Outward 2 Beta: Combat Impressions, Known Bugs, and Performance Issues
The Outward 2 beta is currently in the hands of players, giving us our first real taste of Nine Dots Studio's highly anticipated sequel. While the core survival RPG elements are intact, the early build is rough around the edges. Based on community feedback from the first few days, there are massive shifts in combat pacing, along with several performance issues and progression-blocking bugs.
If you are jumping into the beta, here is what you need to know to avoid frustration.
Combat Balance: One-Handed Weapons Dominate
One of the most discussed changes in the Outward 2 beta is the combat pacing. Players coming from the methodical, weighty combat of the first game are noticing a shift toward a much more aggressive, faster-paced style.
According to early community reports, enemy behavior is hyper-aggressive, leaving very little breathing room. This shift has severely impacted the viability of two-handed weapons in the current build. Enemies often attack fast enough to hit players mid-stagger, making slow swings with greatswords punishing.
Conversely, one-handed weapons and daggers are currently performing extremely well. Players report that button-mashing with faster weapons is highly effective, with daggers dealing surprisingly high damage. Bandits equipped with swords and daggers are currently some of the toughest non-boss enemies simply due to their relentless attack speed. Keep in mind that this is an early beta, and weapon balance is highly likely to be adjusted before the full release.
Critical Bugs to Avoid
As with any playtest, things are breaking. There are two major bugs currently being reported by the community that can ruin your run:
- The Merchant Selling Bug: Be extremely careful when selling items to merchants. A persistent bug causes the game to "use" the item you are trying to sell instead of transferring it. If you try to sell a deployable item like a Cooking Station, the game might attempt to place it on the ground while you are still in the merchant menu. This breaks the UI context, trapping you in a softlock where you can open your inventory and walk, but cannot interact with anything else. It is also causing players to accidentally consume food and potions while trying to pawn them off.
- Incurable Hive Infestation: Getting a Hive Infestation is bad news right now. Several players have reported that the specific potion meant to cure the infestation is simply not working. Even after drinking multiple cures, the status effect remains, essentially functioning as a slow death sentence in the current build.
Performance Drops and Missing Mechanics
Optimization is another hurdle in the current test. Some players with mid-to-high-end rigs (like a 3070ti laptop) are experiencing what appears to be a severe memory leak.
The game might start running smoothly at 50-60 FPS, but over the course of just a few minutes, performance can degrade down to single digits—even on the lowest graphical settings. Community attempts to force DirectX 11 via launch parameters (-dx11) have not solved the issue, as the build seems to primarily rely on DX12 binaries. For now, if your frames start tanking, restarting the game entirely is the only reliable fix.
Finally, if you are running around town wondering how to fix your degraded gear, you are not alone. A common question among testers right now is how to repair armor and weapons. Players have visited blacksmiths and scoured the inventory menus but have found no obvious repair option. It is currently unconfirmed whether the repair system has been fundamentally changed, hidden behind a new UI element, or simply omitted from this specific beta build.