What attributes to choose? What skills work best in creator? In this The Outer Worlds Character Creation Guide we walk you through different ways to make the best character to suit your personal play style, covering different aspects of the attribute and skills system.
With the exception of negative attributes, there’s no right or wrong way to make a character in The Outer Worlds. It’s a very versatile character creator, and most paths are viable in-game. That said, there are ways to maximize your characters potential if it’s a particular play style you like.
Attributes
Your Attributes are the first part of creating a character. There are six attributes (Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, Perception, Charm, & Temperament) put into three different categories (Body, Mind, & Personality). Each Attribute has 5 different states, Below Average, Average, Good, High, and Very High. All Attributes begin at Average, an Average Skill begins at 6. For example, an Average Dexterity puts all skills under Dexterity at level 6. Increasing Attributes above Average has the following effects on stats:
| Attribute Level | Skill Levels |
|---|---|
| Average | 6 |
| Good | +3 |
| High | +4 |
| Very High | +5 |
Based on this information, you can increase a maximum of two Attributes to Very High, granting a total of +12 to a Skill. If you use two Attributes that have the same Skills, for example Strength and Dexterity both have 1-Handed Melee, you can increase a Skill at the start to a maximum of 30 using Attributes. Using the Skills bonuses, it is possible to push that limit to 40.
Pay attention to the bonuses applied by each Attribute. As an example, Intelligence doesn’t influence Sneak at all, but it does offer a +35% Critical Damage buff, so an Intelligence/Dexterity based character would benefit from Thief like abilities – huge critical attacks from Sneak, pick pocketing, etc.
Skills
Skills determine a characters primary method of dealing with problems. This includes combat, quests, dialog options, it’s all here. As mentioned previously, all Skills start at level 6. Every 20 levels (20,40,60,80,100) unlocks a new perk for that skill. For example level 20 Sneak unlocks Sneak Attack. You cannot level up skills individually until over 50% of the skills in that tree are level 50. So, at the start of the game, you will be increasing all skills within a set.
For example, if you want to improve 1-Handed Melee, you must improve 2-Handed Melee at the same time. You place a single Skill Point into Melee, and both skills increase by 10. All Skills are useful depending on play style and personal preference but if you’re looking for a little more guidance, there’s some core elements that work well.
You will fight, that is unavoidable. So when choosing your skills, choose your weapon of choice. You can either choose Melee or Range. Ranged is safer and easier, Melee allows for a higher critical hit chance and small attacks that can hit multiple targets. I found guns to be far more viable throughout the game.
With a single remaining Skill point, I would invest into Dialog. Persuasion, Lie, and Intimidate are used in a lot of conversations. They open up additional opportunities, quests, rewards, experience points, they are vital. As you level throughout, unless you are really struggling to survive, I would ignore defense entirely. I never spent a single point in the defense tree and didn’t die in combat, on normal difficulty.
Aptitude
This is mostly just for flavor, giving your character a brief backstory in exchange for some minor buffs. The bonuses are tiny but if you’re looking for the best options, try to find ones that give a + to a skill you’ve already invested in or choose one that peaks your interest.
Any questions or any information to help others when creating a character in The Outer Worlds? Post a comment below.
