Star Wars Outlaws Beginner's Guide - Tips & Tricks
5-Minute Primer
Star Wars Outlaws is the first truly open-world game set in a galaxy far, far away, dropping you into the seedy underbelly of the Empire's reign. You play as Kay Vess, a street-smart scoundrel attempting to pull off the ultimate heist to buy her freedom. Unlike traditional action heroes, Kay isn't a Jedi, a Sith, or a super-soldier. She is an ordinary person, which means if you walk into a military base with your blasters blazing, you will likely be overwhelmed and killed.
The golden rule of Outlaws is stealth and discretion are your greatest weapons. Combat is a fallback, not a primary strategy. You must learn to manipulate the game’s four major crime syndicates—the Pyke Syndicate, the Hutt Cartel, the Crimson Dawn, and the Ashiga Clan—playing them against each other to gain access to new gear, locations, and story missions. Alongside you is Nix, your loyal Merqaal companion, who will hack terminals, distract guards, and fetch items for you. If you remember that you are playing a thief rather than a soldier, you will succeed.
First Hour Checklist
The opening hours of Outlaws
serve as an extended prologue on the moon of Canto Bight before opening up the galaxy. Here is exactly what you should prioritize during this timeframe to ensure a smooth transition into the open world.- Master the Takedown: Before doing anything else, get comfortable with the melee takedown. This is your most reliable tool. Sneak up behind enemies and press the prompt to eliminate them silently.
- Learn Nix’s Commands: Pay attention to the tutorial prompts for Nix. Practice having him distract guards by pointing at vents or noise-making objects. Practice having him attack isolated enemies. You cannot survive without using Nix.
- Acquire the Blaster and Data Spike: Follow the main story to unlock your starting blaster and the data spike (used for hacking). Once you have these, your core gameplay loop is complete.
- Explore Every Room in Toshara: When you first arrive on the savanna moon of Toshara, do not immediately rush to the next story marker. Walk around Mirogana city, pickpocket civilians, and break into vendor shops. Early credits are vital for your first major upgrade.
- Find an Expert: As soon as you unlock the ability to explore freely, seek out a local Expert (indicated by the pistol-and-wrench icon on your map). Interacting with them will unlock your weapon workbench, allowing you to start upgrading your gear.
Key Systems Explained
Combat and Stealth
Combat in Outlaws is weighty and deadly. Kay can take very few hits before dying, especially in the early game. Your arsenal consists of a blaster (which can be fired normally or aimed down sights), a handful of explosive devices, and your melee abilities.
The stealth system relies heavily on line-of-sight and sound. You can hide in tall grass, behind crates, or under tables. When you are in the shadows, Kay’s HUD will dim, indicating she is hidden. If an enemy becomes suspicious, a white meter fills above their head. If it fills completely, they enter "Alert" status and will attack. You can break their line of sight to let the meter deplete.
Actionable Tip: Always shoot out security cameras before entering a restricted area. Nix can ping cameras to highlight them through walls, but destroying them with a single blaster shot is the safest route.
The Syndicate Reputation System
This is the central pillar of Star Wars Outlaws. Every action you take in the open world affects your standing with the four syndicates. You can view this on the "Syndicate" tab of your holomap. Your reputation ranges from Wanted (they will shoot you on sight) to Favorite (you get massive discounts and exclusive missions).
Raising reputation is primarily done by completing "Syndicate Jobs" offered at their respective meeting spots in each city. Lowering reputation happens if you get caught stealing from them, kill their members, or fail a job. You can also pay off bounties or bribe informants to improve your standing slightly.
Actionable Tip: Do not try to please everyone. It is mathematically impossible to keep all four syndicates happy at once. Pick one or two syndicates to align with early on (the Hutts are generally the safest early bet for weapon upgrades) and accept that the others will be hostile. You can always mend relationships later.
Economy and Merchants
Credits are surprisingly tight in the early game. You earn them by completing missions, looting crates, pickpocketing, and selling stolen data or contraband. There are two main types of merchants: Fences (who buy your stolen goods and sell illegal contraband) and Traders (who sell standard, legal items).
Crucially, you cannot sell stolen items to normal Traders, and contraband cannot be sold to anyone but a Fence. Furthermore, if you purchase a "Key" or "Pass" from a Fence, it usually unlocks a high-tier locked door in the immediate area containing rare loot or a shortcut.
The Trailblazer and Space Travel
Your ship, the Trailblazer, is your mobile base and your key to fast travel. You will use it to travel between planets and moons. When in space, you can engage in dogfights with Imperial forces or syndicate fighters. To fast travel on a planet's surface, you must land your ship at designated landing pads. You cannot magically teleport from the middle of a desert; you must physically run to your ship or a landing pad.
Actionable Tip: When flying in space, always shoot down the yellow "Scan Drones" that approach you. If a drone scans your ship, it will summon enemy reinforcements, turning a simple commute into a frustrating, time-consuming battle.
Build / Character Choices
While Outlaws does not feature a traditional RPG skill tree with classes, you do make permanent progression choices through the Abilities menu and your Weapon Upgrades. Because skill points are limited (you earn one per main story milestone and by finding specific collectibles), you want to plan a cohesive "build" early.
The Recommended "Ghost" Build (Best for Beginners)
For your first playthrough, heavily investing in stealth and Nix synergies is the most forgiving path. You will take less damage, save on resources, and have a much easier time navigating heavily guarded areas.
- Adrenaline Surge (Expertise Tree): Unlocks the ability to perform a ground takedown from the air. This is incredibly powerful for taking out enemies walking below platforms.
- Blaster Stun Shot (Combat Tree): Fires a non-lethal shot that knocks an enemy unconscious. This is mandatory for stealth missions where you cannot kill anyone.
- Nix distracts multiple enemies (Nix Tree): Allows Nix to throw an object that distracts a group of guards rather than just one. Essential for breaking patrols.
- Perception (Skills Tree): Highlights loot and interactive objects through walls when pressing the ping button. Saves hours of searching for that one last crate.
Early Weapon Upgrades
At the Expert workbench, prioritize these specific modifications for your starting blaster before anything else:
- Power Module I: Increases damage output, ensuring that when you are forced into open combat, enemies drop faster.
- Micro-Trunions: Greatly improves accuracy when firing from the hip. In a panic, you will not always have time to aim down sights; this upgrade makes hip-fire viable.
- Dampened Coil (Purchased from Syndicate at "Good" rep): Silences your blaster completely. This is a game-changer that prevents your shots from alerting nearby guards.
Pitfalls to Dodge
New players often bring habits from other open-world games like Assassin’s Creed or Starfield that will actively punish them in Outlaws. Avoid these common rookie errors.
1. Ignoring the "Notoriety" System
If you commit crimes in view of witnesses or cameras, you build local Notoriety (indicated by a meter in the top right). If it maxes out, Imperial patrols or Syndicate hunters will actively track you down. The mistake: Trying to fight them off. The fix: Run away and hide. Find a body of water to swim in, a dense alleyway, or a safe house, and wait for the meter to clear. Fighting the hunters is a waste of ammo and stims, and more will just keep spawning.
2. Hoarding Stims and Adrenaline
Stims (healing items) and Adrenaline (used to trigger slow-motion combat abilities) are limited. Beginners often save them "for a boss fight" and end up dying repeatedly in standard firefights. The fix: Use them liberally. If you drop below half health during a firefight, pop a stim immediately. You will find plenty more in the next supply closet. Adrenaline resets upon resting or fast traveling, so there is no reason to enter a major enemy outpost without a full bar.
3. Forgetting to Manually Save
The autosave system in Outlaws is notoriously infrequent. It usually only triggers when transitioning between major map zones or completing story steps. The fix: Get into the habit of opening the menu and selecting "Save Game" before attempting any risky stealth maneuver, purchasing an expensive upgrade, or engaging in a space dogfight. There is nothing worse than failing a perfect stealth run, respawning twenty minutes prior, and realizing the autosave didn't trigger.
4. Selling the Wrong Items to Vendors
When you open a vendor's buy/sell menu, the game does not explicitly warn you if you are selling something rare. The fix: Before selling, rotate the camera to inspect items. White/Green items are common junk. Blue items are uncommon. Purple/Gold items are rare collectibles or high-value contraband. Furthermore, never sell "Intel" items (like datapads containing passcodes) until you have used them to unlock the corresponding door or safe. If you sell the datapad, the door stays locked forever.
5. Rushing the Main Story
The main story heist is highly engaging, but rushing it will leave you under-leveled and under-geared for the game's mid-section. The fix: Treat the main story as a treat to be earned. When you arrive on a new planet, spend at least two to three hours doing local Syndicate jobs, finding Experts, and unlocking fast-travel points. This ensures you have enough credits for vital armor and weapon upgrades, making the main missions significantly easier.
6. Engaging Imperial Star Destroyers in Space
While flying between planets, you will occasionally see massive Imperial Star Destroyers. You might be tempted to fly close and shoot at their TIE fighters for extra XP. The fix: Don't. If you enter the aggro range of a Star Destroyer, it will deploy endless waves of TIE fighters. You cannot kill them fast enough, and they will eventually overwhelm and destroy your ship, resetting you to orbit. Boost away from Star Destroyers and stay out of their scan cones.
Next Steps
Once you have successfully pulled off the initial heist on Canto Bight, established a base of operations in Mirogana, and upgraded your blaster at an Expert, you are ready to tackle the galaxy at your own pace. Your immediate next steps should be methodical and deliberate.
First, seek out Slicing opportunities. Look for locked doors with a glowing orange panel. Hacking these requires a simple mini-game where you match frequencies. Success almost always yields a stash of valuable contraband or credits. If you fail, you can usually try again, so don't stress about perfection.
Second, invest in your ship upgrades. Find a ship Expert (usually located near spaceports) and purchase the "Ion Torpedo" upgrade for the Trailblazer. Space combat can be tedious, but having an Ion Torpedo allows you to instantly disable enemy ships' shields and engines, turning difficult dogfights into easy target practice.
Third, start paying attention to the Intel Network. As you explore, you will find rumors from NPCs, datapads, and Nix discoveries that go into your Intel log. Read these carefully. They often reveal the locations of hidden treasure chests, unique cosmetic outfits for Kay, or shortcuts through enemy bases. Actively pursuing Intel is the best way to get rich quickly.
Finally, embrace the identity of a scoundrel. Talk to every bartender, eavesdrop on every conversation, and take every side job that promises a payout. Star Wars Outlaws shines brightest not in its set-piece moments, but in the organic, chaotic situations that arise when a heist goes sideways and you are forced to blast your way out of a Hutt cartel stronghold, hijack a speeder, and outrun bounty hunters into the desert. The galaxy is yours to explore—just make sure you bring Nix along for the ride.
