Outward is a tough game. The start can be particularly intimidating with the initial quest requiring you to get a bunch of gold or quickly lose your house. Plus, there are a ton of features you need to explore and the world is hard and unforgiving. This Beginner Guide aims at giving you a few tips on how to start out in Outward and where to look for initially. Good preparation is the key to succeeding in this harsh world, so take notes!

Shipwreck start

As you start your journey on the coast, there are already immediately a couple of secrets you could miss. There are two hyenas in this first area as well as a Hollowed out tree stump with random loot. If you walk along the river and look closely, you will find a mining pick. Plus, there are various berries, seaweed, etc. around the ocean. Open your eyes and look for everything you can find. You will not be able to return to this place so loot it thoroughly before you go to sleep and wake up in your house.

Same rules apply for your House in which you start in. Loot everything you can find inside and make sure to regularly use the kitchen as well as the chest for storage as in your game. Inventory management is a big thing in Outward and knowing what to store and what to bring with you is very important.

The first quest and the gold debt

Once you get out of your house you will encounter a couple of angry fellas wanting your gold for a blood debt. As you might have already seen, this quest has a time limit on it, and if you fail to bring in the gold, you will lose your house. Once you finish the conversation, go explore the city. By now you should have already understood that exploring everything and looting as much as possible is the way to go. Go search the town for everything you can get. Most notably there is a water skin near the water reservoir structure. Pick it up and get used to filling it up as much as possible and having it with you. Thirst is one of the major needs you have in this game and your first water skin is going to make life way easier.

Find a Fishing Harpoon near the docks. You can use this to catch fish along the coast. As a rule of thumb, resources that you gather (or in this case fish) can always be crafted into something different for added value. For example, you can catch fish and make travel rations and fish dishes out of them, then sell them for profit. Get in the habit of doing this to generate money.

You can find three recipe scrolls around the town that teach you about crafting leather gear. Using this recipe you will be able to upgrade your current clothes to leather gear if you have enough leather (of which you will get enough soon).

There is a man near the gate that can teach you a weapon skill for the weapon you are currently holding. Choose the weapon you’d like to play with for now and learn the skill for your first trip.

Storage area

There is a door leading to the storage area close to the docks. You can go inside and slowly explore it. There, you can find some food, random loot, a lantern, as well a vein that you can mine. If you head in deeper you will face Trogdolytes that should be easy to defeat. The storage area leads to a path outside the city that you can choose if you want. Leaving the city this way brings you to the beach area which is a little bit more dangerous, but explorable if you watch your step.

Leaving the normal way through the main gate is only possible if the guard Burac Carillon lets you. He will only make way if you have a backpack, a bedroll, a lantern, and a water skin with you.

If you leave through the storage area and find yourself at the beach, you will quickly find an injured person. You can help this guy if you have bandages with you. If you do this, he will grant you a writ for saving his life and you can use it to clear your debt immediately and save the 500 gold payment.

Main preparation before leaving the city

Here are a couple of things you should have with you if you leave the city.

• Backback – You can buy one at the merchant in Cierzo for 25 silver.
• Bedroll – You should have found one by now in your own house. You could also buy a tent that adds extra protection from the weather instead.
• Water skin – As mentioned above, find one near the water reservoir.
• Lantern – As mentioned above, you can find one in the storage area (make sure to add the lantern to your backpack for convenience)
• Some food & bandages – You can cook food yourself by catching and cooking fish for example. Bandages are crafted by using Linen Cloth. You can get some by disassembling old armor and clothes you have. As well as find them around the city or loot them from human enemies. Always make sure to have enough food and bandages with you.

General tips once you finish the first quest

Once you finish the first quest and are not living on borrowed time anymore, things become a little bit more relaxed. You can take your time to slowly explore the area around the main city. Make sure to always have enough water, food, and bandages with you and be careful when you walk around. A lot of enemies will be able to kill you initially, but dying is not a big deal in Outward and not the end of the world. Here are a couple of tips and tricks you should consider as you move forward.

• Most importantly always drop your backpack by pressing B when you engage in combat
• When in combat, always watch your stamina level. If your stamina drops to zero, you become effectively useless and you should plan your moves carefully.
• Always move when in combat. Standing still is a death sentence in Outward. You will want to keep moving at all times.
• Remember to repair your gear. Your items lose durability as you use them. Finding yourself with broken or low durability items can be very dangerous if it happens in the wrong moment.
• Consider exchanging your silver for gold bars at merchants. Currency has its own weight in Outward, so exchanging currency might be beneficial for weight management.
• Have some teas with you to combat certain effects. Bitter Spicy Tea can help with infections. You can craft this at the cooking pot with Water and Ochre Spice Beetle, or you can buy the tea from Helmi in Cierzo.
• Regularly store items in your stash. Your explorations will yield a ton of items and you want to keep your inventory low as you move out. Exceeding your weight limit will severely slow you down.
• Choose your battles wisely. Sometimes, it’s fine to run away. If your opponent is overwhelming, just make a run for it and come back later. That being said, dying is not the end of the world, and sometimes it’s a valuable lesson.
• Watch out for traps. Depending on whether you are in the world, traps can easily catch you off-guard and do serious damage. Notably, bandits will have traps laid around their camp. You might have guessed already that caves and dungeons can have many traps in them as well.
• Consider a trip to Conflux Mountain to unlock Mana and the ability to use magic. I won’t spoil the whole thing, but make sure you are prepared.

Still thinking about picking up Outward? Go check out the Outward review.

Don’t have the game yet? Buy it on Steam or the Humble Store.