Outriders is now available for all launch platforms and players are already digging into the looter-shooter. For those that played the Outriders Demo, the full game introduces a few quality of life changes and of course a ton of new content, but some things have stayed the same. One of these things is the World Tier system, which acts as an interchangeable difficulty system for players to manage as they play through the game. This guide will explain the World Tier system and how players can get the most out of it in order to enjoy their time playing Outriders.

There are 15 total World Tiers in Outriders, ranking from Story (the easiest World Tier) to Madness (the hardest World Tier). Each World Tier changes the player's relationship with the world of Enoch and increases certain criteria. These criteria are:

  • Enemy Level
  • The Level of Dropped Items
  • Loot Rarity Modifier
  • Legendary Drop Rate Modifier Bonus
  • Permanent Unlock (typically an increase in the level cap of wearable items)
  • Rewards for Unlocking the World Tier (accolades, resources, gear of a certain rarity)

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For example, if a player obtains enough experience points to get from World Tier 3 to World Tier 4, then each of these criteria will change to reflect the new tier/difficulty level. In this example, enemies and dropped items will now be one level higher than usual. The loot rarity modifier increases from 100% to 120%, the Legendary drop rate modifier finally kicks in, and players will be able to wear items one level higher. Rewards for World Tier 4 are a new Outriders accolade and a piece of gear with Unusual rarity.

To advance World Tiers in Outriders, players simply need to kill enemies. Completing quests does not add to the World Tier progress bar, but all enemies killed during those quests will contribute to the bar. If a player dies they will lose a small portion of the progress bar, so dying in an area over and over without killing enough enemies to counteract the lost progress can end up being a waste of time.

outriders world tiers graphic

Players attempting solo runs in Outriders need to be particularly aware of which World Tier feels best for them, as a lower World Tier may just mean a bit more leveling up is needed to match the enemy difficulty for that section of the game.

If a certain area becomes too difficult, World Tiers can be changed at any time. To change a World Tier, players need to open the main menu, go to World Tier, and then select which tier they want. This same process applies to collecting rewards when a new World Tier is reached. At the bottom of the World Tier menu players can toggle on/off the option to always set the World Tier at the highest level available.

If players find themselves stuck on a certain World Tier, there are some strategies that can help. One strategy involves loot farming a specific area while still raising the World Tier. In the Outriders demo, it was discovered early on that players could replay story missions over and over in order to grind for legendary loot. This strategy can still be employed in the full game, but now it works a little differently.

Since the World Tier is no longer capped at 5, players can find an area full of enemies that they feel comfortable fighting and grind away. This will raise the World Tier progress bar (as long as players don't die) while still providing upgraded loot. Essentially, replaying the same mission over and over at the highest World Tier will allow players to progressively get better loot fighting the same enemies until they are ready to move on to the next part of the game.

Outriders is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

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