Since its last Broadcast event back in August, the Outriders team at People Can Fly has gone quiet, leading many to believe that the game was in danger of missing its Holiday 2020 release date. This past week, the rumors were proven true as the newest trailer for the upcoming action RPG confirmed the delay with a new release date set for February 2, 2021.
While the news will no doubt disappoint some who were looking forward to playing the game on next gen hardware this year, the added wait may actually prove to be a good thing for not only the long term success of the game, but give the team more time to talk about the title. Competing in a similar space to Destiny 2 and Godfall, Outriders introduces it own version of an RPG loot shooter. Focusing more on story than live service, Outriders gives fans plenty of ways to customize their experience to how they want.
One such way is with four unique character classes to pick from such as the fire-focused Pyromancer, close range assassin Trickster, and the unique long ranger supporter, The Technomancer. One class that was just recently shown off was the powerful Devastator class.
What is it?
The Devastator is essentially the tank class of Outriders, perfect for players who want to jump straight into the frontline of any battle and unleash destruction. Their moveset is based around earth and gravity inspired abilities, allowing the class to not only deal out damage but take it as well.
People Can Fly have also shown this class as being more than just a tank as well. The class comes with a few interrupt abilities, allowing players to control the flow of combat by shutting enemies down for their teammates.
Melee and Healing Ability
Unlike the other three classes, the Devastator can apply the bleeding effect on enemies simply by meleeing them. Naturally, this means for a set amount of time, the enemy afflicted by this effect takes damage over time.
To make the most of being a frontline warrior, Devastators can also heal themselves by being in close range of enemies who are killed. This can be further customized depending on the skill trees players choose to invest in. One such example the team has already shown off is the skill, Heirloom Armor, which gives the player 20% of the defeated enemy's armor for 10 seconds. This will give the Devastator even more health and shields than normal to continue the onslaught.
Skill Trees
Just like the other three classes, the Devastator gets access to three different skill trees to allow players to customize the character to better fit their playstyle. While the Devastator will always be the frontline tank character, each tree will impact how the class plays and abilities work slightly. Players are not locked into choosing one tree and can even respec to try out different branches if they so choose. Ultimately, two Devastators will likely never play exactly the same.
- Vanquisher - For those who really want to lean into the close range combat side of this class, this is the tree to invest in. Shotguns and Assault Rifles benefit the most from this tree as well.
- Warden - Survivability is the primary focus of the Warden tree, turning players into the ultimate tank. Naturally, passive bonuses here favor shields, health, and elemental resistances.
- Seismic Shifter - Unlike the other two branches, Seismic Shift enhances the damage done over time, meaning this branch is more for mid-range gameplay and increasing ability damage.
Abilities
Only four of the eight abilities have been shown off, leaving a bit of mystery to this class. Still, what has been shown off already looks to be extremely powerful and can even be combined for bigger effects against enemies.
- Gravity Leap - Activating this move pulls the character back into the air and turning them into a pile of floating rocks. Pressing the skill activation again slams the character down at the enemy highlighted in yellow. Not only does this do immense damage to the target, but it causes area of effect damage to anyone nearby. Better yet, killing enemies with this move results in the player gaining health back and the move can be used to escape dangerous situations. Attacking enemies with it also interrupts them, making it a perfect skill for boss battles.
- Reflect Bullets - As the name implies, this move creates a kinetic barrier in front of the player. While it protects everyone behind it, it also catches bullets and throws it back at the enemies who fired it. With the shield active, players can also move around to better help teammates advance on the enemy positions.
- Impale - The Devastator summons a stone spike up through the ground and either damaging enemies or impaling them outright. Enemies who are impaled on the stone spike also give the squad an armor bonus and health regeneration for 9 seconds. Certain gear sets can also modify this ability including impaling multiple targets.
- Endless Mass - This skill creates a spinning black obelisk that acts like a black hole, pulling enemies towards it. It damages the enemies caught in the gravitation pull but it groups them up allow the player to use another skill like Gravity Leap to easily decimate the group.
Teases for the other abilities seem to include stone armor, an ability the summons stone plating to coat the character as they move. Earthquake also appears to be another ability, which lets the Devastator smash the ground causing damage, knockback, and interrupting a large group of enemies. When the game launches in 2021, players will have plenty of options as they go up against the variety of enemies found on Enoch.
Outriders releases holiday 2020 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X, with a Stadia version in development for 2021.