It’s possible to beat The Outer Worlds in less than 30 minutes. That’s one quick gameplay session, and I’m going to explain how to do it step-by-step.
This method relies on something totally unique to The Outer Worlds — a feature you won’t find in other Bethesda RPGs. You can kill every single plot-important NPC in the game and still finish the story. To quickly progress, you’ll absolutely have to kill some of the main characters.
Below, I’ve got one of the most optimized paths for completing the game. Even if you’re not eager to speedrun, you can still complete the game ridiculously quickly by following the steps below. You can take it a little slower and still finish the game in an hour or less.
This entire method comes from speedrunner extraordinaire It’s Jabo — check his insane speedrun out here on YouTube.
Character Creation
- Dexterity: Good
- Intelligence: Below
- Perception: Very High
- Temperament: Very High
- Perks: Ranged & Stealth
You’ll also want to turn on Text Preview in Settings, and turn on item highlights. That way you can get through conversations faster and spot useful items faster.
Emerald Vale & Edgewater
Go to the Unreliable and then leave. You can just step inside and immediately leave — then travel straight to Edgewater. Go to Reed’s office and immediately kill him. Loot his key and enter his office. Use the terminal and read his messages.
- NOTE: Yes, you’ll need to kill Parvati too. She’ll attack immediately — and his two guards. Grab the Revolver on a dead body on the way to Edgewater to make this fight easier.
For the slower method, you can simply talk to Reed, get Parvati on your team, then kill Reed. Parvati will still leave your team, but she won’t fight you.
Level 1: Select the Cheetah perk to sprint faster.
Sprint to the Edgewater Geothermal Power Plant and use the four switches — this is a tricky part, so you just need to know the lay of the land here to do it fast.
Go to the main terminal and transfer power to the Botanical Lab. Fast travel back to Edgewater and enter the depths of the Cannery to steal the quest item. Just run past the enemies, grab it, leave town and fast-travel to your ship.
Install the device, and then immediately travel to Monarch. The dangerous part of Monarch. No Stellar Bay Navkey or trip to Groundbreaker required.
Monarch Wilds, Amber Heights & Stellar Bay
Now here’s the tricky part. Using TTD, you can jump onto the rooftops of the abandoned Cascadia area and hop over the wall to reach the Cascadia Bridge. This takes some practice, but it makes solving Monarch so, so much faster. Next, sprint to Amber Heights.
- NOTE: Sprint past the Relay Station on Devil’s Peak to unlock the fast travel point.
At Amber Heights, kill Graham and sprint out of town, constantly healing to stay alive. Don’t fight anyone else! That stops the Iconoclast broadcast. Next, we need to stop the MSI broadcast.
Level 2: Select the Lone Wolf perk to do more damage solo.
Sprint to Stellar Bay and kill Sanjar in the MSI building. Exit Stellar Bay, ignoring the guards and healing as much as possible. Next, fast-travel to Devil’s Peak Station to meet the Broker.
The tricky part of Devil’s Peak Station is that you really do have to kill all the Marauders inside. Like the Geothermal Plant, it’s all about knowing the layout to do this quickly.
Reach the Broker and kill him. Check his terminal to get the information you need, use the rooftop terminal, then teleport back to the Unreliable. For a slower version, you can also just talk to him.
Byzantium
Travel to Phineas’ Lab with the information you need, talk to him, and head straight for Byzantium next. Clarke’s Residence is your first stop — kill him upstairs and take his HHC Access Card.
- NOTE: Buy as many healing items as you can from the vending machines here. You’ll need them.
Naturally, rush into the HHC Building with your card. Shoot the checkpoint of soldiers outside so they don’t talk to you, and run inside. Sprint through the lobby, take the lift up to the Executive Floor, and enter the CEO’s Office through Clarke’s door. Use the terminal to get the location of the chemicals.
Take the lift back down, then go to the Ministry of Accuracy and Morale. It’s just outside the HHC. Bust into the underground lab using the lift, sprint to the final room, grab the chemicals, and exit.
Return to the Unreliable — for a faster route, kill all the nearby ‘enemy’ civilians outside the Ministry doors, transition back to the interior, then back outside and you’ll be able to fast travel.
Endgame
Return to Phineas’ Secret Lab and formulate your plan. Travel to the Hope when it’s unlocked, and fight to the end. By ‘fight’ I mean run past every enemy you can. Use the terminal at the end, and this is where your Below Average Intelligence comes into play.
Choose to control the jump yourself. As a complete idiot, you’ll get the Worst Ending — but that still counts as an ending! You’ll steer the ship into the sun, and skip the final chapter of the game on Tartarus.
And that’s how you beat the game incredibly quickly.
