So I'm still progressing through Outriders and I'm still having a great time with it. Not much has changed since I made my last post. I've progressed through a couple of more zones and I've gained a few levels. I have of course been gaining a lot of new gear as well. A lot of gear, with a lot of mods.
The mods in this game are great and they add that extra level of detail and depth when you're planning your build. Mods come on gear starting from blue rarity (3rd tier) and they either enhance your existing abilities or bring whole new abilities into the mix.
Some mods are so good and unique that you can plan a whole build around them. Some may even be crucial for certain builds to work out.
About mods
Mods come in many shapes and sizes. There's three tiers in total and they act different depending if they come on armor or weapons. Some mods can be equipped and used by any class while some are class specific. The usable by all mods have general effects like adding a burning or poisoned effect to enemies, or healing you when you get kills. Class specific mods directly alter and affect your unique class abilities.
Mods are dropped on gear starting from blue rarity, as already mentioned. At first you'll be getting tier 1 mods but as you progress and start getting some epic gear you'll also start to see tier 2 mods. Tier 3 mods are rare and always comes along with legendary gear I assume.
What's great is that you don't need to grind endlessly for mods, unless you're a little unlucky. Once a gear piece drops with a certain mod you can dismantle that gear piece. Doing so will unlock the mod for future crafting, allowing you to put it on gear for some currency. This means you can alter your weapons to your liking and outfit them with mods of your choosing. Got a gun you love with mods you don't like? Change them!
I think it's a great system. Once a mod is unlocked it's unlocked permanently. You don't have to go looking for that mod again. You'll have it forever. That is quite refreshing.
My current build
I'm not all that far into the game but still I've been trying a lot of different builds as I've been leveling. Changing around my talents as I unlock new skills and get new mods. When I get a new mod or new ability I want to try it to see if I can make a good build with it.
I'm currently running a fire spreading build that's working out great. The build is focused around the skill volcanic rounds, the mod proliferation and the skill overheat. Volcanic rounds is a great skill. It sets people on fire and starts dealing damage to them as long as I shoot near them. Since I have pro gamer aim I am not only shooting near the enemies but I'm also hitting them. Proliferation then spreads the burning to other enemies nearby. When I see I have a lot of enemies burning I activate the overheat skill. This is a skill that deals a little bit of damage to all enemies in sight, but if they're burning it deals a HUGE amount of damage.
It's a really fun build. Shoot enemies to make them burn, spread the fire then make them explode. How awesome is that? And it wouldn't be as good if it wasn't for that mod. I just knew I had to go for a build like this when I saw that mod.
I'm really looking forward to discover more of the tier 2 mods, although the ones I've been getting so far are mostly upgraded versions of the tier 1 mods. I hope tier 3 mods bring in something new and game changing. Spoiler alert: there's one that calls down a comet from the sky when you shoot enemies, and I need it.
Finishing up the story
I've spent a lot of time taking screenshots after finding out that nVidia Ansel basically works like a photo mode that also pauses the game. Between that and trying out different builds progression is slow. I need to sit down and put in a proper shift and finish up the story. I really want to try out the other classes, but I've told myself I should at least finish the story on one character first.
Calling all Outriders
If you're currently playing Outriders please shout me out. I would love to go for a game of co-op. Especially once I get to end game that would be awesome. I can currently only play with other PC players but hopefully they're opening up the console cross-play soon.Me and Deranged will be going at it then and it would be awesome to have a full team going.
All images in this post are screenshots from Outriders taken by me.