The Outer Worlds 2: 12 Best Starting Skills, Ranked

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Like most role-playing games, The Outer Worlds 2 lets you deeply customize your character with choices about their past, personality, abilities, and special skills. The game does a great job of explaining all these options, but figuring out the best build can still be challenging.

If you have trouble making decisions when you have a lot of options, you might find the character creation tool a bit overwhelming. Luckily, there are plenty of online guides available to help players with this process.

Oh. Wait.

Let’s explore the 12 skills you can improve in The Outer Worlds 2. At the start of the game, you’ll choose two skills to focus on, and I’m here to help you decide which ones are best.

Your skill choices affect which special abilities you can improve first, but this isn’t explained until later in the game. For now, just concentrate on the skills listed towards the bottom – they’ll set you up for success early on.

Naturally, all of these abilities are beneficial. Whatever you decide to focus on will help you grow. However, some skills offer more advantages than others.

12. Leadership

With Friends Like These

In The Outer Worlds 2, you’ll have companions – characters who join you on missions and help you out. They’ll primarily fight alongside you, which can be a big advantage in battles.

The Leadership skill simply boosts your companions’ damage and health as you improve it. While that’s definitely helpful, it’s not a priority when you’re first starting the game.

Honestly, I think it’s way better to focus on making myself stronger instead of trying to boost everyone else. It just feels like if I rely too much on my team, I end up missing out on some of the cool stuff. Being a good leader is great and all, but sometimes I just want to be in the thick of it myself, you know? It’s not that I don’t want to help, but I want to have fun too!

11. Explosives

Good For Situationships

The Explosives skill makes grenades and mines more effective. Each rank increases their damage by 10% and reduces the damage you take from enemy explosives by 1%.

The explosives work well, but you probably won’t use them as much as other options. If you really enjoy causing explosions, feel free to invest heavily in this skill!

Explosives aren’t usually the main focus for most people, so don’t prioritize mastering them over other weapons.

10. Melee

Enter The Fist

Similar to explosives, melee weapons aren’t meant to be your main way of defeating enemies. However, I believe they’ll be more helpful in The Outer Worlds 2 than grenades or mines.

You’ll find a surprising number of melee weapons available, which are really useful when enemies get too close or when you’re out of ammunition.

Honestly, running out of ammo doesn’t happen very often in Overwatch 2. Ammo is usually plentiful. However, it’s always smart to have a dependable backup plan if you’re in a tough spot.

9. Medical

Not Covered By Your HSA

Many players assume the Medical skill determines how much health you have, but that’s not quite right. In The Outer Worlds 2, your primary way to heal is with a Medical Inhaler – you can use it whenever your health is low. However, it’s not endless. Using the inhaler builds up Toxicity, and you’ll need to wait for that to decrease before you can heal again.

The Medical skill delays how quickly Toxicity stops you from healing, letting you recover health a little more frequently. It’s helpful, but won’t drastically change things if you’re already good at fighting.

Medical also offers some useful benefits, including the ability to tame and recruit creatures later on. Because of this, it’s a solid choice, particularly if you often take damage in combat.

8. Sneak

If You’re BORING

How useful the Sneak skill is really depends on your play style. While I don’t rank it very highly, Overwatch 2 offers plenty of chances to move stealthily, and the 35% damage bonus for sneak attacks is significant.

I think stealth is possible in this game, but it’s not amazing. Usually, unless you’re extremely careful about staying hidden, you’ll be discovered, and it will quickly turn into a shooting battle.

If you really want to be a master of stealth, definitely improve your Sneak skill. But if you usually prefer to solve problems with your weapons, like I do, it’s not something you need to focus on as much.

7. Observation

A Whole New World

Overwatch 2, like many role-playing games, focuses heavily on collecting items. You’ll be constantly searching defeated enemies and containers for loot – anything you can get your hands on will become yours.

The Observation skill lets you find more items you can loot, or at least learn something useful from them. Eventually, it unlocks perks that consistently give you better and more valuable loot.

Plus, every time you level up, you’ll deal 15% extra damage to enemies’ weak points. At this point in the list, everything is a solid option, so if this sounds good to you, Observation is a worthwhile investment.

6. Hack

What Some People Call My Writing

As you’d expect from a sci-fi game, The Outer Worlds 2 features a lot of things you can hack. While hacking isn’t required to finish quests, it’s often a helpful way to get things done.

The Hack skill lets you break into vending machines, computer terminals, and robots when you find them, as long as they aren’t too advanced for your skill level. I especially enjoy using it on robots during fights for some extra help, but you’ll discover all sorts of useful applications for it soon enough.

Beyond just allowing you to hack, this ability also gives you a 5% damage increase against robots with each successful hack, which is a helpful bonus.

5. Science!

What She Blinded Me With

If you’ve played Fallout: New Vegas, or just enjoy the Fallout series, you probably know about V.A.T.S. It’s a system where you can slow down or even stop time during combat to get a better shot or plan your attack. It’s been updated a bit over the years, but the core idea is still the same: give you an edge in a fight!

The sequel, The Outer Worlds 2, features a new ability called the Tactical Time Dilation Gadget. It slows down time for a limited duration, using a cooldown timer. While not as powerful as V.A.T.S. from Fallout, it’s still a useful tool for escaping difficult situations.

As a huge fan, I’ve found that leveling up Science is a game-changer! It lets you slow down time for longer, which is awesome, and it also makes all your gadgets way more useful. I love how easily gadgets fit into fights – they feel much more practical than things like explosives, which I rarely use. Seriously, Science really enhances the core combat experience!

4. Lockpick

The RPG Staple

Lockpicking’s been a staple in RPGs forever, and thankfully, The Outer Worlds has it too! Basically, it lets me open stuff I wouldn’t normally be able to. I’m talking doors to secret areas, containers packed with loot, even those annoying safes. It’s a great way to find extra goodies!

Increasing your Lockpick skill unlocks more items you can steal. As you improve, you’ll be able to open locks that match your skill level or are easier than those you’ve already mastered. A higher Lockpick skill also opens up opportunities for other thieving abilities, such as pickpocketing, and even lets you preview the contents of containers before trying to unlock them.

In Overwatch 2, being able to open any lock you find will significantly help your gameplay. It lets you access better items and find easier routes to complete your missions.

3. Engineering

Outstanding In Your Field

Engineering might not seem exciting at first, but the more you learn about it, the more helpful it becomes. It mainly lets you work with machines and gadgets in the game, which is practical, though not particularly amazing.

Don’t stop reading, because Engineering is also a key part of protecting yourself in the game. Leveling up your Engineering skill improves all of your armor and generally makes you more resistant to damage. Ultimately, if you want to stay alive longer and gain a helpful ability in Overwatch 2, Engineering is an excellent option.

I’m really enjoying leveling up Engineering! It feels like the more I put into it, the more amazing perks unlock, and it just keeps getting more and more useful. It’s a skill that really pays off the more you invest in it, honestly.

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2025-10-27 03:11