Outriders can be a complicated game with not much detail about how the finer points of its systems work. Damage Scaling is one such point that does not have much detail behind it. For many players, it can be frustrating not having answers to some questions behind the game’s mechanics. With some clarification from People Can Fly on Reddit, players may now have a better understanding of how damage scaling works in Outriders.
Outriders players have World Tiers and Challenge Tiers that dictate the difficulty of the game. With World Tiers being tied to the main campaign and Challenge Tiers being tied to the endgame Expeditions, players can reach a maximum gear level of 50. However, because of scaling, Outriders players may be level capped depending on the content they are playing.
People Can Fly used Reddit to answer questions around the scaling in Outriders. Outriders caps players at two levels above the content they are playing. For example, if a level 50-character plays World Tier 15 content where the enemy level is set at Level 42, the player's damage will be scaled down to Level 44. World Tier 1 is the exception, the damage scaling is turned off regardless of the level difference, making some Outriders loot farms faster.
People Can Fly further clarifies that the damage scaling system is active in both the World Tiers and the Challenge Tiers, however, the down-scaling does not affect the benefits from attributes or synergies. PCF_Pawel on Reddit states this down-scaling was done to prevent the game from becoming “silly and broken,” further stating that it was “basically impossible to die” when over-leveled.
Some players have responded that they still do not feel powerful with the 2-level advantage, while others point out that becoming over-leveled and beating bosses easily is something that exists in many RPG games. Other players are also calling for a better balancing between World Tier and Challenge Tier.
The overall power fantasy takes a hit when developers forcibly downscale players to match content levels, and Outriders players are voicing their opinions on this matter. Considering People Can Fly has been taking player feedback and making changes for the players, it is possible that the down-scaling could be tweaked in the future.
If players genuinely want to live out their power fantasy of being an Altered, they can replay the main Outriders campaign on World Tier 1, where the damage scaling is turned off. Almost everything will die in a single hit, which may shed some light on why game developers implement damage scaling systems like in Outriders.
Outriders is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.