Outriders May Be Teasing New Classes With Certain Enemy Types
At the start of Outriders, the player’s character is just a hired gun, but things quickly change when they come face to face with an Anomaly Storm. This event changes them in a fundamental way, making them Altered and giving them power over nature, technology, the elements, and even time. At present, there are only four different classes for players to choose between when they make their character, but certain enemy types within the game could hint at future classes to be added down the line. While the Outrider is Altered, many of the enemies that players face on their journey are as well. Some of these share similar powers to the Outrider, but others have completely unique skill sets.
It should be said that this is all speculation based on enemies within the game, and that neither Square Enix nor People Can Fly have made any claims or announcements about new character classes being added to the game. Still, it seems only natural that Outriders would want to expand its character classes in order to provide players more choice and allow for interesting team combinations. While anything is possible, it is best to look at some things that are already established within the world of Outriders for inspiration.
Outriders — 4 Types of Altered
The four classes that players can choose between currently are the Technomancer, Pyromancer, Trickster, and Devastator. The Technomancer focuses on long ranged combat, preferring to stay back and take enemies out from afar. This class is defined by its ability to control technology in ways that others can’t. The Pyromancer, as the name suggests, wields the powers of flame to incinerate their foes and is more of a midrange combatant. The Trickster is able to manipulate time and space, using their powers to get close to enemies, deal heavy damage, and then retreat. Finally, the Devastator is the tank, capable of charging headfirst into a hail of bullets and coming out unscathed. They control the very earth around them.
The Pyromancer and the Devastator control what many gamers would recognize as classic elements. Earth, wind, water, and fire frequently show up as the four main elements in many fantasy games or television shows, and both fire and earth are accounted for with these classes. The Trickster is unique because they seem to have control over time and space as opposed to a standard element like those listed above, and the Technomancer’s dominion over technology is an appropriately sci-fi twist on these magical powers.
Outriders — Electromancer (Lightning Powers) Altered
While playing through the first chapter of Outriders, players will find themselves face to face with Gauss, a powerful Altered that fights on behalf of the insurgents. They must kill him if they want to retake the Solar Tower and open up supply lines, but this task is easier said than done. Gauss can control electricity, or as Jakub describes it, “he’s a goddamn electro freak.” During the fight with Gauss, players get to see many of his unique and electric powers for themselves.
In battle, Gauss has several, and the cutscene beforehand expands on one of these powers. The Discharge Mine ability allows Gauss to place an environmental hazard at the player’s location, dealing damage to them if they step on or near it. Shock Shift is a movement skill, letting Gauss teleport to another location on the battlefield, and Lightning Storm drops AoE lightning bolts all around the battlefield. Finally, Steel Wall is more defensive, and sees Gauss pull sheets of metal in front of him to block the player’s attacks. This showcases that he has control over both electricity and magnetism. These three skills and more could be adapted into a new playable class that combines elements of the Technomancer’s crowd control with the Devastator’s tankiness.
Outriders — Cryomancer (Ice Powers) Altered
Another enemy type that players will come across are Altered foes with ice powers. Admittedly, the Technomancer already has some control over ice with abilities like Cryo Turret and Cold Snap, but these both emanate from Gadgets rather than the player themselves. Their melee skill does deal Freeze damage, however, meaning this may overlap a little with that class.
Whereas the Technomancer is a long ranged class, the Cryomancer could focus entirely on being up close and personal. A thick sheet of ice can be just as hard as stone, and it would be interesting for players to have access to another tank class. This type of altered would be able to inflict freeze on their enemies, slowing down and sometimes outright stopping enemies in their tracks. The enemies that use this power tend to be mini bosses rather than main bosses like Gauss, but People Can Fly could still draw inspiration from them when designing a new class based on the powers of ice.
Outriders — New Altered Classes
Astute fans were quick to point out that there are six character slots in Outriders despite there being only four playable classes. That definitely isn’t any kind of confirmation of new classes but it does get fans’ hopes up. There are a ton of unique concepts that Outriders could implement if it created new classes to facilitate them. Technomancer has some healing capabilities, but there isn’t really a dedicated healer class in the game. Perhaps an Altered class that can manipulate life energy or blood could fill this gap. In terms of the four elements, the Cryomancer could represent water, but there’s nothing for air.
Going a more sci-fi route, an Altered class that controls gravity would be incredibly cool. Gravity powers aren’t often represented in video games, and in this mixture of magic and sci-fi, it would fit perfectly. With their abilities, this altered could crush foes by increasing gravity in an area, reverse their own gravity to allow for better movement, pull or push enemies around, and more. The possibilities are endless. There are surely other great ideas that would work well too, so hopefully People Can Fly continues to update the game and add more classes for players to enjoy.
Outriders is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.