OUTRIDERS

Four classes, hundreds of gear mods, and a second endgame bolted on by the Worldslayer expansion. Here is what you are choosing between, and what the Complete Edition actually contains.

Four classes, four instincts

The four classes are described by the abilities they give you rather than by a stat block. The Trickster is framed around assassinating, the Pyromancer around incinerating enemies, the Devastator around punishing them up close, and the Technomancer around engaging at range with heavy ordinance. That framing points at the distance each class is comfortable with rather than locking it in, so the class tells you where it wants to be, not where it is allowed to stand.

The class is really a choice about which powers you want to manage for the whole campaign, because the abilities you build around come from it. Staying alive leans on it too. The Pyromancer recovers health from enemies that die while burning, and the Technomancer leans on weapon and skill leech, so recovery is part of the class rather than a shared potion. The drop-in, drop-out co-op supports a party of up to three, and it means the group can change shape between sessions without anyone starting a new character.

The world tier is a difficulty you fine-tune

Outriders does not hand you a one-time difficulty setting and forget about it. The store describes the tiers as the way you turn up the heat once your build is perfected: a higher world tier means harder enemies and better loot, and it is also how the game gates the gear level you are allowed to equip. They are not all open from the start either, because world tiers unlock as you play, so a higher tier is a claim about a character that has earned its way up rather than a setting anyone can pick on the first day.

That makes the decision a trade rather than a preference. If your build cannot clear the tier you have selected, the better loot you were chasing sits behind gear you cannot equip yet, so the useful habit is to fix the build first and let the tier follow it. The endgame assumes you already understand the relationship between the two.

Mods are where the build actually lives

Buildcrafting runs through three systems that do different jobs. Hundreds of mods sit on your weapons and armour and change how that piece behaves, class skill trees decide which abilities you are built around, and attribute points push the numbers underneath both. Because mods attach to the gear rather than being picked once, a new drop is an opportunity rather than a replacement, and the same legendary can be pointed in a different direction.

Appearance is kept out of that argument, since gear you have collected can be applied as a look whenever you like. That means a set you like the look of never has to cost you a stat choice, which removes the one regret that usually follows a looter-shooter's best piece of armour.

Worldslayer is the second half

The Worldslayer expansion is where the progression stops being a campaign and becomes a ladder. It adds two PAX skill-tree branches to every class, extending a build toward deeper specialisation or a new hybrid rather than turning the class into a second one, and the Ascension system adds a long-term progression layer on top that you can respec freely.

Its endgame is the Trial of Tarya Gratar, and its difficulty comes from Apocalypse tiers that climb all the way to Apocalypse Tier 40, where the maximum gear level rises to 75. Each step up improves the loot and raises the chance of Apocalypse gear, and Apocalypse gear is the only gear in the game with three mod slots. The plain campaign is not forced onto the new scale either: World Tiers still apply to the original Outriders story, and only with Worldslayer installed can you run that story through the Apocalypse tiers instead.

Co-op, and the connection it needs

Outriders expects a connection. Its own system requirements list a broadband internet connection and the store lists online co-op, so this is not a purchase to make for an offline machine or a plane journey. Online co-op is also the only co-op the store lists, so there is no split-screen version to fall back on.

What you get in return is a shooter the store says plays in single-player or with up to two friends in seamless drop-in, drop-out co-op, with the same structure across the campaign, the Expeditions and the Trials, so the number of players is a preference rather than a separate mode. The game is still sold and still listed as online co-op; beyond those store facts we make no claim about the current health of its live service.

What the Complete Edition is

On PC the sensible question is which version to buy, because the store sells the base game and the Complete Edition side by side. The Complete Edition collects the base game, the Worldslayer expansion, the Hell's Rangers content pack and five exclusive emotes in one purchase.

You do not have to buy the bundle to reach the endgame, though. Worldslayer is also sold on its own as an upgrade and Hell's Rangers as a separate content pack, so an owner of the base game can add the expansion without repurchasing the campaign. Those are the only add-ons the store lists for the game, so there is no third expansion waiting behind a season pass, and a free demo is available if you want to test the shooting before committing to the tier climb.

Should you play it

Yes, if you want a shooter where the build is the game and the difficulty is something you take responsibility for. The class decision is the one that shapes everything after it, so pick the distance you already enjoy rather than the one that looks strongest, and expect to spend real time in the mod screen.

Two things to settle first. Confirm your connection is good enough for an online co-op shooter, because the requirement is written into the game's own system specs. And if the long endgame is what you want, Worldslayer is the purchase that matters, whether that means the Complete Edition from nothing or the standalone upgrade on a base game you already own.