long Guns skill will grant special damage bonuses. Reaching level 100 Master will make critical hits ignore 100% of armor.
Sneak
Leveling up the Sneak skill will grant the player the ability to maneuver around enemies and avoid detection. On top of being stealthy, Sneak will also add bonus damage to sneak attacks. Sneak will also allow the player to pickpocket unaware NPCs.
Determination
In order to lead a solid team, a good personality is imperative. Leveling the Determination skill passively passes along bonuses to the player’s companions, making them more effective in the field.
Perks
Every two levels, Perk points will become available to give the character passive abilities. The first tier of perks will lay a great foundation for your character, while the most important Stealth and Sniper perks don’t become available until Tiers 2 and 3. The following Perks are the most important to give your character a sneaky sniper edge.
Tier 2
Run and Gun - This allows you to maintain accuracy while moving.
Scanner - When in Tactical Time Dilation, you will deal more Weak Spot damage.
Speed Demon - When in Tactical Time Dilation, your movement and action speed will increase.
Tier 3
Steady Hand - Your Weapon Sway and Accuracy Penalties while moving is zero for a short time after killing an enemy.
Boom Headshot - Headshot kills cause damage to enemies within a small radius.
Confidence - When killing an enemy, your next attack will be a Critical Hit.
Tactical Master - When activating Tactical Time Dilation, your movement speed will be 70% faster.
Weapons
The most common sniper rifles that you come by are the Dead Eye Assault Rifle and a Hunting Rifle. While the Dead Eye Assault Rifle can do more damage faster, it is best used when in closer combat. Specifically, the Hunting Rifle Ultra is the best common weapon to use when being stealthy, because you can add a suppressor mod to the barrel.
Quick Tip: The soonest you can find a Hunting Rifle is inside the building to the right of the entrance outside of Edgewater. Go up the stairs and lockpick the big container. This will be a great start for playing as a sniper.
Modding and Ammo
The Modding
When it comes to modding your sniper rifle and armor, you’ll want to pay attention to the passive effect as well as the bonus damage or protection. For instance, an Armor Mod may boost your Sneak skill, while a Gun Mod will change your DPS. Finding a weapon where you can mod the barrel, sights, and magazine is rare, but putting a suppressor at the end of the barrel of a sniper weapon is imperative in order to stay stealthy.
The Ammo
Having multiple weapons with different ammo types is a great strategy. This will ensure not only that you don’t run out of bullets, but that you have a weapon for each enemy type. Standard ammo does best against humans, while shock and plasma type ammo does better against creatures and Automechanicals. So, it’s best to equip two sniper rifles with different ammo types so that you can swap between them according to the encounter.
Utilize Your Companions
Ideally, once you have built your stealth sniper, you will be able to take down hoards of Marauders and Mantisaurs without even alerting them. However, having companions is best for self-preservation when being sneaky fails. There are a total of six companions that you can recruit to The Unreliable, and you can travel with two at a time.
Each companion has special attributes to aid the player out in the field. While there are a few Perks that you can use while you’re out there solo, having companions will make up for the health perks you may have sacrificed to make your sniper deadly.
During or before combat you can command your companions to attack your enemies. By adding the Boisterous perk to your companions, it will make it more likely that they are attacked by enemies. This is best to do from a safe distance so that you can utilize the perks of being a sniper.
NEXT: The Outer Worlds: Best Armor Sets Ranked
