Outriders has finally revealed its fourth class, The Technomancer, to the world with its third broadcast. Featuring some co-op gameplay, a quick look into the Technomancer, and a spotlight on the Devastator, the third broadcast clearly went big. Game Rant also briefly spoke with People Can Fly and Square Enix regarding the Technomancer and what's in store for the franchise.
As far as the Technomancer is concerned, People Can Fly has described it as a long-range class vs. the Devastator's tank-like capabilities, the Tricker's close-up tactics, and the Pyromancer's mid-range abilities. However, as with all Outriders classes, while there is a core idea to each class, players can change them up to suit their own needs.
Outriders' Technomancer, for example, may excel at long-range combat, but select guns and abilities could easily see this class become a master of crowd control, a heavy DPS character that manifests weapons out of thin air and controls technology to deal heavy damage, or a complete mix thereof.
Furthermore, the Technomancer has a powerful healing mechanic. Whereas the Pyromancer (for example) has to kill an enemy marked by one of its abilities to heal, the Technomancer automatically heals a portion of all damage it deals. The Technomancer has a ton of tech that deals damage independently of its own attacks, making its healing factor and survivability really powerful as well. As such, we asked People Can Fly if this class would be basically required to survive on high World Tiers in Outriders, and it said,
There was a moment in the game where we balancing it where the Technomancer was key for the bigger challenges, and then we started working around the back to have the Technomancer vital but not necessary. For those who like someone who can heal, who can support, the Technomancer is a good choice. It's not the obligatory solution to beat the higher challenges, so that was our goal.
This character is not the priest class. You need to have a priest to go into some games, but we don't have this holy trinity of tank, damage dealer, and healer that has to heal the whole time. You can play this set-up, but it's not vital or mandatory. You can use different tactics. Maybe you can kill enemies before they damage you, so you don't need a healer.
As impressive as the Technomancer is, it seems that People Can Fly saved some cards for the next broadcast. Not only will the Technomancer get a more personal dive, but broadcast 3 revealed that the next one will also be diving into Outriders' endgame content. As many know, post-campaign content is vital in looter shooters to keep fans grinding and challenging themselves, and with all classes now out in the open, it seems like a good time to give fans a deep dive into that.
After all, there still seems to be plenty to explore in the game. People Can Fly said (in reference to broadcast 3),
It's a good moment to be showing the last class. When we're talking about the game, we can now touch on all aspects. Until now, there's always been that feel of the game connected with the Technomancer that we avoided and could not tell. From my point of view, I'm happy we're finally showing the Technomancer.
The Technomancer adds a lot of variety, whether that's diving into its abilities, focusing on its long-range capabilities, playing like a priest, and more. Broadcast 3 gave a taste of what all this variety looks like when players team up, and hopefully, that'll be the case with the endgame content spotlight next month.
Outriders will release holiday 2020 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, with a Stadia version in development for 2021.