Outriders Update Makes A Lot of Gameplay Changes

A new Outriders balance update is live on Google Stadia, PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox consoles alongside patch notes that reveal everything People Can Fly has tweaked and changed. According to the developer over on Reddit, the update and its changes are primarily focused on buffing skills that aren’t used enough by players and improving player survivability with a rebalance to armor.

That said, this is just a balance update. If you’re looking for fixes to the game and issues that have been plaguing it since launch, this update is going to leave you disappointed. However, developer People Can Fly says this sort of an update is coming soon.

Below, you can check out the update’s entire patch notes:

BALANCING:

Preamble:

• Today’s changes focus primarily on buffing underused skills and improving player survivability via Armour rebalancing. This is only an initial first pass, based on the mass player data that we’re seeing in our analytics. If something has not been mentioned here, do not fret. Work is already underway for upcoming balance passes, which will look at other topics of focus, including legendary drop distribution.
• We are also aware that Timed Expeditions remain a point of contention regarding balancing and that they are fundamental problem for many players as their timed nature can drive a too heavily DPS focused meta.
• Addressing the root cause of this issue is something that will take a longer time. This is not something we will be able to address as part of the immediately upcoming patches, but we are working on this issue and are continuing to look into what is feasible in the long term.

Balance Notes:

• Health on Armor
  • The Health available on Armor pieces has been increased greatly and rebalanced. It is now possible to effectively double character health by using certain gear pieces.
  • Previously, investing into improving your health was not providing enough value gain. This change will make it easier to build a greater health pool and survive longer.
• Devastator
  • Reflect Bullets
    • Reflect Bullets base damage has been increased by 250% (From 0.1 to 0.25 base damage at level 1)
      • This buff will help players better deal with smaller mobs, but efficiently killing Elites will still require the use of other skills as well.
    • The base damage dealt by the “Bullet Acceleration” mod has been increased by 330% (From 10 to 33 base damage at level 1)
• Impale
  • The HP Regen granted by the Impale skill has been increased by 50% (From 0.02 to 0.03 base regen at level 1)
  • The range of the “Vlad’s Grasp” mod has been increased to 100% (Previously: 25%)
  • Note regarding impale: We are aware that some players would like enemies to be registered as “dead” faster after impalement in order to clear expeditions faster. Changing this behaviour might have ramifications for the AOE Armour and Health Regen buffs this skill provides, but we’re currently considering what can be done here.
• Pyromancer
  • F.A.S.E.R Beam
    • F.A.S.E.R Beam base damage has been increased by 100% (From 0.3 to 0.6 base damage at level 1)
    • F.A.S.E.R Beam’s SPF has been set to 2.1 (Previously: 1.5)
      • SPF controls how much the F.A.S.E.R Beam skill benefits from Status Power attribute. This change effectively means that the damage from F.A.S.E.R beam may well be doubled (and then some), though the effectiveness of this improvement still depends on the character’s Status Power attribute.
    • These changes will help this skill kill particularly Riflemen, Berserkers and Shotgunners with ease.
  • Volcanic Armour mod’s damage reduction has been increased to 65% for both Anomaly and Physical damage. (Previously 50%)
• Technomancer
  • Tool of Destruction
    • The RPG summoned by Tool of Destruction has had its base damage increased by 66% (From 0.75 to 1.25 base damage at level 1)
    • The RPG summoned by Tools of Destruction has had its Falloff reduced / Minimum Range increased by 50% (From 200 to 300)
      • Minimum Range determines to which distance from the epicenter of an explosion/AOE an attack will still deal 100% damage. After reaching the edge of Minimum Range, damage falloff commences.
      • This change will mean that the RPG now deals 100% of its damage over a greater AOE.
    • The base damage dealt by the “Demolition Man” mod has been increased to 65 (Previously: 35)
    • These changes will help players one-shot Riflemen, while also putting massive dents into Shotgunners and Berserkers.
• Fixing Wave
  • The healing provided by Fixing Wave has been increased to 65% (Previously: 33%)
  • Cold Snap
    • The armor reduction dealt by the “Frostbite” mod has been increased to 100% (Previously 35%)
    • The base damage dealt by the “Ice Ice Baby” mod has been increased by 300% (From 0.3 to 1.2 base damage at level 1)
    • These changes will allow players to have an extra “go away mobs” skill and will combine well with the following Freeze Turret change.
  • Freeze Turret
    • The duration of Freeze Turret has been increased to 30 units (Previously: 20)
    • This should increase the Turret’s health by 50% and prolong its life.
• Trickster
  • Borrowed Time
    • The base damage dealt by the “Aggressive Teleportation” mod has been increased by 111% (From 45 to 95 base damage at level 1)
      • This needed a significant boost to make it more worthy of Legendary status.
  • Hunt The Prey
    • The base damage dealt by the “Backstabber” mod has been increased by 100% (From 20 to 40AP base damage at level 1)
• Temporal Slice
  • The base damage dealt by the “Strong Slice” mod has been increased by 71% (From 17.5 to 30 base damage at level 1)

Outriders is available via Google Stadia, PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Xbox Game Pass.