Star Wars Outlaws tips and tricks for beginners

Looking for a list of Star Wars Outlaws tips and tricks? If it’s your first time journeying with Nix and Kay Vess in Star Wars Outlaws, we have a list of top tips to help you get started.

This covers a range of early mechanics like the Wanted system and the best ways to reach an ‘excellent’ reputation with all four syndicates in the game (which in turn, means you can secure all syndicate rewards). To see our tips and tricks for Star Wars Outlaws, see below.

This guide covers the following Star Wars Outlaws top tips:

Contracts are the best way to increase reputation

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of a Contract Broker on Toshara.

Certain Contracts can only be picked once you have a high enough reputation with the associated group. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Once you progress through the main questline enough to have completed the ‘Underworld’, ‘New Tricks’ and ‘False Flag’ quests, you’ll unlock the ability to pick up Contracts from Contract Brokers. These Contracts range in risk and rewards but the best ones to pick up first are the low-stakes ones.

These usually entail you stealing something or gathering intel from a syndicate base and reporting back. These quests are quick and easy to complete and if you do enough of them you’ll quickly build up a ‘good’ reputation with all syndicates.

I recommend making these Contracts a priority as soon as you unlock them as you’ll find that being on a ‘good’ meter with everyone will greatly help you in Star Wars Outlaws. It means you’ll be able to traverse freely in syndicate territories without being stopped every other minute and it will unlock additional fast travel points and landing bays for the Trailblazer.


You can clear your ‘Wanted’ status

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of the 'Corrupt Officer' outside of Makal's, in Mirogana City.

There’s usually a corrupt officer on every planet. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

It’s inevitable that you’ll get put on the ‘Wanted’ system at some point. This is the Empire’s way of keeping tabs on Kay Vess and most Imperial units will become instantly hostile to you if you’re ‘Wanted’.

Luckily, there are several in-game ways to clear your name off the Wanted List and allow Kay to enter imperial territory with much less fanfare. You can either approach corrupt imperial officers and pay for their services, or hack into Imperial Satellites in space.

You can find a corrupt Imperial Officer pretty much straight away in Star Wars Outlaws. They hang outside of Makal’s Gambling Parlor in Mirogana City.


You can earn Credits from Imperial Terminals

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of an Imperial Terminal, guarded by Stormtroopers.

Imperial Terminals are light on security and can be a quick score. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

There are many Imperial Terminals dotted around Toshara. They are usually large tower structures with a handful of Stormtroopers guarding the area. If you lockpick the door and ‘slice’ the terminals inside you can earn thousands of credits at a time.

These confiscated Credits will replenish every few days, so you can hit the same outposts repeatedly for some extra cash. If you solve the slicing puzzle before it reaches the red line, you’ll make more Credits. See our guide to making Credits fast for more money tips.


How to upgrade the Blaster, Speeder and Trailblazer

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of the main Speeder menu.

You can also upgrade the appearances of these devices through these menus. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

You can access a list of upgrades from the main menu but you cannot upgrade directly from here. Instead, if you want to upgrade these various systems in Star Wars Outlaws, you need to journey to these places:

  • Blaster: This can be upgraded via the workstation within the Trailblazer.
  • Speeder: You must visit a Speeder Garage (look for the Speeder and spanner symbol on the map).
  • Trailblazer: You must visit a Ship Mechanic (look for the ship and spanner symbol on the map).

Essentially, the ‘Vehicles’ tab can tell you how close you are to an upgrade and what materials you need but you’ll need to go to the above places to actually upgrade your vehicles/tools. The Ship Mechanic services won’t be available until you progress to the ‘False Flag’ main quest. See our best Speeder upgrades and best Trailblazer upgrades guides for more information on the ones to prioritise first.


You must find ‘Experts’ to unlock skills

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of 'The Bartender', a melee skills Expert.

Expert missions are some of the more important quests in Star Wars Outlaws. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

The skill tree in Star Wars Outlaws curiously, is not a tree at all. Rather, to learn new skills you must find various ‘Experts’ throughout the galaxy. Each Expert, once unlocked, will teach Kay new skills once she meets the necessary requirements.

When you get a hint as to the whereabouts of an Expert, you’ll have to follow a trail of clues and complete a quest to ‘recruit’ them. These quests should be one of your main priorities for game progression.

We have a list of the best skills to pick up first if you need additional help, as well as a list of all the Experts we’ve encountered so far and their locations in-game.


Prioritise stealth upgrades

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of Nix trapping an alarm within a Crimson Dawn camp.

When upgraded, Nix can trap alarms and set them to stun anyone who uses them. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Following on from the previous point, stealth skills are the most important, particularly in the earlier game sequences. Star Wars Outlaws is full of stealth sections and many of them are not optional. This means you’ll receive a ‘mission failure’ if you’re caught by even one person.

For this reason, we recommend prioritising stealth skills. In particular, Smoke Bombs and Nix’s ability to sabotage alarms are good ones to focus on. Speaking of Nix, make sure you activate Nix vision often and utilise their ‘distract’ feature on guards.

Use the terrain around you and if all else fails, you can use the ‘Fast Talk’ perk to take out anyone that does spot you. Just make sure you have your blaster set to ‘stun’ before attempting stealth sections or it’s much more likely to turn into a bloodbath.


Visit food stalls for Nix upgrades

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of the 'Nix Treats' mini-game sequence.

The upgrades are usually worth the quick time events. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Nix isn’t just a cute sidekick, they are extremely useful in combat too and can gain unique upgrades called ‘Nix Treats’. These upgrades are available at specific food stalls. Unfortunately, you’ll have to participate in a quick time minigame to unlock them, but the animation of Nix reaching for food is quite adorable.

You can change out Nix’s ‘treats’ via the kitchen in the Trailblazer or the ‘Loadout’ menu. The first food stall you’ll likely encounter is located south of the Mirogana Market District. So far, we’ve encountered one on each of the major planets in Star Wars Outlaws.


Hyperspace travel takes a while to unlock

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of the Trailblazer hyperspace menu.

Naturally, you’ll need to fix the Hyperdrive to enter Hyperspace. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

If like me, you were 10 hours into the game and still hadn’t been to space (outside of the opening sequence) don’t fear – it will happen! Star Wars Outlaws takes time to get you used to Toshara, the first major planet you visit. It takes a hefty amount of progression into the main questline before you unlock the ability to take the Trailblazer into both space and hyperspace.

The latter of the two allows you to visit different star systems and planets. As such, take your time to explore Toshara and get used to the various systems before hopping off-world. You’ll eventually explore other planets once you complete ‘The Wreck’ main quest.


Additional tips

Star Wars Outlaws screenshot of Kay Vess at a Sabacc table.

Sabacc is a jolly good time. | Image credit: Rock Paper Shotgun/Ubisoft

Here are a few additional tips I gathered from my time with Star Wars Outlaws:

  • You can call your Speeder to you with the ‘Y’ key.
  • Sabacc is incredibly fun and an easy way to earn Credits once you figure it out.
  • You can access all Contract Broker quests via a terminal in the lounge quarters of the Trailblazer. This eliminates the need to trek back and forth to pick up new Contracts.
  • There is an ‘Opportunities Nearby’ message that flashes yellow (top right corner of the screen) when there is a quest in the area. Speak to people or lean on bars to overhear intel.
  • Always sabotage alarms first when breaking into bases.
  • Items are marked as ‘Safe to Sell’ in the item descriptions. You can group sell all your junk at once at shops.
  • Always wait to sell goods at shops that you have a good reputation with. You’ll get more money for them this way.
  • The whistle feature is infinitely useful for silently taking down guards.
  • Save before entering syndicate territory. If you’re found in a restricted area you’ll be thrown out and your reputation with them will be lowered.
  • There is always an alternate way to get into syndicate regions if you are barred access due to a ‘poor’ reputation.
  • The only gun you can keep is the Blaster. Other guns you pick up are temporary until you run out of ammo. You’ll also automatically drop these guns when grappling or going down ladders.
  • You can toggle on or off the environmental clues. This means you can get rid of the ‘yellow paint’ if it takes away your immersion.
  • Each syndicate has a vault that contains 5,000 Credits and special Speeder skins. You need to collect three keycards from members to access them.

That rounds up our top tricks for beginners in Star Wars Outlaws. For more Star Wars Outlaws content, check out our guide to unlocking the black market in Mirogana or see our walkthrough of getting into Gorak’s base. Additionally, we have a guide to getting the Slicing Kit, needed to hack into advanced areas.


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By admin