Mastering stealth and relying on your companion Nix is key to surviving the challenges and sometimes frustration in Star Wars Outlaws.

Star Wars Outlaws takes players on an exciting journey through the galaxy, and there’s plenty of different gameplay mechanics in the game. The game has the usual action, stealth, and plenty of adventures across five planets.

But before jumping in, there are a few key things to know that will help you navigate the challenges ahead. From the forced and often lackluster stealth mechanics to overly relying on your companion Nix, understanding these gameplay elements from the get-go will likely make your experience a lot smoother and ultimately more fun.

Stealth Is Heavily Forced On You in Star Wars Outlaws

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Star Wars Outlaws might look like a game where you can go in guns blazing, but that’s not exactly true. It surprisingly focuses a lot on stealth, with plenty of forced stealth sections. If you get spotted in some missions, you’ll fail automatically, leading to plenty of frustration as the stealth mechanics are not very well designed either.

This gives you very little choice in how you approach things. Plus, in other situations, you might think you can just shoot your way out, but you’ll be swarmed by hordes of enemies, making it impossible to win since all you have is your blaster with you.

The stealth mechanics in Outlaws can ultimately be pretty forgiving, and enemies don’t detect you immediately, nor do they have very good AI, which leads to some easy exploitation.

Still, if you were hoping to shoot your way through most of the game, you’ll have to adjust your strategy and sneak around much more than expected, and use your pet companion Nix pretty often.

Nix Is a Huge Gameplay Mechanic, Whether You Like It or Not

You’ll ultimately have to get used to using Nix all the time. Image via Ubisoft

Kay Vess, the main character, has a cute companion named Nix, who plays a big role in helping her succeed. Nix can grab things that are out of reach, open doors, distract enemies, and disable alarms in combat. Outside of combat, he also helps in exploration and sometimes with platforming tips too.

Because of his small size, he can move around hostile areas without getting noticed, making him an essential tool for completing missions. Sometimes a bit too essential, as you absolutely have to use him lest you get extremely frustrated with trying to sneak around and manipulate enemy locations by yourself.

When you’re stuck in a tricky situation with plenty of enemy patrols, Nix will often be the answer. Whether you need to sneak past guards or get through a locked door, Nix can make things easier for you.

You’ll end up relying on him a lot as you progress through the game, especially when things get tough. Whether other players find the overreliance on him as a gameplay mechanic annoying would depend, though.

Some Other Things To Keep In Mind

The game does have a lot of different mechanics going on, for better or worse. Image via Ubisoft

Aside from stealth and Nix, there are a few other gameplay details worth knowing before jumping into Star Wars Outlaws. First, your speeder can be summoned at any time by interacting with a merchant or just pressing right on your D-pad. This isn’t explicitly stated and can be missed for the first few hours of the game.

Also, lock-picking in the game involves a rhythm-based minigame, which can be a bit frustrating and gets very repetitive and annoying quickly. Luckily, there’s an option in the settings menu to make both the lock-picking and slicing minigames easier, which is highly recommended.

In Star Wars Outlaws, you’ll come across powerful pickup weapons like the assault rifle and submachine gun equivalent of the Star Wars galaxy, and also rocket launchers that deal massive damage.

However, ammo is limited, and these weapons are automatically dropped when you perform certain actions, like climbing ladders or hopping on your speeder.

It can be frustrating when you lose your weapon while performing basic tasks, but it’s something you’ll have to keep in mind and adjust accordingly.

Have you tried out Star Wars Outlaws yet? Let us know your thoughts and opinions in the comments.