Outward 2 Beta: Early Survival Tips and Community Impressions
The Outward 2 closed beta is officially in the hands of playtesters, and true to the franchise's roots, it is already handing out brutal beatdowns. If you managed to snag a Steam beta invite, you probably already noticed the excellent new character creator and solid tutorial. But once you step out into the actual world, things get rough quickly.
Based on early community reports and tester feedback from the current build, here is a quick breakdown of what you need to know to survive your first few hours, from weird map quirks to early-game silver farming.
Check Your Map Orientation
If you've been running around aimlessly for the first hour of the Outward 2 beta, you aren't the only one. Multiple players have reported a major point of confusion regarding early-game navigation: the top of your map is not North.
Unlike most standard RPGs where up always equals North, the in-game map orientation seems to follow a different layout. If you are trying to use traditional cardinal directions based purely on looking at the map screen, you will end up completely lost. Pay close attention to your compass and environmental landmarks instead of assuming the top edge of the parchment is pointing North.
Early Combat is Brutal (For Now)
Even for veterans of the first game and experienced Soulslike players, the current enemy scaling in the beta feels heavily overtuned. Basic bandits hit incredibly hard, and venturing out without decent gear is essentially a death sentence right now.
According to community feedback, your absolute first priority should be getting a full set of armor. Don't try to out-skill groups of enemies early on. Play defensively, rely on the game's improved combat depth, and don't feel bad about running away until you have better stats.
How to Make Silver Early On
Because combat is so punishing, making silver through combat and looting enemy camps is very difficult in the early hours. Testers have found a couple of relatively safe methods to scrape together your first handful of silver:
- Scavenging: Raid all the rubbish bins around town. It’s not glamorous, but it’s safe and yields consistent minor loot.
- Hunting: Stick to farming boars. Selling boar meat is currently one of the most reliable ways to make early silver without risking a high-level bandit encounter.
Merchants Wander the City
Need to buy supplies with that hard-earned boar meat money? You’ll have to track down the vendors first.
One highly debated change in Outward 2 is that merchants are no longer static NPCs glued to their stalls. In the beta, merchants actively wander around the city streets. While Nine Dots Studio clearly implemented this to make towns feel more alive and realistic, playtesters are already expressing frustration over having to play hide-and-seek with vendors in complex city layouts just to buy basic supplies. Keep your eyes peeled when running through town, as the merchant you need might be taking a stroll.
Be Prepared for Performance Drops
It is a beta, so bugs are expected, but it's worth noting that the current build is struggling with performance on Unreal Engine.
Players are reporting heavy stuttering even on low "potato mode" settings, with high-end rigs that easily handle games like Elden Ring failing to maintain 60 FPS here. A widely reported issue right now is severe frame dropping whenever players open the UI menus. If your game freezes for a moment while checking your inventory, it's a known beta issue—hopefully, the developers will roll out optimization patches before the full launch.
Note: All mechanics, enemy scaling, and UI behaviors mentioned are based on unconfirmed community reports from the ongoing closed beta and are subject to change before the final release of Outward 2.