Healing In Outriders Explained

People Can Fly's new loot shooter Outriders has been divisive amongst critics and fans ever since it went live on April 1. While the game's combat and RPG mechanics have received praise, connectivity issues made it difficult for gamers to play with their friends at launch, and reports quickly emerged of an inventory anomaly that has cost players hours of progress.

Luckily, anyone willing to take a chance on the game while the developers work out those kinks will find an expertly crafted, entertaining shooter hiding beneath it all. The game takes the gritty cover shooter aesthetic of games like Gears of War and combines it with Destiny's class-based specialization. There are four classes available to players: the Technomancer, the Trickster, the Pyromancer, and the Devastator. Mastering the game means learning the ins and outs of at least one of these characters, while also understanding the abilities of the others.

In general, Outriders rewards movement and aggressive play more than it does caution and cover, which means that players will often have to put themselves right in the line of fire to be successful. This means that the act of health regeneration is all the more important.

All four classes in Outriders are suited to unique play styles, with each class typically engaging with enemies from a different distance. Regardless of how close or far a player needs to be in order to receive healing benefits, each technique uses the same essential mechanic that Outriders director Bartek Kmita refers to as "hurt to heal."

The Trickster and the Devastator are both close-range combatants. Therefore, they need to get as near to the action as possible to regain health at maximum efficiency. Perhaps the most straightforward healing mechanic in the game belongs to the Devastator, the game's basic tank-like character. Devastators typically have the most HP and armor of any class on the battlefield, and when they pull off a close-range kill, they receive an instant health boost to help keep them alive.

Like the Devastator, the Trickster also regains health from taking out nearby enemies. However, the critical difference between the two close-range classes is that while the Devastator has exceptionally high HP to help players survive encounters, the Trickster depends on more complex tactics. When a Trickster kills an opponent at close range, it gets a slight health boost, but they also receive a shield regeneration bonus.

While the Devastator and the Trickster emphasize close-range combat and healing, the Pyromancer and Technomancer are much more effective from further out, and their healing abilities reflect this.

The Pyromancer is a mid-range damage dealer whose most powerful abilities are related to its mastery of flame-related abilities. Regaining health as this class depends on utilizing those abilities. To earn back health, Pyromancers must first mark an enemy, which occurs any time their class-specific skills are used to strike an enemy. Once they are marked, death from any source will restore health for the Pyromancer. As such, Pyromancers should try and hit as many enemies as possible in all encounters to stay healthy.

Outriders' final class, the Technomancer, is the only one that does not depend on eliminating enemies to regain health. Instead, the Technomancer regains health by leeching it from still-living opponents, simply through dealing damage. Keeping Technomancer's health regeneration tied to damage instead of kills means that players using the long-range class can hang back and help deal damage to even the most dangerous enemies.